Chapter Cover Side Story - The Days on Kuja's Eastern Route · Where's Giorno?
After Robin left the Den Den Mushi City fortress and Hancock walked out of the palace, the two happened to meet midway and asked the exact same question.
They both raised their heads and saw Marigold riding the flying serpent Sandersonia over from afar, pointing toward the distance with one hand…
...
The climate and seas of the New World were bizarre and ever-changing, filled with all kinds of strange phenomena…
For example, the "sea slope" before them now, the surface of the ocean had somehow formed terrain like a mountainside.
A small boat was rapidly sailing across this slanted sea.
Inside the cabin, the Black Battle Armor was absent. Steering the ship was one of Robin's Flower Clones, while she checked the trinity Log Pose on her wrist. Beside her, on the table, rested a green Den Den Mushi with its eyes closed in quiet rest.
Inside the city fortress within its body…
"What surprised me most was that you originally chose to hide the truth from them."
Robin removed the Log Pose she had worn only so her Flower Clone could replicate it. While remotely controlling the clone outside to sail the ship, she heard Liam's voice and leaned back on the sofa thoughtfully.
"I couldn't bear to tell them the truth after hearing them talk about their brotherly bond with the Kozuki clan…" She said, shaking her head softly. "What I didn't expect was that they had already noticed the inconsistencies long ago."
"A lie is still a lie," Liam replied. "Sooner or later, it'll definitely be exposed."
"Professor Clover once said that everyone has the right to seek out lost history." Robin sighed lightly. "Since they saw through the cracks and confronted me directly, I could only tell them everything. As for whether they'll tell the other mink race people, that decision is up to the two of them…"
"Yeah."
After speaking, Liam went quiet for quite a while. Robin thought he still hadn't recovered from the exhaustion of reclaiming B.I.B., but when she turned around, she saw him holding the Golden Iron Rod,
Which was on fire.
Literally on fire.
The Golden Iron Rod was wrapped in a layer of orange-red flames.
"At first you wanted to learn 'water' from the Fish-Men, and then 'lightning' from the mink race…" Robin stretched her arms across the back of the sofa and crossed her legs, teasing him. "But in the end, what you learned was actually 'fire.'"
Liam shrugged while holding the burning Golden Iron Rod.
"Those two are racial talents. Maybe for humans like us, flames are easier."
Robin thought for a moment.
"Doesn't Tulip use 'wind'?"
Liam blinked in confusion.
"What's wind good for?"
Robin considered it again before smiling.
"You stand there, while sand and stones flying everywhere, and fierce winds sweeping in all directions… wouldn't that look cool?"
"…You're right!" Liam sighed dramatically in regret. "Sigh, I should've learned a trick or two from Tulip. Though whatever, it doesn't really matter."
A thought stirred in his mind. A mass of black energy surged out from his body, and the Stand armor materialized beside him.
B.I.B.'s narrow eyes glimmered faintly as its left hand, covered in blue flame-like patterns, slowly lifted.
Fwoosh!
Flames instantly ignited around its hand.
This was real fire, so to Robin, who wasn't using Kenbunshoku Haki, it simply looked like a ball of flame appearing out of thin air beside Liam.
Naturally, she guessed that B.I.B. had emerged from Liam's body.
"The flames are on your hand…" Robin walked over and asked hesitantly, "Doesn't it burn?"
She carefully reached out, but the moment her fingertip touched it, she instinctively pulled back.
"So hot…" Robin murmured. "Depending on the source, flames can range anywhere from over two hundred degrees to more than a thousand…"
"Of course it burns." Liam looked at her oddly. "But this kind of fire definitely isn't over a thousand degrees. Even without using Haki for protection, my body's toughness can completely withstand it."
"But no matter how strong the body becomes," Robin replied, "that only means it can endure and tolerate more, not that it stops feeling things entirely. It would still feel hot."
Liam laughed.
"Naturally. Forget Tekkai hardening, even Busoshoku Haki can't completely block heat transfer."
He casually swung the Golden Iron Rod through the air, drawing several scorching, distorted arcs before the flames gradually died out.
