Chapter 223 Internal strife, the man standing on the barrel of the gun! (two in one)
The naval fleet that was carrying out the demon-killing order arrived in the O'Hara waters one after another. Under the coordination of Sakaski, more than a dozen warships lined up in a long queue a hundred meters apart, with their guns pointed at O'Hara.
After learning the news, Vice Admiral Huoshaoshan began to contact the navy who were investigating the people on the island and ordered his subordinates to leave the island. Although his order was issued immediately, the navy's evacuation work was quite slow.
Now the O'Hara dock is already crowded with people. Even the navy itself has no way to squeeze through the crowded crowd and return to their warships.
Not all navy officers are able to master the "advanced" technique of Moon Step, and these navy officers are unable to cross the surging crowds.
As for why they didn't use guns to clear the way and returned to their warships immediately, it was because the navy themselves didn't have a clear concept of the "Demon Slaying Order".
These sailors were also participating in such a mission for the first time, and they were feeling lucky. They thought that the formal attack would not be until tomorrow anyway, so it would still be in time to leave tomorrow. Besides, they still had so many sailors on the island, and their companions in the distance would not ignore them and open fire rashly.
It was precisely this lucky mentality of the sailors who landed on the island that made them completely entrust their lives to "fate."
The sight of the naval fleet on high alert in the nearby waters heightened the islanders' panic. From the moment the islanders received the news of the demon-killing order until now, no refugee ship had taken a single person away.
The speed at which the Navy and CP9 reviewed and approved boarding was far too slow. After so many days, even this refugee ship that could only accommodate a hundred people was not fully boarded.
The people on the shore became increasingly anxious when they saw the warships in the distance. If they had not seen that there were still navy ships stranded on the island, their anxiety would have turned into "actual action" long ago.
In the center of the island, the scholars who were transferring books also noticed the unusual movements of the navy fleet. They knew that they were running out of time. After realizing this, the scholars simply did not rest at night and moved the books all night long. They tried to protect as many as they could before the Demon Slaying Order arrived!
However, just as the scholars were busy in the Tree of All-Knowing, a thin figure came to the library. Looking at the busy scholars, Robin was a little stunned for a moment. He slowly walked to Dr. Clover who was directing the dispatch and gently pulled the corner of the latter's clothes.
Feeling the tug on his clothes, Dr. Clover turned around and saw the thinly dressed Robin. He forced himself to ask:
"Robin, why are you here? It's so late, why haven't you slept yet?" When the end of the world was approaching, Dr. Clover was still able to remain calm and expressed his concern for Robin in a soft voice.
"Can't sleep"
"Doctor, why did the Navy issue a demon-killing order against O'Hara?"
"Are we all going to die?"
Cruel words came out of the mouth of young Robin. Hearing this, Dr. Clover was stunned at first, and then hugged Robin gently with some heartache. Although Robin was young, she was very smart. She had long noticed the chaos on the island and knew the news of the Demon Killing Order.
From the few words of the fleeing people, Robin also understood what the Demon Slayer Order was.
As she spoke, Robin's eyes were filled with tears. She didn't have such a real fear of death, but she knew that once she died, she would never see Dr. Clover again, never see her mother again, never see the giant who would talk to her again, and never see the strange uncle again.
What she fears is loneliness.
"Robin."
Faced with Robin's question, Dr. Clover didn't know what to say for a moment. He just stroked Robin's head gently and was silent for a long time. Dr. Clover looked around at the empty bookshelves around him, and suddenly a smile appeared on his face.
"Robin, the seeds of life will continue to exist."
“Those who pursue history will never disappear!”
"You are the youngest scholar among us. As long as you live, our ideas, the things we have fought for our whole lives, will not disappear."
"As long as those things are not gone, we are still alive!"
When Dr. Clover was talking to Robin, there were many scholars around moving things. Hearing this, everyone stopped and came to Dr. Clover, looking at Robin with a smile.
"Robin, remember, no matter what happens, you have to survive!"
