Chapter 61

Grandline, Paradise, flying lamb

Moving slightly to the left, Azul seemingly dodged a slash from Zoro's katanas only barely though no panic could be found on Azuls blank face as he kept on watching Zoro that tried to cut him apart. Moving forward with a step of his right foot, Azul stepped straight into Zoros guard, denying him the distance to use his swords so he had no other choice but to step back a little, though this was not going to happen as Azul grabbed Zoro by the scruff of his shirt and while grabbing him span around, throwing Zoro over his right shoulder, smashing the man into the deck of the flying lamb, where he remained shortly, trying to catch his breath before jumping up once more, turning back around to charge once more at his opponent that had grabbed himself an apple and took a crunching bite from the red glorious ball, enjoying how the sweet juice filled his mouth, only barely letting his perception remain on the swordsman who couldn't help but curse inwardly.

The two of them had been sparring for four hours now and Zoro hadn't even managed to slightly nick Azul, no matter what kind of technique he used or how fast he slashed. He simply was unable to touch the man. Halfway through they had taken a short break, in which Azul had had a conversation with Robin in which she told him that she agreed to become the bait in his plan, making Azul all the more happier, after which he told her how they were gonna go about doing so.

They would start from the next island onwards with Robin walking around the city as much as possible, while Azul always remained in reach should somebody contact or even try to arrest her, so they could try and lure the undercover agents out of hiding. Though none of the two knew how long this would take since they didn't know on which island the CP-agents were stationed, but that didn't really concern Azul since they had already decided to bring Robin into the new world and all the islands on their way could be possible locations for an undercover operation.

When the break was over they resumed the sparring once more, slightly boring Azul but it was better than nothing. At least here he could exercise his body a little, compared to his former ship. He had already formulated the idea to get himself a new ship on the next island, due to it being a prominent island housing some of the best shipwrights of the whole grandline. Though, he hadn't completely thought through what kind of ship he wanted. He had always liked the feeling of sailing on his smaller ship since he felt the most impact when the grandline threw shit at him, and so he may get himself another small ship, though this time slightly bigger so he had at least some room to move on.

At the end of his spar with Zoro the man was laying on the ground as a sweaty puddle, completely spent. After Azul started to walk back towards the railing to take a little nap, Luffy attacked him to get some action as well, since he had grown restless after watching Zoro spar so long with Azul, resulting in a brawling match, into which even Usopp joined, who was swiftly knocked out as a consequence.

They kept on rumbling till the late hours of the day, when Sanji interrupted the duo, with Luffy barely able to stand on two feet, having so many bruises and bumps on his head, calling them into the cabin for dinner. The group ventured inside and were greeted by a heavenly aroma, promptly digging in and what a feast it was!

Soon afterwards the crew had fallen into companiable silence as they were digesting all the food Sanji had shoved at them, now and then burping in satisfaction, earning the miscreant a vicious punch from their navigator until they all ventured to bed since tomorrow they would reach water 7. Azul though stayed outside, having grown used to and fallen in love with sleeping under the stars and thus slept outside under the soft breeze of the grandline.

The next day they arrived in water 7 and what a view the city presented the group. After forming teams, as the strawhats needed to get some repairs ordered for the flying lamb, and Azul and Robin commencing with their plan they split up and ventured into the giant city that resembled one gigantic fountain.

While the strawhats ventured to some shipyard, Azul disappeared from behind Robin after telling her he was always in reach and assuring her that all would be fine, remaining in the shadows, covering his haki as much as he could, becoming pretty much invisible to those that weren't masters of their haki.

As Robin kept walking through the city she wondered if the plan was such a good idea to begin with but she had come to trust Azul slowly but surely and his strength assured her even more. After nearly an hour of nobody approaching her she had nearly given up and was about to turn into the direction she thought Azul may be hiding when a tall person, completely covered in green fabric walked past her, whispering into her ear to meet him, judging by the persons voice a man, at the galleyla shipyard if she didn't want the strawhats to die in turn, making her thoughts run a hundred miles a second. 'They seem to believe I am a part of the strawhat crew...' she contemplated, giving a short nod as answer, after which the tall man disappeared in the crowd.

Soon afterwards she sat down in a café still in deep thoughts and was joined by Azul who wordlessly sat down at the table next to hers, with his back to hers, so she could quietly tell him about the man's words.

After listening attentively, Azul told her to go meet them and ask them at the meeting how many they are here in water 7, after which Azul would crash the party and take over so she wouldn't have to bother with this whole thing anymore than nescessary, making Robin exhale in relief.

As she stepped inside a group of four members, all covered in black suits greeted her with silence, making Robin nervous a little though she knew that Azul was watching everything from the shadows.

Taking a deep breath Robin asked: "What do you want from me?"

"The world government has issued a missive for your arrest, should you ever appear in the reach of Cipher Pol. Should you resist we will first kill all members of the strawhats that you are a part of as it seems and afterwards execute you as well." The leader of the group, a slim man standing in the middle, spoke up in a monotonous voice.

"I see. And what makes you think you can take on the strawhats with only four members? Or are there more of you here in water 7?" Robin tried to inquire carefully, hiding her true intentions behind a mask of arrogance, hoping the Cipher Pol agents would mistake it as confidence in the strawhats strength.

".....No, there are no more members in water 7, though for those weaklings we will be more than enough." the blond woman of the team spoke up before the leader could keep her from revealing unneeded information. Though she did and fullfilled the task Robin had received from Azul, making her grin a little, knowing that she was relieved from her duty.

The CP-agents, seeing her smile narrowed their eyes, not quite understanding what the woman before them was smiling about, until a shiver went down the spine of each CP-agent, widening their eyes as they saw a shadow fall over the group from behind them.

Turning around they spotted a big man with a bloodthirsty grin on his face. They tried to move their bodies but a pressure fell down on their shoulders a few of the members hadn't felt in years, igniting a deep fear that was hidden deep inside their minds from an event that had nearly cost them their lives in the past. And judging by the next words of the tall man before them they were right to connect the feeling that had errupted inside them with today bringing clear horror to those that were prievy to the events of Ishiria and what transpired there...

"Finally, after all those years... but it matters not. Nobody escapes their karma and it just so happens that I have been sent as its judge and executioner."