Reactions from All Sides; Cross-World Swordsmanship Unlocked / An Unexpected Twist in the Cheat; Meeting Crocodile

She silently packed everything up, followed Dongze off the ship, and set out on their journey through the desert.

The town was called Nanohana, a city of perfume. The moment they stepped into it, unusual fragrances greeted them—fresh without being cloying, elegant and romantic, their scents lingering in the air.

Robin's steps faltered at the smell, and a hint of anticipation appeared in her eyes. After a moment's hesitation, though, she said nothing and kept walking behind Dongze.

Dongze had activated his Observation Haki as soon as he left the ship, so of course he noticed. Yet Robin never asked. Her almost excessive restraint stirred something in him. They were traveling together; he had no reason to deny her such a small thing.

"Xiao Yi, the perfume here smells pretty good. Pick up a couple of bottles later. We'll need a couple of changes of clothes, too. We can't cross the desert dressed like this—we'd be burned black in hours!"

Robin blinked, warmth spreading through her chest. She knew Dongze had seen through her earlier thoughts.

A captivating smile crept across her face.

"Of course, Mr. Dongze!"

Looking at his back, Robin thought, You're unexpectedly gentle. Which one is the real you, Pirate Hunter Dongze?

After a satisfying meal, they changed clothes, bought two camels, stocked up on fresh water, and rested.

Both were cautious by nature. Robin had learned caution through countless years on the run, while Dongze had seen enough of the world to avoid unnecessary trouble. Alabasta hid Pluton, and the World Government might already have eyes everywhere. Crocodile might think his investigation was secret, but where had he gotten his information in the first place? To keep a low profile, Dongze had no intention of making a scene here.

And so the two spent a pleasant day in Nanohana without attracting anyone's attention.

The next morning, before the sun had risen above the horizon, they mounted their camels and set off for Alubarna.

Their destination was the royal tomb in Alubarna—and the Poneglyph.

As for the other Poneglyph somewhere along the way, its location was uncertain, and Dongze did not go looking for it. He knew he did not have Luffy's protagonist luck. Finding it could be like searching for a needle in the sea, and it simply was not worth the effort.

A whole day passed in the scorching heat. The two sat side by side beneath an eroded rock, watching the sun sink toward the horizon.

As the evening brought cooler air, Dongze breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Good thing they had changed clothes in Nanohana. In what they had worn at sea, they might have lost a layer of skin to the sun.

Remembering the tales of vast deserts he had read and watched, Dongze felt a sudden impulse.

"Xiao Yi, want to climb up and see what this desert really looks like?"

Dongze stood, stretched, and turned to Robin.

Robin seemed to guess what he meant. She looked at him and nodded gently.

Dongze winked at her.

Then, before she could react, he swept her up in his arms.

He launched into Geppo, carrying them swiftly to the top of the enormous eroded rock.

Cool wind brushed past her ears. Looking at his resolute face and striking, star-bright eyes, Robin lost herself for a moment.

Before that feeling could deepen, pain shot through her backside as she landed on the ground.

Dongze had plainly dropped her.

"Dongze, you—"

She looked up, ready to give her dear employer a piece of her mind, but stopped. Something about him was different.

He stared at the distant meeting point of earth and sky. The sun, not yet fully set, glowed dark red. Windblown yellow sand rose like solitary columns of smoke. Across that boundless view came a sense of freedom, boldness, abandon, and austere desolation that seized the heart.

Robin, too, fell still. It was only natural to be overwhelmed on first seeing the desert. A long while passed before she came back to herself.

Then a long cry rang out, like the roar of a dragon or tiger, soaring into the sky. Bold words followed, ringing in her ears.

"Across the desert, lone plumes of smoke rise straight; above the Long River, the setting sun hangs round!"

As his voice faded, a vast force descended from the heavens. An unfathomable intent pierced heaven and earth, and a long sword appeared from nothingness, its flashing light reaching into the highest skies.

