She had learned about angels from Adam quite early on.
She also knew that Ohara's disappearance had been caused by someone activating "Angel Fall," causing the "Secret Angel" of the celestial realm to fall and thereby leading to Ohara's destruction.
However, after that, she had never heard any more news about angels.
Until recently, when she found some records concerning angels among Alabasta's vast sea of ancient texts.
She knew that there were a total of eight Archangels. The status of these eight among all angels was like that of Demon Lords, so they were also called the "Kings of Angels."
Of the eight Kings of Angels, Robin only knew about the four angels of earth, fire, water, and wind. She did not know what the other four represented.
Apart from the eight Kings of Angels, there were also Archangels and ordinary angels. Like the demons of Hell, they had a strict hierarchy.
Robin did not know what rank the Secret Angel inside her belonged to, but she sensed that this angel's rank could not be low. Otherwise, it would not have been possible to make the entire world forget the existence of Ohara. That was a power capable of influencing the whole world!
It was very likely one of the eight Kings of Angels. Perhaps it was precisely because she had an angel inside her that Robin was so sensitive to demonic power.
According to Adam, angels were divine power, the touch of God. Now that this touch existed inside her, did that mean she possessed the touch of God?
Robin gave a self-mocking smile and reached out toward Nami's forehead as the girl slept.
In theory, people believed that demons were the source of all evil and angels symbolized goodness. But Robin was not grateful for the angel inside her, because it was precisely that angel that had turned her into the so-called "Demon Child."
An angel had caused its own host to become the Demon Child!
It sounded rather ironic, but that was indeed Robin's current situation.
Moreover, this Secret Angel had caused Ohara's disappearance. Her mother and all her teachers had been in Ohara, but now she was the only one left in the entire world.
She had been captured by the people of Pandora Island. If a mysterious woman had not intervened to save her, she might still be in a laboratory on Pandora Island, undergoing their inhumane experiments.
This angel had brought her no happiness. Instead, it had continually attracted misfortune to her. She hated the angel inside her.
Therefore, when she saw Nami, who was close to being a demon, Robin instinctively reached out her hand.
Was it normal for the Demon Child to feel close to demons?
There was no denying that this pirate crew was interesting. Every person in it possessed an extraordinary aura.
Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, and even that reindeer...
But just as her hand was about to touch Nami, Nami, who had still been asleep a moment earlier, suddenly opened her eyes and grabbed Robin's outstretched hand.
"What are you trying to do?"
Nami's eyes were filled with intense wariness. Although she had fallen asleep, she could still faintly sense the outside world even in her dreams.
She would never allow someone to touch her body while she was asleep, especially not Robin, a person she did not know at all.
"You're very sensitive." Robin was not startled at all after being caught. Instead, she said calmly, "I only wanted to warn you that the protective membrane covering this city has disappeared. The Cartel's people have already invaded. In this situation, you'd better stop sleeping."
Nami did not believe this explanation. Seriously, couldn't she have simply spoken up if she wanted Nami to wake up?
Nami was about to say something, but before she could, gunshots rang out from outside.
The Cartel's airborne troops were mainly landing at the palace, because the king was most likely there. Their primary objective was not to conquer the city but to capture the king. As long as they captured Cobra, it would not matter even if they abandoned the city.
A considerable number of Cartel soldiers who descended from the aircraft were shot dead before they even landed. Many others still managed to land. They were utterly fearless and possessed a terrifying fighting spirit that left people speechless.
Before this, most of them had been people who could not even get enough food and were close to starving to death. People like that were no longer afraid of death, which was precisely what made them the most terrifying combat troops!
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The continuing gunfire from outside seemed to confirm Robin's earlier words. Nami had no choice but to release her hand. She hurriedly threw on a coat and put on her shoes.
Whatever Robin had intended to do before, dealing with the Cartel's attack was more important now.
Nami hurried out, leaving Robin alone in the bedroom. Looking at the empty room, Robin suddenly laughed once, then turned and left as well.
No matter what changes occurred outside, they could not affect her. If the Straw Hat Pirates had not suddenly arrived, she had already decided to leave this place.
Robin had no interest in helping Crocodile achieve his so-called ambition, nor did she care to watch the Cartel fight the World Government for supremacy. She had cooperated with Crocodile only because the Seven Warlord could provide her with a shelter and conceal her very well.
But now, Crocodile was no longer useful to her.
Whether he succeeded or failed from this point onward, he would inevitably step into the limelight. His assistant would no longer be able to remain hidden, either. Since her identity was destined to be exposed, there was no point in staying here.
Originally, she had wanted to visit the sky island. After all, there was another Seven Warlord there, and perhaps she could cooperate with that so-called "god."
Sky Island was one of the strongest powers in the first half of the Grand Line. Even the Cartel did not dare provoke it lightly, mainly because Sky Island was in the heavens. To attack it, they could only use aircraft or airplanes, but in the sky they would become targets for that "god, Enel."
It could be said that under God Enel's rule, Sky Island was easy to defend and difficult to attack. As for attacking Mock Town below Sky Island, that would simply be self-deception with no meaning whatsoever.
Therefore, seeking refuge with him was also a relatively safe path. After all, people from the World Government generally would not investigate her presence in a place like Sky Island.
However, before she decided to leave, the Straw Hat Pirates entered Alubarna.
At that instant, they caught Robin's attention.
Every one of them radiated an unusual aura. Nami and the lecherous-looking man both possessed demonic auras. Even the green-haired man had a demonic aura around his swords. As for the long-nosed man, he possessed a sacred aura faintly similar to the angelic power within her. Could he also be an angel?
Angels and demons traveling together? Robin felt that this world was somewhat insane.
As for Luffy, he did not possess the aura of either a demon or an angel, but he carried a sense of historical weight.
