Time returned to three minutes earlier.
Roldy and his two companions had just entered the room. Robin had originally intended to report to Crocodile about the rebel army's situation, as well as the intelligence that the Straw Hat Pirates were rapidly approaching this place. But just as she reached the door, she was drawn in by the voices coming from inside and could not help but eavesdrop.
After all, in Robin's understanding, she did not know that something like Observation Haki existed. If it had only been Crocodile inside, that would have been fine. Due to the influence of the Hormone-Hormone Fruit's ability, he was currently unable to use Haki.
But Roldy's group of three was different.
Inside were two monsters whose Observation Haki had awakened.
Time returned to the present.
Robin walked into the room with a deathly pale face.
Roldy scratched his chin and looked at her with some interest. Sheen and Tiger glanced at her once, then paid her no further attention. The one with the ugliest expression was Crocodile. His face was so gloomy it looked like water might drip from it. Seeing the yellow sand appearing in Crocodile's hand, Robin forced herself to calm down and began searching for a way to escape.
"Is this one of your subordinates, Little Croc?"
"Mm. She was once the vice president of Baroque Works, the organization I created."
The reason he said "once" was because, in Crocodile's eyes, Nico Robin no longer needed to exist.
Leaving aside the fact that he had never intended to keep her around forever, this act of eavesdropping alone was already something Crocodile could never forgive.
His golden hook shot out, piercing straight through Robin's lower left abdomen.
Crocodile was extremely fast. Before Robin could even react, her neck had already been seized in his grip.
She struggled desperately, and her face quickly turned red. Borrowing the power of her Devil Fruit, an arm appeared out of thin air and forcefully reached into her coat, pulling out the pistol she kept for self-defense. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger at Crocodile.
But the bullet was useless.
The place where Crocodile had been pierced only let out a trickle of yellow sand. Without Armament Haki or any effective countermeasure, a Logia-type Devil Fruit user was invincible.
"Your ability to read ancient historical texts is certainly useful. But I never once thought you would serve me forever! Die!"
Crocodile activated his Devil Fruit ability.
His palm began rapidly draining the moisture from Robin's body. In the blink of an eye, Robin's skin shriveled. Her eyes rolled white, and she instantly lost consciousness.
Crocodile had already pulled his golden hook out of her body and was about to twist her head off when Roldy stopped him.
"Hold on, Little Croc."
Roldy stood up.
Crocodile stopped decisively. Then, like tossing away a piece of trash, he threw Robin onto the ground.
Roldy walked forward. Clearly, what had caught his attention was Robin's ability to read ancient historical texts.
"How can you treat a lovely woman like that? That's far too crude! Someone who can read ancient historical texts is a rare talent. Killing her just like that would be too much of a waste."
As far as Roldy knew, the former Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Kozuki Oden, had possessed such an ability in the past.
But Kozuki Oden was already dead now, and barely anyone remained of the entire Kozuki Family. One should never place hopes on an incompetent, lustful little brat, nor on a venomous woman who had given herself to the pleasure quarters.
Aside from them, those who still possessed such an ability on these seas might only be the scholars of the already-destroyed Ohara.
There were a few people under Roldy who knew a little about historical texts, but their level was not high. They could only barely decipher a few characters.
Perhaps those historical texts contained some records about the World Government's power. That kind of information was extremely rare intelligence.
"Hey, wake up. Sleeping isn't allowed here."
Roldy stretched out a thick finger and poked Robin. Seeing that she did not respond for quite a while, he suddenly realized what had happened.
Oh. She had fainted.
"Little Croc, wake her up."
In truth, Robin's current condition was extremely dangerous. She had lost a large amount of moisture, and with her physical strength, she would soon die.
But with Crocodile here, that was not much of a problem.
The moisture that had been drained from Robin's body quickly returned to its original place. Her skin rapidly recovered. When Robin slowly regained consciousness, the first thing she saw was Crocodile's fierce, terrifying face.
She quickly retreated backward.
Countless arms grew from the ground, protecting her at the center. However, after observing the four people in the room, she eventually lowered her hands and stopped resisting.
"Yo! As expected of a young person. So energetic!"
Roldy picked his ear. As he stood up, he wiped his finger on Sheen's clothes. The latter was clearly used to it, but still slapped at his clothes with a face full of disgust.
Looking at Roldy, who was clearly different from what she had imagined, Robin grew extremely tense. But after that tension reached its limit, what followed was a strange sense of relaxation.
After all, the worst possible outcome was simply losing her life.
She had already practically died once just now. Since the other party had pulled her back from death's door, it proved that she had value.
And since she had value, there was no need to worry.
"I hear you can read the ancient historical writings?"
Roldy walked up to Robin and slowly crouched down. With his height, even while crouching, Robin still had to look up at him.
After Roldy said those words, Robin felt relief in her heart.
As expected!
"Yes, Mr. Roldy."
"So, you're a survivor of Ohara from back then?"
Roldy asked.
Robin fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
After all, what had happened at Ohara back then still often became her nightmare even now, jolting her awake. Every time she recalled it, the pain was engraved into her very bones.
"Good! Then from now on, you'll work for me. As a survivor of Ohara, I imagine the World Government sees you as a thorn in their side and a fishbone in their throat… But your troublesome identity isn't a problem here."
Robin did not refuse.
She knew she had neither the right nor the reason to refuse.
What Roldy valued was her knowledge, not the kind of bond of companionship that Luffy and the others offered. Yet the firmness of the two was about the same. As long as Roldy still needed Robin to decipher ancient historical texts, he would give Robin the strongest protection.
A ruler of the sea…
Moreover, Robin knew some of the things that had happened back then. It could be said that there was no backer more solid than this.
"Then, I look forward to working with you from now on, Boss."
A subordinate who had betrayed him had suddenly become one of their own. Naturally, Crocodile's expression did not look pleasant.
However, this was Roldy's decision, so he could only pinch his nose and accept it.
"Boss, a disagreement has occurred within the rebel army. The spies we planted were unable to convince all of their higher-ups. They plan to rest in place for a few days. At the same time, the pirate crew from the East Blue, Straw Hat Luffy's crew, has already reached the capital. They are not far from here now."
Robin reported everything in one breath, but her words were clearly directed at Roldy.
"Gahahaha! They really are a bunch of reckless rookies afraid of nothing! Oh, right, Little Croc, this time you'll have to rely on yourself. The rest of us won't make a move. And I already promised them—if you lose, then Alabasta has to be returned to them!"
As Roldy said this, Crocodile's face flushed red.
He felt an unprecedented sense of humiliation.
It was one thing for that group of reckless rookies to look down on him, but now even his own boss was saying something like this.
What, did they really think he would lose to those brats?
"I don't need any of you to act. I alone can kill every last one of them!"
Crocodile tried his best to remain calm, but his tone was extremely hostile.
One could imagine that this battle was going to be far more intense than in the original story!
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