Chapter 234: Nico Robin

"Stop sitting on the mast catching the wind; let's come down and chat, Miss Nico Robin?"

Robin pursed her lips. The mysterious atmosphere she had suddenly appeared with was shattered directly by Uchiha Feiyu. This already made the mature woman feel somewhat uncomfortable, and now, hearing Uchiha Feiyu suddenly call out her real name, her heart was thrown into complete disarray.

However, having drifted through the underground dark world since she was eight, experienced countless betrayals, endured countless hunts, and grown accustomed to the coldness of human relationships, she had long since honed a strong psychological resilience. Even though her heart was in disarray, the expression on her face did not change in the slightest:

"This gentleman certainly has a thorough understanding of me. May I ask what your name is?"

As she spoke, Nico Robin leaped down directly from the mast with a polite smile on her face.

"My name is Uchiha Feiyu, just a nobody on the sea."

Uchiha Feiyu crossed his arms and said calmly, his gaze fixed on Nico Robin:

"Nico Robin, known by the World Government as the Devil Child, was given a bounty of 81 million by the Marine at the age of eight for destroying five Marine warships. Am I correct?"

Robin put away the polite smile on her face and said slowly:

"It seems Mr. Uchiha really does have a thorough understanding of me! What is it? Are you planning to capture me to collect the bounty?"

While she spoke, Robin's hands slowly clenched into fists, ready to act immediately if things went south.

The current Nico Robin had severe defensive and self-destructive tendencies. Her surface-level maturity, craftiness, and cunning were merely a protective color; in reality, her mental state was already quite serious, and it was hard to say what she might do next.

Moreover, after Uchiha Feiyu's introduction, it wasn't just Nico Robin whose expression changed.

"81 million Berries!! She sank five warships at the age of eight!!"

The people on the deck gasped, looking at Robin as if they were looking at some kind of monster. Princess Vivi tremblingly took out her Peacock String, Nami took out her Clima-Tact with a pale face, Richie the lion hid at the edge of the deck at the first opportunity, and Usopp made himself a Candle Champion cup without a second word.

The group's appearance of facing a great enemy made the air on the deck nearly solidify, yet Uchiha Feiyu merely shrugged and said faintly:

"Of course I don't intend to go anywhere to exchange for a bounty, so you don't need to be so nervous, Miss Robin."

"Also, you all don't need to be on guard either. Although Miss Robin's current strength is enough to satisfy the requirements of an 81 million Berry bounty, in reality, those battle records and crimes of hers were all forged by the Marine and the World Government."

"The real reason is that in order to cover up the history of 800 years ago, the World Government ordered the Marine to launch a Buster Call, destroying Miss Robin's hometown, the island of Ohara, where a large number of archaeologists had gathered."

"Fortunately, a portion of the Marine had a troubled conscience, either resisting openly or letting her go, which allowed Miss Robin, the last survivor of Ohara, to escape."

"Who exactly are you?!!"

Hearing this, Nico Robin finally couldn't hold it together. She crossed her hands to activate her fruit ability, extending two arms directly onto Uchiha Feiyu's shoulders to lock his neck.

"Don't be so impatient, Miss Robin!"

Uchiha Feiyu shook his body, and with the vibration of his Armament Haki, the Flower-Flower arms growing from his shoulders instantly shattered into a pile of petals. Under the transmitted pain, Robin couldn't help but let out a muffled groan as her hands felt a wave of agony.

The Flower-Flower Fruit is actually a very powerful Devil Fruit, with the ability to sprout limbs anywhere. If it were in the hands of some monster with powerful physical techniques, it could be played to great effect.

It is a pity that although Nico Robin underwent some training while drifting through the dark world and cannot be considered someone without the strength to truss a chicken, her physical abilities are clearly far too lacking when facing the true experts of the sea.

Feeling the gap between them, Robin did indeed quiet down, but as her defensive expression faded, what appeared on her face was a kind of indifferent, "lying flat" resignation.

