"Really?" Robin didn't know whether to be mortified or flattered that Rob Lucci hadn't given up on capturing her.
"He's supposed to be some kind of genius assassin, right? He's probably gotten stronger in the last two years and thinks he can take us on now. As for this Guernika fellow, he probably thinks that you specifically haven't grown much at all, since you weren't really known for your raw power before joining up with the crew," Cherry postulated.
Robin crossed her arms and frowned. "That's a bit insulting..."
Although... she couldn't really deny it. She spent so much time on the run as well as searching for more poneglyphs to read that she really didn't have any room for combat training.
Of course, their underestimation of her capability was at least in part because of her cultivation. The existence of such a power system was simply unknown to the world. Cherry had been rather tight lipped about the whole thing, for obvious reasons.
"Shall I hunt down the offensive cur for you, darling?" Cherry fluttered her eyelashes.
"No, I think I'll give him a fright," Robin winked in turn.
The two of them chuckled darkly, causing the others present to take a step or two away from them. Except for Reiju, who was accustomed to being around menacing individuals.
Robin made her way to the stairs to see if she could find this Guernika fellow, trusting that Cherry could handle things up here on her own.
At this point in time, the fight between Luffy and Kaido was reaching a crescendo. The air literally buzzed with power as kanabo clashed against fist, and haki clashed against haki.
It was getting just a bit too intense, actually. Reiju and Pudding decided that they didn't have much business being up here any more. The two of them might be confident in their strengths, but they weren't foolish enough to think they could tank a stray attack from an Emperor level battle.
Ace wasn't that worried about it himself. Whitebeard had been putting him through the ringer ever since he almost got executed. He had a firm grasp of what this kind of combatant culd dish out and just how much he could handle.
He wondered if he could handle Blackbeard as he is now. He thought he could take the Blackbeard of two years ago, but it was doubtful that that traitor had stopped growing since then.
In any case, he was going to watch his kid brother's ascension to Emperor. He didn't fear facing Kaido head on, let alone sitting on the sidelines next to the Straw Hat crew's resident force of nature that was Harpin D. Cherry.
"You two kids run along now; Luffy won't need any more help from you. Rest assured that the outcome won't be changed by you now," Cherry waved off Cabernet and Yamato. "You'll be more helpful elsewhere."
Yamato looked like he wanted to argue, but Cabernet's urging convinced him to withdraw without a fuss.
Cherry and Ace sat there without speaking for a minute, watching two of the world's strongest powerhouses engage in a slug fest.
"Do you think he can win?" Ace asked. His voice was unusually timid as he did so, like he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer.
It was not that he feared for his brother's life, but rather that he feared for Luffy's dream. It was a silly and wonderful dream, and Ace didn't want a second defeat here to shatter Luffy's will to strive for it.
"He can, but it doesn't matter," Cherry said. She said it with such confidence that it soothed his nerves somewhat. It even seemed that she saw through to his true worries behind the words he spoke.
Guernika cursed Rob Luccy a thousand times in his mind.
Literally. He counted them all, just to make sure.
The bastard certainly deserved it. What nerve that loser had to order him around .
Rob Lucci failed to capture Nico Robin two years ago, then got a promotion into CP0 and even placed higher than Guernika!
Guernika had been in CP0 for over a decade, damn it!
So what if Rob Lucci was stronger than him? Was strength the only factor that mattered to an assassin or spy? No!
Rob Lucci was better than him in all those other important areas of expertise too... but at least Guernika wasn't a colossal fuck up!
Now he demands that Guernika do the impossible, and no doubt when Guernika failed he would be blamed for the entire operation!
Guernika didn't eat the scapegoat devil fruit, damn it!
"Er..." Joseph was looking at him. "Did you mean to say all that out loud?"
"Say what out loud?" Guernika spat.
"Oh... right," Joseph scratched his head. "Must have been the wind..."
"I'm telling," Maha said.
"I'm docking your pay!" Guernika threatened blatantly.
"I've got plenty in savings," Maha didn't back down.
Guernika clenched his fists. He quickly weighed the pros and cons of killing a fellow agent in the middle of an already doomed mission.
"We'll see who believes who after I capture Nico Robin," Guernika promised.
That at least shouldn't be too hard, right? There was so much chaos in the castle at the moment, so it was the perfect opportunity. Nobody would notice if a single woman went missing in all this ruckus.
And when he brought Nico Robin back to Mary Geoise, he could imagine rubbing the glorious success in Rob Lucci's stupid cat face. He'd probably even be promoted above Rob Lucci!
"We should find King Cobra as well while we're looking," Guernika suggested.
""Agreed,"" Joseph and Maha said.
No doubt finding the missing King would earn them a fat bonus from the Five Elders. They didn't know why they wanted him, but it didn't matter why. All that mattered was the standing orders to find him and bring him back, and the rewards for doing so.
Guernika had to be honest, though; he was dead curious why they wanted him so badly. It was rare that bonuses were offered to incentivise Cypher Pol agents, let alone such a hefty sum.
The CP0 agents were utterly unaware of the one spying on them.
Robin wasn't ashamed to admit that she took pleasure in seeing how much friction there was between the World Government's assassins. The more miserable they were, the better.
If she were a pettier person, she might have even dedicated her life to making their lives a living hell for what they did to Ohara. She knew who was truly to blame for that terrible tragedy, though.
That said, she wasn't above making their lives difficult whenever they crossed paths. Like right now.
"There she is!" the one called Maha hissed and jabbed his finger in the direction that Robin's duplicate went.
Robin smiled. She hoped that they were ready, because she was about to lead them on one of the most annoying wild goose chases in history.