Excellent Traitor Nico Robin

Chapter 37: The Excellent Traitor, Nico Robin.

Hearing Bane's words, Robin was momentarily stunned.

How did the conversation suddenly veer into this territory?

Although Nico Robin had originally intended to make contact with Bane, then sow discord between him and Crocodile, and ultimately incite them to fight so she could seize the chance to break free from Crocodile—or better yet, have him killed—she had her own agenda.

That's right, Robin also wanted to silence him; she suffered from a severe lack of security herself.

Even so, Bane's proactive invitation to team up and take down Crocodile left her feeling quite uncertain.

Having spent years drifting through various criminal organizations and surviving until now, Nico Robin's life was saturated with betrayal and being betrayed.

Consequently, the very moment Bane uttered those words, several hypotheses flashed through her mind.

Could it be that Crocodile and Bane were already acquainted, and Crocodile was now using Bane to test her?

Could Bane actually be an agent of the World Government, looking to use her hands to eliminate a Seven Warlords of the Sea like Crocodile, only to dispose of her afterward?

Could it be...

In short, a flurry of dark thoughts raced through Robin's mind.

However, she remained outwardly composed. After a few seconds, she even feigned a troubled expression and said, "I clearly heard our President say he had no contact with you. I assumed there was no conflict between the two of you, so how did things suddenly reach this point?"

After a brief pause, Robin asked, "Even if you say so, I at least need to know the reason, right? Why would you want to target our President? Is there some misunderstanding here? I could act as an intermediary to help you two reconcile."

"What kind of misunderstanding could there be?" Bane waved his hand dismissively. "I haven't had any contact with Crocodile, nor do I know him, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to take him down."

Bane then exhaled a cloud of smoke and continued, "As for the reason, I'm a Bounty Hunter, and wanting to kill a Pirate is perfectly reasonable, isn't it? Even if he is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, that makes it even better—it would only serve to boost my reputation and prestige across the seas, wouldn't it?"

Nico Robin did not attempt to refute him, lest she provoke Bane. Getting herself killed here for Crocodile's sake was not worth it, and she lacked that level of loyalty anyway.

But she couldn't just agree either, so she tactfully replied, "I'm very sorry, Mr. Bane. The President has treated me reasonably well, and I have no intention of betraying him. I imagine you wouldn't like a traitor either, would you?"

Bane listened, locked his gaze onto Robin's eyes, and after a moment of silence, said, "But you've grown up in a world of betrayal and conspiracy since you were a child, haven't you? Loyalty is the cheapest thing to you. Do you really think Crocodile trusts you?"

Nico Robin had no way to refute this. She didn't know how much this man knew about her, but it was certainly more than she had imagined. To speak further now would only lead to more mistakes, so it was better to remain silent.

Yet she also knew that if she remained silent time and again, she might exhaust this man's patience, which would put her in danger.

So, after a brief silence, Robin spoke: "Crocodile indeed does not trust me, but I cannot trust you either. I certainly cannot betray him based on just a few words from you, because you give me a feeling of being even more dangerous than him. With him, I at least have some initiative; with you, I only sense danger—lethal danger. Therefore..."

As she spoke, she kept observing Bane's expression. If his demeanor shifted in a negative direction, she would decisively change her tactics.

However, based on her near-master-level skill in reading people, the words she chose, including the shift in honorifics, did not cause the man before her any discomfort. This left her somewhat puzzled and made it even harder to see through him.

"So you need to be able to trust me... Hmm, that's a bit of a high bar, so that's definitely not the requirement. Let me think." Bane rubbed his chin, pondered for a moment, and then a look of realization dawned in his eyes. "I see. You need me to explicitly state what your value is to me? Only by confirming this value can you trust me to a certain extent—at least until that value is exhausted, I won't discard you or trade you away for someone new, right?"

Robin didn't speak, but her expression confirmed that she understood Bane's meaning.

In fact, her cooperation with Crocodile was the same. She knew Crocodile wanted to use her knowledge to decipher the Poneglyph and obtain the Ancient Weapons, so she could trust him to a certain extent; this trust was based on that need.

