Robin’s unease deepened with every passing minute.
A flying ship forged from gold.
A captain who knew her real name.
A first mate strong enough to dominate Daz Bonez.
And somehow, neither Baroque Works nor the World Government seemed to have a single file on either of them.
That was the part she found most disturbing.
People with this kind of power didn’t simply appear out of nowhere.
Yet Rowan D.
Drake had.
The battle finally reached its climax.
BOOM!
A violent shockwave burst across the street.
Wiper abruptly changed gears.
His body expanded as muscles swelled beneath his skin.
Silver-brown fur spread across his arms and shoulders.
His pupils narrowed into those of a predator.
The Bronthe Leopard’s hybrid form.
The moment it appeared, the pressure surrounding him intensified.
Then the second power activated.
A faint translucent glow wrapped around his body.
The Swift-Swift Fruit.
Acceleration layered atop already monstrous speed.
The effect was immediate.
Daz Bonez’s expression changed.
Danger.
For the first time since the fight began, genuine danger flashed across his face.
Too fast.
His instincts screamed at him to move.
His body couldn’t keep up.
Wiper disappeared.
Not dashed.
Not lunged.
Disappeared.
Then—
SLASH!
A claw flashed through the air.
Blood erupted.
A deep wound tore diagonally across Daz Bonez’s chest.
The force behind the strike was terrifying.
His body was hurled backward like a cannonball, crashing through several nearby agents before smashing into the ground.
Dust exploded skyward.
Silence followed.
The entire street froze.
Even Robin’s eyes widened slightly.
One attack.
That was all it had taken.
Rowan nodded in satisfaction.
Daz Bonez wasn’t weak.
Far from it.
The Supa Supa no Mi was one of the better close-combat fruits in the world.
A body of steel blades.
Enhanced durability.
Exceptional offensive power.
Against opponents lacking Armament Haki, he was an absolute nightmare.
But Wiper was a terrible matchup.
The difference in speed was overwhelming.
Daz Bonez couldn’t defend against attacks he couldn’t even perceive.
More importantly—
Wiper still wasn’t fighting seriously.
He hadn’t used Armament Haki once.
This was little more than a live combat exercise.
The result pleased Rowan greatly.
His first crew member was developing exactly as intended.
Given enough time, Wiper would become a monster.
Unfortunately, Daz Bonez had no intention of accepting defeat.
Grunting through the pain, he forced himself back to his feet.
Blood streamed down his chest.
His face twisted with fury.
“Kill them!”
His roar echoed across Rainbase.
“All of you!”
“ATTACK!”
The surrounding agents hesitated only briefly before charging.
Hundreds surged forward.
Guns.
Swords.
Bombs.
Every weapon Baroque Works could bring to bear.
The street instantly descended into chaos.
Even Robin slowly lifted a hand.
The Hana Hana no Mi stirred.
Petals drifted through the air.
“I wouldn’t.”
Robin paused.
Her gaze shifted.
Rowan was looking directly at her.
The easy smile he’d worn since arriving was gone.
Only calm certainty remained.
“Because they’re already finished.”
His tone was quiet.
Matter-of-fact.
Not a threat.
A statement.
The conviction behind it made Robin’s hand lower unconsciously.
Then Rowan spoke again.
“Wiper.”
The leopard warrior immediately glanced over.
“Back here.”
Without a word, Wiper dismissed his hybrid form and retreated.
The charging agents continued forward.
Unaware.
Blindly rushing toward their fate.
Tiny arcs of blue electricity danced across Rowan’s skin.
The air changed.
The temperature seemed to drop.
A strange pressure settled over the battlefield.
Several agents slowed instinctively.
Others felt a chill crawl down their spines.
Every survival instinct they possessed screamed at them to run.
Too late.
Rowan raised a hand toward the sky.
Lightning answered immediately.
The clouds above churned.
Thunder rolled across the heavens.
The atmosphere itself trembled.
Then Rowan spoke.
“Divine Judgment.”