"Other than your appearance, you're becoming less and less human…"
Robin shook her head and used a Haki-coated hand to remove B.I.B.'s faceplate before placing it over her own face.
"Thanks for the compliment," Liam said cheerfully.
Robin sat back down on the sofa. Through B.I.B.'s narrow eye slits, she reviewed once again the sailing experience and advice Nekomamushi had shared over the past two days regarding navigating the New World…
At the same time, she controlled the Flower Clone outside in the cabin.
Their small boat rode the wind and waves across the seas of the New World, heading steadily toward the distant horizon…
.........
Marine Headquarters, Marineford,
"Because of what happened a month ago, the seas have been rather restless lately~~"
Inside the office of the Marine Admiral, Vice Admiral Borsalino, who had been granted the codename "Kizaru", sat with his legs crossed, speaking leisurely:
"A Giorno who provoked Whitebeard and still escaped has caused quite a few restless people to crawl out into the open~~ Whitebeard's been very busy lately, and we haven't exactly had it easy either~~"
"The capable work harder, Kizaru."
Sengoku put down a report labeled: "Big Mom Pirates vessel deployed, destination unknown. The leader appears to be the second son, Katakuri."
Calmly, he continued:
"If you want a quieter life, wait until after you become an Admiral."
Within the Marine upper ranks, a Marine Vice Admiral granted an exclusive codename was basically considered a future Admiral candidate during the next transition cycle. It was an unspoken rule everyone understood.
Kizaru pouted lazily.
"I'm not complaining~~ Admiral Sengoku~~ It's just that the JoJo Pirates have disappeared again over the past month. Kind of strange, isn't it~~"
Though that irritating tone made Sengoku want to transform into a wrathful guardian deity and punch him straight in the face, the composed "Resourceful General" restrained himself without changing expression.
He tapped the desk thoughtfully.
"What exactly is going on with the JoJo Pirates? Every time we want to find them, they suddenly vanish without a trace…"
"When those two publicly stole Caesar's Logia Fruit back then, they were in the most dangerous situation imaginable. Assassins from every direction could have come after them at any moment. Yet after taking the fruit, they immediately ran into the Calm Belt and disappeared for several years…"
"And by the time they reappeared before the world, they had already grown powerful enough that ordinary people could no longer do anything to them…"
Now that they had provoked the Whitebeard Pirates, were they planning to use the same trick again and vanish from the world?
And if they disappeared this time, would they once again wait several years before resurfacing?
There was no need for that.
Those two had defeated Hyena head-on. As long as they weren't facing Whitebeard himself directly, who else on the seas could force them into hiding like this?
Bang!
The office door was suddenly shoved open.
Judging by the accent, it had to be that bastard Garp…
"Wahaha! Borsalino, you're here too?"
As expected.
Sengoku stared speechlessly at the man in the doorway.
Kizaru pursed his lips.
"Indeed I am~~ Vice Admiral Garp~~"
"Really makes me want to punch you, hahaha!" Garp laughed at Kizaru before turning toward Sengoku. "But it's good you're here too, "
He continued:
"A report just came from G-9 Branch. They've found traces of the JoJo Pirates."
Sengoku let out a relieved breath.
"So they've finally shown themselves."
"Then where exactly did they appear?" Kizaru asked lazily.
Garp casually wandered over to rummage through Sengoku's cabinet for senbei crackers, only to get kicked away by Sengoku.
Unbothered, Garp dusted off his pants and scratched his head.
"Where was it again…? Huh, why can't I remember? That's weird…"
Rolling his eyes, Sengoku grabbed a pack of senbei from the cabinet and threw it straight at Garp's face.
"Wahahahaha! I remembered all of a sudden!"
Garp sat down with the senbei, shoving Kizaru aside with his backside before crunching loudly into a cracker.
"It was in the Providence Kingdom…"
.........
New World , Providence Kingdom ,
Before the small boat had even properly docked, a man and woman jumped ashore. Moments later, the small vessel suddenly vanished from the surface of the sea.
"I'm starving. Let's find something to eat first," Liam said with a grin after landing ashore.
"Time for a change of pace."
(End Of This Chapter)
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