The Pirate Who Saw Proficiency and Became a Legend

But none of that affected Dongze. The days kept passing.

Then, one day, Dongze ran into Nico Robin again.

Looking at the bodies strewn across the ship, Nico Robin asked him the same question.

"You're not going to kill me?"

Dongze checked his status panel.

Armament Haki: 120000/1000000;

Observation Haki: 110000/1000000;

Conqueror's Haki: 1000/1000000;

Hundred-Pace Flying Sword: max;

Crossing the Eight Directions: max;

Sword-Draw Technique: max;

Heavenly Flying Immortal: 8000/10000;

Hidden Light, Sitting in Forgetfulness: 3500/10000;

One Sword Across the Ages: 2500/10000;

Taiji Swordsmanship: max;

Sword Intent (locked): 0/100;

Dongze sighed. "Sorry. I can't beat you!"

He sounded so sincere that Nico Robin's eye twitched. She had no idea why he would not kill her, but there was nothing she could do. She could hardly tie him up, beat him, and demand to know why he kept sparing her.

She gave the man before her a long look, then turned and left.

"Heavenly Flying Immortal!"

The sailboat exploded, scattering fragments across the sky.

As pirates grew fewer in the East Blue, Dongze and Nico Robin ran into each other more often. By the seventh time, Robin had had enough.

"You bastard! Why do you keep targeting me?!"

Every time Dongze boarded a pirate ship, she was the only one he spared. Once or twice might have been a coincidence, but every single time? Something was wrong.

And with their encounters becoming so frequent, Robin naturally assumed Dongze was targeting her.

As she watched Dongze prepare to leave, all the things she had suffered over the years came rushing back, and anger flared in her chest. It was bad enough that the Marines targeted her. Now even a Pirate Hunter was doing it.

"That's not it! I really can't beat you!"

"Bullshit!" Robin said through gritted teeth. "I can't even block one of your strikes!"

In just a few months, she had watched him split ships apart with a single strike six times. And he expected her to believe he could not beat her? Did he think she was stupid?

Dongze did not know what to say to the furious young woman. He really could not win. He was still at least 500000 points away from Aokiji.

But how was he supposed to explain that? Your old man, Admiral Aokiji, has been watching you the whole time. I could swing my sword until it broke and still wouldn't beat him.

Robin probably would not believe him anyway.

"Seriously. I can't beat you!"

"I don't believe you!"

In her fury, she activated her power. More than a dozen pairs of small hands appeared behind Dongze, and then...

That was it. An unconscious burst of Dongze's Conqueror's Haki knocked her out on the spot.

"Ah. Damn it. Now I've got a problem."

Looking at Robin sprawled on the deck, Dongze sighed. He could not just leave her here alone. It was not safe, and he would worry about her.

With no better option, he scooped Robin up and carried her back to his ship.

Then came "Heavenly Flying Immortal!"

Once again, he tore the pirate ship apart.

"Mmm..."

Two hours later, Robin woke. The unfamiliar surroundings made her heart jolt.

Her first instinct was to jump out the window and flee.

But first, she looked around. The room was neat and clean, stocked with everything one might need. Several suitcases sat in the corner, one of them open and filled to the brim with Beli.

If the other cases were full of Beli too, she estimated there had to be at least five or six hundred million altogether.

Yet the owner apparently did not care much. He had left the cases sitting there in plain sight.

A bookshelf on the east side held all kinds of books: medicine, navigation, ship repair, cooking—everything imaginable.

Nearby stood a framed photograph of four people. One was a middle-aged man in glasses and Swordsmanship clothes. The other three were children, two boys and a girl. One boy had moss-green hair and a haughty look in his eyes. The little girl was smiling brightly. The last was a black-haired boy with a faint smile and a calm, steadfast gaze. Who else could he be but the bastard who kept targeting her?

She had not expected Dongze, whom the pirates of the East Blue called a demon, to have a side like this. She had assumed he was an orphan. He hated pirates so much that he left none alive.

Just then, Dongze pushed the door open. Seeing Robin awake, he said in a low voice, "If you're awake, leave."

Nico Robin looked at his expressionless face. Something seemed to occur to her, and the corner of her mouth lifted.

"What if I refuse?"

Dongze narrowed his eyes. Killing intent poured from him. "I'm a Pirate Hunter."

The killing intent drained the color from Robin's face, and her large eyes beneath her straight bangs filled with fear. Still, she held firm. "Mr. Dongze, that won't scare me. If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it long ago. You wouldn't have waited until now!"

"What if I've changed my mind?"

Forgotten Dust slid from its sheath. A terrifying pressure surged forth, forcing Robin to the floor.

Only then did Robin seem to grasp the truth: the man before her was a Pirate Hunter. He hunted pirates.

As a pirate herself, she was in no position to bargain with him.

Looking up at Dongze, who stood a head taller than her, Robin felt an uncharacteristic flash of stubbornness.

