A day later, in the Calm Belt.
After several days of travel, Jones finally confirmed that no faction was tailing them. Only then did he have the Island Turtle stop and rest in the Calm Belt.
Meanwhile, he was busy counting the island's population and reorganizing its defenses.
He had no choice. Although he hadn't sent every slave into battle against Moria, Turtle Island's population had still dropped sharply. With fewer people, the old arrangements no longer worked. Changes were necessary.
Ratchet, the former ruler of Mechanical Island, knew his fate was now tied to Jones's. As Jones laid out the new defenses, Ratchet carefully adjusted the mechanisms and weapons so they could be put to better use.
Curious about those simple yet inventive devices, Robin walked over and struck up a conversation with Ratchet about how they worked.
Ratchet might once have been an ambitious island ruler, but his social skills were no match for Robin's. After a few well-placed compliments, he was practically ready to tell her his life story!
He even gave Robin his treasured Iron Man No. 5, which he had only just finished developing and testing—all because she had asked for something to ride on the island's rough mountain paths!
Jones and Crocodile hardly knew what to say. No wonder Mechanical Island had remained obscure despite Ratchet's ingenious technology.
Still...
"Are you sure you want to let her look around as she pleases?" Crocodile toyed with the cigar in his hand and said to Jones, who was eating while feeding Steel Shadow, "That woman isn't simple. Once she knows this island inside out, she might cause trouble."
Crocodile wasn't worrying over nothing. He believed almost no one in the world knew Nico Robin better than he did, and he knew what she was like.
Before