"Saron will find a way to take you away! This is the agreement between us and him."
"As long as you live, O'Hara will never disappear!"
Dr. Clover slowly squatted down, gently grasped Robin's arms, and said.
Although Robin is still unable to understand what Dr. Clover means, she is clear about one thing, that is, Dr. Clover and the others are already prepared to die.
Shaking his head gently, Robin tightly grasped Dr. Clover's collar, buried his head in Dr. Clover's arms, and suddenly said coquettishly: "I don't want it!"
"I don't want to be separated from you!"
At this moment, the door of the library was gently pushed open, and Salon's muffled voice came into the library: "Dr. Clover, the books have been moved."
Hearing this, Dr. Clover picked up Robin without hesitation, walked out the door, and said to Salon, "Please! Salon!"
As he spoke, Salon bent down, held Robin in his palm, and prepared to leave.
The place where the navy gathered was at the dock on the east coast. Salon had already made a raft himself, which was on the west coast, two or three hills away from the boarding point of the refugee ship there.
Dr. Clover knew how determined the Navy was. After he learned that the Navy planned to launch a demon-killing order against O'Hara, he had no intention of living. All he wanted was to leave a spark for O'Hara and for history.
And this spark is Robin!
Sarron is the vice admiral of the Marine Headquarters. As long as Robin's identity is not exposed, she can survive under Sarron's protection!
"Let's go! Saron!"
Dr. Clover looked at Robin struggling in Salon's palm, waved his hand at Salon, and shouted loudly. Salon heard it, and without hesitation, he took Robin and ran directly to the raft he had prepared in advance.
In the darkness of the night, a huge black shadow moved quickly towards the west coast, and this black shadow also attracted Kuzan's attention.
Tonight, Kuzan rested on the slope at the edge of the town, just like the previous few days, but he didn't expect that he would meet an old acquaintance this night.
Kuzan's figure turned into ice mist and disappeared on the spot.
Salon, who was running in the mountains, suddenly felt his body get cold. The next second, thick ice fog quickly condensed in front of him. Seeing this scene, Salon's pupils shrank slightly and he suddenly stopped.
After a while, Kuzan's figure condensed and saw Sarron in the night. Kuzan couldn't help but smile:
"Yo~Saron!"
"Long time no see! How come you're on this island when I can't get in touch with you for so long?"
Seeing his old friend whom he hadn't seen for a long time, Kuzan greeted him with a smile.
However, when Zaron saw Kuzan, his face looked very ugly. Just when he wanted to hide Robin behind him, Kuzan noticed Robin in Zaron's hand.
"Ah la la"
"Isn't this the island's little scholar?"
"I didn't expect that we would meet again."
Kuzan saw Robin and greeted him with a smile, but his eyes glanced at Salon and asked, "What are you planning to do with this little guy?"
"Saron!"
However, the next second, Sarron quickly placed Robin beside him, and with a huge figure, he rushed forward and punched Kuzan directly. While attacking, Sarron shouted:
"Kuzan, I'm sorry!"
Sarron's attack was very sudden. In an instant, his huge fist hit Kuzan directly. However, something unexpected happened. Facing Sarron's attack, Kuzan actually pulled out the dead wood he carried with him, and the blade directly blocked his fist.
Although Sarron was a giant, he was unable to knock Kuzan away with one punch.
"Hey, hey, hey, why did you suddenly attack me?"
"Saron, what are you doing?"
Kuzan raised his sword in one hand, his powerful Armament Haki condensed on the long sword, and asked in a frivolous tone. He glanced at Robin behind Salon, sighed softly, and explained:
"I'm not here to arrest that kid."
Although he was explaining to Zaron, Kuzan did not stop his hands. The power of the devil fruit was activated, and the coldness spread along the long sword directly to Zaron's body. In the blink of an eye, Zaron's right hand was frozen.
"Ah--" After a painful scream, Saron quickly flew back, lowered his head to look at his right arm that was frozen into ice by Kuzan, and looked towards Kuzan.