Robin was considerably older than Dongze, but she had no advantage in height. His training had developed his physique until he stood a head taller than her.

"I'm not leaving!"

Robin's unexpected stubbornness left Dongze at a loss. He had considered this possibility before. Nico Robin had earned her archaeology certification at the age of seven; she was exceptionally clever.

With a mind like hers, it would not be hard to figure out that Dongze had no intention of killing her.

And with nowhere else to go, she might well decide to stick with him. That was why he had said he was in trouble.

Dongze said nothing, which surprised Robin. Sharp as she was, she could tell he did not want to kill her. He even seemed torn over what to do.

She remembered wearing that same look as a child, unable to decide between eel rice and roast meat.

"I can cook, I know navigation, and I know archaeology! I wouldn't be useless baggage!"

That was how clever people talked. Robin saw his hesitation and began making her case.

Even as she said it, Robin paused. She was a pirate. Why was she so eager to stay aboard a Pirate Hunter's ship?

"I can't protect you."

After a long silence, Robin finally got an answer.

But his words made her want to cry.

"I can't protect you."

Ever since Ohara had sunk into the sea, everyone who approached her had wanted something. Some hoped to use her reputation to make their pirate crews famous; others wanted to trade her for the bounty.

When had anyone ever said anything like that to her?

All her life, no one had spoken to her so plainly. She could hear the difference between this man and the people she had met before. He did not care that she was the Devil Child. He was even willing to protect her.

For a moment, she felt as if she understood something, though she could not quite put it into words.

"Have we met before?"

The same silence settled between them, but this time Robin was no longer uneasy. She waited with a hint of hope.

"Does it matter whether we've met before?"

That answer hit her even harder.

Robin was speechless for a long time. Her emotions in turmoil, she blurted out, "What if I told you that, if you had to, you could leave me behind?"

After that, Dongze found it hard to argue.

"Suit yourself."

Robin's eyes lit up at his words. He had finally relented.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Dongze!" she said, barely containing her excitement.

The sun had already dipped toward the western horizon, and night was coming. Dongze sighed and tossed Robin two small boxes.

"You're far too recognizable as you are."

"Dye your hair and put in these contact lenses. Change your hairstyle too. Brush your bangs back."

"And change your clothes. I'll get you some at the next town. For now, wear mine."

They were both smart enough to know where things stood. Playing the villain and forcing Robin away now would only create more trouble, so Dongze decided to let her stay.

Back in his former world, he had seen this sort of plot so many times that he could no longer be bothered to complain. The first time he had encountered one, he had thought the hero and heroine must have lost their minds.

Now that he was the hero, he had no intention of making the same mistake.

For a long time, he had wondered how the Marines and Pirate Hunters identified pirates well enough to pursue and intercept them.

Before mastering Observation Haki, he had assumed they relied on the portraits on wanted posters. After mastering it, he realized they might also use Observation Haki to confirm someone's identity.

But in the East Blue, people who could use Observation Haki were vanishingly rare. Few of the Marine officers stationed there had mastered it. Even a talent like Smoker had not.

With the fabled art of changing someone's appearance through makeup, Dongze was confident he could make the girl before him disappear from the East Blue, at least for a while.

Unless they ran into Aokiji himself, or Garp on a visit home, no one would recognize the person beside Dongze as Nico Robin, the Devil Child on the wanted poster.

The next day, Robin stood in men's clothes, staring at her reflection in astonishment. She looked nothing like her former self.

"Is that really me?"

"It's a temporary measure. Unless we meet someone with Expert Observation Haki, no one will recognize you."

"And one more thing. From now on, you're not allowed to use your Flower-Flower Fruit powers in front of others without my permission. If you do, you'll bear the consequences."

The woman standing before Dongze now had red hair, light brown eyes, and her hair swept back from her face. A pair of black sunglasses rested on her forehead.

Dressed in Swordsmanship dojo clothes, she looked both dashing and alluring. There was not the slightest resemblance to the woman on the wanted poster.

(Just look at what happened with Sanji's first wanted poster portrait. It could work.)

Dongze sighed softly. "Not bad."

"Not at all. It's thanks to you, Mr. Dongze."

"From today on, you'll go by Xiao Yi in public."

Nico Robin fell silent. She knew Dongze was doing this for her sake, but she did not want to give up the name she had carried since birth. It was proof that she existed in this world.

Dongze sighed softly. He had guessed what Robin was thinking. "If you're unwilling, you can leave on your own when we reach the next town."

He had goals and ambitions of his own. Though he was fond of the woman before him, he would not compromise his principles for her.

Hearing the resolve in Dongze's voice, Robin did not hesitate again. She nodded. Taking her in was already an immense kindness. It would be foolish to reject this one condition.

"Then, Mr. Dongze, you may call me Xiao Yi."

Robin bowed lightly to Dongze. From that moment on, his arrival set Nico Robin's fate on a mysterious new course.

"You're looking for the Poneglyphs, aren't you?"