"I'm sixteen. I can handle anything. Please let me join your crew."
After hearing those words, Louis Bardell stared at the girl across the table—at the freshly drawn navigation charts she had just sketched, at the effortless familiarity with which she outlined the sea routes of West Blue, and at the quiet demonstration of how her Devil Fruit could be used for intelligence gathering.
Then he glanced sideways.
The captain's eyes were shining.
That was the problem.
The Tequila Pirates did not have Monkey D. Luffy dreaming of becoming Pirate King.
They did not have a cute reindeer ship's doctor.
No money-obsessed navigator.
No directionally challenged swordsman.
No lovestruck cook.
Louis felt his soul leaving his body.
If Nico Robin joined…
The Tequila Pirates were finished.
Louis Bardell was a transmigrator.
Eighteen years old.
Three years ago, just after awakening memories of his previous life, he had found himself being recruited by a pirate captain who had just robbed a powerful noble and still carried the scent of blood on him.
This world had no anime.
No manga.
No novels.
Not even movies.
Life had already lost a third of its meaning.
After being reborn into the world of pirates, Louis had no desire to conquer the seas. No ambition to make his name shake the world.
He simply wanted to enjoy good food, marry a beautiful woman, and live to a natural old age.
So naturally, he had planned to refuse the captain's offer.
Unfortunately, the captain's arms were thick.
His crew was large.
And the blade in his hand was still dripping blood.
Louis had only ever seen blood in hospitals and kitchens.
So when the captain casually placed that bloodstained sword in front of him, Louis immediately understood that he had exactly one answer.
"Of course, Captain. No problem, Captain! From today on, I'm your man."
"…Call me Captain."
And just like that, Louis became an ordinary member of the Tequila Pirates.
For three years, he had survived diligently—working like a clocked-in employee, doing only what his position required and absolutely nothing more.
Thankfully, his captain did not kill women or children, nor did he plunder merchant ships.
According to the captain, civilians and small-time traders fought like cornered animals over scraps of survival. Not cost-effective.
Nobles, on the other hand, were profitable.
Louis refused to judge a chaotic era by the standards of peaceful times. By pirate standards, his captain was already better than ninety percent of the scum roaming the seas.
Almost merciful.
Thanks to Louis's self-restraint and deliberate low profile, even though his strength was only slightly below the captain's, his bounty was a modest 8 million Berries.
It couldn't be helped. Targeting nobles inflated the crew's collective bounty beyond reason.
Still, 8 million Berries was a relatively safe number.
With that bounty, you could theoretically topple a Four Emperor going forward… or punch the Pirate King going backward.
Surely, for someone like him—who only wanted to eat well, admire scenery, and quietly grow old—nothing could possibly go wrong.
Today was another safe day!
Since becoming a pirate, Louis had worked with extreme caution, always considering the crew's survival and doing his best not to get killed by the Marines. Somewhere along the way, he had grown accustomed to living on the edge.
Even so, he cheerfully offered himself a daily blessing.
Apparently, that blessing malfunctioned.
Or perhaps he had raised one too many death flags.
Because the moment Louis stepped off the docked pirate ship, he encountered a young woman who made his legs go weak.
Not from excitement.
From terror.
Nico Robin.
A sixteen-year-old Nico Robin.
In fiction, 2D characters become different in 3D reality—he understood that.
He recognized her because he had once purchased a certain valuable document on the black market: a confidential Marine report titled West Blue Dangerous Individuals Study – Twenty-Year Analysis.
It had cost him 15,000 Berries.
Worth every coin.
Robin, at sixteen, wore an air of youthful innocence. She deliberately adopted a slightly inexperienced tone as she addressed the Tequila Pirates' boatswain.
"Hello. I heard your crew is recruiting. I have some knowledge of navigation. I believe the Tequila Pirates have great prospects. I'd like to join."
Great prospects?
Prospects of extinction, maybe.
Why else would the so-called "crew annihilation engine" choose them?
Louis recalled her record.
Beyond the Straw Hat Pirates, every organization she had ever joined eventually collapsed. Even Admiral Aokiji had acknowledged it.
Could that be coincidence?
Since awakening his memories, Louis had carefully compared the blurred timeline in his mind with newspaper reports. The major events of his past life were unfolding here with frightening accuracy.
Which meant one thing.
Nico Robin was absolutely a walking catastrophe.
Yes, your past is tragic. Yes, you're beautiful. But I've integrated perfectly into this world. I'm not the protagonist. And I refuse to become cannon fodder for your survival strategy.
He maintained a polite smile while screaming internally.
Unfortunately, he couldn't refuse her outright. The pirate ship was right behind him. As a mere boatswain, he had no authority to override the captain.
No matter.
All he needed was a few carefully chosen words in front of the captain.
Robin would find no foothold here and leave on her own.
Louis welcomed her with forced composure, a cold calculation forming beneath the surface.
What he didn't know was that, in Robin's eyes, he was the suspicious one.
Robin had survived eight years in the boiling oil pan of the world. Though only sixteen, her life experience far exceeded that of Louis, even with two lifetimes combined.
Her gaze darkened as she watched his retreating figure.
First—his temperament.
Ordinary pirates did not carry themselves like that. He looked like someone raised comfortably, educated, not hardened by suffering. At minimum, middle-class origins.
Second—his expression.
The instant he saw her, he recognized her.
Her appearance had changed over the past eight years, yet he identified her immediately. That required preparation.
And that raised a problem.
With a bounty of 79 million Berries, she was the most dangerous figure in West Blue. A typical pirate, upon recognizing her, would either suspect her motives or rejoice at strengthening their crew.
But he had shown fear.
Wariness.
Rejection.
Those were the reactions she herself displayed when encountering Marines or agents of the World Government.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
Marine spy? No… the temperament doesn't match.
Meticulous. Alarmed. Guarded. Resistant.
Combined, those traits resembled something else.
An ambitious schemer whose plans had been unexpectedly disrupted.
Standard reaction of a conspirator toward an intruder.
Young, yet already serving as boatswain.
Was he dissatisfied with his status? Planning to seize the captain's position?
Robin had long grown used to viewing the world through layers of suspicion. As she followed behind Louis, she silently constructed an entirely different version of him.
It may just be paranoia, she admitted to herself.
But I'll see how he reacts to my request.
A little opposition would be normal.
Unreasonable, aggressive rejection—
That would confirm everything.