She could not yet see through that reindeer, but she could at least be certain that he was not a normal creature either.
In short, this was an extremely strange group: demons, an angel, a saint, and a bizarre creature. That was why Robin had directly intervened at the time and pulled them up onto the wall.
And if she had guessed correctly, these people...
Were the "Age" Adam had been waiting for.
Robin was a member of the extremely secretive organization known as the Twilight Hermits' Society. It was a worldwide organization whose members came from all walks of life. Its leader was even more mysterious and unfathomable. He called himself Adam and was practically omnipotent, claiming that he could fulfill any wish of anyone in the organization.
Yet this mysterious and powerful person had founded the Twilight Hermits' Society neither to rule the world nor to seek other forms of power or wage war. He had simply been waiting for the arrival of the "Age."
This had always puzzled the members of the Twilight Hermits' Society, and Robin was no exception.
The moment she saw Luffy and the others, she knew that they were the people Adam had been waiting for all these years. She simply did not know whether Adam was waiting for all of them or for one particular person among them.
Most likely...
It was one person.
Because Adam had given the members of the Twilight Hermits' Society two choices.
They could either kill the Child of the Age or join the Child of the Age and help him fulfill his wish. Since it was possible to join the Child of the Age, it was naturally possible for other people to join as well.
As long as they accomplished either of these two things, Adam would fulfill one wish for them, no matter what that wish was.
Robin naturally wanted this wish as well, because she wanted to bring the vanished Ohara back.
As long as she killed...
That man Luffy, she could fulfill this wish herself.
At the beginning, Robin truly had intended to kill him.
After so many years of wandering and so many years of being hunted, Robin had naturally developed her own way of surviving. She was not a woman who had never encountered darkness. In fact, she could even be said to be darkness itself!
Killing someone...
For a person like her, it was not difficult at all.
Let alone killing someone—back when she had not yet become strong enough, she had been willing to do anything to stay alive.
But years of survival experience kept her from acting rashly. First, she was still uncertain about Luffy and the others' strength. Second, she believed that the person Adam was waiting for could not be killed so easily.
Adam had given the members of the Twilight Hermits' Society two choices, and Robin believed that completing either choice must be equally difficult.
Killing Luffy...
And helping Luffy fulfill his dream—these two choices could not differ too greatly in difficulty.
Robin still did not know what Luffy's dream was, but since he was the person Adam was waiting for, his dream absolutely could not be something easy to achieve.
Therefore, she endured and suppressed her impulse to head to Sky Island. She planned to observe Luffy for a long time.
By observing what Luffy did from this point onward, she would decide whether to kill Luffy or...
Join Luffy!
Killing Luffy would mean becoming enemies with the Straw Hat Pirates. Joining Luffy, however, would inevitably mean becoming enemies with those members of the Twilight Hermits' Society who wanted to kill him.
Robin shook her head. She walked out of the room, watching the guards moving through the palace and listening to the endless gunfire outside. Her expression did not change.
She had seen scenes like this many times—so many that they were enough to numb her.
"Don't disappoint me..."
Robin spoke softly. "Let me see how far you can go."
......
"Gatling Gun!"
Luffy shouted and fired a continuous barrage of Rubber-Rubber Pistols. The Cartel soldiers ahead were sent flying one after another, but this kind of attack was only a drop in the bucket. Huge numbers of Cartel soldiers poured through the city gate, their guns constantly spitting bullets.
These bullets had pointed tips. Even Luffy, whose body was made of rubber, could not simply endure them. The bullets would pierce straight through his body.
Unless he could maintain an Armament Haki coating at all times...
But constantly using Armament Haki would also consume stamina. In the current situation, once his stamina was exhausted, it would be equivalent to death.
"That hurts!"
A bullet shot directly into Luffy's outstretched arm. He hurriedly grimaced and dodged the following bullets in all directions. After retracting his arm, he squeezed out the bullet and stared at its blackened tip. Luffy was immediately startled.
"Huh?!"
He looked toward the place from which the bullet had come and, sure enough, saw Koza, who had chased them beneath the walls earlier.
Koza had noticed Luffy as well. He said coldly, "You outsiders are pirates. Don't come here and cause trouble!"
Bang bang bang!
Koza fired three shots in succession. He had already recovered, and the three bullets sealed off every movement Luffy could make next.
More importantly, there was a squad beside him. The people in that squad also opened fire at Luffy as Koza shot. For a moment, several hundred bullets seemed to be flying toward Luffy.
Boom!
A tank entered through the city gate. One cannon shell blasted apart a building where royal-capital soldiers had been hiding, and the next moment it fired toward Luffy as well.
Conqueror's Haki!
Seeing this, Luffy immediately used Conqueror's Haki to clear the area. At the same time, he stretched his arm around a building behind him, protected it, and rapidly pulled his body over.
The next second, the place where he had been standing was struck by a dense hail of bullets. Koza's three bullets alone, however, continued to pursue him.
Luffy gritted his teeth and covered the corresponding parts of his body with Armament Haki. The three bullets struck his left shoulder, abdomen, and a point near his throat.
The tremendous force drove Luffy backward. He cried out "Ah!" and slammed directly into the building behind him.
"Headshot!"
Koza fired again, aiming directly at Luffy's head. The bullet moved even faster!
Koza did not actually feel much hostility toward Luffy. In fact, it was precisely because of them that Koza had been able to mobilize the three hundred thousand troops nearby and bring them to the battlefield, launching the final assault on Alubarna.
But since they were on a battlefield, they had to be prepared to entrust their lives to the enemy!
There were no victories or defeats on a battlefield, only life and death!
"Fire!"
Koza shouted, "Blast that straw-hat-wearing bastard to death!"
Then go find Cobra!
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