One Piece: Nico Robin Collection

Chapter 6 Domineering
boom--

New World, Ghost Island, on the coast.

A dull sonic boom sounded, and Caesar flew backwards, leaving a deep groove on the beach.

Before he could get up, a burly figure several meters tall fell from the sky and punched him hard on the head.

Caesar suddenly turned his head, supported himself on the ground with his hands, kicked Jhin in the chest, and used the force to fly backwards.

Bang!
With a muffled thud, Jin took a step back and patted his chest. "Excellent combat reflexes! It seems you have a strong learning ability in this area. It's only been a week, and you've already managed to hold your own against me for this long."

"But if you continue like this, I'm afraid you won't be able to master Armament Haki even after a few more years."

"What do you mean?"

Caesar gasped, his face puzzled.

"Your fighting style is agile and clever, excelling at speed. While your strength is also considerable, it's mostly used for sneak attacks and defending against unavoidable attacks."

Jin said calmly, "To put it simply, you lack the desire to attack, or rather, the confidence to confront head-on."

Caesar raised his eyebrows slightly: "Confidence?"

"It's not that you're afraid of death. Those who possess the Hakimi will never lack the courage to challenge the strong. However, there are differences among kings. There are fearless lunatics and there are ambitious and shrewd heroes. You are obviously the latter type."

Jhin pointed at Caesar and said, "Your problem is that you're too calculating. Your first instinct in battle isn't how to defeat the opponent, but how to avoid getting hurt yourself."

"Is there any problem with this?" Caesar was puzzled.

"Problem? Hum..."

Jin seemed to be amused by Caesar's words. "You, idiot, do you know who you're facing? Even in this new world, my strength is second only to the Four Emperors, and when you faced my attack, you were thinking about how to protect yourself from harm? Aren't you getting too carried away?"

Caesar shook his head: "No, it is precisely because you are so powerful that I want to avoid getting hurt!"

The vitality he had taken from Foz F had been completely consumed by frequent injuries, and he couldn't use his abilities, so if he got injured again he would have to endure it.

"That's your problem! How can you fight without getting hurt?"

Jin scolded, "Listen carefully! Armament Haki can only be awakened through head-on combat. If you cower and dodge like you do, you will never be able to awaken Armament Haki!"

Caesar's face darkened. "If I don't dodge that punch, I'll definitely get seriously injured, right?"

"The ocean won't give you an opponent of equal strength! Idiot!"

With a loud bang, a spider-web-sized pit suddenly appeared on the beach under Jhin's feet. A black figure shot out, and his fist filled with armed color domineering power smashed towards Caesar with great force!
The sudden attack made Caesar's pupils shrink slightly. In an instant, the attack was right in front of him. Caesar quickly crossed his arms to block it in front of him.

Bang!
The dull sonic boom exploded again!

The gravel beneath his feet crumbled in all directions under this intense air pressure. Unlike the previous force that he could just barely withstand, this attack was far more powerful! Faster! More focused!

The tense muscles in his forearms were trembling violently, and his bones were groaning under the heavy burden, but Caesar did not dare to relax at all.

The power of this punch was too strong, so strong that it made his hair stand on end, so strong that if he dared to relax even a little... he would die!

But unexpectedly—he blocked it!
His body instinctively hunched over and squatted, and a force that came from nowhere continuously flowed from his body to his arms.

The trembling muscles in the arms became harder and harder under this tense and full-strength resistance, like steel!
Sensing Caesar's change, the dark fist in front of him finally stopped attacking.

"Do you feel it? The power in your body..." Jhin put away his fist and said lightly.

"How is this going?"

The strength in his body receded like the tide. Caesar breathed a sigh of relief, and his body suddenly felt tired, as if it could be blown down by a gust of wind. The feeling of hunger also came over him again like the tide.

"I didn't add much domineering power to this punch, but I used at least 50% of my strength."

Jin said calmly, "It seems I was right. You are too calculating. The presence or absence of domineering aura is a huge gap. In a battle, the one with domineering aura can be said to have an overwhelming advantage. And it is precisely because you understand this that you firmly believe that I am an opponent you cannot resist, thus avoiding a head-on confrontation with me."

