Nico Robin pushed herself up from the rubble. She brushed the dust from her clothes, her usually calm face now set with a grim seriousness she had never shown before. She watched the grotesque figure step out from the strange circle of light.
"I never thought the World Government would send one of its highest authorities for a small island like Ambury," she said coldly, her voice tinged with a dark, self-mocking humor. "Should we feel unlucky... or honored?"
Saint Saturn didn't even grant her a glance. His cold, empty eyes scanned the underground laboratory, filled with its forbidden secrets, as if he were merely inspecting an insect nest in his own territory.
"Nico Robin," he said. His voice was flat, but it held the absolute, undeniable authority of a god speaking to mortals. "When we let you escape from Ohara, that was the greatest mercy the World Government could ever offer you. You should have been grateful."
His gaze finally fell upon her. "But instead, you conspire with that dangerous boy in this forgotten sea, daring to challenge the order of the world."
"Challenge you?" Robin scoffed, her eyes burning with a fiery mix of anger and disgust. "If simply trying to uncover the true history you worked so hard to erase is a challenge… then I'll gladly defy you."
"Hmph. A foolish waste of words," Saturn replied, looking at her as one might observe a noisy bug. "I came here for only one reason." He slowly raised the cane in his hand, pointing it toward the rows of large cultivation tanks. "I want to know what that boy is researching, and what his ultimate goal is. If you can answer my questions truthfully..."
The corner of his mouth twisted into a grotesque smile, a parody of divine benevolence. "…I will allow you and your companions to continue your pathetic lives."
"Dream on," Robin answered, her voice like ice.
Wasting no more time, she gave the final order to the Saiyan Guard members poised behind her. "Attack!"
"...Foolish insects," Saturn said faintly as the warriors charged him without fear. A strange, scarlet light flashed for an instant in his ominous eyes.
In the next second, an invisible force crushed the minds of the advancing soldiers. The elite members of the Saiyan Guard, clad in their advanced Germa battle suits, suddenly stopped. They didn't even have a chance to scream before their eyes rolled back into their heads. Foaming at the mouth, they collapsed to the ground in waves, their spirits snuffed out by a power they couldn't comprehend.
Within moments, only a handful of the most resilient guards were left standing, clutching their heads and groaning in agony. Saturn's expression never changed. He remained completely cold and indifferent. He turned to the CP9 agents behind him and gave his final command. "Capture Nico Robin alive. Kill the rest."
"Yes, Lord Saturn!" With their god-like leader present and their enemies nearly wiped out, the morale of the CP9 agents soared. They charged forward, a wave of black-suited killers.
Robin gritted her teeth, standing with Monet and the few remaining guards to face the assault.
"Snowstorm!" Monet screamed, creating a deadly blizzard to slow down CP9's advance. At the same time, Robin used her Flower-Flower Fruit powers, sprouting arms from every surface to attack from unexpected angles. Their teamwork was just enough to hold back the relentless attack.
During a brief pause in the fighting, Monet leaned close to Robin. "Robin, what do we do?!" she whispered urgently. "That horned spider monster is too strong!"
"Monet, listen to me," Robin said, a flash of determination in her eyes. "I'm going to find a way to hold them off. When you see an opening, you need to get out of here. Fly to the arena as fast as you can and find our master!"
"No! I can't just—"
"This isn't the time to be childish!" Robin's voice was sterner than Monet had ever heard it. Monet bit her lip. She hated the idea, but she knew Robin was right. It was their only hope.
As she prepared to flap her wings and look for a chance to escape, a yellow blur instantly appeared in her path.
"Where do you think you're going?" Rob Lucci, now in his full human-leopard form, stood before her.
"Get out of my way!" Monet yelled, firing a volley of sharp snow spears at him. But one-on-one, Lucci wasn't afraid of her powers. The two of them were immediately locked in a fierce battle.
Seeing Monet struggling, Robin's heart filled with anxiety. In that brief moment of distraction, a shadow fell over her. A giant, clawed spider leg shot out and wrapped around her entire body, lifting her into the air.
Saturn held her up to his face, his cold eyes staring down at her. "I'll give you one last chance, Nico Robin," he said. "Tell me the boy's secrets, and I will let you and your foolish subordinates live. This is my final act of mercy."
Robin bit her lip so hard that a trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. She slowly looked up, a strangely obedient smile on her face. "...Alright," she said softly. "You... lean closer, and I'll tell you everything."
"Very good," Saturn said, a hint of satisfaction in his voice. "Only the wise know when to submit." He slowly brought his massive head closer, ready to hear her secret.
But the next moment, Robin's eyes blazed with hatred and defiance.
"Dos Fleur: Puncture!"
An arm sprouted from the ground below, snatching a sharp combat knife dropped by one of the fallen guards. It tossed the knife high into the air. At the same time, a second arm grew directly from Saturn's chest. That arm caught the hilt of the spinning knife and, with all its strength, plunged it deep into Saturn's heart.
Pfft!
The blade tore through flesh, and scarlet blood sprayed into the air.
"Lord Saturn!!!" the CP9 agents screamed in shock.
A beautiful, tragic smile spread across Robin's face. "That is my answer."
Saturn's expression finally darkened into a grim fury. "...Foolish woman. You chose death over mercy." The giant spider leg holding Robin began to tighten, the sound of her bones beginning to strain filling the air. "Since you won't speak, you are useless to me. The last survivor of Ohara dies today."
"Ah—!!!" Robin cried out in agony as the crushing force intensified.
"Robin!!!" Monet screamed, her eyes wide with terror.
"You should be more worried about yourself," Lucci snarled, taking advantage of her distraction to strike her wing with a Finger Pistol.
"Take your filthy claws… off of her—!"
Just as all hope seemed lost, a voice cut through the chaos of the battlefield.
Suddenly, a blindingly intense, dark red beam of energy shot across the laboratory like a divine spear. It tore through the air with terrifying destructive power and struck the arm that was crushing Robin.
BOOM!
"Hiss—!!!"
Saturn let out a shrill, inhuman scream as his indestructible arm was severed at the shoulder, the stump burned to a charred black. Freed from his grasp, Robin fell through the air, only to be caught in a warm, powerful embrace.
Joy and relief washed over Monet and Robin's faces. They both looked up at the familiar, dependable figure who had appeared like a god to save them.
"Master!!!" they cried out in unison.
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