"Heh, does this Mr. Uchiha have anything you need me to do? If so, please give your orders!"

Tsk, look at what this child has been through; used by others every day, she now has psychological trauma and thinks everyone wants to use her.

Uchiha Feiyu knew very well that it would not be easy to gain Robin's trust, and getting her to board the ship would be even more difficult—yes, since he had already intercepted so many members of the Straw Hat Pirates, it wouldn't be a problem to intercept one more historian. Uchiha Feiyu had indeed set his sights on Nico Robin.

As for the trouble surrounding Nico Robin... honestly, she now looked very different from when she was a child. In the original story, it was due to some coincidences that she was discovered by World Government Agents. As long as Uchiha Feiyu was a little careful, it would be enough to avoid these problems.

Even if he were truly unlucky enough to be discovered, with his current strength, he would not fear ordinary Marine or World Government Agents in the slightest.

Aokiji "chasing" Robin every day, to put it bluntly, was just escorting his "daughter"! How could an ordinary Marine Admiral be so idle as to specifically chase a criminal with a bounty of less than 100 million Berries?

And Uchiha Feiyu also knew very well how to crack Robin's cold shell and gain her trust.

"Miss Robin, you've misunderstood. I don't have anything I need you to do. On the contrary, I have some good news I want to tell you."

The corners of Robin's mouth twitched slightly, revealing a polite smile. Having seen all kinds of people over the years, did he think this little bit of camouflage could deceive her eyes? He was probably just another ambitious person seeking the Poneglyph of the world's history!

But the next moment, Robin heard the words Uchiha Feiyu said softly.

"Saul is still alive."

"What did you say!!!"

Robin's expression changed instantly. Disbelief, anxiety, joy, and apprehension—all sorts of expressions flickered across her face. Afterward, she couldn't care about anything else; she rushed in front of Uchiha Feiyu, grabbed his shoulders with both hands, and said with a trembling voice:

"What you just said... what did you just say... is what you said true? Saul, is he really still alive!!"

"That's right. That Marine Admiral was far from as cold-blooded as you thought. Since even you, the survivor of Ohara, were secretly let go, he naturally wouldn't have dealt a fatal blow to his own friend."

Although Saul was frozen and sealed by Aokiji, in reality, Aokiji's actions at that time were likely more for the sake of protecting his friend.

If Robin, a little girl, could sneak away while the Marine wasn't paying attention, how could a Giant as big as Saul fail to escape Ohara?

On the contrary, after being frozen and sealed, Saul was truly left unnoticed, and eventually, when the ice melted, he escaped with his life.

"Saul is still alive... that's great. You aren't lying to me, are you?"

"Of course not. If you don't believe me, you can go to the Giant Kingdom of Elbaf and see. Saul is living there now, and he even took away the books that the scholars had thrown into the lake of Ohara for safekeeping. Those books are now in the land of the Giants."

"By the way, the World Government scientist Vegapunk also knows this news. He has even been to Elbaf to read those books from Ohara. If you have the chance, you can also ask this world's number one scientist."

Robin took a deep breath and managed to calm herself down. Although she was still a little afraid that Uchiha Feiyu was just deceiving her, seeing how detailed and logical his words were, she decided to believe him.

Most importantly, she had been lonely for far too long. After hearing this news, she hoped with all her heart that it was true, even if it meant a bit of self-deception. Not to mention, Uchiha Feiyu's information was logically sound and had no flaws.

"Alright, I will tentatively believe what you said, Mr. Uchiha Feiyu. You've told me so much information; is there anything you need me to do?"

"Well, my ship is still missing some members, and I think you, a Flower-Flower Fruit user, would be a very good crew member."

"It just so happens that our sailing route will also reach the Giant Kingdom in the New World. You can come with us to verify if what I said is the truth, and you can also collect Poneglyphs along the way."