Robin judged that before Crocodile obtained intelligence on the Ancient Weapons, he wouldn't harm her; he would even protect her from other factions. Facts had proven that over the years, this was indeed the case.

Likewise, she was certain that once Crocodile obtained what he wanted, she would have no value left, and he would definitely kill her!

So, before that happened, she wanted to take him out first!

Now, she needed Bane to give her a suitable reason to prove that she was needed by him. Only this need could, in the short term, foster a foundation of trust between them. As for the future, that would depend on how things played out.

The two were speaking in circles, to the point where Zoro, standing to the side, couldn't quite follow. He looked at Nami, seemingly wanting her to explain it to him in a whisper, but Nami just gave him a cold, heartless eye-roll.

On the other side, after pondering for a moment, Bane spoke again: "That's not difficult, but I don't want to prove these things. Let's put it this way: whether you trust me or not, in my eyes, you have no choice. Because I know you better than you imagine, and I hold chips you absolutely cannot refuse and reasons you cannot escape."

Robin didn't believe such claims. Through their brief conversation, she had already judged that this guy seemed to have a lot of patience and tolerance for her. So, she added a bit of probing to her words, wanting to see if this tolerance and patience were even greater than she had guessed.

Therefore, Robin changed her tone, deliberately provoking him: "Is that so? If you have such chips that I cannot refuse and reasons I cannot escape, then why bother communicating with me in this way? You could simply threaten me or order me directly, couldn't you? After all, I wouldn't be able to refuse."

Bane was taken aback by this, then burst into hearty laughter. "So you think I'm trying to trick you? Hahaha, no, no, no. It's just that I admire you. I admire the courage and sense of responsibility you've shown—bearing the infamy of being misunderstood by the whole world, carrying the crime of being the Devil Child of Ohara who supposedly wants to destroy the world, yet still fighting the scum on Mary Geoise to the end, determined to pass the voice of Ohara to the future and preserve the spark of history."

Bane's words moved Robin. She looked at the meat in her bowl with a dazed expression, as if something had been touched, as if she had fallen into some memories.

However, as a woman who had grown up in the darkness, how could she open her heart and trust others so easily because of a few words?

"So, what exactly are these chips I cannot refuse and the reasons I cannot escape? I'm not a little girl anymore; I've passed the age where I would foolishly trust others just by hearing a few compliments or kind words," Nico Robin said softly.

Her eyes, at this moment, became clear and rational once again.

"What an unlovable woman. You won't be liked this way." Bane curled his lip. Then, he tapped his finger on the wooden table and looked into Nico Robin's eyes. "Former Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Jaguar D. Saul is not dead. He is hiding somewhere, and I know where that is. That's the first thing. Now, do you want to hear the second?"

When the name Jaguar D. Saul spilled from Bane's lips, Nico Robin, who had been restraining her emotions and trying to appear rational, slammed both hands onto the table. She didn't speak, but there was a light in her eyes—a sense of anticipation, no longer the endless darkness. Her hands trembled against the table.

A moment later, she seemed to have adjusted her emotions enough to speak properly. Her voice trembled as she asked, "And the second?"

Bane admired her even more now. To be able to maintain such restraint and rationality at a time like this, prioritizing the acquisition of more information rather than pestering him about Saul's condition—that was impressive.

So, Bane didn't keep her in suspense. "Second, the precious books in the Tree of Knowledge on Ohara were not destroyed during that Buster Call. A large portion of them were preserved and are currently hidden in a certain place. So, do you want to hear the third?"

Nico Robin desperately wanted to nod and ask what the third was, but she knew that these two points alone were enough to make her unable to refuse. Bane was right; he held chips she couldn't refuse and reasons she absolutely couldn't escape!

So now, she needed to show her worth so that this new boss would be satisfied with her sooner and tell her the answers to the first two things.

Therefore, Robin suppressed her curiosity and anticipation, revealing an intellectual and gentle smile. "No need, Lord Bane. We can talk now about how to take down Crocodile."

"Hahahaha, I admire you more and more, Nico Robin!" Bane laughed and praised.