Kuzan frowned upon hearing this, involuntarily recalling the scene he had just witnessed of the Cats transporting books from the Tree of Knowledge.
"What do you want those books for?" Kuzan pressed.
"I just don't want to see the knowledge accumulated by you humans turn to ash in the sea of fire."
Kuzan clearly didn't believe Luo Fan's explanation. Cold air began to emanate from his body. Luo Fan put Noy down and transformed into his Cat Sword Form, violent lightning flowing through his fur.
Electric sparks and cold air collided in the air.
*Swoosh—* Both Luo Fan and Aokiji vanished from their spots simultaneously.
In the next second, cat claws imbued with Armament Haki and lightning clashed with an ice blade also coated with Armament Haki.
Behind Luo Fan, arcs of electricity dyed the night purple, while behind Kuzan, everything was frozen solid.
Lightning and cold air were at a stalemate for a moment, and both Luo Fan and Kuzan's expressions turned solemn.
By now, Kuzan's arm was somewhat numb from the electricity. Similarly, Kuzan's cold air had seeped through the cat claws into Luo Fan's forelimbs, causing them to freeze Up.
(PS: Physically speaking, pure ice does not conduct electricity, but just as Kizaru cannot truly reach the speed of light, Aokiji's ice cannot be pure ice either.)
The man and the cat withdrew and retreated simultaneously. A flash of lightning appeared on Luo Fan's forelimbs, using the heat of the electricity to dispel the cold. Kuzan shook his numbed arm and made no further move.
Clearly, in the clash just now, Kuzan still had the upper hand.
"It seems Borsalino was right; you are a very dangerous fellow! You should still have that pistol that fires seastone nails on you, right?"
Luo Fan ignored Kuzan's probing and changed the subject directly: "Mr. Vice Admiral, I think instead of entangling with me here, you should go see if those Ohara Scholars have snuck onto the civilian evacuation ship."
"You don't need to worry about that; other Marines will handle it."
"Is that so? Then don't you care about Saulo either?" After saying this, Luo Fan looked toward the distant harbor with a half-smile.
At this moment, Saulo was using his own body to block the Marine warships to create an opportunity for Robin to escape.
Seeing this, Kuzan's expression grew a few degrees colder. Luo Fan stretched and reverted to his normal form. He knew Kuzan would no longer bother with him, because compared to Saulo, an old acquaintance, he was clearly not that important.
Before leaving, Kuzan asked Luo Fan: "Are the Whitebeard Pirates all this terrifying? Even a pet with a bounty of only 50 Berries has such formidable combat power. It's truly surprising. What is your name?"
Kuzan's mention of 50 Berries stung Luo Fan's pride. To be fair, is a pet only worth 50 Berries? Besides, is he even a pet? Does he look like a 50-Berry cat?
Today, Luo Fan was going to prove himself to Kuzan and the Marines!
Thinking of this, Luo Fan transformed into his Cat Sword Form once again. Conqueror's Haki, accompanied by lightning, swept out: "Mr. Vice Admiral, remember this! My name is Luo Fan."
Faced with such a powerful aura, even Kuzan couldn't help but look sideways.
"Luo Fan? I'll remember you!" With that, he used Soru to rush toward Saulo's location.
Having gotten rid of Kuzan, Luo Fan reverted to his normal form, picked Up Noy, and flapped his wings into the air.
By now, Ohara below was a sea of fire. Countless shells were exploding across Ohara, and even the Tree of Knowledge had been set ablaze.
Witnessing all this, Noy couldn't bear it. She turned to Luo Fan and asked, "Luo Fan, can't we do anything else?"
Just as Luo Fan was about to speak, the evacuation ship carrying the civilians of Ohara sailed out of the harbor.
Seeing this, Noy breathed a long sigh of relief. It seemed the Marines still had their bottom line.
But what Noy didn't expect was that before the ship had gone far, a fist enveloped in magma sank it.
At that moment, Noy's eyes were filled with confusion. She had long thought the Marines wouldn't let anyone go, but when this scene actually happened before her eyes, she only felt her limbs go cold.
"Luo Fan, let's go to the Tree of Knowledge! Let's protect as many books here as possible," Noy said after a long silence.
Originally, Luo Fan hadn't planned to appear in the Marines' sight today, which was why he had sent the Cat Corps to rescue the books.
But now he was exposed and had even fought Kuzan. Kuzan would definitely report his existence to his superiors. It made no difference whether he went to the Tree of Knowledge or not.
So, Luo Fan nodded, picked Up Noy, and flew to the Tree of Knowledge.
At this time, the Scholars were all desperately rushing into the sea of fire to rescue those precious books. Luo Fan took Noy and rushed in as well.
With a swipe of his claws, he put as many of the remaining books as possible into his space. Currently, Luo Fan's space only contained a ton of kobyarite and some food, so there was still plenty of room.
With this move, Luo Fan filled his space completely, taking in about one-tenth of the books from the Tree of Knowledge.
The Scholars were stunned by the sudden disappearance of the books. Then one of them came Up to talk to Luo Fan. Upon learning that Luo Fan was there to help save the books, the Scholars bowed to him in unison to express their gratitude.
Luo Fan waved his paw to say no thanks were necessary, then left with Noy. This was all he could do for now.
Just as the two Cats rushed out of the fire and flew into the sky, they saw the frozen Saulo.
"Luo Fan, didn't you say Saulo was a friend of that freezing Vice Admiral? Why would he still..."
"Their paths of justice are different. Compared to friendship, conviction is more important."
Noy only half-understood, but she didn't ask more, because she saw Robin being blocked by Kuzan at the harbor: "Luo Fan, that little girl over there is Robin, right?"
"It's her," Luo Fan replied after a glance.
"Heh, is this the Marines' justice? Not even letting a little girl go."
Luo Fan patted Noy's head and said, "Kuzan is different from Sakazuki. Although he ate the Hie Hie no Mi, he isn't a heartless person, and the justice he follows isn't that absolute."
"Who is Sakazuki?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. The one who destroyed the civilian evacuation ship just now was Sakazuki."
Noy silently noted Sakazuki's name in her heart, then turned her gaze toward Kuzan and Robin.
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Recently, many readers have given feedback regarding the female lead. In my original setting, Noy was just a tool character intended to keep the Cat Corps in check, but many readers want her to be the female lead.
Let's hold a vote here. Those who want Noy to be the female lead, reply with 1 under this line; those who don't, reply with 2.
Regardless of whether Noy becomes the female lead, her primary setting will still be that tool character. This will definitely not change, so you can rest assured.