"Well"
"Don't worry, Saron. This is just to prevent you from doing anything extreme again."
Kuzan scratched his head and said apologetically to this good friend, but then he looked at Salon and Robin and continued to ask:
"So, can you tell me now, what are you doing? Salon!"
At this time, Robin walked to Sarron with a worried look on his face, looking at Kuzan not far away.
Kuzan is a navy. After Robin realized the horror of the Demon Slayer Order, he began to feel some fear towards Kuzan, a navy. Now seeing that the other party actually attacked his good friend Salon, Robin felt both fear and anger in his heart.
"I didn't do anything. I just encountered a shipwreck and ended up on this island."
"Now, I've recovered and am preparing to leave."
Sarron looked at Kuzan and replied in a deep voice. However, after hearing this answer, Kuzan, who was originally smiling, became a little embarrassed and complained, "Please spare me, Sarron. Although I trust you, you must not treat me like a fool."
"If there's anything, it's okay to tell me, right?"
"I will help you if I can."
"Aren't we partners?"
Seeing Kuzan’s troubled look, Salon was also a little surprised. In his impression, Kuzan didn’t seem to be such a person?
Burning justice.
Kuzan is a man who cannot tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. The fact that the other party appears here as a vice admiral of the navy means that he is one of the five vice admirals who implemented the Demon Slaying Order. With Kuzan's wisdom and his intelligence network, he must know what the World Government and the Navy Headquarters are planning to do.
But looking at the other party's current behavior, it seems that he doesn't care much about the order issued by the top?
It’s no wonder that Salon feels that the current Kuzan is different from the Kuzan he knows. After returning from the New World, Kuzan has been working with Yixiao.
Yixiao has always been a person with a clear position. Right is right and wrong is wrong. With the connivance of Tsugumi Yoshiichi, Yixiao has been upholding the justice in his heart after becoming a navy.
After Yixiao joined his team, he even had fierce quarrels with the lieutenant generals of other teams.
Under Yixiao's influence, Kuzan became more determined about what he wanted to do. Of course, this also gave Kuzan a "shortcoming", which was that he often did not take the orders from his superiors seriously.
The same goes for the Demon Slaying Order this time. The reason he came, besides because of the order, was mainly because he was "brainwashed" by the Navy Headquarters and felt that the scholars' research would cause turmoil in the world.
However, after visiting the island for a few days, Kuzan did not think that the island was worthy of the navy's use of the Demon Killing Order.
At most, they could lock up the scholars and prohibit them from continuing their research, and destroy the relevant books. A demon-killing order? That's an exaggeration.
Although he thought so in his heart, Kuzan was not so stubborn as to directly conflict with other lieutenant generals. He would not hinder others from enforcing the law, because there are rules after all. However, he would protect ordinary people at that time.
This is all Kuzan thought he could do.
Therefore, when he saw Robin and Sarron, although Kuzan guessed some of the truth, he did not feel much. He just wondered if there was anything he could do to help Sarron. However, Sarron was too impatient, so Kuzan had to help him calm down.
"Partner?"
"Kuzan. I no longer understand what justice is."
"Right now, I'm just trying to protect my friends."
"Can you help me? Be my partner and protect my friends!"
Saron lowered his head, glanced at Robin beside him, and suddenly asked Kuzan.
Hearing this, Kuzan breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that Salon still trusted him, Kuzan couldn't help but smile.
"Let's go."
Without any unnecessary nonsense, Kuzan turned around and walked towards the distant coast. After arriving at the seaside, Kuzan slowly squatted down, and a long ice road appeared directly on the sea surface, directly connecting Kuzan's warship.
Then, under Kuzan's leadership, the three came to Kuzan's warship.
When Kuzan was not on the warship, Yixiao was the highest commander on the warship. After noticing the movement on the sea, Yixiao appeared on the warship and looked at Kuzan and others on the ice road from afar.
After returning to the ship, Yixiao didn't ask any questions. He just drew out his long sword and directly cut off the ice road connecting the warship, then turned around and returned to the cabin.
