"Waaaah! Nooo!" Chopper shrieked in fright, his eyes squeezed shut, not daring to look. Only after Usopp urged him repeatedly did he cautiously open one eye to look at his bounty poster.
[TONY TONY CHOPPER]
[BOUNTY: 10 Beri]
[NOTE: The Straw Hat Crew's Pet]
Chopper:
" "
"
First, he sighed in relief—the amount was ridiculously low. But then, an inexplicable sense of indignation welled up inside him.
Ten Beri?!
What do they take me for, World Government?!
I'm a doctor, for goodness' sake! Even cotton candy costs more than that!
"Pfft—" A suppressed snicker came from beside him.
Chopper turned angrily to see Usopp trying, and failing, to hold back his laughter. He also saw Nika holding a small slip of paper, jumping up and down and cursing—using rather foul language.
Curious, Chopper leaned over to look and immediately covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud.
[Mysterious Creature (Suspected Tanuki)]
[BOUNTY: 1 Beri]
[NOTE: The Straw Hat Crew's Unknown Pet. Extremely Low Threat Level.]
Nika's bounty poster didn't even have a proper name, just a photo of her drinking from her wine jug. The amount was a ludicrously low 1 Beri.
There's someone with a bounty even lower than mine?
"Bastard World Government! Are your dog eyes blind?! I am the noble @#￥!" Nika was so angry wisps of white flame-cloud emerged from her body—her pride had clearly suffered a devastating blow.
In contrast, Vivi somewhat sheepishly produced her own bounty poster.
[NEFERTARI VIVI] (Princess of the Alabasta Kingdom)
[BOUNTY: 500,000,000 Beri] (Alive Only)
[NOTE: Abducted from Alabasta by Straw Hat Monkey D. Luffy. A massive reward awaits successful rescue.]
"F-five... five hundred million Beri?!" Everyone exclaimed in unison upon seeing the number, their eyes practically popping out.
"So this is the condition King Cobra mentioned?" Nami clutched her chest, feeling almost short of breath. "Alabasta is that wealthy?!"
Everyone knew the truth behind Vivi's bounty. It was a play orchestrated by King Cobra to protect his daughter while also distancing the kingdom from the pirates. But seeing the exaggerated amount firsthand still left them emotional.
Vivi felt extremely guilty about it, repeatedly bowing in apology. "I'm so sorry for causing everyone so much trouble. It's because of me that Luffy's bounty got so high." As she spoke, she took out Luffy's latest bounty poster.
[MONKEY D. LUFFY]
[BOUNTY: 200,000,000 Beri]
Two hundred million Beri!
Another collective gasp of astonishment went through the crew.
In the first half of the Grand Line, this amount truly marked him as a formidable pirate! The incident involving Princess Vivi's abduction likely played a significant role. Of course, Luffy's defeat of Crocodile was the primary reason. The World Government only gave high bounties to those it perceived as a significant threat.
"For example..."
"No need to worry about it," Robin spoke up. "If we're talking about causing trouble, I'm probably the more troublesome woman here."
Hearing this, everyone finally noticed the bounty poster in Robin's hand. The amount on it, excluding Vivi's special case, was even higher than Zoro's!
[NICO ROBIN]
[BOUNTY: 79,000,000 Beri]
Seventy-nine million Beri!
Luffy curiously leaned in. The poster showed a photo of Robin from her younger years, slightly green but her eyes already filled with wariness.
"Robin, what did you do before?"
"Just an ordinary archaeologist. My family has been in this line of work for generations."
Robin thought for a moment and said, "I was first wanted by the World Government when I was eight years old."
"Eight?!" Nami felt indignant. What threat could an eight-year-old child pose? What were those World Government people thinking? But the World Government would have its say. To them, the threat Robin posed was similar to that of the giant child who, at six, went on a rampage due to her Gluttony and threw the Giant Warrior Kingdom into chaos due to her Gluttony. And what happened to that giant child? She became one of the Four Emperors, Charlotte Linlin!
"The past twenty years, I've lived like this, hiding and moving from place to place."
"Since you were eight? All alone?" Nami felt a sense of kinship. She was about the same age when she started trying to raise 100 million Beri alone to buy Cocoyasi Village back from Arlong.
Robin shook her head. How could an eight-year-old survive at sea alone? Even Charlotte Linlin had Streusen by her side. So, to protect herself and as a means to achieve her goal, she had always existed in the grey areas, with Crocodile being one of those figures.
"All of this was for..." Robin looked at everyone, seeming hesitant. "This topic is a bit dangerous." The World Government took harsh measures to suppress anyone with knowledge of the Poneglyphs. Knowing about this wouldn't benefit them. Unconsciously, Robin had already started worrying about these people.
"Trust us, Robin," Luffy said keenly, picking up on her concern. "Look at them. They won't be able to sleep if they don't hear it now."
Robin glanced around. Everyone had gathered close, like nosy uncles and aunts on a street corner eager for gossip. She was both amused and exasperated. Knowing too much about this would get you hunted by the World Government.
"Do you know about the Void Century in this world's history?" Robin glanced at Luffy, her expression turning serious. It was a period of history, roughly 900 to 800 years ago, erased by the World Government. Relevant records only exist on the indecipherable Poneglyphs. There are over thirty of those stones called Poneglyphs, and they cannot be destroyed. Fearing the truth this history might reveal, the World Government banned its study and destroyed the Ohara scholars who attempted to decipher it, launching a Buster Call that led to Ohara's annihilation.
"I am the last surviving scholar of Ohara. The doctors told me that within the Void Century, there was a kingdom destroyed by an alliance of twenty nations. The history I've been pursuing, the truth, lies within the Poneglyphs."
Hearing Robin mention the Poneglyphs, Luffy remembered something. "Oh, that's the ancient language you told me before not to let on that I could read?"
Nami was shocked. "Luffy, you can read that kind of language too?"
"This... uh... should I say I can't?" Luffy felt he had spoken too quickly about something.
Robin didn't seem surprised. "Actually, I guessed you wouldn't be able to hide it for long, Luffy. But it's best not to let anyone else know. Anyone other than nakama."
Nika gave Robin an unexpected look. A scholar who commanded the ancient language... If she could find that particular Poneglyph, could they learn the history of that period? She was someone worth courting! To be honest, even Nika didn't know why that war suddenly ended in failure.
Just as Nika was about to move, fragmented stones began to rain down from the sky.
***
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