After a fierce battle, Sanji and the others ultimately failed to rescue Robin and could only watch helplessly from the detached train carriage as she was taken away.
Fortunately, they were rescued by the Franky Family.
"So, you're here to rescue someone too," one of them remarked.
Sanji nodded, lighting a cigarette before falling silent, his expression unusually grave.
"So you're separated from Luffy and the others now," Usopp said. "Can you still find them?"
Saving Robin would require more strength than they currently had.
"Our goals align—we just need to head toward Enies Lobby," someone said. "We can already see the silhouette of the City of Eternal Day."
"City of Eternal Day?"
"This place only has daylight, so it's called the City of Eternal Day."
"What a strange place."
Usopp gazed at the distant glow with a hint of awe in his eyes.
"We found the Straw Hat Boy and his crew!" someone shouted excitedly as they rushed in.
"Great!"
Sanji's eyes lit up. "Quick, let's regroup with them!"
He had crucial information to share with his crewmates. Without addressing this issue, rescuing Robin would be nearly impossible.
"So we're finally meeting up with Luffy and the others..." Usopp pursed his lips and sighed quietly.
No matter what, the inevitable had arrived.
After regrouping, Usopp and Sanji returned to the Rocketman's carriage.
Seeing Usopp's appearance, Meiser tilted his head in confusion.
"You..."
This was definitely Usopp—that iconic nose was unmistakable.
"Haha, nice to meet you! I'm Sogeking!" Usopp struck a pose, laughing. "A friend of Usopp's."
"What's Sogeking?" Chopper asked curiously.
"A hero!"
"Wow!"
"Sogeking!"
Both Luffy and Chopper looked at Usopp with admiration, greatly feeding his ego.
Meiser: ???
What was this guy doing?
Meiser shot a questioning glance at Sanji, hoping for an explanation.
"You must be Meiser," Sanji said.
"Yeah, that's me."
Seeing that Sanji wasn't going to elaborate, Meiser figured something must have happened and decided not to press further—they could discuss it after rescuing Robin.
Usopp, however, froze mid-motion, his eyes sparkling as he stared at Meiser. "You're that ninja?!"
"Can you show me some ninjutsu?!"
"Nin!"
"Nin!"
Meiser: "..."
It had to be said—those who sailed with Luffy all shared certain... eccentricities.
"We can talk about ninjutsu later," Sanji interjected. "Right now, I have something important to tell you all."
"Luffy, come listen too."
Luffy blinked and obediently walked over.
Zoro studied Sanji curiously. He had been about to tease the pervy cook, but seeing the seriousness on his face, he held his tongue.
"Nami was right earlier," Sanji said grimly. "Robin really was forced to sacrifice herself because of their threats."
"But there's something we didn't know."
"What is it?"
"Buster Call!"
"Buster Call?"
"Yes, the Buster Call!" Sanji said. "This is intel I got from CP9. It's a military force composed of five Vice Admirals and ten Navy battleships."
"With that kind of power, they can destroy an entire island!"
"And this is exactly what Robin fears."
At this point, a shadow passed through Sanji's eyes. "Robin's hometown was destroyed by such force, and she was the sole survivor."
"So this is why Robin had a 79 million berry bounty at just eight years old," Meiser remarked.
"Most likely."
An eight-year-old girl, no matter how capable, shouldn't have such a high bounty. The most plausible explanation was the Buster Call.
"Five Navy Vice Admirals, ten battleships..." Chopper's jaw dropped. "And the people stationed at Enies Lobby..."
Was this the enemy they were about to face?
"So we need to be mentally prepared," Sanji said.
"So what?" Luffy declared. "All I know is that if we don't save Robin, she'll die."
"No matter who the enemy is, I'll punch them all away!"
To Luffy, none of this mattered. His only concern was rescuing Robin this time.
Watching Luffy stomp off angrily, Zoro said, "Our goal was decided from the start. This changes nothing."
What did the Buster Call matter? It wouldn't shake their resolve to save their comrade.
"Of course I know that. I just wanted you all to be prepared."
"Actually, the Buster Call might not happen," Nami analyzed. "We're heading to Enies Lobby, right?"
"They wouldn't activate the Buster Call there, would they?"
"Our main priority is rescuing Robin. We can deal with the Buster Call later."
"But we still need to prepare for the possibility," Meiser said.
Placing hope in the enemy's restraint was unwise. Since Sanji brought this intel, they should assume the Buster Call would be activated.
"If they do launch the Buster Call, I'll find a way to stop them."
He didn't know how strong Navy Vice Admirals were, but with his current strength, he should be able to hold his own. The question was whether all five would attack simultaneously.
Sanji gave Meiser a surprised look, not expecting such confidence. He'd never witnessed the Buster Call's power, but he could guess the strength of five Vice Admirals.
After all, someone like Smoker was only a Captain!
"In that case, let's formulate a plan," Paulie said, pulling out a blueprint. "I've done repairs at Enies Lobby before, so I drew a rough map."
"Come take a look."
Once everyone gathered, Paulie pointed at the diagram. "Starting from the front gate, there are two main doors."
"My idea is we first enter and open the gates, then you can follow in aboard the Rocketman."
After speaking, Paulie glanced at the members of the Straw Hat Pirates standing beside him and said, "The members of Cipher Pol 9 are very strong. Only you guys can handle them."
"So there's no need for you to waste your energy on this. Leave it to us."
Having witnessed the strength of the Straw Hat Pirates along the way, Paulie naturally knew who the main force was.
Meiser looked at the blueprint and asked, "How do we open this gate?"
"Someone just needs to go to the side doors on either flank to open it," Paulie replied.
"Then there's no need for such trouble," Meiser waved his hand dismissively.
"Why not?"
"Because I'll make them open the door for me willingly."
As he spoke, the Sharingan in Meiser's eyes flickered briefly.
A fight?
There was no need at all!