Late in the year 1489 of the Sea Circle Calendar.
At the harbor docks of Vanti Island, Professor Clover stood gazing out over the distant sea dressed in a breezy beach shirt, flip-flops, and loose shorts, a glass of orange juice in hand, looking every bit like an eccentric old man enjoying retirement.
Not far beside him, Olvia cradled an adorable little girl in her arms, her expression gentle as she teased and played with the child from time to time.
At that moment, Professor Clover seemed to notice something unusual. His brows knit together as he asked, "Olvia, are there any winter islands nearby? Or perhaps some unusually cold region around these waters?"
"Hm? No," Olvia replied as she looked up. "All the seas under the Church's control are warm summer-island climates, and the surrounding waters are the same. Extreme weather is practically nonexistent here, which is actually very rare in the New World. The Church even claims this is a land chosen by God."
"Then… is that the Oro Jackson?" Professor Clover asked, pointing toward the distant horizon.
Olvia followed his gaze, and her expression quickly turned strange as well.
It wasn't as though they were unfamiliar with the Oro Jackson. Back in Wano Country, they had boarded the ship many times and even toured it extensively.
The Roger Pirates' grand library contained numerous rare and precious books. The scholars had copied many of them, and both sides had exchanged a considerable amount of research material and historical records.
Because of that, the scholars knew the Oro Jackson extremely well.
And yet the vessel currently sailing across the sea — though undeniably resembling the Oro Jackson — left both Olvia and Professor Clover hesitant to recognize it.
The silhouette was still there, but the entire ship continuously emitted freezing mist, and wherever it passed, a trail of crystallized ice spread across the ocean behind it before slowly dispersing.
At the same time, the ship's original wine-red color scheme had been completely overtaken by frost-white snow and ice. If not for the unmistakable twin mermaid figurehead and the giant egg resting on the deck, neither of them would have believed this had anything to do with the Oro Jackson.
"Maybe… maybe they were sailing particularly fast and just came straight from some frozen wasteland?" Olvia suggested uncertainly.
"Fast sailing is one thing," Professor Clover muttered, "but what exactly is that frozen wake trailing behind the ship supposed to be?"
Even though the Oro Jackson had changed drastically, as the distance closed, Professor Clover and Olvia could finally make out the flag flying from the mast. It was indeed the Jolly Roger of the Roger Pirates.
Vanti Island did not reject pirates. In the eyes of the Church, everyone upon the seas was merely a lost lamb in need of guidance. Furthermore, the Church possessed armed forces of its own, so ordinary pirates generally did not dare provoke them.
Meanwhile, aboard the Oro Jackson, Roger was wrapped tightly in a thick fur coat, bundled from head to toe. Neither his straw hat nor captain's hat was anywhere to be seen, replaced instead by a fluffy fur cap. Gloves covered his hands as he stomped across the deck, shivering violently.
"We're here! Finally here! I'm getting off this ship! I refuse to keep living on the same vessel as Valthior any longer!" Roger muttered deliriously through chattering teeth.
Nor was he alone. Gaban, Rayleigh, and the rest of the Roger Pirates were similarly buried beneath heavy winter clothing, looking like hibernating bears. Whenever they spoke, clouds of white breath spilled from their mouths.
Only Valthior remained completely unaffected by the cold. He still wore his luxurious knightly attire as usual, laughing cheerfully at everyone's misery.
"I'm tempering your spirits," he declared smugly. "This is training for you lazy freeloaders — forging iron wills through harsh adversity. Just look at Bullet. He never complains."
Truthfully, the first few days after leaving Elbaf had not seemed particularly serious. Valthior had unconsciously and continuously radiated cold air without pause, but nobody paid it much attention.
However, after sailing for some time, the situation became increasingly alarming.
The Oro Jackson itself seemed to have undergone environmental transformation because of Valthior.
Wherever they anchored, snow would begin to fall from the sky. The surrounding temperature remained below freezing for extended periods, and with each passing day it only grew colder.
By now, the thermometer aboard the Oro Jackson had dropped to minus thirty-seven degrees Celsius.
Roger and the others had tried every method imaginable to stop it. They had even shackled Valthior with Seastone cuffs, yet nothing could prevent the "frozen aura" surrounding him from continuously reshaping the environment around the ship.
On the previous island where they had resupplied, the item they purchased in the largest quantity was, absurdly enough, charcoal. Although they were sailing through warm tropical seas, the climate aboard the ship felt like that of a winter island, making it nearly uninhabitable for ordinary people. No one could endure it for long.
Before long, the Oro Jackson sailed into the harbor.
