"Is this the place?"
Looking up at the bar with the "Shakky's Rip-off Bar" sign, Nico Robin said, "The place Meiser mentioned."
After a moment's thought, Nico Robin decided to go inside and check the situation.
Just then, two voices called out from behind.
"Hey!!"
"Robin!!"
"Hm?"
Hearing those two familiar voices, Nico Robin was momentarily stunned before turning around with a delighted expression. "Chopper, Usopp!!"
"Hahaha, it really is Robin!!"
After confirming it was Nico Robin, the two immediately burst into happy laughter.
Usopp then quickened his pace and soon rode up to Nico Robin on his vehicle.
"Long time no see, Robin!" Chopper exclaimed excitedly.
"Yes, it's been a while," Nico Robin nodded with a smile before asking, "How have you two been these past two years?"
"Pretty good, pretty good," Chopper grinned, showing his teeth. "I've gotten much stronger~"
"That's wonderful."
Nico Robin smiled and patted the fur on little Chopper's head before glancing at Usopp. "And you?"
"Same for me."
Usopp gave Nico Robin a thumbs-up. "I'm a hundred times stronger than before now!"
Nico Robin's smile widened at this. "It seems everyone has been training very hard these past two years."
"Of course."
Usopp crossed his arms. "To be able to help Luffy, we have to become as strong as monsters!"
Usopp clearly understood what they would be facing next, so... they absolutely had to be strong enough!
"That's true," Nico Robin said with a laugh.
After a brief pause, Nico Robin continued, "What about Meiser..."
"Don't worry," Usopp said. "He's still alive."
Nico Robin nodded at this, which matched what she had suspected.
Then she said, "Let's go, we should check inside first. If our other crewmates have arrived, we'll gather on the ship."
"Okay!"
"I wonder where Robin has gotten to," Nami said while fiddling with the Devil Fruit in her hand.
"She should be here soon," Meiser replied.
Nami nodded before looking at the Devil Fruit in her hand. "If Usopp and the others don't want to eat this, what will you do with it?"
"If they don't eat it, we'll sell it," Meiser said, turning to Shakky. "I'll have my Clone deliver the Devil Fruits when the time comes."
Although unrecorded Devil Fruits weren't as valuable as one might imagine, it was better than nothing.
"No problem, leave it to me," Shakky nodded.
Over the past two years, she had helped Meiser handle many valuable items, so disposing of these three Devil Fruits wouldn't be an issue.
"Are Devil Fruits with unknown abilities valuable?" Perona asked curiously.
"Even without knowing its ability, the starting bid would be at least a hundred million Berries," Shakky said. "If the market is favorable, it could potentially sell for several hundred million Berries."
"Even without knowing the ability, it can be that valuable?" Perona asked in surprise.
"Of course," Shakky replied. "Although there's an element of gambling involved, if you guess right, you could gain an incredibly powerful ability!"
"That's why many people are willing to buy such Devil Fruits to take a chance."
If one could truly obtain a powerful ability, the user would instantly become a formidable force!
This is the reason people are willing to spend large sums of money to gamble.
And what if they lose the bet?
If they lose, they can only blame their own bad luck.
Perona thought for a moment after hearing this and then said, "With several hundred million Berries, you could buy a very powerful Devil Fruit, right? Yet people use that money to gamble on an unknown ability?"
"That's true, but the price for powerful Devil Fruit abilities generally starts at five hundred million Berries or more," Shakky explained. "Moreover, Devil Fruits are often priceless and hard to come by."
First, powerful abilities are extremely expensive, and second... this isn't something you can just buy with money!
Sometimes, even if you offer a billion Berries, you might not be able to buy a Devil Fruit!
This is one of the reasons people immediately seize the opportunity when they see a Devil Fruit.
Perona fell silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "That makes sense."
Since Devil Fruits themselves are something money can't always buy, it's natural for people to be willing to spend money gambling on their abilities.
Just then, the door behind them suddenly swung open, and three people filed in one after another.
