"Who is she?"
Facing Vivi, who looked like she was confronting a formidable enemy, Nami stayed on guard as she questioned the girl beside her.
"She's Miss All Sunday. She's usually the one who gives orders to all Baroque Works personnel."
"Her partner is Mr. 0, the mastermind behind Alabasta's civil war: 'Desert Crocodile' Crocodile!"
Vivi rattled off the woman's identity in one breath, then added warily.
"We only learned the boss's identity after following her..."
"More accurately..."
Facing the entire Straw Hat Pirates, the mysterious, intellectual-looking cowgirl merely sat leisurely on the corridor railing.
"I deliberately let you follow me."
"What?" Luffy said with certainty. "So she's a good person."
"Were you the one who told your boss our identities had been exposed?"
Faced with Vivi's questioning, the woman merely smiled faintly in silent confirmation.
"What?" Luffy said angrily. "So she's a bad person."
How rare. Even Luffy was having trouble telling the difference.
But that was only natural—the woman before them, codenamed Miss All Sunday and named Nico Robin, was a contradictory person who walked the line between good and evil, her heart filled with conflict.
"What exactly do you want?!"
Facing Vivi's wary fear, the woman still rested her chin on one hand, tilting her head as she looked down at everyone below.
"Well... you all seemed so serious that I couldn't help giving you a little assistance..."
Like a cat toying with a mouse.
"Princess, surely you don't naively believe you can stand against Baroque Works?"
Click.
Whoosh—
Clang.
Rustle.
Nami opened The Art of Thievery in her hands, while Zoro drew the swords at his waist. Sanji and Usopp had already rushed to the second floor, aiming a pistol and slingshot at the woman called Miss All Sunday from either side.
(Sanji didn't kick women.)
"Don't point such—"
Faced with danger on all sides, the intellectual cowgirl calmly closed her eyes.
"Dangerous things at me."
Thud—
In an instant, Sanji and Usopp fell from the second floor as though an invisible enemy had thrown them down!
Smack.
At the same time, Zoro's swords and the book at Nami's waist were knocked from their hands by someone. Yet there was clearly no enemy around them...
"What?!"
"A Devil Fruit user?"
Thanks to Luffy and Roman, whenever the Straw Hat Pirates encountered an unknown attack, their first reaction was that their opponent was a Devil Fruit user. Their second reaction was to look at Luffy and Roman.
"What kind of power is this—"
"Be careful!"
Facing the Straw Hat Pirates, who were braced for battle, the beauty seated on the railing merely spread her hands calmly.
"Relax."
"I haven't received orders to kill you, so there's no reason for us to fight."
As she spoke, she crooked a finger, and the straw hat on Luffy's head flew through the air toward her.
?!
"Give me back my hat!! You wanna fight, huh?!"
Facing the furious Luffy, Miss All Sunday calmly placed the straw hat on her own head.
Great. If she dared wear Luffy's straw hat, then she was one of the Straw Hat Pirates now!
Roman, holding the helm, was openly slacking off—there was such thick fog that if he didn't carefully control the ship, they might crash into something... What a perfect excuse to go AFK.
"You really are unfortunate, picking up a princess in distress."
"And the princess is unfortunate too, having only a band of pirates to protect her."
"And even more unfortunate," the intellectual beauty said, pressing down the straw hat on her head, "is the direction your Log Pose is pointing..."
"That island is called 'Little Garden.' I'm afraid you'll all be wiped out without me needing to lift a finger."
"That's impossible, idiot! Give me back my hat, bastard!"
Are you a child or something?
Everyone else broke out in cold sweat at Luffy's noisy outburst. The grim atmosphere had vanished completely, leaving only speechless disbelief.
Ping.
The woman seated on the railing flicked a finger lightly, and the straw hat spun back onto Luffy's head.
At the same time, she tossed a Log Pose to Vivi.
"Anyone can shout from afar and bluff, but charging forward despite knowing it cannot be done is the act of a fool."
"This is... an Eternal Pose?"
An Eternal Pose was a Log Pose that would forever point toward one destination and would not change due to magnetic fields.
"This pointer leads to a small island near Alabasta."
"It's a route nobody—including the boss—knows about."
?
"Why are you giving us this?"
That was Vivi's wary question.
"What? Is she actually a good person...?"
That was Nami, trusting her instincts.
"No matter how you look at it, this is probably a trap, isn't it?"
That was Zoro's calm analysis.
"So, what will you do...?"
Smack.
However, just as Vivi hesitated, a stretched arm beside her snatched the Eternal Pose from her hand and clenched it tightly.
Crack.
Shattered!
???
Thump!
Nami flew in with a kick—
"Are you an idiot?! Someone finally told us about a safe route, so why would you..."
"The direction this ship sails," Luffy said, glaring angrily at the mysterious intellectual beauty, "isn't for you to decide!"
—
"Fine. You're the captain, after all."
Nami shrugged, and her anger vanished without a trace. She was used to it...
"Is that so..." Faced with Luffy's decisive refusal, the woman codenamed Miss All Sunday stood and prepared to leave.
"I don't dislike people with courage. If you survive, perhaps we'll meet again."
With a light leap into the sea beside them, she gracefully landed atop a huge turtle boat. The turtle immediately carried the mysterious beauty away without hesitation.
"So what exactly did she come here for?"
Vivi collapsed onto the deck in confusion. She had undoubtedly been the most nervous one just now. On one hand, the woman codenamed Miss All Sunday was undoubtedly an expert! On the other, if Luffy and the others had chosen to hand her over...
"...I'm sorry. If I continue staying with you, Baroque Works assassins..."
"That's enough." Patting her shoulder, Nami pulled her to her feet. "At this point, there's no point saying that. We're all on the same pirate ship, aren't we?"
"And look at them. Do they seem like they care about that?"
Nami pointed at Luffy, who was shouting that he was hungry, and then—
"I know a little about that Miss All Sunday," Roman said. Since she had already gone far away, he had no reason to keep slacking off. While spoiling things was deeply hated by most people, when countless lives were at stake, anyone rational would wish they had Full Map Vision.
"Nico Robin was born on the archaeological island of Ohara in the West Blue. An Ohara survivor with a bounty of 79 million at the age of eight. She's a Flower-Flower Fruit user who can make any part of her body bloom on any tangible object within her field of vision, using it to attack or for other purposes..."
"Se... seventy-nine million?!"
Nami went completely numb. "She's as strong as four Arlongs?!"
Good thing she had no intention of attacking...
"Who's Arlong? Is he strong?"
Since the battle had already ended by the time they arrived, Sanji and Luffy did not know Arlong's strength, but—
"Arlong had a bounty of 20 million. Krieg, whom you fought, had a bounty of 17 million."
"What?! Nearly five Kriegs?!"
Sanji was so frightened that his cigarette fell to the ground. He was numb, completely numb. He had actually pointed a gun at an expert like that...
"Calm down."
Roman's calm voice drew everyone's gaze toward him.
"You should have noticed it too. If she were truly an enemy, she should have used the ability we saw when we first met her to instantly take us down with a first-encounter kill."
"But Roman, didn't you know...?"
"That's why I didn't say anything just now. Her actions were very suspicious, but I can guess the reason..."
Roman directly spilled certain "secrets" all at once.
"Nico Robin and her boss—the Crocodile who has kept Alabasta trapped in civil war—have already become estranged. They're about to break apart."
"The reason is this: Nico Robin only wants to uncover history, while Crocodile wants to use history to find the legendary Ancient Weapon capable of destroying an island with a single shot: Pluton!"
PS: I was a little busy today and didn't get home until six. The update is late... tears.
Before you continue