Hearing this, Robin kept the same smile on her face while thinking to herself: The other party's conditions are quite good, and he seems to be thinking entirely for her sake. She just didn't know if there would be any other demands later.

But regardless, the other party had pinpointed her weakness, and agreeing to his request was a certainty.

"Fine, but first, we should figure out how to deal with my former boss, that hero of Alabasta. Otherwise, I'm afraid your journey as captain will end right here."

"By the way, for these years, Krokfar has been hiding behind Baroque Works. Usually, I am the one who contacts the various members of the organization. Except for Mr. 1, whom I'm not sure about, no one else knows the identity of the boss of Baroque Works. So as long as we can deal with Krokfar, Baroque Works will not be an obstacle for us."

After making the decision to change bosses, Robin didn't hesitate to spill everything about her former boss and even proposed a plan for a backstab.

Uchiha Feiyu nodded and rubbed his chin:

"In that case, you should be able to mobilize Mr. 1. Let's call out this member of Baroque Works who might know who the boss behind the scenes is, and deal with him first."

"Once he is dealt with, you can coordinate with Princess Vivi and directly absorb Baroque Works."

In any case, Baroque Works only maintained a single-line connection with Robin, and within the entire organization, aside from Mr. 1, no one could defeat Robin; although controlling it might be a bit of a stretch, with Robin's intellect, combined with the prestige of the Alabasta royal family, controlling Baroque Works would not be difficult.

Robin nodded as well; she had already had this idea when she first reported the intelligence, and it was even hard to say whether, from the very beginning, Robin had been planning ahead to take control of Baroque Works.

——This Devil Child had no ambition, but using the convenience of the organization to investigate the Ancient History Text, or using the organization's power to slip away when falling out with the boss, were both things she would do.

"So the question now is, Captain, do you actually have the confidence to defeat my former boss? The power of a Logia Devil Fruit is not so easy to deal with, especially in this desert country."

Uchiha Feiyu glanced at Robin, who appeared calm on the surface but was actually a bit uneasy, and said indifferently:

"At his peak, Krokfar might be a match I couldn't necessarily defeat, but this Krokfar who only knows how to bully rookie Pirates in the first half of the Grand Line would struggle to last half a day in my hands!"

Alabasta, Nanohana port.

The Going Merry docked at the port, and Nami and the others walked off the ship to start shopping and wandering around.

However, Uchiha Feiyu followed Robin out of the port city and arrived at the edge of the desert.

"Is this the place?"

On the edge of a desolate desert, a somewhat dilapidated wooden shack stood there; according to Robin's intelligence, this was the meeting point for her and Mr. 1.

"Yes, it looks like he hasn't arrived yet."

Robin glanced around and spoke, but Uchiha Feiyu shook his head:

"No, he has already arrived, he's just a little bit far away."

Robin raised an eyebrow and said nothing; during this period of sailing at sea, she had already gained some understanding of her new boss.

Excluding the situations she hadn't seen with her own eyes—such as the crew members saying he defeated a Giant and the aftermath of his battles changing parts of the terrain on Little Garden—just from the intensity of Uchiha Feiyu's training, the massive weights he used, and his performance when fighting Sea Kings, she could roughly estimate that her boss's strength was unfathomable, so it was no surprise that he could discover Mr. 1's location earlier.

Sure enough, a moment later, a tall figure slowly walked over from the distant desert.

The newcomer had a monk's hairstyle and wore clothes that felt quite like those of a martial monk, but his well-developed muscles, the scar at the corner of his eye, and his indifferent, cold gaze indicated that this guy was not someone to be trifled with.

This was none other than the ace of Baroque Works ranked Mr. 1, and the strongest person besides Krokfar, the Supa Supa no Mi user, Daz Bonez.

At the same time that Uchiha Feiyu and Robin saw Daz Bonez, he also saw the two of them; he frowned and spoke in a low voice:

"Miss Sunday, who is this person?! Why did you bring a stranger from outside the organization to meet me!"

(End of this chapter)