This should be Yaen's Mental Space. Overall, it looked like an endless night sky. A White Jade avenue ran through the middle, dividing the entire night sky into two halves.
Yaen was currently standing on this White Jade avenue.
Looking to the left, he could see two bright stars flickering, representing Senbonzakura and Tenken respectively, along with many dim, lifeless asteroids floating about. They represented the Reiatsu that had already been completely transformed.
On the right, two Void Monsters of different appearances wandered through the night sky.
One of them looked like a gigantic eyeball, but upon closer inspection, it was actually an eyeball made up of countless densely packed eyes.
The other was a demonic monster with its black wings spread wide, seemingly emanating an eternal sense of emptiness and loneliness.
These two were the manifestations of the Void Soul Reaper Blade.
Yaen had originally thought that after granting the power of the eyeball monster called Cursed Eye Sangha to Little Robin, the eyeball monster would disappear from his Mental Space. He had not expected it to remain here.
As for the other demon-like monster, it was the Void Soul Reaper Blade called Great Demon of Black Wings—the Void Soul Reaper Blade that had been newly born after Yaen absorbed two Devil Fruits within the Capone Mafia.
According to Yaen's estimates, he would need to absorb at least four Devil Fruits to give birth to another Void Monster.
After that, would it be eight? Sixteen? Thirty-two? Sixty-four?
Yaen made a simple calculation, and instantly felt that this would be a bottomless pit.
The Black Market price of even the cheapest Devil Fruit was one hundred million Belly, while some special Devil Fruits were worth as much as several billion Belly.
"Forget it. I'll leave it to fate. I can't use the Void Soul Reaper Blade myself, and after granting this power to Little Robin, I can't see any changes or effects for now. I'll just leave it alone for the time being."
After making a rough conversion, Yaen completely abandoned his investigation into the limits of the Void Soul Reaper Blade.
As things stood, the Soul Reaper Zanpakutō seemed like an annual benefit event with free draws. It all depended on whether he was lucky enough to draw a powerful Zanpakutō.
The Void Soul Reaper Blade, meanwhile, clearly resembled a pay-to-win system. As long as Yaen had enough money and enough Devil Fruits, he could instantly obtain a large number of Void Soul Reaper Blades to grant to his subordinates and strengthen their abilities.
However, with the demand for Devil Fruits constantly increasing by multiples, even the Celestial Dragons, who ceaselessly plundered the wealth of the entire sea, would probably shake their heads helplessly.
As a military second-generation with barely anything to his name, Yaen naturally could not produce such an enormous fortune—or such a vast number of Devil Fruits.
Just as Yaen finished confirming that nothing major had gone wrong in his Mental Space and was preparing to begin that day's training with Senbonzakura, his movements suddenly froze, and his gaze slowly shifted toward the eyeball monster, Cursed Eye Sangha.
Something was wrong!
In the past, Cursed Eye Sangha had mostly drifted about unconsciously, but this time, Yaen noticed that it seemed to have been staring at him the entire time.
In an instant, Yaen remained outwardly calm while his mind raced, considering every possibility.
At last, Yaen spoke calmly.
"Little Robin, since you're here, why aren't you saying anything?"
Immediately, from the corner of his eye, Yaen noticed the eyeball monster, Cursed Eye Sangha, come to an obvious halt.
He had guessed correctly!
This little girl...
While surprised by Little Robin's appearance, Yaen reached toward Cursed Eye Sangha with one hand. In an instant, Cursed Eye Sangha seemed to be completely controlled and rapidly approached Yaen.
Little Robin had just sensed an inexplicable attraction and, following that familiar feeling, had accidentally arrived in this strange Mental Space. She had been cautiously examining everything bizarre around her when she suddenly felt completely unable to resist.
As the two drew closer, Little Robin clearly saw and recognized Yaen before her. He was the good person who had rescued her from Ohara not long ago, when it had been engulfed in endless flames.
At that moment, Little Robin had been wandering alone across the sea and constantly fleeing the pursuit of the World Government and the Marines. Now, it was as if she had seen a family member again. She cried out excitedly,
"G... good-person big brother..."
Yaen.
Another good-person card!
This time, it had been given to him by a giant eyeball.
However, after carefully thinking it over, Yaen recalled that he really had never told Little Robin his name. "Yaen, Teffimoe Yaen. That's my name."
"Big Brother Yaen?!"
Little Robin's voice came from the eyeball monster, Cursed Eye Sangha, and the eyeball monster itself clearly radiated joy.
A strange feeling arose in Yaen's heart!
Especially since Yaen simply could not connect Little Robin's future image as a beautiful mature woman with the giant eyeball before him.
Then Yaen noticed Senbonzakura, which had manifested beside him as the Purple Armor Samurai, and tentatively spoke. "Little Robin, try to see whether you can manifest your own appearance."
Next, after the eyeball monster Cursed Eye Sangha remained silent for a moment, its strange form began to writhe and contract rapidly.
Before long, a figure nearly identical to the Little Robin in Yaen's memories appeared before him.
Much easier on the eyes!
At that moment, Yaen had to admit that he was apparently a sucker for beauty. No longer as rough as before, he carefully placed the eight-year-old Little Robin on the White Jade avenue.
"Little Robin, how did you get here?" Yaen asked.
"I don't really know either. After Big Brother Yaen gave me that special power, I was somehow able to sense a familiar and affectionate aura. But I was afraid it might be some kind of trap, so I never dared relax my mind..."
After a pause, Little Robin continued,
"Until just now, when I met a kind uncle who sold fish. He took me in and arranged food and lodging for me. Then, after I fell completely asleep, I came here."
Yaen suddenly interrupted her. "Wait."
"Hmm? Big Brother Yaen?" Little Robin asked.
"You just said that a kind uncle took you in?" Yaen asked.
"Yes. Sauron was right. The sea really is gentle after all." Little Robin, who was only eight years old, spoke happily.
"Run, Little Robin," Yaen said.
"Huh?" Little Robin asked in confusion.
Yaen sighed and said,
"Little Robin, beneath this seemingly peaceful and gentle sea, the dangerous undercurrents hidden there are far more terrifying than you can imagine. So hurry and leave that household."
Before you continue