"Robin, Usopp, Chopper!"
Seeing the three who entered, everyone in the room immediately lit up with delight!
After closing the door behind them, the three greeted everyone with smiles.
"Everyone!"
"Long time no see~"
Nico Robin, taking in the sight of her companions, wore a radiant smile on her face.
However, when she saw Meiser, she paused for a moment, thinking to herself, 'This... this is Meiser, right?'
Although his appearance had changed significantly, he still felt like the same person to her.
But before Nico Robin could say anything, she saw Chopper dart forward in a flash, leaping up to pounce on Meiser.
"Meiser!!"
Seeing Chopper lunging at him, Meiser instinctively reached out and caught him, then said, "It's me. Why are you crying?"
Chopper, his eyes brimming with tears, looked up at Meiser and said, "I thought you were dead..."
When he had read the newspaper back then, his heart had shattered, and he had cried for half a day before finally calming down.
It was precisely because of this that he had resolved to turn himself into an incredibly powerful monster!
Seeing the tearful Chopper, Meiser felt a warmth in his heart and reached out to ruffle the little one's head, saying, "Don't worry, there's no one in this world who can kill me."
"Mhm..."
Meiser smiled at this and then set him down on a stool.
"Chopper..." Nami looked at Chopper and asked, "Why did you think Meiser was dead?"
"Because I saw it in the newspaper," Chopper lifted his head to look at Nami and said. "The newspaper said Meiser was dead, so I just..."
Listening to Chopper's words, Nami fell silent for a moment before shaking her head helplessly and saying, "Did you forget how the newspapers referred to Meiser before?"
"Undying Ninja, hello!"
"With a title like that, how could Meiser possibly be killed by the World Government?"
At this point, Nami paused briefly before continuing, "Anyway, I don't believe it."
"Huh?"
Chopper was taken aback for a moment, then turned to look at Nico Robin and asked, "Robin, do you think so too?"
"Yes."
Chopper:
After a moment of silence, Chopper said, "So... everyone thinks Meiser is still alive?"
"Yes."
"Ehh!!!"
Chopper stared in disbelief and said, "Then... then I'm the fool here!"
Everyone else believed Meiser was alive, but he was the only one who thought otherwise. This...
"Chopper is no fool." Meiser chuckled and ruffled Chopper's head, saying, "You were just overwhelmed by concern~"
Meiser didn't think there was anything wrong with Chopper being like this. On the contrary, he found such innocence quite endearing.
"R-really?" Chopper asked doubtfully.
"Absolutely!" Meiser nodded seriously and said, "Our Chopper is definitely not a fool!"
"Hehe~"
With this reassurance, Chopper's face quickly lit up with a smile again.
Seeing this, Meiser smiled and then turned to Usopp and Nico Robin, saying, "Why are you all standing there? Have a seat."
"Oh, right."
Snapping out of it, Usopp nodded and walked over to sit on the nearby sofa.
"Everyone seems to have gotten stronger."
Luffy, who had been observing the three of them closely, grinned widely, showing his teeth.
"Of course!" Usopp struck a muscular pose and grinned, "I'm a hundred times stronger than before now!"
Hearing this, Luffy struck a similar pose and said, "Me too!"
The two exchanged glances and burst into laughter together.
"Hahahaha!"
Then, Usopp glanced at the Devil Fruit in Nami's hand and said, "Nami, that thing in your hand is a Devil Fruit, right?" As someone who had eaten a Devil Fruit, he knew exactly what it was.
Nico Robin was also staring curiously at Nami's hand, clearly surprised that she had obtained one... Wait, there were two more Devil Fruits on the table!
After noticing the two additional Devil Fruits on the table, surprise flashed in Nico Robin's eyes.
Why were there three Devil Fruits?
"Exactly." Nami raised her hand to show off the Devil Fruit she was holding and said, "This is a Devil Fruit."
"Where did you get it?"