Dongze's distant gaze seemed to pierce a thousand years. He saw the mighty empire that had once swept across the land, only to yield at last to the erosion of time and vanish into the Long River of history. Oasis after oasis had been consumed by wind and sand, becoming this endless wasteland where life could not survive.

Time had carved the word erosion into this desert, leaving not a blade of grass behind.

Dongze brought two fingers together and swept them lightly through the air. The sword of nothingness merged into his body. Radiance flared at his fingertips, and an invisible blade parted the swirling sand, split the bottomless desert, and severed the fate it had endured since ancient times. A trench with no visible end stretched from the eroded rock deep into the sands. As if held open by some mysterious power, it showed no sign of closing.

"So this is Sword Intent!"

On Dongze's panel, the Sword Intent entry that had remained unchanged for so long finally unlocked.

Sword Intent (unlocked): 1/100;

Erosion Sword Intent: 1500/1000000.

Across the endless sands, Sword Intent had appeared for the first time. Almost instantly, it sent a tremor through the world.

Throughout the world, every powerful swordsman felt it. As that flash of sword light appeared, the Famous Swords in their hands reacted in different ways.

A sword began as ordinary iron. The hand that wielded it gave it spirit; the heart could still it, and blood could bring it to life.

Famous Swords were no different. After years beside their wielders, they had absorbed their spirit, will, and Haki, becoming almost sentient weapons. The cursed sword Kitetsu was one such example.

In the New World, Whitebeard sensed Murakumogiri stir beside him. His narrow eyes tightened. As its wielder, he could feel the weapon's delight, and his crescent-shaped mustache twitched twice.

"Gurararara!"

"Gurararara!"

Whitebeard Edward Newgate's unmistakable laughter soon rang across the Moby Dick.

Gazing at the surging sea, Whitebeard thought, Interesting. Murakumogiri hasn't stirred like this in years. Whoever you are, I'll admit it—you're worthy of being my son!

"Pops! What happened?"

"It's been ages since Pops laughed like that!"

Whitebeard waved off Marco and the others, then cast Vista a meaningful glance.

He had a feeling that this person would come to visit him. Of all his sons aboard the ship, only Vista was a swordsman through and through. Someone who could make Murakumogiri tremble before they had even met was bound to shake the world one day.

He looked forward to meeting him.

"Boys! Let's have a party!"

Among pirates, there seemed to be only one way to celebrate: throw a party.

Marco and the others had no idea what had gotten into Whitebeard, but they had no objections. With a chorus of cheers, they began a lively celebration aboard the Moby Dick.

In Red-Haired Shanks's territory, Gryphon bounced joyfully at his hip. Shanks grinned.

"Is that so? Looks like another top-tier Swordmaster has appeared! I wonder when I'll see Luffy again. Keep at it, kid! Boys, it's party time!"

"Yeah!"

On the Red Line, in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, the member of the Five Elders who wielded First Kitetsu narrowed his eyes as the sword pulsed in an unusual way.

The others noticed and asked, "What is it?"

"An extraordinary genius has emerged in Swordsmanship. Kitetsu must have sensed him. Someone like that is destined to stand at the summit."

"Notify Sengoku. Deploy CP9 and find this brat at all costs. Focus on the New World!"

At Shakky's Rip-off Bar in the Sabaody Archipelago, Dark King Rayleigh felt the sword at his waist stir. He blinked, then burst out laughing.

"Swordsmanship, huh? I see. The world's about to get turbulent again. Roger, it's been so long. Here's to the years gone by!"

Out on the sea, aboard a tiny boat lit by four candles, Hawkeye Dracule Mihawk felt the Black Blade Yoru on his back nearly leap free.

A fierce light flashed in his eyes. As the world's greatest Great Swordsman, he had traveled farther down the path of the sword than anyone else, and he felt this power more keenly than the rest.