The naval fleet not far away also noticed the abnormality here in Kuzan, but when Salon approached, everyone recognized this giant lieutenant general. They just thought that Kuzan and Salon went to the island for reconnaissance and did not take it seriously.
Without alerting anyone, Nico Robin left O'Hara and came to Kuzan's warship.
The next morning, a sharp and loud alarm sounded, piercing the sky.
Soon after the alarm sounded, the warships opened fire at the Tree of All-Knowing in the center of the island. More than a dozen warships revealed their true form as war machines. Flames spewed out and shells fell towards the Tree of All-Knowing like raindrops. The roaring sound of the artillery directly startled the people on the shore.
They all turned their heads and looked towards the town which was already engulfed in flames.
Sakaski stood on the deck, watching the fleet's bombardment with a cold face, without saying a word. Suddenly, Sakaski noticed that there was a warship quietly parked on the sea not far away. Although it was facing O'Hara, it was motionless and no shells were fired from the warship.
Confused, Sakaski called his adjutant over, pointed at a warship in the distance, and asked directly in a deep voice, "What's going on with that warship? Didn't it receive the order? Why didn't it open fire?"
At Sakaski's inquiry, the adjutant hurried over to Sakaski and reported, "That's Vice Admiral Kuzan's warship. They sent a report early this morning saying the shells on their warship are damp."
When he said this, the adjutant's face was covered with cold sweat. He felt guilty when he said this, but this report was really given to him by Kuzan.
"Tsk..." Sakaski ignored Kuzan and the others and turned his head to look at O'Hara in the distance. After bombarding for more than ten minutes, Sakaski suddenly pointed at the refugee ship on the west coast and ordered his subordinates:
"Turn the gun around and fire over there!"
The adjutant looked in the direction Sakaski pointed, his pupils shrinking slightly, and he couldn't help but say, "Lieutenant General, that is a refugee ship, and it's full of ordinary people."
"Um?"
"Ordinary people?"
"How do you know if O'Hara's scholars will blend in with the common people and sneak away?"
"You have to know that if even one person escapes, the world will be plunged into turmoil!"
"No one can be let go!!!"
"Execute the order!"
Sakaski looked at his subordinates with a cold and unfriendly expression and shouted angrily. Hearing this, the officer could not help but straighten his body, saluted, and hurried away.
Not to mention that he felt that Lieutenant General Sakaski's decision was not unreasonable. Although it was cruel, it was indeed a way to eliminate future troubles.
Soon, the gunfire on Sakaski's warship stopped and the guns began to turn their muzzles.
Not long after, after a volley of fire, more than a dozen shells were fired and flew towards the refuge ship in the distance.
"What?!"
"Who is attacking the refugee ship?!"
Although Kuzan hadn't participated in the Demon Slayer Order's bombardment, his attention had always been on the fleet and the island. Kuzan was the first to notice the change in trajectory of the Sakaski warship's shells.
However, before Kuzan could make any move, a figure had already passed by Kuzan.
Gravity Knife——Tiger!
He walked to the side of the ship with a smile, bent slightly, and then suddenly drew out his long sword and slashed at the cannonballs shooting into the air.
At that moment, all the shells in the air seemed to be trapped in a space where time had stopped, and they all stopped. The next moment, the shells suddenly changed direction and shot towards the sky in a strange way.
“BOOM ...!”
A loud explosion sounded from mid-air. Thick black smoke obscured the navy's vision at this moment, and the shelling suddenly stopped at this moment.
"Hello!"
"Sakaski, what are you doing?!"
The sudden change made Sakaski's pupils shrink. Before he could ask anyone to investigate the cause, a slender figure in a white suit landed directly on the main gun at the bow of the ship.
The gun barrel, which had become hot due to continuous firing, was now frozen by thick ice. Between the hot and cold, the steel gun barrel had completely cracked and was no longer usable.
"Kuzan."
Sakaski looked at the person who came, and a cloud of gloom covered his face.
(End of this chapter)
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