"Of course, we stole it." Nami glanced at Meiser beside her and said, "All these Devil Fruits were taken by Meiser from Mary Geoise."
"All these?"
Usopp was stunned for a moment before noticing the other two Devil Fruits placed on the table.
Usopp: !!!
There were three of them!
Meanwhile, Nico Robin looked at Meiser in astonishment and said, "Your purpose in going to Mary Geoise... besides publishing that newspaper, was to steal Devil Fruits?"
"To be precise, it was a side objective."
Meiser explained, "My main goal in causing chaos at Mary Geoise was to deliver a message to all of you. The Devil Fruits were just a bonus."
"If we can snatch the Devil Fruits, that would be ideal. If not, it's fine."
"So that's how it is..."
Nico Robin nodded, then said, "So you managed to get these Devil Fruits there, right?"
"Not just Devil Fruits."
Meiser crossed his arms and lifted his chin slightly. "I also seized quite a bit of treasure in Mary Geoise."
The moment Nami heard the word "treasure," her eyes curved into crescent moons.
Noticing Nami's reaction, Nico Robin's eyes filled with curiosity.
Just how much money did Meiser steal to make Nami react like that?
But before she could speak, Usopp beat her to it and asked, "How much did you get?"
"Well... the Berries I have on hand now... roughly around thirty billion."
Nico Robin: !!!
Usopp: !!!
Chopper: !!!
All three stared at Meiser in stunned silence, clearly not expecting such an astronomical number.
"H-How much?!" Usopp exclaimed, gaping at Meiser.
"Thirty billion."
At that, Usopp fell completely silent.
Thirty billion... just how much money is that?
"You actually stole that much money in Mary Geoise?!" Chopper also stared at Meiser in shock. "How many cotton candies could that buy?!"
Meiser: ???
Is that how you measure it?
After a moment of silence, Meiser replied seriously, "Definitely enough to last you a lifetime."
"So... so amazing!" Chopper's eyes sparkled as he looked at Meiser.
Though he didn't understand the concept of thirty billion Berries, a lifetime supply of cotton candy was undoubtedly an incredible amount!
At the thought, Chopper grew visibly excited.
Nico Robin, who had been pondering what Meiser had done, spoke up, "Did you rob Mary Geoise's Treasure Vault?"
"Impossible." Meiser rolled his eyes. "If I had really robbed the World Government's main treasury, it wouldn't be just this much money."
"I robbed the Celestial Dragons' Treasure Vault."
"The Celestial Dragons' vault..." Nico Robin fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then showed a look of disgust. "It seems the Celestial Dragons are even richer than we imagined."
Having lived with revolutionaries for two years, she knew exactly how the Celestial Dragons amassed their wealth.
That's why she detested them so deeply.
"What's wrong?"
Meiser looked at Nico Robin in confusion. Why did her expression suddenly change?
"I lived with revolutionaries for two years, so I know exactly how the Celestial Dragons get their money," Nico Robin said.
Hearing this, Meiser immediately understood her meaning.
She must have realized the impact of Celestial Gold on this world.
But before Meiser could say anything, Nico Robin gave him a thumbs-up and said, "Well done!"
Meiser smiled at that and replied, "Not only did I rob them, but I also killed seven Celestial Dragons while I was at it."
At those words, everyone froze.
Then, Usopp spoke up, "Does that mean we'll have to face pursuit from the Marine Admirals again?"
"If that's really the case, then they need to be mentally prepared."
"Don't worry," Meiser reassured them. "In the eyes of the World Government, I'm currently 'dead.' So as long as I don't expose myself, the World Government won't send a large army to hunt us down."
As he spoke, Meiser took out his sunglasses and put them on.
Then he continued, "See? Can you still recognize who I am now?"
Everyone carefully examined Meiser and then nodded, saying, "Indeed."
If Meiser hadn't just taken off his sunglasses earlier, they might not have been able to recognize who he was either.
This way... it would be even more impossible for the World Government to recognize Meiser's true identity!