Early the next morning, Robin woke up in Yuri’s arms.
By now, Robin had already gotten used to sleeping in Yuri’s embrace.
There was only one bed in the house, so Yuri simply slept beside her without the slightest hesitation.
At first, Robin had been somewhat resistant to it.
But after an entire day of Yuri’s hellish training, she was always utterly exhausted.
Several times, she had even fallen asleep while taking a bath, forcing Yuri to carry her out of the bathroom.
Whenever she thought about that, Robin couldn’t help but blush furiously.
Gradually, Robin became accustomed to being held by Yuri while she slept.
Being hugged like this gave her a strong sense of security and allowed her to sleep peacefully.
If Yuri wasn’t beside her, she actually found herself feeling uncomfortable and unsafe.
Robin even began to suspect that this whole training routine might have been part of Yuri’s scheme.
Fortunately, aside from holding her while they slept, Yuri had never done anything inappropriate.
So Robin gradually stopped resisting.
After getting up, Robin began preparing breakfast.
Robin had always been skilled at household chores.
Yuri didn’t even need to ask her to do these things; she would take care of them on her own.
While she was making breakfast, she suddenly noticed that Yuri had already woken up, and there was a serious expression on his face.
Normally, he wouldn’t wake until after Robin finished making breakfast.
Why was he up so early today?
And why did he look so serious?
“Looks like we won’t be able to enjoy breakfast properly today,” Yuri said.
“Have the Marines come?” Robin’s expression changed.
This was exactly what she had been worrying about all this time.
“Hahaha!
And there are quite a lot of them.
Looks like the Marines are serious this time.
Mobilizing this many troops isn’t something a single branch can accomplish.
You keep cooking.
I’ll go deal with the Marines.
Once I’ve driven them away, I’ll come back and eat breakfast,” Yuri said.
With that, Yuri left the room.
The moment Yuri stepped outside, he was greeted by a storm of bullets and cannonballs.
“None of you have any sense of fair play, huh?
You start attacking without even saying a word.
But do you really think this pile of scrap metal can deal with me?
Looks like you people never learn.”
Electric sparks flashed across Yuri’s entire body.
Every bullet and cannonball flying toward him came to an abrupt halt in midair.
“Go back where you came from.”
Yuri gave a cold shout.
The bullets and cannonballs instantly reversed direction and shot back toward the Marines.
Screams immediately rang out from all around.
“So he really is a magnetic Devil Fruit user,” Lacroix said.
Before coming here, Lacroix had already questioned the Marines stationed in Buta Town about their previous battle with Yuri and had roughly deduced the nature of Yuri’s ability.
So he wasn’t surprised by what he was seeing.
“But don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you’re a Devil Fruit user.
The Marines aren’t as weak as you think,” Lacroix said coldly.
“Attacking Marines and killing Marine officers is an unforgivable crime.”
“Harboring Nico Robin, the Devil Child and an important criminal wanted by the World Government, and openly declaring your intention to become a pirate…
Gadile Yuri, your crimes are beyond pardon.”
“A criminal like you should simply be executed on the spot.”
One Marine officer after another stepped forward.
“One Colonel, two Lieutenant Colonels, ten Majors and Captains, plus a Marine Rear Admiral.
Well, I suppose this lineup is fairly impressive for the West Blue.
But if you’re planning to deal with me, you’re still a little lacking.
I suggest you retreat while you still can.
Otherwise, you’re going to suffer heavy casualties,” Yuri said with a smile.
“Arrogant bastard!”
The Marine officers flew into a rage at Yuri’s words.
They had never seen such an arrogant pirate before.
Without another word, they charged toward Yuri at the same time.
Marine officers ranked Captain or above could already be considered elites among the Marines, and each of them had some mastery of the Six Powers.
Shave was one of the most fundamental techniques among the Six Powers, so almost everyone who learned the Six Powers had at least some command of it.
The only difference was their level of mastery.
