To the Grand Line!
I ended the play session with a groan.
“Ughhh! Ha~ I wonder how the Naruto storyline is going to unfold from here.”
I closed out the session, stretched, and casually uploaded the photo I’d taken with Tsunade to Instagram. The moment it went live, comments flooded in.
I deleted the last comment and opened the play app.
Tsunade — Relationship LV. 3
Itachi — Relationship LV. 2
I hadn’t spent much time with Hinata or Ino this visit, so their levels stayed the same. Only Tsunade and Itachi had progressed.
“The Naruto world is full of kids, so there’s not much I can do right now… Tsunade should be fair game once we reach Shippuden. Hinata and Ino need another year or two at least. Guess I’ll focus on seducing Anko and Kurenai in the meantime.”
“Up until now I’ve been following the canon story, but from here until Pain shows up I’m going all-in on winning those two over. Anko should be easy. Kurenai’s trickier because of Asuma, but…”
“I can’t stand NTR.”
With a wicked grin and a plan already forming, I selected One Piece for the next session.
Destination: One Piece World
With Reverse Mountain visible in the distance, we sailed toward it while the Going Merry trailed behind us.
“Jin! We’re about to ride the current over Reverse Mountain and enter the Grand Line!”
I nodded at Nami’s call, signaled Usopp to follow closely, then let the massive updraft carry us over the mountain and into the Grand Line proper.
Gwooooooo!
“Kyaaaa! The whale’s going to eat us!”
“It hasn’t noticed us yet. We can slip by!”
Alvida’s calm voice cut through Nami’s scream. Nami quickly regained her composure and steered us just clear of the massive creature.
But the Going Merry wasn’t so lucky.
It slammed straight into Laboon. The sheep figurehead on its bow shattered on impact.
“My special seat—! Gum-Gum Pistol!”
Bam!
Bwoooooooo!
Laboon roared in pain from Luffy’s punch, then opened its enormous mouth and swallowed our ship too.
“We’re being eaten!!!!”
“Kyaaaa! Jin! Kill that whale right now!”
Between Usopp’s terrified shriek and Nami’s desperate plea I considered intervening, but decided to follow the original story. I stayed quiet and let Laboon’s stomach claim us.
Inside was nothing like the belly of a whale. Clear blue sky stretched overhead. A calm sea sparkled beneath a single small island. We steered gently toward its shore.
A lone house stood on the island. An old man stepped out.
The same old man now glaring at Sanji. Usopp immediately threatened him.
“If you wanna fight, bring it! We’ve got a cannon over here!”
“Stop. You’ll die.”
“Hoo! Who’s gonna die?” Sanji asked, stepping closer.
“Me.”
“Are you kidding me?!”
The viewers and I watched the comedy unfold.
After enjoying their back-and-forth for a while, we headed for the exit Crocus had told us about.
Thud!
The ship rocked violently.
“It’s started.”
Crocus explained that Laboon was ramming its head into the Red Line, then dove into the gastric acid to administer a sedative. Usopp’s group rushed toward the exit.
A small door opened above the exit. Luffy and two others came flying down into the acid. Zoro fished Luffy out. I prioritized saving Vivi first.
No one helped Mr. 9, but he managed to climb aboard Luffy’s ship on his own.
“Hey! Luffy, you okay?” I shouted across the water.
“Yeah! Jin! I’m perfectly fine!”
I smirked and turned back to Vivi.
She and Mr. 9 exchanged glances, then pulled out small cannons to fire at Laboon’s insides. I snatched hers away before she could shoot. Luffy knocked Mr. 9 unconscious.
While Luffy’s crew and my companions listened to Crocus recount Laboon’s tragic past, I approached Vivi.
She slowly backed away. I gave her a gentle smile.
“Why is the princess of Alabasta out here whaling? Princess Vivi?”
She clapped a hand over her mouth in shock and glanced around frantically.
I jerked my chin toward the others standing farther away to reassure her.
“How do you know my identity…?”
“I just remembered an old newspaper article that had your picture in it.”
“That was from when I was a child… it doesn’t look like me now…”
“It was cute, so it stuck in my memory. Of course, you’re beautiful now too.”
“C-cute…? Beautiful…?”
Vivi’s face flushed bright red.
I chuckled at the chat and asked her another question.
“The people you were traveling with don’t seem to be from Alabasta. They don’t look like good guys, either. A princess traveling with suspicious characters… doesn’t seem like an ordinary situation.”
“I’d appreciate it if you pretended not to know. Please.”
“Alright. If Princess Vivi asks me to, I’ll pretend I don’t know a thing.”
I took her hand and pressed a light kiss to the back of it.
“Wh-what are you—!”
“Hm? Don’t nobles from Alabasta greet each other like this? Sorry, I thought that was the custom.”
In truth I simply wanted to kiss her slender, pretty hand. The noble greeting was just an excuse.
