Everyone was startled and turned around. Beneath a streetlight not far from them stood a beautiful woman in jeans and a leather jacket, with healthy wheat-colored skin, a tall figure, and a small backpack on her shoulder. She was smiling at them.
They were happy that someone was willing to lend them money, but after the danger they had just been through, everyone remained very cautious.
Only Sanji already had hearts in his eyes.
"What a beautiful big sister!"
As the only reliable one, Nami stepped forward and asked warily, "Um, may I ask who you are?"
As soon as she spoke, the woman slowly walked over and stopped in front of them. In a calm, mature voice, she said, "Let me introduce myself. I'm an archaeologist from the Ohara Archaeological Institute in the Rainbow Country. My name is Nico Robin. You can just call me Robin. For personal reasons, I need to go to Angel Island, but I don't have a ship of my own. I happened to overhear your conversation just now, so I took the liberty of interrupting..."
Nami was not so easy to convince.
"Why choose us? There are so many ships entering the Rainbow Bridge."
"That question? Of course, because I recognized you."
With a meaningful smile, Robin called out their names one by one.
"Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Vinsmoke Sanji, Usopp, Nami, Bell-mère, Nojiko..."
"!"
This truly startled them. Everyone instantly became alert and stared at the woman in front of them.
"Who exactly are you?"
Robin, however, kept smiling.
"It seems you don't know. You've already become famous."
"Huh? What do you mean, famous?"
Seeing their reactions, Robin opened her small bag, took out several things, and handed them over.
When everyone looked at them, their expressions immediately changed in different ways.
Luffy was thrilled. Zoro looked quite satisfied. Sanji frowned. Usopp panicked. As for Nami and the other two, they looked confused.
"It's been all over the news since this morning. The Straw Hat Pirate crew from the East Blue recklessly invaded East Blue Marine Headquarters last night and destroyed the Marine base. The Marines have already placed bounties on all of you. Captain Luffy's bounty is thirty million Belly, breaking the record for East Blue pirates in recent years. Mr. Zoro's is fifteen million Belly, Mr. Sanji's is ten million Belly, Mr. Usopp's is eight million Belly, and Miss Nami's is five million Belly."
That was right. What Robin had handed them were the wanted posters the Marines had issued that day for the Straw Hat crew.
"Thirty million? That's amazing! Hehe!"
Luffy was overjoyed. Sanji, on the other hand, looked displeased.
"Why am I five million lower than this seaweed-head?"
Usopp burst into tears and snot.
"It's over. I've got a bounty too? Eight million Belly... I'm dead..."
Only Nami asked curiously, "Why is it only me? Bell-mère and Nojiko..."
It was not that Nami wanted her adoptive mother and sister to be wanted too. She simply found it strange.
"It's simple. It was suppressed. The World Government wouldn't want the Marines' internal scandal to be exposed..."
Nami immediately understood.
But because of that, she became even more guarded.
Ignoring Luffy, who was happily staring at his wanted poster, Nami continued to press her.
"That reason alone isn't enough to convince us. You happened to show up here with these wanted posters at exactly the right time. Don't tell me you were specifically waiting for us?"
At that moment, Robin looked at Nami with admiration and stopped pretending.
"You really are clever. That's right. I was waiting here specifically for you. I couldn't help it. Your pirate crew is far too interesting, so I had to come and meet you."
Robin's words drew everyone's attention.
Seeing this, Nami tried to take the initiative.
"Is that so? What's so interesting about us?"
Robin did not hide anything. Looking at them, she explained one by one.
"The grandson of Marine Hero Monkey D. Garp. The childhood friend of Shimotsuki Kuina, a descendant of the Shimotsuki clan of Wano Country under the Rainbow Country. The younger brother of Reiju, head of the Vinsmoke family. The son of Yasopp, the top officer and sniper of the Red-Haired Pirate crew. Every one of you has an extraordinary background. The descendants of people like that becoming companions. Is there any combination more interesting than this?"
The moment Robin finished speaking, everyone present froze.
Bell-mère, who realized what that meant, looked at Luffy in disbelief.
"Luffy-kun, you're actually Garp-san's grandson?"
Hearing that name, Luffy was also startled.
"Huh? You know my grandpa?"
Bell-mère had wanted to say it was impossible, but when she looked closely, the two of them really were very similar in personality, not to mention the name.
"Then doesn't that mean..."
Bell-mère realized something else. Garp-san only had one son.
At that moment, she truly felt as though her adopted daughter had joined some incredible pirate crew.
Nami was also stunned.
"You've got to be kidding me. Even Usopp is... So does that mean I'm the only ordinary person here...?"
Robin watched everyone's expressions with amusement, then asked, "May I board your ship now?"
"Of course not. One more question. How did you know we were here?"
"That..."
Robin glanced at Sanji.
"Of course, Sanji-kun's older sister, Reiju, told me. She also asked me to take good care of Sanji-kun..."
...
Once they confirmed she was not an enemy, everything became much easier.
With Robin paying, everyone successfully obtained a ticket.
"Well then, everyone! I hope we meet again!"
After saying goodbye to Camie, the group returned to the place where the Going Merry was docked.
Although Robin was purely a passenger, she did not act reserved at all. After boarding the Going Merry as if she owned the place, she looked around without restraint and said, "So it really is an old-fashioned wind-powered sailing ship. No wonder you couldn't escape the Marines' pursuit."
"Don't talk about the Going Merry like that!"
At that moment, Luffy and Usopp stepped forward at the same time and spoke in unison.
"She's our companion!"
Robin paused, then smiled and apologized.
"I'm sorry. I misspoke."
Sanji seemed to realize something and asked, "Did you hear that from Reiju too?"
Robin answered without hiding it.
"Those two are both sharp-tongued but softhearted. Once they knew you were in trouble, there was no way they could just stand by and do nothing..."
At those words, both Zoro and Sanji's expressions turned slightly heavy. In the end, Zoro was the one who spoke.
"When did you meet Kuina? How is she now...?"