Chapter 773

Unable to stop him in time, he frantically yells for Hakuba not to hurt her, but Robin effortlessly restrains Hakuba by extending her limbs from the cliffside. Noticing that something is different about him as well, Robin attempts to speak to him, while Bartolomeo fawns over her ability to stop him so easily. While Robin has Hakuba restrained, Cavendish regains control and yells at Hakuba, telling him that he does not have his permission to appear right now. He apologizes to Robin for Hakuba’s indiscriminate actions, but as he does so, Hakuba attempts to regain control, leading to an argument between the two personalities as Robin watches on. For a second, control is actually split “half and half” between the two, as one half of his face is Cavendish, with the other Hakuba.

Cavendish gains control again, this time asking Robin to release him. Robin is wary of doing so, and in the confusion, Gladius begins inflating the entire cliffside to explode and eliminate both of them. Cavendish tries to tell Robin to go back down, but she reiterates that her focus is getting to Rebecca, who’s on the fourth level. Understanding what Gladius is up to, Bartolomeo rushes at him to stop the attack. However Gladius shoots hairs from the top of his head into Bartolomeo, revealing that they are poisonous needles as his leg goes numb.

Gladius then inflates his entire body, stating that if he explodes, he will shoot needles much more potent at Robin and Cavendish. This forces Bartolomeo into a difficult position, as he must now choose way to deal with Gladius that prevents both the cliffside from exploding, and his body from exploding into more needles in Robin’s direction. Since Cavendish doesn’t matter as much to him, he asks him to protect Robin from the needles while he deals with Gladius’ inflated body. It is instead Hakuba that yells back to him however, causing him to realize that Robin is not safe in either case. To deal with this dilemma, he decides to encase himself in a barrier with Gladius inflated body, so that the explosion doesn’t leave his barrier, and the expanding cliffside is dealt with simultaneously.

Robin yells for Bartolomeo not to sacrifice himself, but he is already resolute in his decision and attempts to cut Gladius throat. This causes the explosion to stay within the barrier, but unfortunately Bartolomeo missed his throat and cut his shoulder instead. Still standing, Gladius now sets his sights on detonating the cliffside. With Cavendish gaining a slight control, he attempts to convince Robin to release him so that he can use Hakuba’s speed to get them out of the blast radius. Suddenly Gladius sets off the explosion, and there appears to be nothing left of Cavendish and Robin.

It turns out that they have escaped the blast to the fourth level, but Hakuba attempted to cut Robin in the process, forcing Cavendish to stop the blade with his own hand. Hakuba questions Cavendish decision, reminding him that it is in fact his own body. Cavendish states that as such, Hakuba should actually listen to him once in a while, and the two personalities fall into a slumber once more. Bartolomeo, now badly injured from the explosion, laments that he is still lacking in power, but someday he will become someone that Luffy can rely on. He jumps into the air and lands a “Bari Bari no Pistol” (as homage to Luffy) directly into Gladius face, incapacitating him. On the fourth level with the Sunflower Fields, Diamante comments how chaotic the action on the lower levels sounds, then taunting Kyros about how his Army Bandera is making the battlefield, noting how difficult it is for normal people let alone for someone like him with one leg. He then attempts to attack Rebecca once more, but this time Rebecca resolves to defend herself, as Kyros can’t reach her in time. He tries to tell Rebecca that she won’t be able to withstand the attack, but instead Robin arrives just in time to stop the attack, revealing a new ability. She states that Rebecca has completed her mission of delivering the key to Trafalgar D. Water Law’s handcuffs to him and Luffy, and now it is Robin’s turn to protect her.