Robin followed closely in Lofan's footsteps toward the Poneglyph he had spoken of.
The Royal Mausoleum in the capital's western district.
This was where Alabasta honored its deceased royal ancestors, and it was heavily guarded.
She did not know what he intended to do.
But she understood that even if Alabasta mobilized the entire nation, it still could not stop this man.
Watching Lofan walk straight ahead without regard for the guards, Robin gritted her teeth but resolutely followed.
Yet something utterly baffling happened: not a single person saw them.
Even when they met face-to-face, the guards still seemed unable to see the two of them.
She suppressed her curiosity for the moment, because the entrance to the Royal Mausoleum was not far away, and the Poneglyph was waiting for her there.
In the hall of the royal tomb, the long-slumbering Poneglyph finally welcomed a human who could read it.
Robin rested her fingers on the enormous black cube of stone, hungrily reading the lost script that almost no one could decipher.
"So that's it..."
This Poneglyph described how to use Pluton, but contained no information about where Pluton was located.
Unlike in the original story, Robin did not lie to deceive him, but truthfully told Lofan what it said.
"Is that so? The ancients really were just as cunning as we are."
They recorded its location and instructions separately? That really made the search much harder for future generations, while also providing ample protection for this superweapon.
"Perhaps this is fate, but the dream of a steel torrent will never end."
Lofan swept Robin into his arms. His action startled her, but she showed no sign of shyness.
"Oh my, so Admiral Lofan likes this sort of thing."
"There's plenty I like. You'll find out in time."
Lofan stepped into the air and departed. He needed to take Robin to Marine Headquarters to register her as a member of the Search Bureau.
From then on, this woman whom the World Government had branded a demon would work in one of the safest places in the world.
"You'll have to put up with this for a while. No one will recognize you as Robin.
But no one will truly form a connection with Robin, either. That will change eventually, though."
After explaining his plans in midair, Lofan flew toward headquarters with all his strength.
Carrying someone on such a long flight really was hard work.
With Illusion's power, no one at headquarters could recognize Robin.
He placed her in the Navy Criminal Search Bureau to await the launch of his Espada plan.
While he was in the Baku Islands, Lofan had already devised the "Robin No. 2" Plan.
In Alabasta, there was now still someone whom Crocodile believed could decipher Poneglyphs, waiting for him to recruit her.
And that woman believed she was the real Robin.
But she would do everything she could to conceal her identity, disguising herself as the person she had originally truly been.
This was a new hypnotic ability of Illusion that Lofan had discovered after the Aizen Template reached 60%.
He could select a target, whether an object or a living creature.
Lofan could determine that target and all the information the target itself presented.
Like Robin No. 2, who possessed all of Robin's memories.
Once she removed her outward disguise, her face would also look like Robin's to other people.
In reality, however, she was merely a female death-row prisoner from Alabasta.
The Robin No. 2 Plan was intended to guard against all sorts of unforeseen events.
It would keep the plot within Lofan's control as much as possible, rather than letting it gradually stray into unpredictability.
As for the current Robin, she would be listed in the Search Bureau's files.
Under the identity of Mary, she would work as deputy director of the Search Bureau's Investigation Department.
The other senior posts would temporarily be filled by rear admirals and commodores from headquarters, as there were currently no more suitable candidates to appoint.
At the Search Bureau in Marineford, all personnel out on assignments had been recalled.
Under the three-department structure Lofan had proposed, each had already taken a position where they could put their strengths to use.
But because of the rule barring promotions in military rank, more than half the investigators voluntarily withdrew from the Search Bureau, just as Lofan had expected.
Before the Search Bureau took shape, what it absolutely needed was idealists-people willing to dedicate themselves to the Marines' justice.
Only then could the absolute influence of fairness, impartiality, and transparency be instilled deep in every Marine's mind.
And only then could its future working culture be kept under control, rather than the current state of listless shirking and accomplishing nothing.
Laiyin and Geluusi, as the Search Bureau's original director and deputy director.
Led by example and signed the agreement outright. For the rest of their lives.
Their military ranks would never advance, except for honorary promotions after retirement.
But they also looked further ahead. Such a pioneering system.
Would surely become an enormous institution of power in the future, and military rank would mean nothing then.
Because the authority to investigate even the Fleet Admiral was utterly unprecedented in Marine history.
They saw a bright future in which they could rise above the rest, and they truly saw a chance to make one final contribution.
Ain was now temporarily in charge of managing the entire Administration Department.
Binz became the commanding officer of an operations squad under the Operations Department.
Zephyr, meanwhile, gave up his exceptionally easy clerical job to become a training instructor in the Operations Department.
He, too, had seen a different kind of justice in this report called the Clean Government Plan.
Taking advantage of Lofan's various actions, Sengoku had already quietly begun planning a military development program called the "Army of Justice."
The Four Emperors had now become three, while the Marines' top-level fighting strength had increased.
With one side weakening and the other growing stronger, Sengoku once again made the Marines' deployments more aggressive.
First, he adjusted the deployment of forces in the New World, gradually carving up Kaido's former territory like slowly boiling a frog.
This would secure sufficient positions along the front to block the remaining three Emperors from expanding their influence further.
At present, the most openly aggressive force was led by the Big Mom Pirates, who were operating everywhere and profiting from it.
Whitebeard and Shanks remained inactive, as always.
Sengoku knew the personality of his old adversary Whitebeard, but he had never been able to make sense of Shanks's actions.
Moreover, the revolutionaries led by Dragon had recently been overthrowing the World Government's rule in various places, giving Kong and the Five Elders quite a headache.
Presumably, no more resources would be allocated to the Marines.
With this as the basis for his deployments, Sengoku could not be too blatant about provoking widespread unrest among the pirates.
Besides, the purpose of the secret special forces was to carry out decapitation strikes and prevent large-scale Marine losses.
The series of actions Lofan had taken since setting sail had indeed brought the entire sea to the brink of a storm, with dark clouds gathering and thunder poised to rumble.
"Before I retire, can I still crush Roger's intentions...?"
Sengoku stroked the goat's head, gazing calmly at the white clouds drifting outside the window.
He began to waver inwardly. Was Aokiji better suited to succeed him, or should he keep observing a while longer?
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