In the square.
Maude had been standing there the whole time.
His posture was upright, and his expression calm.
None of those observing Maude noticed anything unusual.
Even Perona, floating beside Maude, remained oblivious.
No one realized that behind Maude, standing in the center of the square... there was no shadow.
Meanwhile.
Inside the hidden chamber of the royal tomb.
Maude strolled forward, leaning casually against the doorway, his gaze falling on the fallen Luffy and the still-battle-ready Crocodile.
Luffy had been defeated.
The outcome was unexpected.
Perhaps his presence had altered something after all.
For instance—
Luffy had taken one less beating from Crocodile, resulting in fewer accumulated experiences, leaving him unable to complete the final piece of the puzzle needed to defeat Crocodile.
However, it hardly mattered now.
"This place is quite the hidden gem... and well-concealed."
Maude's gaze swept over the flustered Crocodile, the unconscious Cobra, the massive Poneglyph, and finally settled on Robin's stunned face.
"If not for the 'Shadow Mark' I gave you, I really wouldn't have found this place so quickly."
"Shadow Mark..."
Robin froze, quickly realizing what Maude referred to—the striped gecko in her pocket.
Maude observed her subtle motion and asked, "So, why didn't you ask for my help? I don't believe you could escape under these circumstances."
"..."
Robin fell into silence.
With her final hope extinguished, after twenty years of painstaking search for the truth of history, she had lost the will to continue.
Resigned to death, she hadn't even considered using the one chance Maude had given her.
"Forget it. The choice is yours..."
Maude shook his head slightly, cutting off his own sentence midway.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Crocodile's figure dissolving into wisps of sand.
Crocodile had taken advantage of the conversation to transform his body into sand and swiftly circle behind Maude.
His poison-tipped golden hook was poised to strike.
If the sneak attack succeeded, it would turn the tables.
In a flash, Crocodile's eyes gleamed with venomous intent as he thrust his hook toward Maude's vital point.
However—
Without turning or even glancing back, Maude reached out behind him and caught the lethal hook in his bare hand.
"Hmm?"
Crocodile's eyes widened in shock.
The moment Maude's hand gripped the hook, he realized it hadn't pierced his skin.
Before Robin could voice her alarm, the chamber echoed with the metallic snap of the hook being crushed.
"Decisive, aren't you, Crocodile? Then again, this was your 'only' chance to turn things around—but you clearly failed to seize it."
With that, Maude turned.
He didn't draw his sword but reached for Crocodile instead.
Crocodile's face paled. He instantly dissolved into sand, retreating at high speed to widen the distance between them.
Yet Maude's hand was faster, clamping around Crocodile's throat and suppressing his elemental transformation.
"This is... Armament Haki."
Crocodile's pupils shrank, and even as his windpipe was crushed, he gathered a spiraling sandstorm in his palm.
Maude gave him no chance to struggle.
With his free hand, he drew Shusui and plunged it straight into Crocodile's heart.
Squelch—!
The Armament Haki-coated blade pierced through Crocodile's back, spraying blood.
"Urgh...!"
Crocodile's body convulsed. His wide eyes locked onto Maude's face.
As life drained rapidly from him, his gaze fell to the blade impaling him.
A snarl twisted his features—he couldn't accept the reality of his impending death.
The sandstorm in his palm dissipated.
The light in his eyes dimmed.
Maude calmly observed the contorted face before releasing his grip and withdrawing Shusui.
He flicked the blood from the blade and sheathed it.
With a dull thud, Crocodile's knees hit the ground before his lifeless body collapsed, scattering into dust.
The infamous pirate warlord who had terrorized the seas for years died at Maude's hands.
As Crocodile's life ended, the experience points he left behind surged into Maude's body—an unseen reward visible only to him.
In an instant, the sixth star representing his Devil Fruit ability illuminated.
At that moment, all four of Maude's attributes crossed into the six-star tier—a true step toward a higher level.
For a fleeting moment, Maude felt as if he stood on the cusp of invincibility.
But reason swiftly shattered that illusion.
To truly become invincible, he estimated he would need at least four attributes at nine and a half stars.
Maude shook his head slightly, clearing the thought.
He flicked the remaining blood from Shusui's blade and returned it to its sheath.
Robin stared blankly at Crocodile's corpse.
Just like that, he was dead—
As easily as snuffing out a candle.
It felt like a dream.
Only when Maude's footsteps approached did Robin snap out of her daze.
He glanced at the wound on her chest and remarked, "You're badly hurt."
Robin forced a weak smile, struggling to produce an antidote.
"This... is the antidote for the scorpion poison in the Straw Hat boy's body."
Maude accepted the antidote, his eyes flicking to the unconscious Luffy.
So, he was poisoned...
Instead of administering the antidote immediately, Maude fixed his gaze on Robin.
"Are you seeking death?"
Robin's eyelids lowered, her silence a tacit confirmation.
Maude regarded her hollowed-out expression.
"Dying is easy—but if you die, the traces of Ohara will be completely erased from history, disappearing into the river of time."
"You..."
Robin's head snapped up, meeting Maude's unwavering gaze.
His voice remained calm.
"I have no interest in the truth of history... but any 'spark' that survives is infinitely precious."
"As long as you're alive, good things will happen."
"So, don't let yourself die so cheaply, Nico Robin..."
His eyes shifted to the ancient text on the Poneglyph.
Robin trembled, her heart in turmoil.
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