Three days later.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
A deep, resonant, almost beautiful peal of bells rang across the sky of Skypiea, spreading outward without end, even piercing through layer after layer of clouds to reach the sea far below.
After sinking into a period of despair following Usopp's capture, Luffy and the others had finally pulled themselves together. It had taken them three full days, but at last, atop a vine that seemed to reach the heavens themselves, they had found the legendary Golden Bell.
Dong—
The ringing continued.
Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, and Robin stood in silence, watching Luffy repeatedly slam his fists against the enormous golden bell.
Bloody fist marks stained its gleaming surface.
They had finally found the Golden Bell, yet not a single member of the Straw Hat crew felt any joy.
Aside from Robin, whose face remained unreadable, the others' eyes all carried anger and frustration.
Seeing the blood seeping from Luffy's knuckles, no one tried to stop him.
They all knew he was venting the emotions bottled up inside him.
Only after a long while did the reverberating toll finally cease.
Luffy let his hands fall to his sides, his head lowered, his back to the others.
At the sight of that, worry surfaced on Nami's face, and she was about to speak when Sanji gently placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.
The silence did not last long.
Thud.
Luffy raised one hand and pressed his straw hat firmly down over his head. Then he turned around, a bright grin already on his face.
"The Magic Eye Pirates are in the New World, right, Robin?"
"That's right," Robin replied with a light nod.
Luffy tilted his head up and flashed everyone a white-toothed grin before striding forward, his voice brimming with determination.
"Then our next destination—the New World!"
"We're gonna beat the hell out of those Magic Eye Pirates and bring Usopp back!"
His bold, cheerful voice seemed to instantly dispel the heavy gloom hanging over the group.
Nami, Zoro, and the others looked at Luffy, smiles unconsciously rising to their faces as well.
Even their fear of the Magic Eye Pirates vanished, leaving behind only fighting spirit.
"Yes, Captain!"
"Yes, Captain!"
"Yes, Captain!"
"...!"
Their spirited voices echoed into the sky.
Even Robin was swept up in the infectious atmosphere.
For a fleeting moment, she actually felt as if Luffy truly could beat the Magic Eye Pirates.
The moment that thought appeared, however, she calmed herself.
The gap was far too wide.
As a former member of Baroque Works, Robin knew Marianne's original strength better than anyone.
And yet, in such a short time after joining the Magic Eye Pirates, Marianne had grown to such a terrifying level.
Her bounty had even risen to 110 million berries.
Robin herself found it hard to imagine.
After all, before joining the Seven Warlords, Crocodile's bounty had only been 81 million.
Not to mention...
There was also that terrifying man who had defeated a Marine Admiral.
A certain figure surfaced in Robin's mind, and almost unconsciously, her gaze fell to the faint mark left behind on her arm.
"Let's go."
Luffy's voice rang out again.
Nami and the others quickly followed after him, all of them carrying a fire in their hearts, eager to set sail as soon as possible.
"Captain, I'd like to make a rubbing of the inscription beneath the Golden Bell first," Robin said softly.
She had already noticed the Poneglyph at the base earlier, but because of Luffy, she had not had the chance to examine it.
Luffy naturally had no objections.
"Robin-chwan, don't take too long catching up!" Sanji called out immediately.
"Mm."
Robin smiled and nodded, sending Sanji into another lovestruck daze.
Once Luffy and the others had left, Robin walked beneath the massive Golden Bell, her blue-black eyes carefully studying the characters carved into the Poneglyph.
"This is..."
A bead of cold sweat slid down her forehead.
Her heart trembled with shock.
"The location of the ancient weapon bearing the name of a god—Poseidon."
Another weapon...
Unlike the ancient weapon Pluton in Alabasta.
What exactly was going on?
Something so dangerous was still slumbering in this world...
After the initial shock, disappointment quietly followed.
She had originally intended to make a copy of the inscription, but if it concerned an ancient weapon, then perhaps it was better left asleep forever.