A short while later Vivi asked Luffy to take her to Whisky Peak. Luffy agreed without hesitation and chose the first island of the Grand Line as their destination.
“Jin… are we really going to keep traveling with Luffy’s crew?” Nami asked, walking over to me.
“Why? You don’t like it?”
“It’s not that… it just feels like we’re only following him around.”
“Hahaha. We’ll stick with them only until Alabasta. I have business there, so we’ll travel together that far. After that, let’s go on our own adventure.”
“Okay!”
Whether she secretly wanted her own adventure or not, Nami’s face lit up with a bright smile. We followed Luffy’s ship and arrived at Whisky Peak.
Mr. 9 and Vivi thanked the Straw Hats, then dove into the ocean and disappeared. Right before jumping, Vivi gave me one last meaningful look.
We sailed closer to the island. A huge welcoming crowd greeted us and announced they were throwing a party in our honor.
Luffy’s crew was thrilled. My companions remained suspicious.
I laughed, ruffled their hair, and reassured them.
“Don’t worry. We’re way stronger than these guys. As long as we don’t let our guard down, feel free to eat, drink, and enjoy yourselves.”
The lively party gradually wound down as people began passing out drunk one by one.
I pretended to be drunk and slumped over a table. When I glanced at my crew, they were all squinting warily just like me. I winked at them, activated my stealth skill, and vanished.
A short while later I was hidden on a rooftop, eavesdropping on the conversation between Vivi, Igaram, and the Baroque Works bounty hunters.
“That straw-hat kid has a thirty-million berry bounty. Kill everyone else!”
“W-wait, is that really necessary…?”
Vivi tried to stop Igaram’s violent suggestion, but one sharp look from him made her lower her head. She had no choice if she wanted to protect her identity.
They began to move.
Slash!
“Kyaaaaagh!”
Zoro’s battle against a hundred Baroque Works agents had begun. While I watched the fight, I kept track of Vivi’s exact location.
“He’s handling it fine on his own. Besides, Vivi’s dark history is about to start. I need to record this so I can tease her with it later.”
“Dance of the Bewitching Whirl!”
Spin spin!
Vivi performed her ridiculous dance, spun her peacock slashers, and charged forward on Karoo—only to completely miss Zoro and run off in the wrong direction.
“Hahahahaha! This is amazing. I’ve never seen a fight this funny before.”
The Baroque Works agents turned toward my laughter in surprise. Zoro gave me a quick nod.
“If you’re done spectating, how about coming down and helping me clean these guys up?”
“Nah! You handle them, Zoro. I’ve got something else to do!”
A short while later, after Zoro had finished every last enemy, he walked over, drank with me, and then Mr. 5 and his partner Miss Valentine appeared.
Igaram immediately asked them to defeat us. Mr. 5 laughed at him.
“Us cooperating with you? You think we came all this way for that? We’re here on orders to catch the spies trying to expose the boss’s identity.”
Igaram and Vivi broke into cold sweats.
Mr. 5 continued, “Their names are the ones who disappeared from Alabasta—”
“Die!! Igarappa!!”
BOOM!
“Igaram!!”
“Run away!!!”
Igaram shouted for Vivi to escape, but Miss Valentine opened her umbrella, floated lightly into the air, and kicked Vivi in the head.
“It’s useless!”
Bam!
The hair tie holding Vivi’s hair in place snapped. Her blue locks spilled down her back. Both the viewers and I cheered.
“Ah!”
Whoosh!
Vivi fled from them. Zoro and I gave chase.
Cornered at a dead end, Vivi spun her peacock slashers at the approaching Mr. 5 pair. I grabbed Zoro and hurled him at Mr. 5.
“Zoro, you take that guy! I’ll handle the woman!”
“You baaaaastard!!”
Zoro shot me a death glare mid-flight, then swung his swords at Mr. 5.
I walked up to Miss Valentine.
“I don’t like fighting beautiful women, so let’s just stay quiet, okay?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
She ignored me, opened her umbrella, and flew upward.
I told Vivi to hide behind me, then looked up at the floating Miss Valentine with a grin.
“If you fly around in such a short skirt, everyone can see your panties.”
“Eek!! Die!! Ten-thousand-kilogram Press!!”
THUD!!!
When the dust settled and the viewers saw me princess-carrying Miss Valentine, the chat exploded.
I knocked out the struggling Miss Valentine, tied her up, then shrugged at Zoro who had just finished destroying Mr. 5. I jerked my chin toward the other side of the street.
Luffy, who had eaten way too much, was waddling toward us.
“It’s already over, Luffy. We took care of everything here.”
“Zoro!!!! Fight me!! I can’t forgive you for cutting the people who fed us and threw us a party!”
“These guys are bounty hunters—”
“Shut up!! Why would enemies give us food?!”
Gum-Gum Pistol!
KABOOM!
