"Mm..."
Robin suddenly heard a faint whisper coming from her knee.
Awake?
She looked down and found the black-haired boy still had his eyes tightly shut, sleeping sweetly, only muttering something incoherently.
So he's talking in his sleep?
Robin's curiosity was piqued for a moment. She hesitated, looked left and right, and eventually couldn't resist.
She quietly and cautiously leaned down, close to his ear—
And happened to hear this phrase:
"The sea is vast, one day, there will be companions to protect you..."
!!!
Robin's pupils contracted, her breath suddenly stopped.
How could it be...
This sentence, how does he know it?
Lost in thought, painful and dark memories surged like the tide, her burning hometown, people desperately fleeing, and that lavishly laughing massive figure—
Was it a coincidence, or...?
Just when her mind was a mess, Shano's muddled voice sounded again beside her ear:
"On my path of dreams, there are too many enemies..."
"I want to survive! Take me, bring me to the sea too!"
"..." Robin blinked, quickly calming down.
These two sentences have nothing to do with her.
Indeed.
She had overthought it, just a coincidence.
She quietly gazed at the boy's face, then looked at the newspaper beside her, the bounty order with the bounty of 540 million Belly was so terrifying...
Such a powerful being, this kind of happy fellow with a large group of companions...
Could it be, back then, he also walked alone in the darkness, enduring endless solitude like her?
...
The wind on the turtle's back suddenly stopped.
Shano's eyelashes trembled slightly as he slowly opened his eyes on Robin's knee.
The sunlight slanted across his brow bone, illuminating those jet-black pupils bright.
"Good morning."
He yawned as if nothing had happened, stood up, and turned back smiling, "Thank you, this sleep was much more comfortable than sleeping on a reef."
Soon his gaze shifted to the newspaper, and he immediately got interested, "Wow, the bounty came out this fast? Let me see..."
Rustle! He shook open the newspaper.
"Tsk, why is it only over 500 million Belly... Seems like if you don't go to the New World, the bounty won't be too high. Oh, even Nami's bounty has risen to 80 million Belly?"
Robin pursed her lower lip.
This reaction... isn't right.
Ordinary people waking up to find themselves lying on a strange woman's lap, wouldn't their first sentence be "Who are you"?
Recalling the sentence he said yesterday, she simply asked directly, "Do you know me?"
"Huh?"
Shano peeked out from behind the newspaper, "Of course."
Nicole, Nico, Nami, he could recognize her even if she was turned to ashes.
He shrugged and said, "You, have been following us all the way, haven't you?"
Robin was slightly taken aback, showing a trace of astonishment, "You, you noticed long ago?"
"Nonsense."
Shano casually folded the newspaper and said indifferently:
"Since Whiskey Peak, I've noticed that someone has been following us from a distance, although well-hidden, occasionally revealing some clues... It's just that at first, I didn't know it was you."
Didn't know it was you at first?
Robin keenly caught this sentence but remained expressionless, "It's really rude, being a stalker isn't a commendable identity."
"That's true, but you indeed are an unabashed stalker!"
Shano grinned and stepped closer, looking down at Robin, who was clearly a bit flustered but still trying to maintain a calm demeanor:
"Your ability should be able to spawn any body part anywhere within sight... like eyes?"
Shano suddenly leaned over and stared closely at her eyes.
"If I didn't master Observation, I wouldn't have sensed it. Watching when I'm practicing fists, having meals and drinks, fighting, what the hell are you up to... Tell me, were you peeking when I bathed too?"
"..."
Robin suddenly smiled, blinking: "Guess."
"Just kidding, after all, you're not Sarutobi Ayame."
Shano straightened up awkwardly, "But your nervous and embarrassed look is quite interesting."
Who's nervous? Robin wordlessly fell silent for a moment, then quietly said:
"Since you already found out, why didn't you expose me?"
"Hey, don't try to take the lead in the conversation arbitrarily." Shano said discontentedly, "Isn't this question mine to ask? Why do you follow us, what do you want?"
"..." Robin pursed her lips, not answering immediately.
How should she say it?
Say she was at a dead-end, looking for a new boss?
Say she envied their bonds, wanted to become one of them?
But someone with her identity, someone like her who only brings trouble to others, can she really qualify...
"Why not be honest."
Shano's voice sounded, interrupting her thoughts, "Son of the Demon Nico Robin, the last survivor of O'Hara, got a history doctorate at eight, the genius scholar wanted by the World Government with a bounty of 79 million Belly..."
He knows!
He really knows!
Robin's pupils tightened suddenly, her body visibly stiffened for a moment, fingers unconsciously grabbed the hem of her clothes.
For sixteen years, this identity brought her nothing but disaster and betrayal, and this scene suddenly became familiar again. Over the past years, she had been revealed like this countless times...
"Don't worry."
Shano reached out to stroke her hair naturally, a smooth movement that made Robin pause, surprising Shano himself.