After going ashore, El and the five girls habitually stopped at a small stall to buy a local map. After that, they headed to the most luxurious hotel in the area and booked a large suite.
Perhaps the hotel staff already knew that the Sabaody Archipelago was a place where fish and dragons were mixed together—filled with unruly pirates and dangerous figures—so they didn't dare to discriminate. As a result, the process of booking the suite went very smoothly.
After settling in and discussing their plans, El and the girls decided to split into two groups and act separately.
The first group consisted of Nami, Carina, and Perona, who wanted to tour the Sabaody Archipelago and look for local specialties worth buying. Kuina followed them as their bodyguard.
The second group was El and Robin, who went to find a coating shop to prepare the Pegasus.
However, after finalizing the cooperation with the shop owner, El and Robin did not return to the hotel.
Instead, they secretly followed the four girls, maintaining a distance of several kilometers.
Aside from Kuina, whose Observation Haki was extremely sharp, none of the three girls noticed anything unusual.
Seeing how uneasy El was—silently tailing the four girls—the corners of Robin's lips lifted slightly, and she couldn't help teasing him.
"Since you're this worried about them, why don't you just join them?"
"The chick has to learn how to fly someday. I can't protect them forever."
El didn't mind Robin's teasing and calmly explained his reasoning.
"But even if I know they're strong, I still can't truly relax and let them act alone."
"They've been with me for four years—some of them for five—and they've never really left my side."
"You're very thoughtful, little captain."
Looking at El's side profile, subtle ripples stirred in Robin's heart.
No wonder the four girls trusted and relied on him so deeply—They even regarded him as a lifelong partner.
Such thoughtfulness—Not only young girls, but even an adult woman couldn't help but feel moved by it.
Ever since she was a child, Robin had longed for companions. She had recalled Jaguar D. Saul's words countless times, hoping that one day she would meet people willing to protect her.
After fifteen years of despair, this kind of kindness was the hardest thing for her heart to endure.
It's nice… to have a big brother.
Robin thought silently, suddenly feeling a trace of envy toward the four girls.
Perhaps it was because they had kept a low profile for three years, or perhaps due to the continuous use of nutritional supplements—El and Kuina had undergone tremendous changes during that time.
On this day, the four girls—young, beautiful, and each with a distinct temperament and style—wandered through the business district of the Sabaody Archipelago, attracting countless gazes.
Yet strangely enough, no one recognized Kuina.
She still wore her red-and-white shrine maiden outfit, her long blue hair flowing freely. Compared to the past, her once-slender figure had matured into a graceful and eye-catching form.
Aside from a few human traffickers and pirates whose eyes were filled with greed and malice, no one dared to openly harass them.
After silently watching for an entire day, El finally felt a little relieved.
The next day, Robin joined the four girls to tour the Sabaody Archipelago, while El remained at the port to oversee the coating process.
Coating the Pegasus took five full days, even with the best coating team working together. Otherwise, it would have taken at least a week.
After all, the Pegasus was at the upper limit of a medium-sized sailing ship—no different from an ordinary large three-masted vessel.
Normally, coating such ships took around seven days.
To prevent the workers from cutting corners, slacking off, or ignoring critical details, El not only supervised the work closely but also continuously observed their inner thoughts.
If anyone dared to act carelessly, he wouldn't hesitate to take action.
After all, their crew consisted almost entirely of Devil Fruit users.Even if no one died thanks to Bubble Coral, losing the Pegasus would still cause El immense pain.
Falling into enemy hands was one thing—But losing their ship due to a coater's negligence?
That would be an unbearable humiliation.
Moreover, the bottom two cabins of the Pegasus were filled with gold from the City of Gold, with a total value exceeding 100 billion Belly. Converted into cash, it would be enough to purchase a small kingdom.
Neither El's nor Kuina's Observation Haki could cover more than three or four small islands—cross-regional perception was absolutely impossible.
Therefore, someone had to stay behind to supervise the work.
And that person could only be El, the only one capable of reading minds.
Once he confirmed that only insignificant "small fish" were paying attention to the girls, El finally stayed behind with peace of mind.
However, El had clearly underestimated the true nature of the Sabaody Archipelago.
At the same time, he had forgotten why Robin had described it as the most chaotic island in the world.
On these islands existed:
Celestial Dragons.Slaves.Beggars.Privileged nobles and wealthy elites.Marines maintaining superficial order.Pirates.Human traffickers.Bounty hunters.
And hidden among them—Were low-profile masters who rarely revealed themselves.
In such a place, being too dazzling was never a good thing.
And yet—
The five girls wandering freely…And El himself…
All seemed to have forgotten that fact.
After two peaceful, undisturbed days passed—
Neither El nor the girls realized that they had already entered the sights of two separate groups.
The people who caught the attention of those two groups were only ten years apart in age—And they shared the same fate.
Both had received bounties at the age of eight.
El.And Nico Robin.
One group belonged to a certain great figure living in seclusion on the archipelago.
The other was the all-pervasive CP agents of the World Government.
If El were to see that great figure—
He would instantly remember what he had forgotten.
Four years ago—To be precise, at the end of 1510 in the Sea Circle Calendar, before leaving the East Blue—
They had killed a group of Fishmen.
And among those Fishmen…Was the enemy of that man's benefactor.
That man—
Was the former second-in-command of the Oro Jackson,The right hand of the Pirate King.
A man whose title shared its name with one of the Three Ancient Weapons—
"Pluton" Silvers Rayleigh.
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