Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
----------
"There really are stone tablets with historical texts here."
"Ikki's really good at predicting things."
"No... I should say his intelligence network runs incredibly deep."
"Robin, you really need to thank him later."
Nojiko put her hands on her hips and looked at the huge stone tablet in front of her, emotion clear on her face.
"Yes, I definitely need to thank Ikki properly."
Robin raised her hand and touched the words on the Poneglyph with a faint smile on her face.
"A Poneglyph... Ikki's intelligence capabilities are more terrifying than even the World Government's."
Kalifa was also quite emotional.
These historical stone tablets are difficult to find even with the World Government's vast information network.
But Ikki could accurately tell them about the existence of many Poneglyphs.
Kalifa believed that if the World Government knew about this, they would definitely use any means necessary to kill or imprison Ikki.
"It's not just his intelligence capabilities. His strength and ability to understand people's hearts are also top-notch. You, me, Vice Admiral Gion, and Hancock - we obviously weren't meant to be on the same crew. But we're all connected because of him, more or less."
Nico Robin translated the historical text without looking back.
"That's true, but isn't it a little strange to group me with you three? After all, I don't have as deep a relationship with Ikki as you all do."
Kalifa pushed up her glasses and said meaningfully.
"Haha, are you envious? If you are, you could always show off your beauty to Ikki. After all, you're definitely his type, Kalifa."
Nico Robin said with the same knowing smile.
"I'll think about it."
Kalifa shrugged and said, seemingly casual about it.
But these words sounded quite unpleasant to Nami, Nojiko, and Vivi. After all, in Ikki's eyes, they were still slightly immature women compared to the more mature Kalifa.
Robin didn't speak further, instead focusing on the Poneglyph.
After some time passed, Robin frowned deeply.
"So that's what it means... Could the princess be...? Does Captain Ikki know about this too?"
Robin murmured to herself. Obviously, the information on the Poneglyph had surprised her considerably.
"What's wrong, Robin? What does it say?"
Kalifa stepped forward and asked curiously.
"Haha, are you interested in this too? But I'm sorry - I can't reveal these things to you."
Nico Robin shook her head.
Kalifa had once been assigned by the World Government to investigate the Ancient Weapon Pluton, and now there was information about the Ancient Weapon Poseidon on this Poneglyph. Nico Robin really couldn't tell Kalifa, a former government spy, about Poseidon's situation. Even though Kalifa had been following Ikki for quite a while now.
"Tsk, what a frustrating woman."
Kalifa clicked her tongue and turned to walk away.
"Is this really okay, Robin? She's our partner after all."
Vivi walked up to Robin and said worriedly.
"Even if we're partners, sometimes we need to keep a certain distance. If she minds, I'll apologize later."
Robin looked at Kalifa's back with firm eyes.
"Forget it, I understand my situation. I can see why you don't want to tell me. I just feel a little uncomfortable about it."
Kalifa waved her hand dismissively.
"If you're upset, maybe they can help you calm down."
Robin walked up to Kalifa with a slight smile, slowly drawing the long sword at her waist.
"Hm?"
Kalifa glanced at Robin strangely, but soon looked where Robin was looking, as if realizing something.
"What's over there?"
Kalifa knew that Robin had mastered Observation Haki and possessed the ability to see through the Transparent World. If Robin sensed something wrong ahead, it was most likely real.
Nico Robin nodded and called out, "Come out. I've already discovered you. I don't know what you're doing here, but approaching with chains is quite rude."
At the same time, Nami, Nojiko, and Vivi, who also sensed something was wrong, came to Robin's side.
"It seems you're reluctant to show yourself. Then I won't be polite."
Nico Robin raised her hand and swung her sword, releasing a peach-colored flying slash from bottom to top. The powerful slash directly plowed a long groove in the ground.
During its flight, the slash obviously hit something and made a heavy muffled sound. Then it cut through a huge stone and shattered it, revealing several strong fishmen behind it.
"Fishmen? What do these guys want?"
Kalifa looked at the fishmen behind the broken stones, then at the fishman who had rolled to the side and lost his invisibility due to Robin's slash.
"Now we have to ask them." Robin raised her hand and pointed at the formerly invisible fishman. "Who are you and why are you here?"
"Hmph, quite impressive. You were able to detect me even while I was invisible." The fishman stood up and looked at Robin and the others arrogantly. "Now that I've been discovered, there's nothing to be done about it. My name is Zeo, and I'm a officer of the New Fish-Man Pirates. Friends of Ikki, if you don't want to suffer, you'd better come with me. Our captain, Hody Jones, wants to see you and Ikki specifically."
While Zeo was speaking, the fishman warriors who weren't far away ran up behind him.
"New Fish-Man Pirates? What's your relationship with Arlong's fish-man pirate crew?"
Nami frowned immediately when she heard Zeo's words.
"Brother Arlong is someone we admire. And it seems he was killed by you, and you collected his bounty, right? We're here to take revenge for him."
Zeo said this as he took out a pill and put it in his mouth, crushing it. Having stated his purpose, he didn't intend to continue talking nonsense with Nami and the others. He planned to use his most powerful form.
However, before he could even swallow the crushed pill properly, Nami had already appeared in front of him.
"So you're Arlong's friends? How interesting. In that case, there's nothing more to say."
Nami sneered, drawing her sword and striking in one fluid motion. The golden lightning flowing along the blade directly stunned all the fishman warriors to the ground. Some of the weaker fishmen even smelled like grilled fish.
