For a while, Chopper even thought he was the last one to join the ship. It wasn't until Robin formally produced her luggage that he reacted, dazed.
Huh? So that wasn't the case?
For Robin, who had always lived on the edge of darkness, steeped in betrayal and wariness, the noisy, trusting, and vibrant atmosphere aboard the Going Merry was an entirely new and unprecedented experience.
"Do you have something on your mind?" Luffy asked suddenly, having finished a round of training. He walked over to Robin, wiping his sweat. "You seem distracted."
Robin's movement of turning the page paused slightly. She looked up at Luffy, surprised. She hadn't expected this seemingly oblivious captain to be so perceptive.
"Why do you ask, Luffy?"
"Because I have a lot of experience with focusing and not focusing!" Luffy answered righteously.
After all, he had been forced by the [Plan] to undergo hellish multitasking training for a long time. Want to be distracted? Then let's have a little sensory shock first.
Hearing this, Robin couldn't help but smile faintly and closed the book in her hands. After a moment of contemplation, she decided to be partially honest.
"Actually... my presence might bring everyone some trouble," she said softly, her smile carrying a barely perceptible weight. "Trouble in every sense of the word. So, I was still thinking about how best to explain it to everyone."
"Trouble? Enemies?" Luffy asked.
Robin nodded. "You could say that. Primarily people from the World Government, and some dark forces who have their eyes on my skill of deciphering the Poneglyphs." She paused, then added, "Also... there's a man who's been keeping an eye on me. A man who's still observing me, wondering if a certain decision he made back then was right. That guy is terrifying."
She didn't say Kuzan's name, but the gravity in her words was already significant. That's why Crocodile had said back then that only he, a Warlord of the Sea, had the qualifications and courage to choose to shelter Robin after learning her identity.
"Don't worry. If they're enemies, no matter who comes, we'll just punch them flying!" Luffy was very confident.
Just then, Nami walked over carrying two glasses of iced juice,恰好 catching the last sentence.
"Punch who flying? What are you two talking about?" She handed a glass to Robin, asking curiously.
Robin took the juice, took an elegant sip, then looked at Nami, a somewhat meaningful smile appearing on her face. "We were just talking about how Luffy says he'll take responsibility for me."
"Pfft— Cough, cough, cough!"
Nami nearly sprayed the juice she had just brought to her lips. She coughed violently, eyes wide as she stared incredulously at Luffy, then at Robin. "R-responsibility?! What did you two do that needs taking responsibility for?!" She felt like her home base had been stolen. In just the short time she was reading newspapers with Vivi?!
"Hey, hey, hey, don't say things that are so easily misunderstood," Luffy hurriedly explained. "It's just a normal nakama relationship! It's very clear!"
"Is it very clear?" Robin feigned confusion, blinking, then raised a pale finger to gently brush her full lips, her movements carrying an indescribable ambiguity.
Nami: "!!!" W-what does that gesture mean?!
Nami's mind instantly buzzed, her CPU almost overheating. She felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Could it be that Robin also... 'tied up her hair and ate' at some point? That would truly make them comrades-in-arms, having 'shouldered a rifle together.'
Ignoring the alarm bells, Luffy, seeing Robin's expression of successful mischief, rolled his eyes helplessly and said to Nami, "Anyway, if it were you who was injured back then, I definitely would have done the same thing to save you too!"
"Oh, so it was about an injury?" Nami was taken aback for a moment, instinctively picturing Luffy carrying an injured Robin on his back or performing some other form of emergency rescue. She immediately sighed in relief. "Oh, oh, I see! You scared me!" She automatically interpreted Robin's ambiguous gesture as having some other meaning, completely not thinking about mouth-to-mouth medicine administration. Mainly because that was just Robin's personality! Even Vivi couldn't help but complain that Robin was really too Mischievous, sometimes more devilish than the ship's tyrant Nami—a real villain.
Just then, a News Coo flapped its wings and landed on the ship's railing.
"Everyone, come quick! It's big news about us!" Vivi exclaimed, holding the latest stack of bounty posters and attached newspapers she'd just bought from the News Coo, waving them excitedly at everyone.
"What happened?"
"Probably our new bounties are out!"
"Bless me, bless me, let Lord Usopp not become a wanted man!" Usopp immediately put down his fishing rod, clasped his hands together, and began praying fervently.
Meanwhile, Nami, after taking her own bounty poster and glancing at it, immediately hugged little Merry who had come over and burst into tears. "Why?! Why was I caught on camera too?! And it's 10 million Beri! I don't want to be a wanted criminal!!"
Luffy curiously leaned over to look, his eyes lighting up. He picked up Nami's bounty poster and praised, "Nami, not bad! A 10 million Beri bounty on your first try! That's impressive!"
"This is nothing to be happy about!" Nami grabbed Luffy's collar, shaking him frantically, tears in her eyes. "This means I'll be chased by the Marines wherever I go from now on! My peaceful life!!"
"Hahaha, luckily there's none for me!" Usopp, confirming his absence from the bounty posters, immediately laughed triumphantly, relieved he had escaped.
On the other side, Zoro received his new bounty poster. Looking at the amount—[60 million Beri]—a satisfied smirk curled at the corner of his mouth. Then, holding the poster, he began tapping Sanji's shoulder with an extremely punchable, arrogant expression. "Sixty million Beri. See that, Number Five? My value is sixty million now! And you? Don't tell me, don't tell me someone still doesn't have a bounty? Tsk tsk. As expected, Number Five is Number Five, forever left in the dust."
"Damn algae head, you want to die?!" Sanji's forehead veins bulged. Seeing his own empty hands, he burned with fury, ready to duel Zoro on the spot.
"Hey, hey, stop fighting!" Chopper anxiously tried to mediate nearby, waving his little hooves. Then, suddenly remembering he might also be a wanted criminal, he nervously closed his eyes and whispered a prayer, "Not me, not me, not me..."
However, fear attracts what you fear. Usopp laughed loudly, slapping Chopper's furry shoulder. "Congratulations, Chopper! You've also become a glorious bounty criminal!"
***
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