A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Finally, Aokiji spotted several familiar figures on both sides of the street.

"A cherry-haired boy, a blonde girl, a little girl with twin tails, a cat that can fly and talk... The characteristics are exactly the same as what Smoker described... Those people must be the mages who call themselves 'Fairy Tail', right?"

"Their presence here means Nico Robin must be in this city too! If I just follow them, I should be able to find her quickly, right?"

With that thought in mind, Aokiji no longer hesitated, turned around and followed Blue... and got on his heels.

Ten minutes later, at the deserted port outside the city, the location where Luffy fought Usopp under the moon in the original work.

"Watch out, we've been watched since just now!"

Upon hearing Eric's reminder once again, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Wendy, and the others, who were having a great time, were all taken aback and looked behind them. Unfortunately, with their eyesight alone, they could not tell from the group of strangers behind them who was following them.

"Could it be that those people from before are still not convinced and have come looking for us again?"

Natsu sniffed the air and said, "I didn't smell anything from those people."

"Judging from the sound, there seems to be only one."

The group looked around, not daring to miss any clues, but after staring at them for a long time, they found that the people behind them were dressed normally, without the kind of clothes that the Franky family wore, which made them look like perverts.

"So...who's following us?"

"Look, it's that tall guy, the middle-aged man pretending to read the newspaper!"

Following Eric's outstretched finger, the group focused their attention on Aokiji, who was pretending to read a newspaper.

Harpy flew forward, peeking out from the side of the newspaper, almost touching Aokiji's face, and asked, "Hey, uncle, what do you need us for?"

Aokiji behind the newspaper fell silent: "..."

I've been exposed? What happened? My tailing... no, my tracking skills shouldn't have deteriorated, so how did they find me? Should I pretend I don't know? Never mind... they've come looking for me, they must be quite capable. I'd better just be frank.

"Ahem... You guys are the self-proclaimed mages from 'Fairy Tail,' right? You're quite something..."

"Oh, oh, oh!! Uncle, do you know us??"

Aokiji had no choice but to drop his pretense and nod: "Smoker has told me about your situation, and... now there should be no one on this ocean who doesn't know about the existence of 'mages'."

Few knew that he was referring to the situation in the New World.

"You're Uncle Smoker's friend? Then you're in the Navy too?"

"But why is the Navy following us? We're not pirates, and we haven't broken any laws, have we? Are you some kind of stalker or a pervert?"

"Are you stalking Lucy?!"

"Don't say that!! Being followed by this kind of gloomy, middle-aged perverted uncle sounds disgusting!!"

"Lucy, this isn't good news, watch your smile..."

"Lord Gray~ Juvia is so scared~ She only feels safe when Lord Gray holds her!!"

"Stop lying! You're just trying to take advantage of me!"

Aokiji pondered to himself, 'What's wrong with these kids? Are they out of their minds? But they don't seem to recognize me, a Marine Admiral? Maybe I should just make up an excuse to follow them and see Nico Robin first?'

"I am indeed in the Navy, but I'm currently on leave..."

Before he could even come up with an excuse, Eric interrupted him: "What?! You're a Marine Admiral?!"

Aokiji fell silent: I knew that not everyone in such a large group could be so stupid! Okay, now I don't need to waste time making excuses, I can only lay my cards on the table.

"Oh?! I did get recognized after all? That's right, my name is Kuzan. I came to see you because I need to talk to Nico Robin about something. I heard she's with you now, is that right?"

Yes, do you know her?

"It's not a big deal, really. It's just that I haven't seen her for 20 years and I wanted to see how she's doing now and what her plans are for the future."

"Oh, I see..."

Aokiji spoke with sincerity, his tone sounding like that of an uncle who hadn't seen his niece for many years and was concerned about the growth of his juniors. As a result, Natsu and the others instantly relaxed their guard. However, Eric, who had been involved in the Dark Guild, keenly sensed that something was wrong. Even though he couldn't detect any falsehood in Aokiji's words, his suspicions were not diminished at all.

"I remember that Nico Robin is wanted by the World Government, which means she's your enemy as a Marine Admiral. How could you be so kind as to come and see her?"

Eric's question caused the way the others looked at Aokiji to change.

"Uncle, you're not planning to follow us to find Robin-san and arrest her, are you?"

"Oh dear... I already told you I'm on vacation right now, so I have no intention of catching her. Have you ever seen anyone work while on vacation?"

Aokiji thought that his words would be accepted by the people in front of him, but their reaction was unexpected.

"Working during vacation? The president always seems to do that, doesn't she?"

"That's right! I often see the old man chatting with people from the council about work-related matters during his vacation!"

Aokiji's inner thoughts: Huh? So the guild master of this magic guild called 'Fairy Tail' is actually an old man? And he sounds like a workaholic??

Before he could even process this discovery, Lucy roared in his ear: "Isn't that all because you guys are always destroying half a street, a clock tower, and stuff like that! The president always has to work on his days off just to deal with your troubles!!"

"Is...is that so??"

"We really have let the old man down..."

"Grandpa, you've worked so hard!!"

Aokiji: "..."

I can almost imagine how helpless that student council president must feel on a regular basis...

