Tom behaving like this wasn't anything special. Him accidentally involving Sanji, who would then go berserk, was something the crew was used to. After all, Sanji had threatened to make a certain fisherman pay more than once.
But the reason for Tom's reaction this time was what truly astonished everyone on board.
"Look, he's reacting."
"But why is it this kind of reaction?"
"Didn't you hear what he said earlier? Probably he doesn't like women with slightly darker skin. But his reaction is way too extreme."
Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro stood side by side, watching Tom lying on the railing and chatting idly. Sanji had long since run off to clean himself.
If Tom hadn't immediately reacted right after commenting on the woman's skin tone, Luffy and the others wouldn't have gotten the wrong idea.
If Tom had reacted like this upon seeing Nami, she would have undoubtedly gone berserk on the spot. But the black-haired woman was different. Her face remained calm and detached and composed, as if the incident hadn't affected her at all.
In the eyes of others, Tom's first reaction upon clearly seeing her face was indeed unbelievable.
"His taste is really strange."
Vivi stared at Tom for a long time before finally forcing out this sentence.
However, Tom's peculiarity made Vivi want to stay far away from him. If he ever reacted to her like that one day, she wouldn't know what to do.
No one noticed that after the incident, while the woman's expression remained unchanged, her eyebrows had given a slight, almost imperceptible twitch.
"Anyone can act tough by yelling and screaming."
The woman sitting on the railing gave a soft laugh, addressing Luffy and Usopp, who had been shouting at her earlier.
Ignoring Tom beside her, she was about to return the straw hat to Luffy when Tom, having just recovered, spoke up again. As he did, he casually took the hat from her head. "Huh? Isn't this Luffy's treasured hat? How dare you wear it!"
No sooner had he said this and tossed the hat back to Luffy than he had another adverse reaction.
"Look, he's at it again."
"Why is he like that now?"
"Maybe he touched something she handled, so he's like this."
Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro stood in a row again, looking up at Tom lying on the railing, discussing the mystery of his condition.
"Just how much do you dislike that woman?"
Nami looked at Tom and muttered under her breath.
"His sense of 'enemy vs. ally' is really intense."
Vivi hadn't expected Tom to detest the woman so much that merely touching something she'd handled would cause such revulsion. After standing stunned for a long while, she struggled to squeeze out this statement.
"Don't you think it would be a shame if you were all wiped out because you went there?"
Ignoring Tom, the woman wore a calm and composed smile and took out an object, tossing it to Vivi. "You can use this to bypass the island called Little Garden. This Eternal Pose points to an island with nothing on it, located before Alabasta. It's a route even our company's agents don't know, so no one will pursue you there."
Hearing this, Nami actually started to think the woman might be somewhat good. Zoro, however, was suspicious. "Isn't this a trap?"
Facing the crew's doubt, the woman responded indifferently, "Who knows?"
What should I do? I don't want to accept anything from her. But since I'm on their ship, I should take the safer route.
After catching the object, Vivi stared at the Eternal Pose in her hand, caught in a dilemma, unable to make a choice.
"No need to think about it so much!"
Luffy walked over and, without hesitation, crushed the Eternal Pose in Vivi's hand.
Nami had been thinking Vivi should accept the pose first—it couldn't hurt. But before she could speak, Luffy had already crushed it.
"You idiot!"
Nami punched Luffy to the deck, leaving everyone stunned.
"She was kindly telling us an easy route to our destination! What if she really was a good person?"
Nami pointed at the woman on the railing as she spoke to Luffy on the deck.
"The course of this ship isn't for you to decide!"
Luffy, lying on the deck, said to the woman on the railing with utmost determination.
Luffy's thinking was simple: this woman had killed the curly-haired uncle, so how could he, who hated her, possibly let her dictate their course?
"Yeah, you're really meddling in other people's business!"
Tom, having recovered again, spoke to the woman beside him. But as soon as he finished, he immediately had another reaction.
"Can you explain why he's like that again?"
"It's obvious. He really dislikes that woman's way of doing things, so he's like this."
Usopp and Zoro once again discussed the reasons behind Tom's behavior.
The woman maintained her calm and unruffled demeanor, continuing to ignore Tom. She looked at Luffy. "I see. How admirable."
"I don't dislike people with backbone. If you manage to survive... we'll meet again."
Getting down from the railing, she passed by Tom, who was still lying there. She deliberately or unintentionally gave Tom a deep look before saying to the others, "After all, I do find you all quite interesting."
"Who wants to see you again!"
Luffy had no desire whatsoever to see her face again.
Standing by the ship's edge, the woman tilted her head. Seeing Tom still hadn't recovered, she gave a farewell wave to the crew and jumped overboard.
"Let's go, Hime."
