ONE PIECE: BLEACH SYSTEM

On the second morning after the giants arrived on the island, Hayden, Robin, and Sauro had already moved to a more secluded location.

The open area near the beach had too little cover to conceal a real giant like Sauro, so they relocated to a remote, forested coast, surrounded by hills and thick vegetation.

After settling in, Sauro placed Robin on a nearby hill roughly the same height as the one he was seated on. His expression was unusually serious as he stared at her and asked the question that had plagued him since the night before.

"Ah… What?!?"

"Your mother's name is really Olvia?! Nico Olvia?!"

Robin, sitting with her knees hugged to her chest, was in a cold and withdrawn mood. She answered Sauro with a frosty expression, recounting what little she knew about her mother.

She hadn't expected the question to provoke such a visceral reaction.

Sauro's eyes widened, pupils dilating in shock. A bead of cold sweat trailed down his forehead.

"Plop!"

His massive body collapsed backward with a heavy thud that shook the ground beneath them.

His mind raced.

Robin is Olvia's daughter… this island is O'Hara… the Navy warships… everything Hayden said is true…

In the next instant, Sauro suddenly sprang up.

"Hayden…"

He turned to speak but hesitated. Hayden was a short distance away, practicing his sword swings in an open clearing.

Although Sauro wasn't a swordsman, as a former vice admiral, he had taught Hayden some fundamentals. Even if crude, it was better than Hayden's unfocused self-training over the past few days.

In contrast to Sauro's alarm, Hayden appeared calm and collected—almost unbothered.

After all, panicking wouldn't help. Until Sauro finished building the raft, they couldn't leave the island. And from what he remembered, the Buster Call hadn't been launched yet.

He had secured his immediate survival. And while Sauro wasn't Garp the Hero, a vice admiral-level ally wasn't bad.

But then—

"This is bad! I'm finished!"

"Why—why did it have to be here?! Of all places—O'Hara!!!"

Sauro clutched his head and roared, the volume of his voice rattling the branches above. His outburst brought Hayden's training to a halt and drew Robin's puzzled gaze from atop her hill.

Then Sauro turned to her, sweat pouring down his brow, panic clear in his voice.

"Robin… I know this will sound crazy, but please—you have to listen."

"The Navy… they're sending warships here—to wipe out the scholars of O'Hara!"

Robin froze, stunned.

"You're lying!!!"

"It's true, Robin! Have I ever lied to you?!"

"Go back to town now! See if anything's wrong. Maybe… maybe your mother has returned too!"

Robin's heart surged with conflicting emotions—denial, confusion, fear. Despite her mistrust, she couldn't help but run off toward the town, hope and dread battling in her chest.

Sauro stayed behind. For reasons of his own, he couldn't risk being seen.

Hayden, seeing no real reason to chase after her, chose to remain as well.

Instead, he asked Sauro to place him on the hill Robin had just vacated. There, he crossed his legs and entered a meditative state—at least in theory.

…

After a while, his mind wandered. His legs and backside had gone numb.

Down below, Sauro was demonstrating what looked like a monkey uprooting a willow tree—gripping trunks and tearing them from the earth with earthshaking force.

Hayden had found it impressive the first few times. But by the fifteenth or so, the novelty had long since worn off. And the noise—deafening.

"Ugh…"

He opened his eyes, just about to ask Sauro to bring him down when he noticed something.

On the horizon—

A thin mast rose from the distant waters.

Then, slowly, a pure white sail emerged, bearing the unmistakable emblem of the World Government—the navy seagull crest.

...He immediately recognized the emblem. The seagull crest. The symbol of the World Government's military might—the Navy.

This was the last thing Hayden wanted to see.

The sight chilled him. Warships, multiple of them, slowly emerged on the horizon. To Hayden, whose instincts were screaming in alarm, it felt like an endless tide—an entire fleet dispatched at once.

"Hey! Sauro—look!" Hayden shouted, his voice high with panic.

The dread in his chest confirmed what his eyes were seeing. This wasn't a patrol. This was a Buster Call.

"No… no no no—this can't be happening now…"

The worst-case scenario had arrived early. The timing didn't make sense—how had they mobilized so quickly?

Sauro, still piecing together a makeshift raft on the shore, heard Hayden's cry and turned toward the sea.

He followed the boy's outstretched hand.

His face froze.

A line of Navy warships, their black flags catching the wind, loomed into view. The very same kind he had once commanded.

"No... it's too soon," Sauro muttered, clutching his head. "How did they get here this fast?!"

Hayden's pulse thundered in his ears.

"Robin…!"

She had gone into town earlier that morning.

If the Buster Call fleet had arrived, then the Cipher Pol ship—Spandine's vessel carrying the scholars' arrest team—must have landed earlier, quietly, from another coast.

"Damn it…" Hayden clenched his teeth. "We're behind! I don't know how long they've been here!"

All the pieces clicked together in his head like a cruel puzzle. The timing. The warships. The government's silence.

The destruction of Ohara had already begun.

"Sauro! Robin's still in the town!" Hayden barked. "We have to go—now!"

The giant looked up, equally stricken.

"Go find her. I'll keep building the raft. We'll need it if we want to escape this island alive," Sauro said, lowering Hayden to the ground.

There was urgency in his voice, but also resolve.

Hayden gave a firm nod. "There's still time... There has to be."

Without another word, he hoisted Asada onto his back, donned his monkey mask, and bolted toward the center of Ohara—toward the Tree of Knowledge.

The seconds ticked down like falling blades.

And the shadows of the warships crept ever closer to the shore.