Chapter 898 Aokiji: How come these people just start hitting me like that?

After a long silence, Aokiji revealed his plan: "In short, I have no intention of taking Nico Robin away this time, so you can rest assured."

"Is that so? That's good! But even if you want to arrest her, we can't let you take her away..."

This answer surprised Aokiji: "Hmm?? Why?? I remember you've only known each other for less than half a month, right?"

"Because Robin-san is a good person!"

“We don’t know what she did in the past, but the old man said that no matter how evil a person is, as long as they are willing to repent and turn over a new leaf, they should be given a chance to reform! Life is precious. Rather than killing a person, it is better to let them atone for the mistakes they have made through their actions.”

A glint flashed in Aokiji's eyes: "That sounds like something a kind and wise old man would say..."

"Right? Right? The old man is really amazing!!" Natsu said, unconsciously puffing out his chest, his face full of pride, as if he were proud of himself.

However, Aokiji quickly changed the subject: "But how much do you know about Nico Robin's past? If her very existence is a threat to this world, can you still say such things?"

"If that's the case, then it's even simpler!"

This time, it wasn't Natsu who answered him, but Happy. He directly quoted Killer's usual teachings to him: "Kira said that no one is guilty simply because they exist. That's just a lie that bad people use to deceive others! Anyone who says that is either stupid or evil!"

Hearing this, Aokiji was speechless. He suddenly had a ridiculous thought: he, a dignified Marine Admiral, might not have as firm a sense of justice as a cat!

Even a cat has this kind of awareness, so these mages don't seem like bad people...

Is this what you call 'justice without killing'? If it were the former Zephyr, he probably would have admired these people, right?

Just as Aokiji was lost in thought about Zephyr, who had already left the Navy, Erza appeared before them with Robin.

"Aokiji?! What are you doing here?!"

Upon seeing the person in front of him, Robin was instantly terrified, his face turned pale, his limbs went limp, and his whole body trembled. Then, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

This reaction was completely different from when she had met Bruno before.

This is normal, though. Putting aside the fact that the weight of a Marine Admiral and CP9 is completely different, the psychological trauma left by the other party during her childhood is not so easy to erase.

"Robin-san?!"

"Are you alright?!"

Although she hadn't officially joined Fairy Tail, after spending many days together, they had come to regard Robin as a friend, a partner, and family. Seeing her in such a terrified state, they immediately panicked.

Wendy immediately went to check on him, but when she found that Robin was just genuinely scared, she was at a loss for what to do.

"Who is this person?" Erza quickly realized the reason for Robin's fear and stared at Aokiji with hostile eyes.

"He is Admiral Aokiji!"

"The Navy? That means the World Government?"

Erza had already come to believe that CP9 and Aokiji were in cahoots, assuming that his purpose in appearing here was the same as Bruno's earlier—to forcibly take Robin away. Without hesitation, she summoned a longsword from her spatial storage. "I've already said it, Robin is a friend of Fairy Tail! If you don't intend to let her go, then be prepared to be our enemy!"

Something seems off!

Seeing their swords drawn, Aokiji remained calm, but he also felt things were getting tricky: "Is there some misunderstanding between us? I told you I didn't plan to take Nico Robin with me this time..."

“Just now, someone claiming to be from CP9 approached Robin and even tried to use our lives to blackmail her into going with them. Aren’t you all in cahoots?”

Erza's words surprised Natsu and the others.

"What?! Using us as leverage..."

"What a despicable tactic!!"

"You absolutely can't agree to something like that, Robin-san!!"

"Whenever it comes to the safety of our comrades, the mages of Fairy Tail never give each other any room for negotiation! If it's fight, then fight! No matter what difficulties we encounter, as long as we face them together, there will be absolutely no problem!!"

"That's right! If they attack our family or partners, we'll fight them even if they're gods!!"

Aokiji was speechless. He hadn't expected that there were CP9 agents on this island, and judging from what they had just said, they had probably tried to take down Nico Robin but failed.

However, CP9's operations are inherently covert. If they encounter someone like Nico Robin during a mission, they will definitely report it, and their superiors will issue orders to capture her. Whether the mission succeeds or fails is a very common occurrence. But what Aokiji didn't expect was that not only did the other party fail, but they also unwittingly got himself into trouble.

"you……"

Hearing their passionate yet idiotic remarks, Robin was deeply moved. She hadn't expected that after spending less than half a month together, these people would dare to stand against the World Government for her sake.

"Um... shall we sit down first..."

"No need for further words! Prepare for the attack!!"

Natsu's roar interrupted Aokiji's unfinished words, followed by a powerful punch that sent flames swirling around his right arm. "Fire Dragon's... Iron Fist!!"

Aokiji had originally intended to have a peaceful conversation, but instead he was attacked. Now he really had no choice but to fight back. With a helpless sigh, his body was instantly covered in ice, and at the same time he stretched out his hands and shot out five ice pillars.

"Ice Ball!!"

ice?!

Natsu, who was attacking, and Gray, who was about to take off his clothes and rush forward, were both surprised, seemingly not expecting their opponent to be an ice-type fighter.