After Aokiji left, the heavy pressure that had been weighing on everyone's hearts finally vanished.
"What a monster." Nami stroked her heaving chest. For that instant just now, she had truly thought Aokiji was about to attack them.
"Aokiji-ossan is really strong," Luffy said.
That was unrivaled strength.
But in the future, he would definitely be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. No, he would surpass even a Marine Admiral. Otherwise, how could he become the Pirate King?
"You should be grateful. If the one you ran into here had been Akainu, he wouldn't have spared you for Garp's sake," Koji said with a smile.
In Akainu's eyes, there was no room for even a single pirate. He would not care who your grandfather was. Since you had chosen to become a pirate, you had to be prepared to accept death.
"Akainu, huh? I heard that any pirate who runs into him either ends up dead or crippled. Very few people are captured whole and sent to Impel Down."
Nami remembered the reports about Akainu in the newspapers. When he got ruthless, he would not even spare civilians and would kill them along with his target.
Indeed, if the one they had met this time had not been Aokiji, but Akainu, they really would have been finished here.
"If Akainu were here, none of you would be able to run."
Nico Robin walked out. She had no good impression of Akainu whatsoever. Back during the Ohara incident, Akainu had been the one who contributed the most. He would never let go of anyone he considered a sworn enemy.
"And who are you?" Nami froze slightly.
"How should I introduce myself? Your future companion?" Nico Robin thought for a moment, then said with a smile.
In the end, she had decided to join this pirate crew.
"Hah?"
Nami and the others looked at Nico Robin in confusion. They had never heard anything about getting a new companion.
"You want to join us? Sure," Luffy nodded.
Then came an extremely cold response.
"Thud!"
When Nami saw Luffy agree so decisively, she punched him, directly knocking a lump onto his head.
"Chotto matte, Luffy. Do you even know her? How can you agree that easily?"
There really was nothing she could do about that thick-headedness. It simply could not be fixed.
Zoro looked at Nami.
Did this woman know martial arts and Haki?
"Hehe…" Robin laughed. What an interesting group of people.
"If you want to reach Laugh Tale, find the great treasure, and become the Pirate King, then she can be said to be an indispensable companion for you," Koji said.
"She's that amazing?" Chopper asked in surprise.
The great treasure discovered by the Pirate King—the woman before them was actually a key to it.
"There are four red Road Poneglyphs in total, and Nico Robin can read them. In today's world, there are only a handful of people who can understand that writing."
"Please, you absolutely have to join us."
If before, Luffy had simply been relying on his instincts, then now, this woman's role was far too important.
"Hehe. Captain-san, you don't need to be so polite. Please take care of me from now on," Nico Robin said with a faint smile.
However, Koji really knew a lot. Even she had not fully figured out the functions of every Poneglyph yet.
The red ones were road markers. The others should all be records of history.
"Fine, then."
Nami had nothing else to say. After all, if they wanted to find the great treasure, they needed Nico Robin.
"Besides the four Road Poneglyphs, is there any other way to reach Laugh Tale?" Zoro asked.
Koji gave Zoro a meaningful look and teased, "If your getting-lost skill activates, maybe you'll get lost all the way to Laugh Tale."
Zoro: "…"
"Hahaha! Moss Head, you really are amazing! You can even get lost all the way to Laugh Tale! You might as well call yourself the King of Getting Lost!" Sanji burst into laughter and mocked Zoro.
"Shut up, Curly Brows."
Zoro's face turned dark. Why did so many people know about this?
"The members of your pirate crew have pretty unusual backgrounds," Koji said.
"Indeed. You could call it a second-generation pirate crew. Usopp's father is Yasopp, the sniper of the Red Hair Pirates. Zoro is probably a descendant of Shimotsuki Ryuma, the dragon-slaying samurai of Wano. As for Sanji, let him tell you himself when he wants to."
Koji noticed the change in Sanji's expression, so he did not say any more.
"Is that Red Hair Pirates crew really famous?" Usopp asked.
He was about the same as Luffy. Normally, he did not read the newspapers much either.
Luffy spoke with nostalgia, touching his straw hat as he remembered the person who had entrusted it to him.
"In the New World, there are four great pirates known as the Four Emperors. Red Hair is the youngest among them."
Nico Robin gave a brief explanation. She had not expected this pirate crew to have so many second-generation members. She had never seen such an absurdly strange lineup.
"My dad is that amazing?" Usopp said with admiration.
"Yasopp may be fine as a sniper, but as a husband and father, he's a failure. You could say he abandoned his wife and child. Your mother died from a serious illness. If he had brought a doctor back, perhaps the result wouldn't have been like that."
Pursuing dreams, yet not even caring about one's own family—such a person was terrible.
Usopp fell silent.
He could not refute it. After all, he had watched his mother leave him forever with his own eyes.
If—if his father had found someone to treat her, perhaps he would not have lost his mother.
"Yasopp-ossan, he…"
Luffy thought of Yasopp. He did not know how to comfort Usopp, nor did he try to argue in Yasopp's defense. He only clenched his fist tightly where he stood.
"What kind of person is that? Usopp, since you want to be a man, then in the future, give that useless father of yours a good beating," Nami said seriously.
"Yeah."
Usopp nodded. If he ever had the chance, he would definitely ask him properly why he had never come back to see them.
No matter how busy he was, his own wife had passed away. How could he not come back to take a look? Was he even a man?
Ningguang and the others did not speak. They roughly understood.
Although the Red Hair Pirates had a decent reputation, they were pirates in the end. How many pirates were truly honest people?
"King-ossan, do you know how to train Haki?" Luffy asked.
After feeling the powerful aura of a Marine Admiral, he also understood that they were still far too weak right now.
"Haki training? Yes, we do have methods for it," King Cobra nodded.
As one of the member nations of the World Government, Alabasta was itself a major country. Not to mention, their ancestors had also been one of the Twenty Kings. It was only natural that they possessed methods for training Haki.
As for why they had not seen anyone use it here, this was not the New World, after all. There were not many pirates here who knew Haki, so Haki was not especially valued.
Koji smiled.
This was because the version update had not caught up yet.
Once the Straw Hat Pirates began learning Haki, their strength would definitely improve. Do not underestimate Luffy's talent. Since he had missed out on the powerful enemy Crocodile and had not received the improvement he should have gained from that battle, this could make up for it.
(End of Chapter)
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