More than a dozen Marine officers transformed into streaks of afterimages as they rushed toward Yuri.
“Iron Sand Hell.”
Watching the Marine officers charge at him, Yuri gave a cold smile and flipped his hand.
In an instant, countless spikes made of iron sand burst out of the ground.
The sudden development caused the charging Marines’ expressions to change drastically.
They could no longer afford to continue attacking Yuri and hurriedly moved to dodge.
But the entire ground had become a forest of spikes, a true hell of iron thorns.
Where could they possibly escape?
Many Marine officers failed to evade in time and were directly impaled by the iron-sand spikes.
“He can even do something like this?” Lacroix’s expression changed as well.
The hellish field of iron-sand spikes made Lacroix realize that Yuri’s strength was anything but ordinary.
“Bastard!
I won’t forgive you!”
Several higher-ranking Marine officers managed to avoid the Iron Sand Hell by using Moonwalk.
When they looked down and saw their companions impaled on the iron-sand spikes, their expressions changed dramatically.
Fury filled their faces as they charged down from the air toward Yuri.
Yuri smiled faintly and reached out with one hand.
A stream of iron sand flew into his palm and formed a violently vibrating long blade.
“Not good!
Get back!” Lacroix’s expression changed as he shouted upon seeing the iron-sand sword vibrating at extreme speed in Yuri’s hand.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
Yuri swung the blade.
The iron-sand sword suddenly extended like a long whip and lashed outward, instantly striking several Marine officers descending from the air.
Although the Iron Sand Sword looked like a whip, it was incomparably sharp.
The Marines it struck were either sent flying or sliced cleanly apart by the razor-sharp blade of iron sand.
Blood sprayed through the air.
“Bastard!
I won’t forgive you!” Lacroix’s expression changed drastically.
“I already told you.
People like you aren’t capable of dealing with me.
There are some people you simply can’t afford to provoke.
And now you’ve suffered heavy casualties, haven’t you?” Yuri said with a faint smile.
“Heh.
Their deaths are entirely your responsibility.
The saying ‘one incompetent general can doom an entire army’ was practically made for someone like you.
What good does it do to stand there barking uselessly now?”
“Bastard!
Bastard!
Bastard!
The honor of the Marines will not be tarnished by you!”
Lacroix roared furiously as he leaped into the air.
Using Moonwalk, he rushed toward Yuri at high speed with a sword in hand.
“Uh…
Looks like I overestimated you.
If all Marine commanders are like you, then the Marines are finished,” Yuri said calmly.
Yuri held the Iron Sand Sword in his right hand while pinching a coin between the fingers of his left, aiming it directly at Lacroix.
“A coin…
The move that killed Larkin?
Don’t think something like that will work on me.”
Lacroix immediately recognized the coin in Yuri’s hand.
The Marines in Buta Town had described the technique that killed Larkin, and Lacroix had personally seen its terrifying effects on Larkin’s corpse.
The attack had pierced straight through Larkin’s body.
Even so, Lacroix didn’t believe such an attack could defeat him.
At that moment, Yuri fired his Railgun.
The coin in his hand transformed into an orange-red streak of light and arrived in front of Lacroix in an instant.
“So fast!”
Lacroix’s expression changed drastically as he swung his sword.
The blade collided head-on with the orange-red light.
But the very next moment, Lacroix’s expression changed again.
The power of the Railgun far exceeded his expectations.
Under the continuous impact of the Railgun, cracks spread across the sword in his hands.
Then it shattered.
The next instant, the Railgun struck Lacroix directly.
At the critical moment, Lacroix only had enough time to coat himself in Armament Haki for defense.
“Pfft!”
Even with Armament Haki protecting him, Lacroix spat out a mouthful of blood.
At the same time, the tremendous force of the Railgun sent him flying backward.
He continued hurtling through the air until he finally slammed heavily into a mountain.
Another large mouthful of blood burst from his lips…