This was not what she had been searching for.
"A Poneglyph, hm?"
Just as Robin turned to leave, a calm voice suddenly sounded.
Robin's expression changed instantly.
Her body tensed at once as she swiftly scanned her surroundings.
Yet there was no one there.
"No need to be nervous."
The calm voice sounded again.
This time, Robin finally identified its source.
She lowered her head to look at her arm.
The magical mark on it was emitting a faint silver glow.
The voice was coming from the mark itself.
As for who the owner of that voice was, there was no need to guess.
A dozen thoughts flashed through Robin's mind in an instant.
Her face changed several times before she finally forced herself to remain calm.
"Lord Yuuki."
Only now did she fully understand the purpose of this mark.
"What is written on it?" the voice asked, devoid of emotion.
"It's... it says..."
Robin felt her heart tighten.
She did not know whether she should reveal the information about another ancient weapon to him.
Remembering that he already knew of Pluton, she was just about to speak—
"The location of the ancient weapon Poseidon, correct?"
A trace of amusement colored the voice.
Robin's pupils trembled.
Cold sweat drenched her back in an instant.
He already knows what's written on it!
He had been testing her.
Her hesitation just now could easily have been fatal.
More than that, what truly shocked Robin was that Yuuki seemed to know the language of the Poneglyphs.
"Don't overthink it. I can't actually read these ancient characters."
"I simply know a little more than you do."
It was as though the voice had read her thoughts.
It also showed no concern over her moment of hesitation.
Robin fell silent.
"As the sole survivor of Ohara, and the one who inherited its will..."
"Do you truly understand what the Poneglyphs are?"
The calm voice spoke again.
Robin's pupils shook.
An indescribable emotion flickered in her blue-black eyes as her voice trembled.
"What do you know?"
Ohara had been annihilated by the World Government because of its research into the Void Century.
That was precisely why Robin had spent her life seeking the truth of what had happened during that blank century.
And when it came to the Poneglyphs, even she did not know much.
Perhaps the scholars and professors of Ohara once had.
But they were all gone now.
Back then, she had been only eight years old.
No one had ever told her.
"The Kozuki Clan."
"The Kozuki Clan?"
Robin repeated blankly.
"That's right."
"All of the Poneglyphs were carved by the craftsmen of the Kozuki Clan during the Void Century and sent across the world."
"However, over the eight hundred years that followed, the methods and knowledge needed to interpret them were lost."
"Ohara was destroyed as well."
"So, in this world, you should be the only one capable of deciphering them."
"That is the real reason the World Government wants you dead."
As Robin listened, the shock on her face slowly faded.
In its place, a bitter smile appeared.
So after more than twenty years...
she had finally learned the truth behind it all.
All she had ever wanted was to know what true history was.
Yet she had always known that such a simple dream had too many enemies.
That uncertainty had consumed her.
There had been times she could no longer hold on.
Times she had lost all desire to keep living.
But now—
the confusion in Robin's heart vanished completely.
At this moment, more than ever before, she understood exactly what she was pursuing and why it mattered.
"Thank you."
Robin took a deep breath and spoke with solemn sincerity.
After a brief silence, she asked the question that had arisen in her heart.
"Why did the Kozuki Clan do this?"
"Who knows?"
"Perhaps they simply did not want the history of that blank century to vanish completely."
"Or perhaps it has something to do with the prophecy of Wano's 'reopening.'"
The voice sounded utterly unconcerned.
Wano?
A prophecy?
Thought flickered through Robin's eyes.
She had heard of Wano.
Wasn't that one of the territories under Emperor Kaido in the New World?
This short exchange had already revealed more than she had learned in years.
And yet it only raised even more questions.
Why was that man telling her all of this?
"There's one part of the writing beneath the Golden Bell that you missed," the calm voice suddenly said.
Robin froze.
The next moment, she quickly looked back at the stone.
Sure enough, in an inconspicuous spot beneath the base of the Golden Bell, there was another line of text.
