"Aokiji!"
Robin was the first to react. Her face turned grave as she looked toward where the voice came from and shouted a warning, "Seijuro Meow, come back quickly! That man is a Navy admiral!"
Seijuro Meow, who had been about to continue attacking, immediately jumped back cautiously after hearing Robin warning, then looked toward the tall man who had appeared out of nowhere.
At this moment, Aokiji was only wearing a light-colored suit and hadn't put on his Marine coat, though the green sleep mask on his forehead was still there.
"It been a long time, Nico Robin." He smiled faintly and greeted her. "I didn't expect you to grow into such a great beauty."
"Aokiji…"
Robin looked at him with a complicated expression and took up a guarded stance.
"Is it a new enemy, meow?!"
(=ω=)l▄︻╤
Jinx looked excited as she pulled out her weapon.
"Another bad guy trying to snatch Sister Robin again, meow?!"
(=`Д=)
Klee Meow also reached her little paw into her backpack.
"As expected, Navy admirals are all nothing good, meow!"
(=益)
Sanji Meow, who had once been endlessly pestered by Kizaru, showed an expression of utter disdain.
The other cats also all took up their battle stances.
"Eh? Eh! The Navy? But… eh?!" After a brief moment of confusion, Shirahoshi also pulled out her "small" handgun and aimed it at Aokiji. "Even if you're Navy, we won't let you take Sister Robin away!"
"No, no, no! I'm not here to cause you any trouble." Aokiji hurriedly waved his hands, then pointed at Cavendish, who was still sleeping soundly nearby. "I'm just here to stop you from killing him."
"A Navy admiral stopping me from killing a pirate?" Sherwin, who held the title of one of the Seven Warlords, wasn't intimidated at all.
He raised an eyebrow and mocked him. "Is this what the Navy calls justice? How ridiculous."
"Sorry, I have my own position to uphold as well…" Aokiji rubbed his head helplessly, but still explained, "Cavendish is the prince of the allied nation Bourgeois, so I can't just stand by and watch you kill him."
With Aokiji saying that, Sherwin finally remembered that there did seem to be such a thing.
At the very beginning, Cavendish had only been exiled from his country because he dragged down the nation marriage rate.
After wandering all the way to Rommel, he was then forced to become a pirate because of the murders caused by his second personality…
So when he was still in his own country back then, he didn't seem to have had the problem of a split personality?
No matter what the exact situation was, this at least explained Sherwin earlier doubts—no wonder Cavendish, despite having such a fatal flaw, was still able to walk free after causing a massacre in Rommel.
Only…
"So you're just letting 'Rommel Kamaitachi' go around killing people?" Sherwin narrowed his eyes.
Even though he had long known that the World Government and the Marines in the pirate world were a complete mess, he still questioned them with clear displeasure.
"If you wanted to spare his life, you could at least arrest him, couldn't you?"
Among the three Admirals, Aokiji—considered the most mild-mannered—gave a bitter smile and continued explaining helplessly to Sherwin.
"It useless. Even if we arrest him, as long as the king of Bourgeoisia speaks up, we'll still have to release him. So all we can do is drive him out to sea and let him bring disaster to other pirates instead."
"Heh!" Sherwin snorted, mocking them without restraint once again. "Good thing I didn't accept the invitations from old man Garp and that old fossil Sengoku back then. Being a Marine is way too suffocating."
"If I could help it, I wouldn't want to deal with him either, but I just happened to be here."
Aokiji sighed gloomily. He had only planned to take advantage of a relatively free period to check on how Nico Robin—the one he had once let go—was doing now.
He never expected to run into that reckless hothead Cavendish provoking Sherwin instead…
If he hadn't made it in time, that would have been one thing. But now that Aokiji was right there, and he hadn't even tried to hide his presence, if the nobles of those allied nations found out afterward, they would definitely come knocking on the Marine door to demand accountability.
It was precisely because he hated trouble that Aokiji had no choice but to intervene.
"Hehe…" Sherwin chuckled softly again, then his expression suddenly darkened as he barked, "Move!"
To begin with, Sherwin hadn't been particularly fixated on whether he could kill Cavendish or not.
His main objective was that sword, Durandal. But Aokiji matter-of-fact attitude of shielding him had thoroughly annoyed him.
In any case, the World Government had promised back then that even if he killed a few members of the royal families, they would not pursue responsibility.
