Robin and her aunt stood frozen in place.
In a single instant, the house, along with every piece of furniture inside it, had vanished without a trace. The table, the chairs, the walls, even the ceiling above them, all dissolved into nothingness. Robin's cries and her aunt's angry shouts were cut short, replaced by a vast and empty silence.
Only the open sky remained above them.
A gentle breeze passed through the exposed yard.
Robin's aunt was the first to regain her senses. She rubbed her eyes repeatedly, then shrieked in disbelief.
"My house! Where did my house go?"
An indifferent voice descended from above.
"Weren't you just saying it needed cleaning? Are you still unsatisfied?"
Before she could look up properly, Lloyd had already descended from the sky, one hand gripping the shoulder of Olvia. He landed lightly in front of them.
The massive bat wings behind him slowly folded inward, casting a long shadow over the ground.
The aunt's eyes rolled back in terror at the sight of those wings. Her body went limp, and she fainted on the spot.
Robin did not look at her.
Her gaze was locked onto the woman standing beside Lloyd.
Olvia's eyes were already brimming with tears. She stared at Robin as if afraid that blinking would cause her daughter to disappear.
For several seconds, mother and daughter simply looked at each other, unable to speak.
It was Robin's uncle who broke the silence.
"Sister? Why are you back?"
At his voice, Robin's heart jolted. The last trace of doubt in her mind vanished. The woman before her was truly her mother.
Olvia's lips trembled. In a voice that barely rose above a whisper, she said, "Robin…"
A dull sound echoed as Robin rushed forward without hesitation.
She wrapped her small arms tightly around Olvia's legs and cried out, "Mom!"
Each desperate cry pierced Olvia's heart like a blade. Words clogged her throat, too many emotions crashing together at once.
She dropped to her knees and pulled Robin into her arms. Mother and daughter clung to one another, weeping openly.
Robin's uncle swallowed nervously. He had no idea that Olvia was a wanted criminal, and he certainly could not recognize Lloyd's true status. To him, Lloyd was simply an unfamiliar and dangerous man.
For a fleeting moment, he even wondered if this man was Olvia's new lover.
He cleared his throat cautiously. "Sister…"
"Don't call me that!"
Olvia lifted her head sharply, fury blazing in her tear filled eyes.
"How have you treated Robin all these years? She is your niece!"
Her brother lowered his head, but there was no real guilt in his expression. At most, there was discomfort. After all, he had once accepted a large sum of Berries from Olvia before she sailed away.
Robin buried her face in Olvia's chest, sobbing.
"Mom, Aunt said you were wanted. I thought you'd been captured. I was so scared."
Olvia stiffened.
The words were true. She had indeed been captured. The most merciful outcome awaiting her was life imprisonment. Execution was equally possible.
Before today, she had accepted that fate. Even when she learned that Ohara would face a Buster Call, she felt only despair, not regret.
Now, holding her daughter, regret finally took root in her heart.
For many women, their child is their greatest weakness.
Robin was no exception.
Seeing Olvia fall silent, the intelligent Robin sensed that her aunt's words might not have been a lie.
Before she could ask further, Lloyd spoke calmly from the side.
"That is enough. There are more important matters to attend to."
His voice was steady, devoid of emotion.
He raised one hand.
Olvia's body tensed instantly. She tightened her grip around Robin and pleaded, "No, my daughter knows nothing. Please, let her go!"
Robin's uncle's eyes widened. At last, realization dawned on him.
World Government.
Admiral.
Olvia had truly committed a grave crime.
His expression shifted immediately into a fawning smile. He rubbed his hands together and spoke ingratiatingly.
"Sir, although Olvia is my sister, I know nothing about her affairs. As for this house, it was just a misunderstanding, you see…"
A crack of silver lightning split the air.
The bolt pierced straight through his chest.
His eyes widened in disbelief. An unbearable emptiness consumed him. Slowly, he lowered his gaze and saw a smoking hole where his heart should have been. Through it, he could see the distant trees behind him.
He collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Robin heard the thud and instinctively tried to turn her head, but Olvia pressed her firmly against her chest, preventing her from seeing.
The aunt jolted awake at the sound of thunder. The first thing she saw was her husband's corpse and the gaping hole in his chest.
This time, she did not even have the chance to scream.
Darkness surged from beneath her feet, wrapping around her body and dragging her downward. In an instant, she was swallowed whole.
Lloyd's figure blurred.
The next moment, he had vanished with Olvia and Robin.
Inside the Tree of Omniscience, Professor Clover was reading quietly.
The doors were suddenly kicked open.
Lloyd entered alone.
Every scholar inside turned to look at him. One of them shouted angrily, "Who are you? Do you even know where you are?"
Lightning flashed again.
The man's head exploded instantly, his body collapsing to the floor in a lifeless heap. Compared to Robin's uncle, his death was swift, a cold form of mercy.
The remaining scholars stared in horror. Some turned pale as paper, trembling uncontrollably. Others flushed red with rage, their chests heaving, yet none dared to step forward.
The charred corpse nearby still emitted thin curls of smoke.
Lloyd's gaze shifted to the elderly man with hair and beard shaped like a clover.
"Are you the curator here, Clover?" he asked indifferently.
Clover stood motionless, as though turned to stone.
Lloyd frowned slightly. In a flash, he appeared directly in front of him and slapped him across the face. He had deliberately restrained his strength. Otherwise, Clover's head would have been torn clean off.
The impact jolted Clover back to his senses.
Before he could react further, Lloyd grabbed him by the collar and lifted him into the air.
Lloyd slowly turned his head, his cold eyes sweeping across the trembling scholars.
Fear filled the room.
"Admiral Black Dragon," Clover rasped, struggling to breathe. "Why are you doing this?"
"Why?" Lloyd's lips curved faintly, but there was no warmth in his expression. "You should know the answer better than I do."
His grip tightened slightly.
"Tell me, are all the scholars of Ohara gathered here?"
He did not wait for a reply.
"On second thought, it does not matter. Whether you answer truthfully or not, none of you will leave this island alive."
With a dismissive motion, Lloyd released Clover and threw him to the ground as though discarding trash.
The sound of the old man hitting the floor echoed heavily within the suffocating silence.
===
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