"If not for my improved abilities, I really wouldn't have been able to detect you."
Robin looked at Ray, she talk with a cheerful voice and with a knowing smile playing on her lips.
There was no fear in her eyes, only the confidence of a woman who had solved a complex puzzle.
Seeing that expression, Ray knew the jig was up.
He sighed, finally dropping the cold facade.
"What if I am Sesshomaru, and I've simply eat Ray's consciousness?" he asked, his voice dropping an octave.
"By sending your real body here, aren't you just delivering a lamb into the tiger's mouth?"
Perhaps out of guilt for deceiving them, or perhaps because it was Robin, Ray found himself being unusually talkative.
Robin answered with a soft chuckle.
"A few days ago, I recalled a detail. Do you remember when you fought Inuyasha in the village? You used Haki."
Ray's brow furrowed.
A slip-up.
He remembered gripping Inuyasha's neck with one arm, but when the half-demon struggled, Ray had instinctively coated his tail in Armament Haki to knock him out.
"Hah," Ray scoffed, looking up at the moonlit sky. "I really am not suited for acting after all."
Outwardly, he remained the picture of aloof calm.
But in his heart, a trace of panic fluttered—not because he had been exposed in a lie, but because he was terrified of the implication.
He wasn't afraid of losing face; he was afraid of losing them.
He didn't know when it had started, but he had grown increasingly attached to this chaotic group of pirates.
Yet, Robin did not express anger.
She merely studied him, her blue eyes reflecting the moonlight.
In Robin's understanding, Ray was an exceptionally rational and reliable man.
He never did anything without purpose.
As she pondered the why, the pieces fell into place.
In just two months, every member of the Straw Hat Pirates had undergone a qualitative, almost impossible improvement in strength.
To outsiders, such progress was miraculous.
But they had achieved it. And it was all thanks to the brutal pressure exerted by "Sesshomaru."
So the question remained: Why was Ray so urgently trying to enhance their strength?
"Ray," Robin asked softly, "is it because you cannot return to our world?"
Ray shook his head.
Seeing his reaction, Robin's smile faded, replaced by a somber realization.
"Then there's only one possibility. The danger we'll face upon returning is something even you cannot handle alone."
This time, Ray did not deny it.
As expected of Nico Robin.
She had faced pursuit since the age of eight, surviving alone in the treacherous world of pirates for twenty years.
Her ability to read people and analyze situations was truly exceptional.
"Robin, you should already know where the problem lies, right?" Ray asked slowly.
Robin thought for a moment, then nodded.
The light in her eyes dimmed.
"If I leave you all after we return... it should reduce the danger Luffy and the others have to face."
Robin was well aware of her burden.
She was an existence the World Government would not permit to live.
In the past, she survived because she lived in the shadows.
But now? The Straw Hat Pirates had publicly rejected the Shichibukai invitation.
Their captain constantly proclaimed his ambition to become the Pirate King.
The Pirate King was linked to the Poneglyphs.
By joining this crew, she was openly declaring war on the World Government's secrets.
The Government would undoubtedly implement an extermination plan, largely because of her.
Without Nico Robin, the Straw Hats were just ambitious rookies.
With her, they were a threat to the world order.
A look of heartbreaking resignation washed over her beautiful face.
"I will withdraw from the cr—"
THUD!
Before she could finish, a blur of silver cut through the air.
Ray thrust his sword—sheathed in its scabbard—through the loose fabric of her leather jacket, pinning her firmly against the large tree behind her.
"Bullshit!"
Ray glared at her, his eyes burning with an intensity that froze her breath.
"If I wanted you to leave, I wouldn't have invited you to join the crew in the first place."
Ray stepped closer, his face inches from hers.
He pulled Tokijin from the tree bark and slowly sheathed it at his waist, never breaking eye contact with Robin.
The air between them crackled with his domineering aura.
Robin was stunned.
Her heart raced, not from fear, but from the sheer weight of his conviction.
Unable to suppress her curiosity—or perhaps succumbing to Ray's innate charm—she reached out, her fingers brushing toward his hand.
Much like Nami before her, she was unsuccessful.
Ray caught her wrist gently but firmly, stopping her.
"Hmph. Such an unromantic man," Robin teased, quickly regaining her composure.
She was more mature than Nami; she knew when to retreat.
From the bushes, a small white head popped up. Even Chouchou couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment.
"Master, I really thought you were going to pin Robin against the wall for a kiss! Got my hopes up for nothing—"
"...."
"Stop! Master, I was wrong! I won't say anymore! Ah... oh... ow~~"
Whack.
Chouchou was instantly silenced, lying on the ground with all four limbs in the air, foaming at the mouth.
Robin chuckled softly, the tension breaking. "Ray... thank you."
A surge of warmth flowed through her lonely heart.
She recalled a scene from the distant past. A giant, laughing as he froze to death, his final words echoing across time:
"Live on, Robin. One day, you will definitely meet companions who cherish you."
The memory overwhelmed her.
A single tear escaped, tracing a path down her cheek.
For so many years, she had held it in.
This was the first time she had lost control in front of anyone.
Seeing the woman cry, Ray become flustered.
He was good at fighting demons, not comforting crying women.
He didn't make a move to hug her. Instead, he spoke with a low and steady voice.
"Don't tell them the truth. Let them continue to improve."
"With Luffy and the others' current rate of progress, plus my presence... even if Admirals come, they won't be able to take you away."
He turned his back to her, looking up at the moon.
"Everyone has the right to live. The World Government has no right to demand your death. And you... you have no right to give up on your own life either."
"Luffy and the others would risk their lives for me, and they'd do the same for you. So don't do anything meaningless."
With that, Ray said nothing more.
He grabbed the unconscious Chouchou by the scruff of the neck and flew high into the sky, disappearing into the night.
Robin wiped away her tears, her gaze fixed on the spot where the silver figure had vanished.
"Yes," she whispered to the empty forest. "If I give up my life... that would truly mean harming them."
Although the topic had been heavy, Robin felt lighter than she had in years.
However, as her analytical mind spun back up, a new, confusing thought took root.
"I wonder what's up with Ray? He doesn't react to me or Nami... but I saw him being particularly gentle with that little girl, Rin."
Her eyes widened.
"Does Ray have a daughter? No, that's impossible. Then who's his wife? Wait... Inuyasha said the girl was human."
A horrifying realization struck her.
"Oh my god... does he like young girls?"
Robin's brilliant mind was completely tangled in a misunderstanding of epic proportions.
...
The Next Day.
Early in the morning, the Straw Hat Pirates set out, fully armed and grim-faced.
Their target: the overlord of this area.
Half an hour later, Luffy and the others reached their destination.
It was a festering, dark swamp.
Standing in the center was the overlord—a half-transformed dragon yokai.
It possessed a dragon's face but a humanoid body, wielding a massive spiked club.
It stood twelve meters tall, its scales glinting like dark steel.
It looked infinitely more ferocious than the Blue Oni they had dispatched weeks ago.
High in the distance, Ray watched from the clouds.
The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
'If that face were made a bit more human-like... wouldn't it just be Kaido?'
Fate was a funny thing.
He wondered if Luffy would get beaten into Gear Fifth by a few swings of that club.
Ray shook his head, dismissing the thought.
If awakening were that easy, he would have beaten Luffy into becoming a Yonko long ago.
'Speed, strength, defense... this overlord has them all maxed out. Let's see how you handle a mini-Emperor, Luffy.'