“What?
Larkin is dead?
Who was it?
Who did it?” Lacroix’s face twisted with fury.
Lacroix, who would one day become a Vice Admiral at Marine Headquarters, was currently only a Rear Admiral stationed in the West Blue.
As a Rear Admiral, he was already the highest-ranking Marine officer stationed in the West Blue.
Under normal circumstances, all Marine branches throughout the West Blue were required to obey his commands.
Moreover, Larkin was not only from the same hometown as Lacroix, but had once been one of his most important subordinates.
The two shared a deep bond forged through years of fighting side by side.
So when Lacroix received news today that Larkin had been killed, his anger was immediate.
“It was someone named Gadile Yuri.
He was originally a pirate hunter in the West Blue, but now he’s openly declared that he’s going to set sail and establish something called the Gadile Pirates.
More importantly, Nico Robin, the Devil Child and an important criminal wanted by the World Government, is with him,” a Marine Colonel reported.
“Then what are you waiting for?
Do you still need me to give the order?
Prepare a ship immediately.
I’ll avenge Larkin myself,” Lacroix said.
“Yes!
I’ll prepare the warship immediately.” The Marine Colonel quickly left.
Even after the Colonel departed, Lacroix’s expression remained dark.
“Larkin, don’t worry.
I’ll use Gadile Yuri’s head as an offering to honor you,” Lacroix said coldly.
…
“We’re not leaving?” Robin asked Yuri in confusion.
“Leaving?
Why?
You don’t like it here?” Yuri asked.
“Aren’t you planning to set sail?
You killed so many Marines earlier, and even killed the captain who commanded the Marine branch.
The Marines definitely won’t let this go.
Shouldn’t we leave this place and hide?”
“Hohoho.
You want me to run away?” Yuri raised an eyebrow.
“Who do you think I am?
The worthless trash in the West Blue isn’t qualified to make me hide!”
“We are going to set sail, but before that, I need to improve your strength.
If you go out to sea as you are now, you’ll only become a burden.
You should know better than anyone that the sea has never been particularly friendly toward Devil Fruit users like us,” Yuri said.
“Oh?
You know I’m a Devil Fruit user?” Robin asked in surprise.
She had never used her ability in front of Yuri.
“I know far more about you than you can imagine.
Robin, the Flower-Flower Fruit is actually a very powerful Devil Fruit.
The problem is that you’re too weak,” Yuri said.
The Flower-Flower Fruit was indeed extremely powerful.
In the original story, Robin had developed it quite well.
If Robin herself had been stronger, and if she had awakened Armament Haki, then her combat strength would have existed on an entirely different level.
Now that Robin had joined his crew, Yuri had decided to train her properly.
At the very least, she needed enough strength to protect herself.
“You know a lot about me?” Robin gave Yuri a strange look.
“In any case, starting today, I’m going to train you seriously.
Prepare yourself for hellish training,” Yuri said.
That very day, Yuri began training Robin.
And Yuri hadn’t been exaggerating.
His training truly was hellish.
Although Yuri liked Robin very much, he understood that in this world, only those with strength could live well.
Robin possessed the ability to decipher the Poneglyphs.
That alone meant the World Government would hunt and pursue her for the rest of her life.
Her life was destined never to be peaceful.
So, for her own sake, Yuri trained her mercilessly.
Just like that, half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
“What?
Gadile Yuri still hasn’t fled?
He’s got some nerve.
He killed Marines and is still acting so brazenly.
It seems he’s truly looking down on us Marines.
What arrogance.” Lacroix spoke coldly.
Aboard a warship, Lacroix led a force of Marines toward Buta Island.
Even while making his way there, Lacroix had ordered the Marines stationed on Buta Island to monitor Yuri and Robin’s movements.
Yet even by the time Lacroix arrived at Buta Island, Yuri and Robin still hadn’t fled.
They had remained on the island without the slightest concern.
Lacroix had even heard that Yuri had spent the past several days training Nico Robin.
To the Marines, this was nothing short of an outrageous humiliation.
Although pirates were currently running rampant across the seas, leaving the Marines constantly occupied, the Marines still possessed enough overall strength to crush the pirates.
First, the Marines’ military power was simply that great.
Second, pirate crews operated independently of one another.
Although there were countless pirates across the seas, the Marines generally only had to deal with individual pirate crews rather than the entire pirate population at once.
They could defeat them one by one.
That was why, no matter how rampant the pirates became, most of them still fled whenever they encountered the Marines.
Yet Yuri had killed the highest-ranking officer of a Marine branch and still remained openly on Buta Island.
To Lacroix, that was the greatest provocation imaginable.