The world erupted.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A deafening explosion split the sky.
Towering pillars of lightning crashed down like heavenly punishment.
One bolt.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Then hundreds.
The battlefield vanished beneath a storm of destruction.
Thunder roared without pause.
Blinding light consumed the streets.
Screams filled the air.
Agents were hurled away like ragdolls.
Buildings collapsed under the bombardment.
The ground fractured and blackened.
Crater after crater appeared across Rainbase.
Every strike carried overwhelming power.
Every strike left devastation behind.
This wasn’t combat.
It wasn’t even a massacre.
It was annihilation.
Robin stood frozen.
Lightning illuminated her face.
For a brief moment, she forgot to breathe.
She had witnessed powerful Devil Fruits before.
She had worked beside Crocodile himself.
But this…
This was something else.
The scale alone was absurd.
The storm swallowing the city looked less like a man’s ability and more like the wrath of a god.
Terrifying.
Magnificent.
Completely unstoppable.
For the first time since Rowan’s arrival, Robin understood why he had remained calm from the beginning.
He had never considered Baroque Works a threat.
The final bolt struck.
Silence followed.
The storm faded.
Thunder retreated into the distance.
Smoke drifted through the ruined streets.
What remained barely resembled a battlefield.
Scorched earth stretched in every direction.
Collapsed buildings smoldered.
Blackened craters scarred the city.
Bodies littered the ground.
Only three people remained standing.
Rowan.
Wiper.
Everyone else had fallen.
At the center of the devastation lay Daz Bonez.
Burned.
Broken.
Barely clinging to life.
Rowan’s eyes flickered toward him.
“Still breathing.”
A faint smile appeared.
“Good.”
Dead Devil Fruit users were troublesome.
Living ones were useful.
Darkness gathered beside him.
A massive black coffin emerged from thin air.
Ancient.
Ominous.
Its surface was covered in strange runes that seemed to writhe beneath the light.
The temperature around it dropped noticeably.
Even Robin felt a chill.
Every instinct she possessed warned her that the object before her was deeply unnatural.
Rowan rested a hand against its side.
“The Forbidden Black Coffin.”
He spoke the name almost casually.
As though summoning such a thing were perfectly normal.
Robin’s gaze sharpened.
She had never heard of it.
Never seen it.
And yet something told her this was far more important than the battle itself.
Rowan lifted Daz Bonez’s battered body.
Without hesitation, he placed him inside.
A normal fruit followed.
Then—
BOOM.
The lid slammed shut.
Ancient symbols ignited across the coffin’s surface.
Dark energy flowed through the carved runes like liquid shadow.
The air trembled.
A strange pulse spread outward.
Robin watched without blinking.
Something was happening.
Something impossible.
Moments later, the glow faded.
The runes dimmed.
Silence returned.
Rowan stepped forward and opened the coffin.
Inside, Daz Bonez lay motionless.
Dead.
Completely dead.
Beside the corpse rested a fruit.
A strange fruit covered in swirling patterns resembling countless blades.
The Supa Supa no Mi.
The Dice-Dice Fruit.
Recovered.
Not reincarnated elsewhere.
Not lost to the sea.
Recovered.
Directly.
Rowan picked it up and examined it briefly.
A satisfied smile crossed his face.
Another Devil Fruit added to his collection.
Another piece placed on the board.
Exactly as planned.
Several meters away, Robin remained silent.
For perhaps the first time in years, her brilliant mind struggled to make sense of what she had witnessed.
She knew how Devil Fruits worked.
At least, she thought she did.
When a user died, the power reincarnated somewhere in the world.
That was common knowledge.
A fundamental rule.
Yet Rowan had just broken it in front of her.
Casually.
Deliberately.
As if rewriting the laws of the world itself.
Robin stared at the fruit in his hand.
Then at the black coffin.
Then at Rowan.
Questions flooded her mind.
Who was he?
Where had he come from?
And just how many secrets was he hiding?
For the first time in a very long while—
Nico Robin was genuinely shocked.