Although Vic disappeared from Robin's sight, he didn't really leave. Instead, he used an illusion to prevent Robin from seeing him. He will stay on the Going Merry for the foreseeable future because there are things he needs for the Straw Hat Pirates' upcoming journey!
Robin waited on the Going Merry for three days before she heard the sound of people boarding the ship. It was the Straw Hat Pirates returning to the ship after a big meal.
Robin waited three days and finally met the main character. However, she was not bored during those three days. Nami's room also had many books, including books on navigation, as well as many novels and biographies, which was enough for Robin to pass the time.
Meanwhile, Vic, who was essentially invisible, was even less bored. He could meditate, comprehend the Laws, or cultivate his Haki, but neither of them showed themselves.
Because not only did Straw Hat Luffy and his crew board the ship, he also brought a group of Marines who were chasing them on a warship, and they were currently busy escaping for their lives.
However, their escape only involved sailing around the Alabasta coastline; they didn't head directly to the next island. They still held onto one hope: to wait for Weiwei to make her final decision. Whatever she thought, they wanted Weiwei to say it herself.
Today also happens to be Princess Vivi's coming-of-age ceremony, but Vivi did not attend this grand day witnessed by tens of thousands of people in the capital. Instead, she had Igaram impersonate her and attend, while she herself rode Karoo Duck to the beach where she had agreed to meet Luffy.
Although Vivi really wanted to abandon her princess status and go on adventures with Luffy and the Luffy, as the heir to Alabasta and with her father getting old, she really couldn't leave. She had to be responsible for the entire country and its people!
She came here only to confirm one thing: whether Luffy and his crew truly considered her a crewmate, and how they would interact when they met again in the future.
Vivi didn't want to be just a passerby on the Going Merry. If she was only treated as a passerby, she would be very sad every time she thought about it. So even though she had already made up her mind to stay in Alabasta, she still came here in person to confirm it one last time!
"I will stay here! If we meet again someday, will you still call me your comrade?"
However, her question went unanswered because several warships were following behind the Going Merry, and the marines on board were listening to the conversation. If Luffy and his crew really admitted that Vivi was a crewmate, it would cause Vivi a lot of trouble.
A princess from Affiliated Nation who was once a pirate? This is nothing short of a bombshell. The World Government would never agree to let Princess Vivi succeed as the next king.
This led to the famous scene from the original work: Luffy and his crew didn't say anything, but they all raised their left hands because they had a black cross mark on their left wrists, a symbol they had agreed upon to distinguish between allies and enemies!
This silent gesture was the best answer. Vivi smiled upon seeing this, then burst into tears. She and Karoo Duck also raised their left hands with the cross symbol, echoing Luffy and his crew, and bidding them Luffy.
Robin, watching from inside the cabin, was filled with envy; it was something she had never experienced. Vic also saw this, but he merely smiled faintly.
Luffy does possess a unique charm that makes many people accept him and become his partners and friends. However, this charm also attracts some enemies, and some of them are very powerful.
Without luck, protagonist's halo, and background, a person with this kind of charisma won't go very far. For example, in the Alabasta incident, Luffy made the decision without hesitation to help Vivi defeat Crocodile.
This did indeed earn him the friendship of Princess Vivi and the royal family, as well as the approval of Smoker and Tashigi. However, he ended up on the opposite side of Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Without the protagonist's halo, luck, and the secret help of Vick and Robin, he would have been dead in his first encounter with Crocodile!
Perhaps it was his charisma that attracted Robin to help him during their first encounter, but the water balloon in the second fight was really just luck. If the water balloon had been off by even a little bit, it definitely wouldn't have hit Luffy when it fell.
Then there's Vic's covert help, which comes from Luffy's background. Just like Aokiji later in the original story, Kuma in the Florian Triangle, Kuma and Rayleigh in the Sabaody Archipelago, and Ivankov and Inazuma in Impel Down —all of these received help thanks to his background!
Without a powerful backer, he really couldn't get anywhere. So Luffy's unique charm must be backed by a strong background, otherwise he simply wouldn't be able to make it!
He would provoke many powerful enemies for the sake of some weak friends and companions. This unique charm was a double-edged sword before Luffy grew up, but it will become the sharpest knife after he grows up!
After saying goodbye to Alabasta and Vivi, the Straw Hat Pirates was followed by several warships, so the Going Merry was not filled with sorrow and silence, but rather with some noise and chaos.
The cannonballs fired from the warships were deflected, sliced apart, or kicked away; in short, not a single shell landed on the Going Merry.
However, the warship carried more than just cannonballs as long-range weapons; it also had enormous iron arrows shaped like feathered arrows. A single Luffy fire filled Going Merry Going Merry dared not use his large belly to catch these iron arrows, and Sanji certainly wouldn't dare kick them directly either. Zoro alone couldn't possibly block them all.
Keep in mind that the pursuing Marines are Marine Headquarters Colonel Captain Hina, and their combat capabilities are extraordinary. If things continue like this, the Straw Hat Pirates will be captured here.
However, Luffy's protagonist aura is truly extraordinary. Just when they were about to be captured, a thick fog rolled in at sea, concealing the Going Merry's whereabouts. They even encountered Bon Clay's crew's ship within the fog.
After a brief exchange, Luffy and Bon Clay became best friends. Vic watched in amazement, marveling at Luffy's exceptional ability to make friends.
In the thick fog, Bon Clay and his henchmen disguised themselves as the Straw Hat Pirates, directly drawing away Hina's warship and Luffy's side a chance to catch their breath.
However, this came at the cost of Bon Clay being captured by Hina. Bon Clay did not regret his decision, and Luffy was quite sad. However, they had already pulled out the iron arrow stuck in the ship, Usopp also used his skills to make some simple repairs to the Going Merry, so the pirate ship could continue sailing.
When the fog cleared, the warships that remained patrolling still spotted the Going Merry. However, before they could catch up, Luffy, finding it in Luffy way, casually threw out a giant iron arrow that pierced through the warship, causing it to bubble and sink.
Nami and Zoro were dumbfounded. This actually works? That luck, that aura—even Vic was envious!
The Straw Hat Pirates has temporarily escaped the Navy's pursuit and gained a chance to catch their breath!