"In other words, you're so obsessed with the gap in strength between us that you've neglected your own strength. You have absolutely no confidence in this area, but in reality, your strength is already comparable to some of the guys who have already made a name for themselves."

“Perhaps that’s right…”

Caesar threw his head back and fell to the beach. "Before I obtained the fruit, I was a completely ordinary person. No matter how much I trained, I saw no improvement. I heard that death battles can make you stronger, but I didn't have the courage to risk it. Only after becoming a special ability user did I have the courage to venture into the world of the strong."

is there any method?
Before he traveled through time, he was just an ordinary person.

In the years since I traveled through time, although I was not content with the status quo, I had not experienced any crisis.

"Fear of death...it's completely instinctive."

"Those who possess Conqueror's Haki are not afraid of death. Mr. Kaido's greatest hobby is suicide."

"That's because he can't die!"

"No, it's because he has a reason why he can't die."

"I understand! But I also don't understand it at all!"

Caesar sighed helplessly, "I've heard that a fist without faith becomes powerless. Each of these monsters fighting on the sea has their own ideals and beliefs, but faith is too illusory for me..."

"Is that so... I understand."

Jhin was silent for a moment. "If it's just a reason to fight, then I can give it to you."

"Ok?"

Hearing this, Caesar sat up suddenly, with an inexplicable bad feeling in his heart.

"When I had someone take inventory of your assets a few days ago, I also checked your past... It's clean. Apart from your penchant for bribing the navy, you don't have any other involvements. You're a good candidate for a pirate career."

"If I must ask you, you seem quite interested in this small village? Not only did you hire the Navy hero Garp to wipe out the pirates there, you also bought the village's bookstore and hired a young woman as its manager..."

"The girl's name is... Nami, right?"

The smile on Caesar's face gradually disappeared, and a hint of scarlet flashed in his eyes: "Is this all you can find out in just one week?"

“Joker’s service is excellent.”

Jin said calmly that investigating people was not within the business scope of the Beasts Pirates and was usually outsourced to Doflamingo. That guy had businesses all over the world and his intelligence skills in this area of ​​commerce were no worse than those of Stussy, the Queen of Pleasure Street.

"Is that girl your sweetheart?"

"No, I haven't even met her."

Caesar slowly stood up. "It's just that I occasionally get the urge to change something. It's purely out of interest, so even if you kill her, I won't do anything."

"But you look angry."

"I am very angry."

Caesar stood up straight, an inexplicable feeling lingering on his forehead, as if a sharp spike was pointed at his eyebrows, making him feel uncomfortable and a nameless anger rising in his heart. "Are you threatening me?"

"Mr. Kaido asked me to bring out your full potential, so no matter what method I use, as long as I can achieve my goal, I will not hesitate at all."

Jin said calmly, showing no shame at all for such a despicable threat. "You're a smart man. You should be able to see that I'm not exaggerating. So... have you found the faith to fight now?"

"still none."

Caesar sneered: "Even though I don't quite understand why I'm so angry, it doesn't matter anymore. I just want to kill you now."

"Pure killing intent is also a kind of belief."

Jin sneered and slowly drew the long sword from his waist. This was the first time he had drawn a sword in recent days. "So, you are ready to face death...right?"

laugh--

A blush quietly appeared on the body surface, and wisps of steam dissipated.

A faint red light flickered, and a pair of huge black bat wings pierced the fabric on Caesar's back, shaking slightly and slowly expanding.

The atmosphere was filled with a depressing silence.

The armed color domineering climbed to the tip of the knife. Jin stared quietly at the angry boy in front of him, and his eyes slowly fell on the other's forehead.

There, a strand of drooping hair suddenly stood up as if stimulated by something.

Then suddenly, Caesar disappeared from sight!

Disappeared?
Jin's eyes were stunned, and as he caught sight of it with his observation Haki, he saw a deep darkness falling from the sky at a speed invisible to the naked eye. Sensing this extremely fast attack, he suddenly swung the long sword in his hand!
boom--

The extremely violent and domineering color exploded out of thin air!

In an instant, the air waves rolled, and the violent collision caused the waves to roll back and the reefs to collapse!
Overlord color?
Still can't activate Armament Haki?