"Gol D. Roger!"
The moment Robin read the words, her pupils shrank.
Her voice trembled in disbelief as she read aloud:
"I have come here and will lead this passage to the end of the world — Pirate Gol D. Roger."
The shock on Robin's face lingered.
"I see."
The voice from the mark sounded calm.
The reason Yuuki had initiated this conversation through the magical mark was to confirm certain details.
After all, some of the finer points of the original events were still somewhat vague.
"You mean... the Pirate King Roger already gathered the contents of the Poneglyphs?"
"Then the truth of the Void Century is on the final island—Laugh Tale?!"
Robin swallowed, astonished.
Roger's message was not difficult to interpret.
The phrases "lead" and "the end" were enough to set her thoughts racing.
Soon after—
"But... didn't you say only..." Robin began, realizing the contradiction.
"There was a member of the Kozuki Clan aboard Roger's ship," Yuuki said, already knowing her question.
In truth, even without Kozuki Oden, Roger likely could have understood the Poneglyphs through his unique ability to hear the Voice of All Things.
But there was no need to tell her that.
A look of understanding appeared in Robin's eyes.
"I'm not particularly interested in the Void Century."
"At worst, it's merely proof of the World Government's crimes."
"Until I met Silvers Rayleigh, Roger's first mate, at Sabaody."
A light laugh came from the mark.
"What did he say?"
Robin's spirit shook.
Her voice rose with excitement.
For the first time in her life, she felt that the truth of the Void Century was truly within reach.
"No."
"Rayleigh said nothing."
"In fact, he seemed fully prepared to die with the truth."
A quiet laugh sounded again.
Robin stared blankly.
"That makes it far more interesting, doesn't it?"
"Think about it carefully."
"If it were only a record of the World Government's sins, it would never be enough to make Roger's crew remain silent."
"Nor could it explain an entire century disappearing from history."
"Since Roger placed the true history on Laugh Tale..."
"Then go there and see it for yourself."
Yuuki's voice remained calm.
At this point, Robin finally understood why he had told her so much.
If Roger truly left the truth of the Void Century on the final island—
then he needed her to decipher it.
Realizing this, Robin felt a slight sense of relief.
Knowing the reason was far better than remaining in the dark.
And more importantly, it meant she had even greater value to the Magic Eye Pirates.
Besides—
the Void Century had always been her goal.
Still...
reaching Laugh Tale was the dream of every pirate.
Only the Pirate King's crew had ever accomplished it.
Yet this man spoke of it as though it were the simplest thing in the world.
As far as Robin knew, reaching the final island required gathering the four Road Poneglyphs.
And according to rumor, several of them were in the hands of the Four Emperors.
"So... should I leave the Straw Hat Pirates now?" Robin asked respectfully after taking a deep breath.
"Not yet. I still have some matters to deal with."
The voice replied calmly.
"Don't worry."
"You won't be staying with the Straw Hats much longer anyway."
"I understand."
Robin answered respectfully and glanced once more at the Poneglyph before turning away.
Since she already knew its contents, there was no reason to remain.
After taking a few steps, curiosity finally overcame her.
"Lord Yuuki... the real reason you placed me with the Straw Hat Pirates... it's because of Luffy, isn't it?"
The magical mark flickered faintly.
A quiet chuckle followed.
"You're smarter than I imagined."
So that was it.
Robin had already suspected as much.
It was not a difficult conclusion to reach.
Although she did not understand why Marianne had taken Usopp, the only person in the Straw Hat crew truly worth paying attention to was Captain Luffy.
Even so, Robin still could not understand why Yuuki had set his sights on Luffy.
After observing him for so long, she still had not seen anything particularly special.
"Sooner or later, he will stand before me."
"Why?" Robin asked instinctively, startled.
"Because this is the fate I have chosen to guide."
A low chuckle sounded.
Then the faint silver glow from the magical mark vanished completely.
(End of Chapter)
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