[Through diligent study, your knowledge of history has improved. Experience points +10]
Luffy rubbed his still-throbbing temples. The sensation of knowledge being forcefully crammed in was unpleasant, almost more exhausting than using Gear Second several times in a row.
This particular torment was last experienced when Gordon was teaching him music.
The efficiency of gaining experience far exceeded his usual solitary studying, but the process was also much more painful.
[Mental energy severely depleted. Your willpower has improved. Kenbunshoku Haki proficiency +1]
That line of notification was the only thing that offered any comfort.
The improvement in Kenbunshoku Haki was the only tangible gain he could clearly feel right now.
Haki was important.
Luffy now had this correct understanding!
For the sake of that, enduring this intellectual torture seemed... barely acceptable?
Luffy shook his head, trying to clear the disorienting haze and sort out the jumble of historical dates and events.
But across from him, the customary elegant smile on Robin's face was almost slipping.
The shock within her was far more turbulent than it appeared on the surface.
Recalling the hardships of her childhood on Ohara when she first encountered Poneglyphs and learned the Ancient Language—it required immense patience, focus, and talent.
Yet this guy before her, who moments ago seemed a complete history idiot asking laughably basic questions, had, after her simple explanations, acted like a piece of utterly parched sponge, absorbing and comprehending the information from her words at a terrifying speed, even able to extrapolate!
Was his earlier confused demeanor all an act?
Was he actually a deeply knowledgeable historian deliberately approaching her?
This thought flashed through Robin's mind but was quickly dismissed by herself.
The clear folly in Luffy's eyes earlier couldn't be faked, especially not to someone as observant as her.
"The upcoming knowledge is a bit more obscure and difficult to understand." Robin decided to increase the difficulty. "This portion of history is not recorded in official texts..."
The difficulty of knowledge increases exponentially as it goes from basic to advanced.
It's like memorizing numbers one through ten—you might do it easily. But memorizing 3.1415926 and the digits that follow... they're both numbers, but the difficulty is vastly different.
Luffy frowned. The content was particularly difficult to pronounce and strange, but he listened intently nonetheless. Shortly after Robin finished speaking, he actually began to recite it back—word for word, without a single mistake, even mimicking the Ancient Language pronunciations she had deliberately used with uncanny accuracy.
Every single bit, all in one go. After Robin explained, no matter which point in time she asked about or what happened, he could answer completely and correctly.
Robin was stunned.
What she had just shared were fragments she had painstakingly uncovered over the years in the underworld—bits and pieces about certain Poneglyphs, even segments she hadn't fully deciphered or connected. She had mixed them in with normal historical knowledge, delivering them in a seemingly casual tone.
This content was arcane and profound, some involving vague information about Ancient Weapons and scattered clues about the Void Century.
Photographic memory?
No, this was auditory-photographic memory!
Robin's fingertip twitched slightly.
This kind of talent was a divine skill every scholar dreamed of.
She had only heard of it in legends, said to be possessed by someone like the World Government's Chief Scientist, Dr. Vegapunk.
Luffy didn't notice Robin's change; it was hard to be distracted in this state.
Until characters once again flickered before Luffy's eyes:
[Through in-depth study, your Archaeology level has increased to Lv.1.]
[You have acquired the passive talent: Linguistic Derivation.]
"Linguistic Derivation? What's this now?"
Luffy muttered softly, completely baffled.
It didn't sound very offensive, but it was better than nothing.
Just then, Luffy's gaze inadvertently swept over a book and notebook Robin had placed nearby. On them were some annotations and symbols she had casually written, mixing common script with her own research marks.
Under the influence of the Linguistic Derivation talent, as Luffy looked at the common script, another strange character system involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
It felt... more fitting?
More compatible with the rubbing fragment of Poneglyphs next to it?
Acting by some strange twist of fate, he picked up a pen and, in a blank space on Robin's notebook, wrote down a few of the common words he saw, transcribing them into that strange character according to the impression in his mind.
"Is this... also a kind of writing?" Luffy's voice snapped Robin out of her distraction.
Robin looked down puzzling.
"Yes, that's right... Huh?!"
The perpetually bland expression on Robin's face finally cracked. She shot up from her chair as if electrically shocked.
Luffy, just in time to see, was a bit surprised.
Even when he had captured her, Robin had maintained that calm and elegant demeanor.
Did these few characters have that big of an effect?
"!!!"
Robin's heart felt like it was about to leap from her chest.
She instinctively scanned the deck with vigilance, not letting a single shadowy corner go unchecked, terrified that a World Government spy might be lurking nearby. Only after a moment did she remember they were in the middle of the sea.
But no one knew better than her what it meant to master and be able to write this script. It was knowledge that could bring about a Buster Call—a destructive disaster.
What Luffy had written in the notebook was, without a doubt, pure Ancient Language!
"Come with me." This time, it was Robin who reached out and grabbed Luffy's wrist.
"Where? I can't stop. You have to keep teaching me."
Luffy looked bewildered. He wasn't just fixated on the Haki proficiency; stopping now would make him explode.
"I'll continue teaching you in my room."
Robin pulled him along as she hurriedly made her way toward the girls' cabin.
This statement was overheard by Sanji, who was just eagerly approaching with tea. He dropped to his knees, an expression of utter disbelief on his face.
Again?! Like this again?!
Inside, Nami and Vivi were exchanging information about Alabasta and sailing experiences.
"I see, so this is what the seas of the Grand Line are like?" Nami looked at the sea areas Vivi had outlined on the chart.
Putting other things aside, Nami felt she and Vivi got along quite well.
Compared to the motley crew on this ship... she was practically an angel, just like Merry.
"But you've adapted so quickly. That's really impressive. We're only familiar with it because we've lived in the Grand Line for years..." Vivi said with admiration.
Just then, Bang! The door was pushed open.
Nami and Vivi looked up in surprise to see Robin pulling a confused-looking Luffy inside.
"My apologies, you two. I need to borrow your room temporarily."
Robin stated, "I have something important to discuss with the Captain."
First stealing my captain, now stealing my room?!
This is unbearable!
Nami immediately objected, especially upon seeing Robin holding Luffy's hand. "On what grounds? This is my room!"
***
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