Visions and reentry

That sounded absurd. On closer thought, it really was absurd.

"Oh, they're the scholars from Ohara, the place the Navy wiped out with a Buster Call seventeen years ago," Ruidio said casually. "I think I accidentally brought them back to life. Their identities are a bit sensitive, so I came to ask Queen Lily's descendants to take them in."

Wait, didn't you just say something absolutely shocking?!

Cobra could hardly believe his ears. He had accidentally done what to these people? They were who from Oha—what? And he wanted Cobra to take them in?

"Don't forget!"

Ruidio patted the king's hand earnestly. "D, partners, we're partners! Dr. Clover is a D, and your family are D's too. If D won't help D, who will? Your Highness, wouldn't you agree?"

"That's right!" Vivi nodded, though she still hadn't quite figured out what was going on.

[Mission in progress: A place of refuge]

[Mission requirement: Help the Ohara scholars who have been brought back to life find a place to stay where they can conceal their identities.]

[Clients: Clover, Olvia, Lin Qi, ...]

[Distance: Near]

[Estimated difficulty: ★★★]

[Mission "A place of refuge" completed]

[Mission rewards: 3,000 essence; 1,400 essence; 800 essence; Mission Scroll x1; System Inventory Slot x1]

[Remaining essence: 7,107]

[System inventory (2/4): Seastone x131,000; weapons x2; (empty); (empty)]

What a haul of essence!

And he'd gained another precious System Inventory Slot!

All that effort had paid off. He'd struck it rich!

Although he still hadn't finished that damn Ohara mission, the people he'd gotten out of it had already brought him more than enough rewards.

And that wasn't even counting the six-star and three-star missions Robin had coughed up!

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

Ruidio gazed at the system interface with satisfaction, a little curious about the Mission Scroll the scholars' mission had dropped.

Only now did he also have time to check the reward from the mission Vivi had triggered with a single remark earlier—wait, what was a "one-hour Time Extension Card"?

System, what did you mean by that?

Chapter 37: Visions and reentry

[Cover serial: Bonney sunbathing (end) — "Hurry up!"]

[Yuyu carried the Queen Mother and Bonney, one on either side, and sprinted toward the church. Bonney grinned and flexed her arms at the sun, striking a strongman pose. The Queen Mother looked on, her face full of satisfaction.]

[System inventory (2/4): Seastone x131,000; weapons x2; (empty); (empty)]

Ruidio reached out, and the Seastone Three-Section Staff and a long blade appeared in his hands out of thin air.

He separated the two weapons, and they vanished from his hands one after the other.

[System inventory (3/4): Seastone x131,000; Playful Cloud x1; Malevolent Shrine x1; (empty)]

Life was looking up!

He could actually give each of his two weapons its own inventory slot. What extravagance!

[Remaining essence: 7,107]

He'd made a huge haul of essence too. With over seven thousand, he had enough to copy an undamaged Malevolent Shrine for 6,699 essence. Tsk, tsk.

Ruidio broke into a rather unambitious grin. After admiring it contentedly for a while, he finally checked the rewards from the two missions.

[Time Extension Card (1 hour)]

[Description: Choose any one of your abilities and use this item on it. The ability will remain in full effect for one hour without side effects.]

[Note 1: Abilities unrelated to the overall strength evaluation are not recognized by the system, but this item can still be used on them.]

[Note 2: This item is a single-use consumable.]

[Note 3: This item cannot be copied.]

Any ability, no side effects, for one hour?

[Mastered: Running (expert), Swimming (proficient), Basic Physical Techniques (proficient), Playful Cloud Staff Technique (beginner), Six Powers: Soru (beginner), Shimotsuki Swordsmanship (rudimentary)]

...I have to ask, which of these abilities can't I already keep using for an hour?

Still, if he could learn Hypnosis, using the item to get a Hypnosis Aura that lasted an hour seemed pretty powerful too.

All in all, it seemed to be a little item that was underwhelming to use but a shame to throw away.

Ruidio set it aside for the time being, leaving it in Mission Records like Heavenly Restriction Tyrant.

[Mission Scroll (intermediate)]

[Description: This is a blank intermediate scroll. You can write your requirements for a mission on it, and the scroll will use the system's radar function to search for a match automatically.]

[Note 1: The more specific and strict the written requirements, the longer automatic matching will take. For faster results, you may choose a fuzzy match.]

[Note 2: This item does not use one of the three daily System Radar searches.]

[Note 3: This item cannot be copied.]

Now this Mission Scroll was interesting.

Ruidio leaned against the Royal Palace balcony railing, enjoying the cool evening breeze from the desert oasis as he quietly considered the item's possible uses.

