"Ding! Congratulations on successfully activating the Armant Haki Card. Basic-tier Armant Haki has been acquired. This Haki is capable of growing toward the advanced tier over ti."
The mont the word left Robin's lips, a clear chi rang through her mind, followed imdiately by a flood of knowledge, instinct, and understanding settling into her like sothing that had always been waiting to arrive. She focused, and her hands, monts ago luminous and smooth from the elixir, turned dark as ink from fingertip to wrist.
Armant Haki. Actually coating her skin, exactly as the books had described.
"I... I actually did it." Robin stared at her own hand, completely at a loss. She pressed her fingers together experintally and felt a solidity there that went well beyond anything her body should have been capable of. She hadn't witnessed Armant Haki up close before, but she had read enough to know with certainty what she was feeling.
"Full Bloom."
The joy was still fresh and she couldn't help herself. Her Devil Fruit ability activated, and a forest of darkened arms erupted from the ground around her, every one of them coated black, the Haki running through each limb without any effort at all. She directed them toward a crater nearby, and an enormous collective hand surged forward, closed around the teorite resting inside it, and flung it clean into the distance.
The impact echoed across the landscape.
"Just like the books said," Robin murmured, watching the results with wide, satisfied eyes. Then she turned to Amon with warmth. "Thank you very much."
The others standing nearby had gone very quiet.
"That's... completely unbelievable," Kizaru said after a mont. His voice had lost so of its usual lazy drawl.
None of them had ever heard of Armant Haki being gained this way. They had each earned theirs through long, grinding effort. Their old instructor Zephyr had made it clear from the beginning that Haki of this kind could only be developed through hard training, and they had carried that belief for years without question. Watching Robin activate a small card and manifest full Armant Haki inside of a minute made them quietly reconsider several assumptions at once.
It also made a certain Admiral very determined.
Kizaru watched the display, and the longer he watched, the more restless he beca. He had already opened one jar. He had known, on so level, that it was worth it. Now, seeing what Robin had pulled from hers, that knowledge had upgraded into an itch he couldn't leave alone.
"My, what terrifying power," he said. "Seeing this really does make want to open another jar."
"No, it doesn't," Amon said imdiately.
"Oh, but I do. Everyone here has opened one. I'd say that makes it only fair that I have another turn."
"No."
"Not even one?"
"Especially not one. Every ti I look at that face of yours, I want to hit sothing. Particularly with that stubble situation you've got going on."
Kizaru blinked.
Amon let the silence sit for a mont, then a thought struck him, and a slow, wicked grin spread across his face. "Tell you what. Shave the stubble off, and I'll sell you one. How's that?"
He was mostly just curious. He had a feeling Kizaru would refuse, considering that Sengoku and even the Five Elders had reportedly tried to get him to clean up his face over the years without success. The man was famously indifferent to how others saw him.
A flash of gold light crossed Kizaru's face.
When it cleared, the stubble was gone. Every last trace of it. Kizaru's jaw was smooth, and he looked up at Amon with an entirely unbothered expression.
"Like this?"
Amon stared at him.
He had genuinely not seen that coming.
"...You absolute nace," he said finally, unable to think of anything better.
What was there to say? He had made an offer in front of witnesses, and Kizaru had called it without a second of hesitation. A deal was a deal. Besides, the image of Kizaru walking back into Marine Headquarters with that freshly smooth face was already unfolding in Amon's head, and the picture of Garp and Sengoku's reactions alone was worth whatever jar this cost.
He started laughing before he could stop himself.
"Is it that funny?" Kizaru asked, sounding genuinely unconcerned.
All he cared about was the jar. His face was his face. As long as a man had real strength, appearances were irrelevant details.
Robin and Crocodarny were both biting down hard on their smiles from a few steps away. Neither of them had Amon's particular immunity to consequences, and a stray Light Kick from an irritated Admiral was not sothing either of them wanted to test.
"Ha, no, not funny at all. Hilarious. I'd hand you a mirror but I don't want to waste the mont," Amon said, still grinning.
"I'll skip the mirror, thanks. I'd much rather skip straight to the jar."
Kizaru waved a hand, utterly unbothered.
"Fine. Ten million berries."
"Ten million? That seems rather steep..." Kizaru muttered, though there was no real resistance behind it.
"Take it or leave it."
"Take it, take it. Though I don't actually have that much on right now." He turned without missing a beat and looked directly at Fujitora. "Hey, lend so berries. I'll pay you back."
Fujitora said nothing for a mont.
Then, he produced the berries and handed them over. They had worked alongside each other long enough, and the unspoken weight of rank made it difficult to refuse.
"Excellent." Kizaru accepted them and turned back to the jars. "The yellow one. I've had my eye on it since Robin was choosing."
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