As for using that promise to make Aokiji leave on his own, Sherwin had never considered it.
Setting aside whether Aokiji would even believe a verbal agreement between him and the CP organization, Sherwin also wanted to take this opportunity to test whether the CP organization promise would actually hold up.
With the status of one of the Seven Warlords, Sherwin was not worried at all about the Marines coming after him afterward…
It had to be said that although the Seven Warlords system was extremely stupid from the Marine strategic perspective, for a non-Marine like Sherwin, it was unbelievably useful.
"I was just waiting for you to say that, meow!"
Jinx, the most battle-hungry of them all, was the first to pull the trigger, pouring bullets coated in Armament Haki toward Aokiji.
At the same time, the fastest of them, Shermie, transformed into a streak of swift lightning and charged straight toward the Cavendish lying on the ground, while Seijuro Meow—who was closest to Aokiji—quickly activated Possession, then silently executed a Melu Flash, stabbing toward Aokiji waist.
It was worth mentioning that although Shermie could not use Possession, she had her own version of "Observation killing." In fact, she had developed it even earlier than Sherwin…
The underlying principle was actually a variation of the Thundercloud technique:
by lowering the voltage of her elementalized lightning to the absolute minimum, ordinary Observation Haki—unless deliberately focused—could easily overlook her presence.
Although Huamei did not attack Aokiji directly, she released Conqueror Haki to disrupt his Observation Haki perception… a move that was likewise inspired by Rayleigh Observation killing.
Monster Hunter Style: Hellfire!
To cover the two Felynes, Sherwin chose to join forces with Klee Meow and unleash a move that looked overwhelmingly grand, had a special advantage against Aokiji, yet was still something he could handle.
After all, he only intended to take out Cavendish and had no plans to completely fall out with the Marines for the time being…
The identity of a Seven Warlord was still quite convenient for him to use, and he did not want to give it up so soon.
Because of that, the remaining Felynes did not make a move.
Of course, on the other hand, they were also protecting Shirahoshi, Haibara Meow, and several other companions whose strength was not particularly high.
Even though only part of the Felynes took action, and Sherwin did not use the more powerful Finality series, Aokiji expression still changed instantly.
He was not as tough as Kaido, and Klee Meow Flame-Flame Fruit directly countered his Ice-Ice Fruit in terms of attributes, so just this single joint attack from Sherwin and Klee Meow was already enough to give him a serious headache.
Not to mention that a "Black Knight" was charging straight toward his waist, and that "Lightning," who had eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, had completely vanished from sight.
As for the bullets fired by Jinx, Aokiji was not ignoring them either.
However, compared to the disappeared Shermie, Seijuro Meow who was almost impossible to lock onto even with Observation Haki, and that flame slash which was clearly incompatible with him at a glance, he truly had little spare attention to give them.
"Ice Ball!"
A Marine Admiral who had been through countless fierce battles, Aokiji made the optimal response in a flash of lightning, repurposing a technique originally meant to restrain opponents into one used for defense.
The instant the massive ice sphere appeared, a barrage of attacks smashed into it one after another.
It was quickly battered into a pockmarked state, yet it not only blocked the attacks Sherwin and the others were using to pin Aokiji down, but also unintentionally protected Cavendish at Aokiji feet, causing Shermie sneak attack to come back empty-handed.
"So, so cold!"
Cavendish was jolted awake by the sudden chill, but neither Aokiji nor Sherwin had any mind to pay him attention.
"Hoo… as expected of someone who can go head-on with Kaido."
After blocking the combined strike from Sherwin and the Felynes, Aokiji split the already tattered ice sphere open along a crack, revealing most of his head as he praised, "Nico Robin, you really did find yourself a pretty solid backer this time."
Then, ignoring the abrupt change in Robin expression, he turned his gaze to Sherwin and said in a low voice, "We'll let what just happened slide. But if you still refuse to give up from here on out, then I'll be fighting back. Even if you're a Seven Warlord, the Marines won't just let you run wild!"
"Oh? So that how it is?" A mocking smile appeared on Sherwin face. "So in the eyes of a Marine Admiral like you, eliminating pirates counts as… running wild?"
Aokiji fell silent.
Whether he was left without words, or simply unwilling to argue with Sherwin any further, the ice saber that appeared in his hand had already made his decision clear.
…