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[Honestly, Robin's life is something else. Most people being caught in a single Buster Call would be nightmare enough—but Robin… good grief. Not only did she face one in her thirties, she survived another as a child. Twice through a Buster Call, and still alive.]
[Surviving is a blessing, sure—but shouldering the weight of Ohara's Buster Call must be hell. Hard to picture how Robin—under ten back then—managed to keep going.]
[On Ohara, tens of thousands of islanders, hundreds of archaeologists, her own mother, and the giant Vice Admiral who became her benefactor—Jaguar D. Saul—were all taken. That's not a "normal" grief to carry.]
[Worse, a bounty of 80,000,000 on a little girl.]
[Thinking about it now, it's almost natural she grew into someone quick to betray—when your life is nothing but lies, betrayal, abandonment, and manhunts, what else do you learn? Even kind villagers who fed and sheltered little Robin would, once she was asleep, notify the Marines for the bounty. Brutal pirates, too, moved for her head price.]
[Stack all that up, and if she hadn't learned to turn first and cut ties, she might not be here today.]
[Image: Young Robin staring down a Buster Call]
[Image: Young Robin sold out by villagers]
[Image: Young Robin abandoned by pirates]
[Image: Young Robin hunted by Marines]
[Image: Young adult Robin surviving in the underworld]
[Image: Adult Robin partnering with Crocodile]
Pudding: "So that's her life… maybe worse than mine."
Uta: "She's been through that much…?"
Carina: "Maybe I should be a little gentler with her."
Nami: "I knew some of it, but not that it was this bleak."
Paula: "Miss All Sunday's life—suffocating."
Mikita: "If it were me, I'd have died already. She's… incredible."
Vivi: "Perhaps Robin isn't as 'bad' as people say."
Monet: "That's life. Few are born lucky."
Baccarat: "Even surviving two Buster Calls isn't necessarily 'good luck.'"
Smoothie: "To persist through that… she's increasingly admirable."
Tashigi: "A Buster Call… it's complicated to even think about."
Hibari: "She was just a little girl when she was wanted. Why…"
Ain: "In the end, the Marines and World Government pushed her to this. This is not the justice Zephyr-sensei sought."
Tashigi: "Leaving the Marines truly was the right call…?"
Kujaku: "Sigh…"
Boa Hancock: "Hmph. I recognize her a little now. But Robin working with that sand-crocodile?"
Doll: "With Crocodile—and as an adult. Is it recent? Did she betray him too? Or is that partnership happening now?"
…
Grand Line, aboard a Marine battleship.
Gion frowned down at the diary copy. "Crocodile… tied to Robin?" Her tone curdled. "What's that man plotting?"
Already neck-deep in Arton trouble, Gion now had to swallow that Warlord Crocodile was dealing with Robin. Her mood—bad—worsened.
"Should we check Crocodile's base of operations?" came a voice from the sofa behind her. Kujaku lifted her eyes from her own copy, which had paused. "If the Warlord is courting Robin, it's got to be for the Poneglyphs. Researching them is a capital sin to the Marines and the World Government."
Chapter 380 — Kaya Has Great Faith in Arton
Kujaku is Vice Admiral Tsuru's granddaughter, and Gion is Tsuru's sworn younger sister; no surprise the two get along superbly. After crossing paths at sea, Kujaku chose to act with Gion for the time being. As for Hibari and Doll, they paired off and continued searching within their means for any trace of Arton.
Hearing Doll's suggestion, Gion lowered her gaze and thought for a while, then shook her head. "Our top priority is finding Arton, Kujaku."
Kujaku bit her lip. "But are we really ignoring Crocodile, Vice Admiral Gion?"
"It's not that we ignore him—our focus has to stay on Arton." Gion exhaled, then looked back at the clearly unsettled Kujaku. "You know the situation. The more time we give Arton, the stronger he gets—and his crew grows just as frighteningly fast. Put Kaya and Carina aside for a moment; Robin alone is a massive headache. You saw it—Arton mentioned Robin's name multiple times in the diary. When today's copy tallies, she'll rake in a mountain of points, and that'll make her very strong, very fast. If she finds a way aboard Arton's ship, her two decades of surviving the underworld mean she'll keep farming points from him. It won't take long before she's just as troublesome as Kaya or Carina. Bottom line: the Flameblade Pirates will only get harder to deal with."
Gion's eyes hardened. "We Marines who hold copies are the ones most likely to find Arton first. Yes, Kaya and Carina keep derailing him whenever he's about to leak a destination or position—but they won't always make it in time. When they slip, we move, and we seize him. Right now Arton hasn't grown beyond control. We must use this window."
Kujaku studied Gion's unusually grave expression, then murmured, hesitant, "But… do we truly just leave Crocodile alone? I can't shake the feeling he's up to something vile. Arabasta is neck-deep in unrest, and he may be the cause. If we investigate, we might prevent casualties."
Gion let out a long, weary sigh. "You think I haven't considered that? But our bandwidth is limited. Tracking Arton is the job for Marines who hold copies." She paused, then softened a fraction. "As for Crocodile—don't fret. I'll contact Marines I trust and have them run a discreet probe in Arabasta. If he's orchestrating anything ugly, they'll move to arrest him immediately."
Kujaku fell silent for a long time. No one could tell what she'd decided in her heart.
…
Aboard the Sylvan, in the lookout room, Kaya trembled as the diary showed more of Robin—text and images both. Even though Arton had only jotted down simple excerpts of Robin's life, the empathetic Kaya couldn't help feeling for her. Compared to Kaya's hardships, Robin was the one truly carrying scars.
Kaya had lost her parents young, true—but she'd had Butler Merry, her friend Usopp, and, very early on, she'd met Arton, who thwarted Captain Kuro's plot. Robin, after fleeing Ohara, had no one she could trust. Kaya couldn't imagine where Robin found the courage to come this far.
Out of nowhere, Kaya felt she wanted Robin to stay—really stay—aboard the Flameblade Pirates. Let Robin's wandering have a harbor at last.
And Kaya had faith in Arton. So long as he consented to Robin remaining on the Sylvan, he would never discard Robin the way those other pirate captains or kind villagers had in the diary. As long as Robin didn't betray them, Kaya believed, she would always have a place among the Flameblade Pirates.
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