The moment Roger and the others disembarked, several nearby captains immediately began shouting complaints.
"Hey, whose ship is that? Why is it still breathing out freezing air? It's turning this harbor to ice! How are we supposed to set sail later?!"
"Seriously, who has this little public decency…"
"Shut your mouths already! Are you blind? That's Gold Roger, the man with the 1.8 billion Berry bounty!"
"That's one of the New World's great pirates! If you want to die, don't drag us down with you!"
"Gold Roger" was the epithet the Marines used on his wanted poster.
At first hearing, it sounded somewhat tacky, yet the more people repeated it, the more strangely imposing it became.
Naturally, pirates had no concept of public decency. Roger and his crew completely ignored the discussions echoing throughout the harbor and swaggered straight onto Vanti Island.
Not far away, Professor Clover approached together with Olvia, but before they could even get close, waves of freezing air rolled over from the group. Valthior in particular left frosted footprints with every step he took, coating the ground in ice wherever he passed. Anyone seeing him for the first time would think some kind of monster had arrived.
Olvia, at least, was fine. No matter the season or climate, she habitually wore her long coat to conceal her elegant figure — a figure so striking it often felt almost indecent to look at directly. Even on this humid tropical island, she still dressed the same way.
Professor Clover, however, barely had time to open his mouth before he staggered from the cold, hurriedly retreating several steps as he shouted, "What in the world happened to you people? Were you cursed by a snow woman or something?"
"There's no snow woman," Roger grumbled irritably, "but there is definitely a snow man. If you want someone to blame, blame that bastard Valthior."
As he spoke, his gaze suddenly landed on the adorable little girl in Olvia's arms, and his expression softened instantly.
Quickening his pace, Roger approached with a grin and said, "Oh my, so this is Valthior's precious daughter? Wonderful! She inherited all of her mother's beauty without even the slightest trace of Valthior's ugliness!"
"The fact that those words came out of your mouth only proves you're even uglier than I am, you bastard," Valthior shot back with a glare.
Then he took a slow breath, deliberately suppressing the freezing aura constantly leaking from his body.
Indeed, Valthior had not lost control of his powers. He was fully capable of restraining the cold radiating from him—it was simply uncomfortable to do so, like constantly forcing himself to speak while holding his breath. It felt unnatural.
Which was precisely why, aboard the ship, he had paid absolutely no attention to Roger and the others' suffering and simply lived however he pleased.
But now things were different.
He was about to meet his daughter.
Naturally, he could not allow the little girl to be chilled by his presence.
In an instant, the warm tropical air swept through the surroundings, dispersing the lingering frost almost immediately. Roger blinked in disbelief before exclaiming, "Wait a second—so you could do that this whole time!?"
Valthior ignored him entirely.
Stepping forward, he first reached out and gently rubbed Olvia's head.
"You've worked hard," he said softly.
Then he lowered his gaze toward the little girl in Olvia's arms: Nico Robin.
Even now, it was already obvious that the child was almost an exact replica of Olvia. She looked nearly identical to the Robin from Valthior's memories, save for one detail: instead of black hair, she possessed silver hair.
Which was perfectly normal.
Olvia herself had silver hair, and Valthior's hair was silver as well. If the two of them somehow produced a black-haired child, that would have been the truly strange outcome.
"What is our daughter's name?" Valthior asked quietly.
"Nico Robin," Olvia replied with a smile. "I gave her my surname."
"That won't do. From now on, her name will be Jaygarcia Nico Robin," Valthior said, shaking his head with unmistakable firmness in his tone.
Despite the man's domineering insistence, Olvia showed no anger whatsoever. On the contrary, her smile only grew brighter.
"All right," she answered softly. "We'll do as you say."
The reason she had never told Valthior about the child before was not because she intended to hide it from him. Rather, she had feared that he might refuse to acknowledge the girl at all.
After all, he was both a pirate and a Celestial Dragon.
Neither identity carried a good reputation.
Pirates were infamous for abandoning their families. Countless men had left behind wives and children to roam the seas committing every manner of crime and cruelty.
And as for the Celestial Dragons…
How many decent people could truly exist among that bloodline?
Would a child born between Valthior and a commoner like her genuinely be accepted?
Olvia had never known the answer, nor had she dared dwell too deeply upon it.
But now, she was finally at ease.
Because her daughter had been granted the Jaygarcia family name by her father himself.
That acknowledgment meant Robin had been accepted.
Had Olvia possessed even the slightest ambition for status, she could have marched straight into Mary Geoise with Robin in her arms and lived a life of luxury from that day forward.
...
Read Advanced Chapters on : www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin
~ Every 100 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]