Kuina Meets Zoro
Kuina was astonished to hear Nami's words.
"Zoro? He really is from Shimotsuki Village, just like me. Did he become a great swordsman?"
Robin smiled and replied.
"Yes, he has become an incredible master swordsman. His bounty is already at 280 million Berries."
"He is the second strongest in the Straw Hat Pirates."
"And a highly reliable comrade."
A smile graced Kuina's face upon hearing this.
'That guy Zoro actually did it. I wonder where he is now?'
They used to be rivals, but now she felt she had fallen far behind.
For Zoro to achieve such a massive bounty, he had to be a great pirate. Back in the East Blue, she had heard that no pirate's bounty ever exceeded fifty million Berries. Yet Zoro's bounty was more than ten times that of those average pirates.
Nami, however, wore a look of utter confusion, as if she had just seen a ghost.
"Are you really the Kuina that Zoro talked about?"
"But I remember Zoro saying that Kuina died. You aren't a ghost, are you?"
After saying this, she shrank back a little.
Robin also became cautiously guarded. Although she didn't sense any threat from the little girl in front of her, Nami's words made her a bit apprehensive.
While they did have a crewmate who was a skeleton, he had eaten a Devil Fruit while alive and resurrected into that form. He was, in a true sense, a living person.
Kuina felt a bit embarrassed and quickly explained.
"Well, I did die, but a very handsome Emperor resurrected me."
"I'm not a ghost right now. I'm a human with a beating heart and flowing blood."
She could feel that she was truly alive.
Nami and Robin relaxed slightly upon hearing her explanation. As long as she wasn't a ghost, it was fine.
However, the Emperor's miraculous abilities left them deeply shocked.
Kuina then looked at Robin.
"That Lord also resurrected someone who looks almost exactly like you."
She knew the two were definitely different people. Although their appearances were similar, their hair and overall aura were distinct.
Robin turned pale with shock. Someone who looked exactly like her could only be her mother.
She wanted to immediately step forward and find Ryōsuke, as well as her mother, to confirm this. But just as she took a step, she froze.
This little girl was the future Thirteenth Imperial Consort. Did that mean her mother was going to be the Fourteenth Imperial Consort?
An ordinary person might not do such a thing, but this was Ryōsuke.
He was entirely capable of doing exactly that.
Her mother might even end up bearing Ryōsuke's children. It was a highly probable scenario.
Her heart felt incredibly complicated. Was her mother going to have Ryōsuke's children too?
She was already pregnant with his child herself.
Although she felt a bit helpless about the situation, she was just glad her mother was alive again.
She decided to go see her later.
Seeing Robin's expression, Kuina made a guess in her heart.
'These two definitely have a connection. Maybe they're mother and daughter.'
If that was the case, then she must have been dead for a very long time, considering Zoro had already become a master swordsman.
She looked at Nami.
"Big sister, could you tell me about Zoro?"
Thinking of her former crewmate, Nami also felt a bit conflicted. Now that she had become an Imperial Consort, she would definitely have to leave the Straw Hat Pirates.
Since they were comrades who had shared life-and-death struggles, she was still willing to talk about him.
"Actually, I used to be Zoro's crewmate. I'll tell you everything about him."
Afterward, she recounted everything to Kuina.
Hearing about the formidable enemies they had faced together, Kuina was greatly surprised.
She hadn't realized Zoro had become so strong, but she was still curious.
"By the way, since you were his crewmate, is Zoro on this island right now?"
Nami sighed helplessly.
"Yes, he's on this island, but he's been locked up by the Emperor who resurrected you."
Kuina was puzzled.
"Why?"
She now had a new understanding of that Emperor. If Zoro was that strong and still couldn't defeat him, the Emperor had to be even more terrifying.
But she still didn't understand what kind of conflict had occurred between them.
Nami explained the reasons to her.
Kuina felt a bit of regret upon hearing the story.
"I feel like you guys shouldn't have done that. This is already the Emperor's territory. After all, he took it back from the Beast Pirates and saved this country."
Moreover, she disliked the so-called descendant of the former ruler who had been wandering outside.
On the contrary, she admired the Emperor even more.
Nami now also leaned toward the Emperor's perspective. The people here were finally able to live normal lives.
Even Kozuki Hiyori had no objections, so how could she? She felt that as outsiders, they really shouldn't have rebelled against this Emperor.
She could only rejoice and say, "Fortunately, the Emperor is merciful and will release them later."
Hearing this, Kuina felt very happy. She had been a bit worried, but now she completely relaxed.
"Take me to see Zoro. I wonder how he's doing now."
"Alright," Nami replied.
She figured Zoro would be absolutely shocked to see his friend resurrected from the dead.
The two of them then headed toward the prison, but Robin did not follow.
She didn't know what to say to her former crewmates if she saw them.
Before long, Nami brought Kuina to the prison.
She had someone bring Zoro out.
Nami also didn't know how to face her former comrade.
Luffy would definitely want to save her again, but the truth was, she didn't need saving. She was living a great life now.
A woman always needed someone to rely on. While comrades were very dependable, they weren't a woman's final destination.
A woman always needed to find a husband and have children, and now she had found the most satisfactory one.
Zoro was dragged out by the guards. He looked at the two people in front of him—one was Nami, and the other was a little girl.
His originally listless eyes instantly lit up, widening in disbelief.
His former companion had actually come back to life.
But how was that possible?
He had personally seen her buried. The sky had been gray that day, drizzling with light rain.
The whole world had felt bleak.
It was impossible.
Was he dreaming?
He wanted to rub his eyes to wake himself up.
But with his hands cuffed, he could only shake his head and blink hard.
He opened his eyes again.
It wasn't a mistake. This was indeed Kuina, the very figure etched into his memory.
He muttered to himself, "What exactly is going on?"
Seeing Zoro, Kuina knew this was the grown-up version of him. He was essentially a scaled-up Zoro.
She laughed and said, "Zoro, I didn't expect you to get so big! I'm only half your height now, haha."
In the past, she had been a head taller than Zoro, and he had always been a little pipsqueak in her eyes.