Not far away, a giant falcon flew out of the palace complex toward the blood-red sunset in the west.

"Pell has gone to Rainbase to see whether Crocodile is still there."

The thirteen-year-old Princess Vivi, graceful and poised, walked over briskly, her bright blue hair dancing in the wind. She gazed at the falcon, now just a black speck against the western evening sky. "Please understand, it's not that my father doesn't trust you..."

Pell wasn't the only one sent to check on Crocodile. Jackal Chaka had also taken men to several secluded locations on the outskirts of the capital, using Robin's information to search for Dance Powder smuggled and stored by Baroque Works.

"It's fine. It's only natural."

Ruidio leaned against the stone railing, which had the look and texture of an antique pattern. "What about Robin and the others?"

"Father is showing them around Alabasta's Royal Grand Library."

Vivi smiled, curiosity glinting in her big, bright eyes. "Are you really strong?"

"I'm just average," Ruidio said.

"But you drove Crocodile away! Before he became one of the Shichibukai, he had a bounty of 81 million Beli!"

Ruidio smiled. "I didn't drive him away. I tricked him into leaving."

Vivi's eyes widened. "He was that easy to fool?"

"Because I told him the truth."

"If it was the truth, how was it a trick?"

"I gave him a reason he couldn't refuse," Ruidio said, "but there's someone at the place I sent him who he can't beat. I reckon he won't be coming back."

Vivi chuckled. "That's good. A bad man like him deserves it!"

"Anyway, thank you." The young princess thanked Ruidio sincerely and graciously. "This country owes you a debt."

"You've already thanked me by taking in the people from Ohara."

Ruidio straightened up. "Come on, take me to see how those bookworms are doing."

Vivi smiled and led the way.

The Royal Grand Library, Alubarna Royal Palace—

How many one-of-a-kind books were there in the royal library of an ancient civilization that had endured for thousands of years? How much precious information?

As the scholars from Ohara seventeen years ago walked between the rows of enormous bookshelves that towered like cliffs, a feeling of happiness welled up within them.

King Cobra led the way, but the scholars following him would often catch sight of a title on a shelf and be unable to tear their eyes away, stopping to leaf through the book.

As they went, scholars dropped out of the procession one by one. Scattered about, they read with animated expressions, called to one another, discussed things excitedly and gesticulated.

"Sorry you had to see that, Your Majesty," Dr. Clover said, a little embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Olvia and her daughter Robin whispered together off to one side. Having crossed time and space, their ages were out of step, and they looked more like sisters.

Only half a day ago, the eight-year-old Robin Olvia had just met had still been a little girl crying to her mother about her troubles. In the blink of an eye, she had become the adult woman before her, one who had endured so much. Whenever she had the chance, Olvia wanted to ask Robin more about her life over the years.

Robin recounted her life over the past seventeen years as plainly and briefly as she could. Her mother's self-reproachful expression was reflected in her light purple eyes, while she herself was secretly worried: would her mother and the doctor and the others before her really continue to exist?

Could something this good really happen to me?

If they're real, living people, then why, no matter how hard I try to remember, is the Ohara of seventeen years ago still the place that turned into a sea of flames under the Buster Call's rain of cannon fire? Why does the sight of Saul being frozen by Kuzan still seem to be right before my eyes?

Robin's heart grew heavy. She turned her head and saw that her mother Olvia, right beside her, had at some point become a human-shaped ice sculpture. She stared at Robin with hollow eyes, her mouth still opening and closing:

"Robin, are you all right?"

Olvia stroked Robin's trembling back and lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. It's Mom's fault. I won't ask anymore, I won't..."

A hallucination?

Robin's pupils trembled. She shuddered and forced a smile. "I'm all right, Mom. It's not because of you. It's okay."

"Before I leave, there's something I just remembered."

At some point, Ruidio had walked over with Princess Vivi.

He looked at Cobra. "The Reverie is held once every four years, and I believe the next one is next year? A sincere warning, Your Majesty: you'd better not think about confronting the Five Elders and asking them about Queen Lily and 'D.' You'll die."

Vivi gripped Cobra's arm nervously.

Cobra said gravely, "If you hadn't told me all this today, Ruidio, and I hadn't seen the Ohara scholars with my own eyes, perhaps one day I really would have been unable to contain the questions that had built up in my heart over the years and wanted to ask the Five Elders for answers! But now that I suspect the World Government may be an enemy, of course I won't act rashly. You can rest assured."

Ruidio nodded. The Ohara scholars still wanted to thank him, but he raised a hand to stop them. "Instead of saying that, think about how to keep yourselves hidden. That'll be thanks enough. First of all, Clover, are you really going to keep that attention-grabbing hairstyle?"

"Huh?"