"Damn it, how is this possible?"
Zeo, who was also hit by the electric shock, widened his eyes and tried to stand up from the ground. But as soon as he moved, a powerful leg stepped on the back of his head.
With a loud "bang," Zeo fell completely unconscious as the ground beneath him cracked. The sound of bones breaking could even be heard from his skull.
"What a pain. I didn't expect to meet admirers of Arlong's crew here. Are we going to fight another fishman pirate crew?"
Nojiko raised her leg from Zeo's head, speaking in a seemingly helpless tone, though she was actually quite excited. She felt rather happy to have the chance to teach people related to Arlong another lesson.
"Although I don't know the specific history between you and the fish-man pirates, I'm afraid this so-called New Fish-Man Pirates won't only have such a small number of members. Perhaps we should go check on Ikki. Someone from their crew might be looking for him too."
Nico Robin walked up behind Nami and Nojiko.
"With Ikki's power, nothing will happen even if someone finds him. However, I still think we should go check."
Kalifa pushed up her glasses, turned around and walked in Ikki's direction. The others looked at each other, then dragged the unconscious fishmen and followed Kalifa's footsteps.
"Forcing others to marry you - that Vander Decken IX really isn't human. Ikki, did a good thing by taking care of him. Hina appreciates it."
Hina glanced at Ikki and nodded.
"It's not easy to get your recognition, Hina."
Ikki smiled and looked at Fukaboshi beside him.
"But having said that, it's really such a tragedy. Queen Otohime was killed while collecting signatures for her petition. This way, the residents of Fish-Man Island will return to hating humans. But Prince Fukaboshi, do you really have evidence that Otohime was killed by a human pirate? Perhaps there's another answer."
After saying this, Ikki looked meaningfully at Shirahoshi standing aside.
After Shirahoshi noticed Ikki's gaze, she immediately turned away, not daring to meet his eyes. For some reason, Shirahoshi always felt as if Ikki could see right through her.
"Another answer? Mr. Ikki, what do you mean?"
Fukaboshi frowned.
"I mean, what if some residents of Fish-Man Island didn't want to see the future of humans and fishmen living in harmony that Queen Otohime advocated? So they used human hands to attack your mother?"
Ikki said, turning his head to look into the distance. There, a tall octopus fishman was staggering toward them.
When Shirahoshi heard this, her body immediately started trembling. Others didn't know, but she knew the truth - it was a fishman who had killed Princess Otohime. She hadn't told anyone the secret because of Queen Otohime's final words of forgiveness.
"Impossible! Mr. Ikki, even you can't say such things!"
Fukaboshi's eyes widened and his expression became extremely serious.
"No... what that man said is true."
At this moment, the octopus fishman Ikki had been watching spoke up.
"Who are you?"
Fukaboshi turned his head and looked at the octopus fishman in confusion.
"Me? I'm Hyouzou, a leader of the New Fish-Man Pirates. By the captain's order, I'm here to arrest you, Prince Fukaboshi. As for you, Princess Shirahoshi, you'd better die here."
As soon as he finished speaking, Hyouzou's body turned into an afterimage and rushed toward Shirahoshi.
"How dare you!"
Fukaboshi was furious. Although he didn't know Hyouzou's specific intentions, this didn't prevent him from raising his trident to attack Hyouzou and protect his sister.
However, Fukaboshi's powerful strike seemed extremely weak against Hyouzou. A cold light flashed, and a huge gash suddenly appeared on Fukaboshi's chest. Blood spurted out from the wound.
"How can this be?"
Fukaboshi's eyes widened as he quickly looked in Shirahoshi's direction. He was just in time to see Hyouzou jump high, reaching above the giant mermaid princess.
"I'm sorry, but Hody Jones specifically ordered me to kill you. So you'll perish here, Your Highness."
Hyouzou took a swig from his bottle and thrust his long sword toward Shirahoshi's eye. Shirahoshi just stared blankly at the incoming attack, frozen in fear.
BOOM!
With a sharp impact, Hyouzou's body flew backward and crashed directly into Fukaboshi. A crater one meter deep was smashed into the ground.
Fukaboshi and Shirahoshi looked blankly at where Hyouzou had been. Ikki had appeared there at some point, still maintaining his kicking stance.
"Pfft! How is that possible?!"
Hyouzou stood up from the crater, blood spilling from his mouth, looking at Ikki with utter disbelief.
"Nothing's impossible. Octopus Swordsman, this world is very big. You're way behind."
Ikki, who had landed on the ground, patted his leg without even glancing at Hyouzou.
Although Hyouzou's strength was decent by Fish-Man Island standards, in the New World he was nothing but small fry. What's more, that exchange had made Ikki understand that Hyouzou had taken those pills - Energy Steroids. Ikki was even more disdainful of power obtained through drugs.
"Haha, so you're the man who caught Arlong. How interesting."
The corners of Hyouzou's mouth cracked into an ugly smile. He pulled out a handful of pills from his clothes and tried to swallow them.
But at that moment, a giant blade falling from the sky suddenly dropped down, hitting Hyouzou directly on the head.
BOOM!
Hyouzou, who had already been injured by Ikki's attack, couldn't hold on any longer and fainted completely.
"Hmph, ugly guy. You should just stay down in that pit."
Perona snorted coldly and, under the shocked gazes of Fukaboshi and the others, released the Shikai from her Zanpakutō Tenken and sheathed it back in its scabbard.