"According to the newspaper's analysis, it seems the Marines have taken the credit—and the blame—for us. And..." Robin pointed to a specific paragraph, "Big Mom is claiming these three belonged to her."
"What?!" Nami snatched the newspaper, her face paling as she scanned the lines. "Wait... we didn't actually dig up a Yonko's personal treasure, did we...?"
Her voice trailed off into a whisper, her fingers tightening nervously on the paper's edge.
A heavy silence fell over the deck.
Ron looked at Nami's worried expression, then reached out and ruffled her hair reassuringly. "Relax. No matter how big the storm gets, it's far behind us now."
"But..." Nami looked up, her eyes still clouded with anxiety.
"No 'buts'," Ron said with a gentle smile. "Let the Marines and the Emperors have their headaches. Besides—" He turned and pointed toward the approaching silhouette of Jaya Island, "—we have our own adventures to focus on. Why waste time on their troubles?"
"You're right." Then, as if flipping a switch, her expression brightened, her mood shifting faster than the wind. "There's an island ahead! That means a new place to find treasure!"
Everyone: "…"
…
As the sun began to dip toward the horizon, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple, the atmosphere on the deck of the Thousand Sunny was festive.
Ron raised his glass, the amber liquid inside catching the last of the sunlight. The crew gathered around, their faces lit with excited grins.
"A toast—to our new nakama! The archaeologist, Nico Robin!"
"The welcome party officially begins!" Usopp proclaimed, pulling a comically large party hat from seemingly nowhere and plopping it on his head. "First order of business: System Initiation!"
Robin sat gracefully in a specially prepared chair, her long legs crossed, a polite yet slightly bewildered smile on her face. "System... Initiation?"
"That's right!" Nami stepped forward, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "This is our crew's biggest secret! Every new member receives a unique system, bestowed by the Captain himself!"
"???" Robin's confusion was evident. "A 'system'? Is this some strange form of Devil Fruit ability?"
"Wahahaha! Allow the great Captain Usopp to explain!" Usopp struck a dramatic pose, hands on his hips. "Every single one of us has a system! It's Captain Ron's special power!"
"With a system, we can gain unimaginable abilities and grow stronger in incredible ways!"
Hearing this, Robin's mind flashed back to the ten Poneglyphs. Her heart skipped a beat, but she quickly composed herself, connecting the dots in a matter of seconds. Her beautiful eyes widened in astonishment.
She looked thoughtfully around at the crew. "So... those Poneglyphs..."
"Yep!" Nami admitted with a sheepish grin and a stuck-out tongue. "My Treasure-Digging System sometimes unearths... unusual things. But I honestly had no idea it would dig up Poneglyphs!"
Usopp immediately leaned in, his eyebrows waggling. "That's nothing! One time, Nami dug up Gold Roger himself! The whole world went crazy!"
Robin nodded slowly, a look of understanding dawning. "I did hear about that. I thought it was just sensationalist news at the time... I was quite shocked for a while."
"Convinced now?" Sanji glided over, presenting a meticulously crafted cocktail. "For you, my dear Robin~ A specially concocted 'Archaeologist's Delight'~"
Zoro, leaning against the mast with his arms crossed, cut in impatiently. "You tell this story every time, Long-Nose. We've all heard it a hundred times." He turned directly to Robin. "I have the Dream-Training System. The love-cook has the Adrenaline Rush System—gets stronger the more he gets beat up. Nami's is the Treasure-Digging System. Usopp's is the... well, let's call it the 'Tall-Tale Empowerment System'—though he hardly needs a system for that."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean, Marimo?!" Usopp retorted, stomping his foot in mock outrage.
Chopper eagerly raised a small hoof. "Mine is the Solar-Powered System! I get stronger just by sunbathing! But..." He tilted his head, thinking. "...lately, I've found I get stronger much faster when I 'sunbathe' near Admiral Kizaru's light attacks..."
A wave of laughter rolled across the deck. Chopper's face flushed bright red, and he hid behind the mast, pulling his hat down. "Ugh... Stop laughing! It's true!"
Robin covered her mouth with a graceful chuckle, then turned her gaze to Ron, her eyes shining with a mix of anticipation and curiosity. "So, Captain, what will my system be?"
Ron closed his eyes, his consciousness diving into the vast space of his own system. Countless screens of light scrolled rapidly before him—[Combat Systems], [Support Systems], [Growth Systems]...
Finally, one interface, shimmering with a deep, dark golden light, locked into place:
**[Ephemeral Echoes System]**
**[Temporal Scope: Traces detectable up to 2.5 years post-mortem!]**
**[Within this duration, by visiting locations where a being has died, you can gather the 'echoes' of their attributes to enhance your own power!]**
**[Gathered attributes integrate perfectly with the host! No side effects!]**
Ron opened his eyes, a smile touching his lips. "Found it."
He waved his hand, and a stream of dark golden light flowed from his palm. It swirled around Robin like a river of stardust before finally sinking into her being.
*[Ding! Ephemeral Echoes System successfully bound!]*
A mechanical prompt sounded in Robin's mind. Simultaneously, streams of data flickered at the edge of her vision, as if the very fabric of the world had been translated into a parsable code.
"This is..." Robin rarely showed such open astonishment. She looked down at her hands, as if she could feel a new, latent power humming within her veins.
"How is it?" Nami leaned in, buzzing with curiosity. "What did Robin get?"
Robin took a deep breath, slowly raising her head, her eyes sparkling with an incredible light. "The **[Ephemeral Echoes System]**... It allows me to visit places where someone has died and gather traces of their abilities to strengthen myself."
"Wow! That sounds incredible!" Chopper popped his head out again, his eyes wide with wonder.
Sanji stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So... our dear Robin can now gather power from history itself, like collecting rare artifacts?"
"Precisely." Robin nodded gently. "And the system has a retroactive scope of two and a half years. Any location where a death occurred within that timeframe is a potential site for me."
Zoro raised an eyebrow, impressed. "That ability... it suits you perfectly."
A knowing smile touched Robin's lips, her gaze growing distant. "Indeed... As an archaeologist, I often frequent ancient ruins and forgotten battlefields. Such places... are often saturated with the echoes of the departed."
A more somber, reflective mood settled over the deck for a moment.
Usopp, ever practical, scratched his head. "Wait, Robin, what exactly do you mean by 'attributes'?"
Robin folded her hands on her knees, considering how best to explain. "Think of it as the fundamental components of a person's capabilities—raw strength, agility, reaction speed, proficiency in Kenbunshoku Haki... even fragments of combat experience and knowledge. All of these can manifest as collectible echoes."
"Wow!" Chopper's jaw dropped. "So you could potentially gather all sorts of amazing powers from different people?"
....
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