The swords' reactions said it all. Whitebeard's had trembled twice; Rayleigh's, Shanks's, and the elder's had leaped at their sides. Hawkeye's Black Blade Yoru had nearly sprung away. Whitebeard relied chiefly on his Tremor-Tremor Fruit, Shanks and Rayleigh both wielded Conqueror's Haki, and the elder held the reins of power. Their devotion to the sword was no longer as pure. Hawkeye, though, was a swordsman and nothing else.

That was why he, rather than the stronger Whitebeard or Shanks, was called the world's greatest Great Swordsman.

"A wholly new path of Swordsmanship! What a prodigious talent. I'll be waiting at the summit of the sword, whoever you are!"

"I look forward to meeting you!"

Robin stared at the devastation before her, her shock immediate and overwhelming. She cried out and covered her mouth.

Dongze's strike had not only split the endless sands. It had carved a rift through the sky, parting the clouds for miles and leaving the moon suspended in the gap.

It looked like a miracle—or divine punishment from the heavens.

The wind stopped. All she could see was the desert's silence and the desolation left by its ceaseless erosion.

That single strike cut off every thought in her mind, leaving it blank.

Only after a long time did Robin recover. Dongze stood with his arms spread as though embracing heaven and earth. She murmured, "Could he be a god from the legends?"

The enormous disturbance also alerted Alabasta's royal family and Baroque Works, whose reach already covered the entire kingdom.

By the time either side arrived, Dongze and Robin were long gone. Only that seemingly bottomless, miraculous trench remained.

Two days later, Dongze and Robin arrived safely in Alabasta's capital, Alubarna.

Following the route he remembered, Dongze quietly led Robin to the royal tomb.

He turned the mechanism, and the two followed the passage into the tomb. At the sight of the Poneglyph, delight lit Robin's face.

Dongze had told her the truth. He really did know where a Poneglyph was kept.

She began reading its inscription closely. The further she read, the more troubled her expression became.

It said very little about the Void Century. Most of it described a terrifying warship called Pluton and revealed where it lay hidden.

"Xiao Yi, what does it say?"

Dongze watched Robin remain silent for a long time before asking a question whose answer he already knew.

Unlocking Sword Intent had drained him, and he intended to use this chance to rest. He lay down without a care, pillowed his head on his arms, and closed his eyes, as though the inscription meant nothing to him.

But was that really the case?

This was also a deliberate test. If Robin concealed the truth, their journey together would end here.

For Dongze, that was a line he would not let her cross.

After spending these days with him, Robin knew it too. At his question, she gave a slight tremble.

The Poneglyph described a weapon capable of threatening the world, a terrifying ship that could destroy an island with a single shot.

If such a thing appeared, there was no telling how many people would suffer.

Yet she did not hesitate. She began translating the Poneglyph.

"Pluton, a devastating warship, built by the technology division..."

Robin's expression remained calm and her voice steady. She read softly, almost like a lullaby, without faltering at its horrifying contents. From the ship's description to its hiding place, she concealed nothing.

A faint snore suddenly reached her ears. Robin paused, then smiled sweetly at Dongze, who had fallen fast asleep.

Her employer truly did not care about that dreadful weapon.

She sat down beside him and drew her knees up. After a tender glance at his sleeping face, she continued reading the rest of the Poneglyph.

When she finished the last word, Robin sighed with mixed emotions. She still did not want such a terrible weapon brought into the world.

Just then, Dongze's eyes snapped open. He stared at the Poneglyph in shock.

For the first time since setting sail, his usually unruffled eyes showed astonishment.

A new line had appeared on his panel.

World Will (unlocked): 1/10;

Swordsmanship (Minor World locking in): 1/10;

"What is this..."

"Mr. Dongze! Where are we going next?"

"To exploit a bug!"

Robin blinked. Strange phrases sometimes came out of Dongze's mouth.

At her puzzled look, Dongze scratched his head awkwardly. "No, I mean we're going to meet Crocodile!"

Ever since he had found that bug with the Sea Kings, he had gone further and further down the path of exploiting them, with no sign of turning back.