The woman jumped from the Going Merry onto a giant sea turtle. The turtle wore a large white hat with black stripes, held a big cigar in its mouth, and had a clean, neatly spread blanket on its shell with what looked like a hovercraft on top, complete with a chair under a sun umbrella.
The woman settled into the comfortable chair. Riding the sea turtle, she slowly departed.
"What's that?"
"Is it a Sea King?"
Zoro and Usopp rushed to the ship's side and saw a sea turtle swimming slowly forward.
"What a huge sea creature."
Luffy gazed out, looking amazed at the sea turtle the woman rode.
"What? So that's her ride."
Having recovered his breath, Tom came to the ship's side. Seeing the woman leaving on the sea turtle, he spoke... and then immediately had another reaction.
"How many times are you going to do this?!"
Nami watched Tom lying on the railing again, a dark cloud over her head. She genuinely couldn't understand why Tom loathed the woman so much that even seeing her ride triggered this.
Even if she was an enemy, this was going too far.
"She killed Igaram, but now she comes to help us... I really don't understand what she's thinking."
Vivi collapsed weakly onto the deck. Facing that woman, she had indeed felt immense pressure.
"So there's no need to think about it anymore."
As Zoro said this, he deliberately glanced at Luffy and Tom. Usopp was demanding Zoro explain what had happened and why a non-crew member had been on board.
"What are you saying? That curly-haired uncle is dead?"
Having just finished vomiting, Tom heard Vivi's words. He immediately recalled encountering the black-haired woman in Whisky Peak's town. His face darkened. So she had already made her move against Igaram back then.
Tom felt he'd been played by the woman, fooled so easily.
"What's her name?"
Tom realized something: he still didn't know the woman's actual name. "I mean her real name."
"I'm not sure. But from my preliminary investigations, I suspect she's the one known as the 'Devil Child,' Nico Robin."
Vivi said to Tom with a somewhat grave expression.
"This woman actually dared to make a fool of me! I'll make her pay sooner or later!"
Tom looked at the slowly moving, not-yet-distant sea turtle and the woman's back, declaring with great momentum, "I'll remember you! Nico Robin, right?"
Unfortunately, before Tom could finish his next sentence, he tragically had another reaction and once again collapsed against the railing.
Vivi, seeing Tom immediately react like that upon hearing the woman's name, was at a loss for words.
Meanwhile, Nico Robin, still not far away on her sea turtle, had been using her Devil Fruit ability to eavesdrop on Tom and Vivi's conversation. Learning that Tom had another reaction upon hearing her name, she turned her head to look at him, now standing by the ship's side. Her bright eyes held a rare flicker of annoyance.
At this moment, Robin did feel a trace of anger rise within her. In her twenty years at sea, she had cultivated a refined and composed temperament. Normally, she wouldn't be easily provoked by a man's words or actions.
But there was no helping it. In a short span, Tom had managed to offend her six times in a row!
First, her appearance. Then, something she had touched. Next, her conduct and behavior. After that, her ride. Then, her code name. And finally, even her name—all were disdained by Tom.
Robin was a woman of exceptionally high composure. Even when Tom found her unattractive and acted so rudely, she hadn't gotten angry. As for the subsequent offenses, an ordinary woman would have been furious, but Robin could have laughed them off. However, in the end, Tom's actions crossed a line she couldn't tolerate.
Yes, a woman with a good temper doesn't mean she has no temper. In fact, the better a woman's temper, the more terrifying she is when angered.
"I'm going to teach you a lesson."
Robin looked at Tom, who was still by the ship's side talking to Vivi, and acted without hesitation. "Six Flower-Blossom."
Tom was still thinking how bizarre today had been. Every time he mentioned Nico Robin, he coincidentally had a reaction. It was too much of a coincidence, giving him a strange, spine-chilling feeling.
Then, Tom discovered his face seemed to bloom like a flower, out of thin air growing six hands. Vivi beside him was instantly stunned.
"Slapping Net."
A trace of anger still colored Robin's tone.
Before Tom could figure out what was happening, the hands sprouting from his face delivered three slaps to each cheek. In the blink of an eye, he'd been slapped six times.
Yes, Tom had coincidentally been disrespectful regarding Robin six times in a row. Robin had repaid him with six hard slaps.
Just then, Luffy and the others, having been called by Nami to do chores, walked over and saw Tom miserably lying on the deck.
It must be said that within a mere twenty-four hours of entering the Grand Line, Tom had successfully angered both the President of Baroque Works, Crocodile, and its vice president, Nico Robin. His future journey to Alabasta was destined to be fraught with setbacks and turmoil.
Most importantly, the current Tom was still unaware that he had thoroughly offended beyond redemption a certain scheming woman...
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T/N :
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