The moment the fist collided with the blade, a hint of disappointment flashed in Jin's eyes.

Although a week is a bit short, for Caesar with his qualifications, he should be able to get some feeling for it.

However, Caesar still disappointed him. There was not even a trace of armament color on the fist that fell from the sky.

In that case, just beat him half to death first!

Anyway, with this kid's ability, he can survive as long as he has a breath...

Thinking of this, Jhin swung the long sword in his hand without reservation and chopped it off Caesar's right fist - the air wall in front!

Feeling the sudden mountain-collapsing force on the blade, Jhin's eyes suddenly widened in an instant!
boom----

A deafening crash swept across the entire beach, and as the hurricane swept through, the coconut trees in the distance rustled and faintly made crackling and breaking sounds.

It seemed like a moment had passed, and also like a long time had passed...

On the shore, two figures, one big and one small, were lying on the beach in a big shape, both gasping for breath and looking in a miserable state.

The difference is that one of them is tired and the other is shocked.

Click…

The mask and helmet fell off together. Jhin raised his hand to wipe the corner of his mouth, and a trace of blood on his fingertip was very conspicuous. His left cheek was burning, and it would probably swell up soon.

Caesar stared at the sky, savoring the feeling of the blow just now.

It felt amazing...

It was as if the thought had become substance, turning into fluid and attaching to the fist. The moment it was swung out with force, it seemed as if it could sweep away everything in the world!
Although he didn't even clear the ashes in front of him, the feeling of breaking free from restraints and being invincible was deeply imprinted in his mind.

Lifting his shaking arms, Caesar gasped, "Is this... the release of Armament Haki?"

"No, simply releasing your Armament Haki is not enough to knock my sword away..."

Jhin slowly sat up, his white hair draped over his shoulders, revealing a handsome wheat-skinned face, his eyes filled with shock and confusion.

"That should be... the entanglement of Conqueror's Haki. Although I don't know how you did it, there is no doubt... you are indeed a dangerous fellow. If you continue to grow, even if you won't be a match for Mr. Kaido, you will definitely be better than me."

Caesar scoffed. "What? Are you trying to nip this danger in the bud?"

"Don't worry, I don't think you will surpass that man, and you don't need to worry about my threats anymore."

Jhin slowly stood up and casually swung out a flying slash, killing several unlucky minions who heard the noise and came to investigate, but accidentally saw his face.

"To a man capable of throwing a punch like that, such unseemly threats only serve to humiliate me. I'll tentatively admit that you're my equal. Before you challenge that man, I'm eagerly anticipating our battle."

Caesar twitched his lips and said, "That's not bad..."

"So who is that girl?"

Jin sat cross-legged next to Caesar, and asked with a hint of teasing, "Your fighting spirit?"

"You are a bit of a gossip..."

Caesar sat up with great effort, feeling his bones creaking all over his body. "I really haven't seen her. I just wanted to try to change something, so I did it casually. As for belief, I still don't understand..."

Jin was a little surprised: "Then your murderous intention just now..."

“I once heard a saying…Freedom isn’t about being able to do whatever you want, but being able to not do what you don’t want to do.”

Caesar smiled and said, "I don't like infringing on other people's freedom, and I also hate this kind of violation of my personal will. In fact, the reason I went to sea was just to be able to control my own destiny."

"I see…"

Jin smiled in relief, finally understanding why Caesar had thrown that punch just now: "But even with you like this, you still have no choice but to compromise with Mr. Kaido."

"So sooner or later I'm going to fight him!"

Caesar laughed heartily: "Being able to fight against the Four Emperors without losing means that I have the capital to not fear the threats of the Four Emperors, right? And I didn't come here for nothing. I must give him a big surprise before leaving."

"Then I'll just wait and see..."

Jin smiled and stood up, then killed a few more pirate minions who saw his appearance. "But I still firmly believe that this man...cannot be defeated."

"Then why do you cover your face all day? I see your faith isn't strong either."

“…You don’t understand.”

Hearing Caesar's teasing, Jhin paused in swinging his sword and looked at him in surprise.

But he didn't say anything more. He just silently picked up the mask on the ground, covered his face with it, and left.

(End of this chapter)