Zoro dodged. The punch hit Mr. 5 instead, sending him flying into a wall where he exploded.
“Listen to me, Luffy!”
When Luffy still tried to attack him, Zoro readjusted his grip on his swords—
Smack! Smack!
Nami suddenly appeared and smacked both of them on the head.
“What the hell are you two doing?! If Jin hadn’t protected that girl we would’ve lost a billion berries!”
“Why did you people save me?”
“Princess, how about forming a contract with me?”
“A contract?”
“Nami, Princess Vivi… let’s take these guys somewhere quiet and talk.”
At my suggestion Nami dragged Zoro and Luffy back to the party area. Vivi followed. I slung Miss Valentine over my shoulder, left Mr. 5 where he was, and followed.
By the time I arrived, Luffy had cleared up the misunderstanding and was laughing again. Zoro could only shake his head at him.
Nami and Vivi were deep in conversation about the contract.
“I’m grateful you saved me, but that’s impossible.”
“Huh? For a kingdom’s princess, a billion berries should be—”
“That’s not feasible, Nami.”
“Jin! Who is that woman?”
“She’s still technically a prisoner for now…”
Noticing the look in my eyes, Nami sighed and asked me again.
“But what did you mean it would be hard to get even ten berries?”
“Alabasta is currently in a civil war. The citizens are rioting.”
“And the group secretly manipulating everything from behind to take over the country is Baroque Works. I infiltrated them to learn the mastermind’s identity and gather information, but…”
“Who is the mastermind??”
Cheerful, thoughtless Luffy asked the question outright. Vivi insisted she could never reveal the mastermind’s name.
Nami nodded in understanding.
“Well, someone trying to steal an entire country can’t be an ordinary person.”
“Exactly. No matter how strong you are, you won’t be able to defeat Crocodile—one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.”
“……?”
“I told you so.”
At Zoro’s casual remark both Nami and Vivi covered their mouths in shock. A sea otter and a vulture were watching them intently.
Shiiiing! Whoosh!
BOOM!
I hurled a Fire Rasengan at the two spies and erased them from existence.
“Whoaaaa!!!! Jin!!! What was that?! So cool!!”
“It’s one of my techniques, Luffy. Anyway, those two were Crocodile’s subordinates, right?”
“Y-yes. If we hadn’t taken care of them they would have reported everything to Crocodile.”
“Whew~ Nice work, Jin!”
“Princess Vivi… would you like my help?”
“What?! Did you not hear?! It’s Crocodile! A Warlord!”
“Nami, not every Warlord is overwhelmingly strong.”
“B-but still…”
“Nami… it’s the captain’s decision, right? Just accept it.”
Alvida gently comforted the worried Nami. Nami finally dropped her head in resignation.
I made a mental note to reward the admirable Alvida later and turned back to Vivi.
“If you ask for help, I can give it. I’ll ask one more time. Would you like me to help you take back your country?”
“P-please help me…”
“Then it’s decided!”
“We’re gonna fight a Warlord?! I’m pumped!”
“Sigh~ It’ll work out somehow. So how do we get close to Crocodile?”
“Leave that to me!”
Igaram put on clothes identical to Vivi’s and applied makeup. He would act as a decoy to lure the pursuers away while Vivi traveled with us.
BOOM!!
The ship Igaram had boarded exploded and sank. Using Observation Haki I confirmed he had escaped safely. While comforting the tearful Vivi who believed he had died, I told her, “He’s alive. Don’t worry.”
“H-he’s alive?”
“Yeah. I saw him escape safely… so stop worrying. We should set sail before the pursuers arrive.”
I had Vivi board my ship and we departed immediately.
A short while later a commotion broke out on Luffy’s ship.
“Princess Vivi isn’t here, so she must be on that other ship, right?”
Robin had appeared on Luffy’s deck. She used her powers to brush aside the weapons pointed at her, snatched Luffy’s hat, and spun it on her finger.
“Don’t touch my hat!!” Luffy yelled.
The instant Luffy moved to attack her I jumped across the gap and stepped between them.
“Jin!! Don’t stop me!”
“Luffy, calm down. And I’d appreciate it if you returned that hat to her.”
“Jumping that distance is impressive. Fine. Here’s your hat.”
When Robin handed the hat back, Vivi shouted from my ship, “How are you here?! Miss All Sunday!”
Robin glanced at all of us and said, “I was simply curious what kind of novices had become enemies of Baroque Works. Also, the place your record pointer is pointing to is Little Garden. You’ll probably die there even if we leave you alone.”
She tossed me an eternal pose.
“This should help you avoid some danger. The island it points to is a small one right next to Alabasta. Even our agents don’t know about it, so you can reach it safely.”
I smiled and immediately threw the eternal pose into the sea.
“Sorry, but I don’t need it, Robin.”
!!!!
“H-how…?”
Robin’s relaxed expression instantly turned to shock. I smiled back at her.
“Let’s have the two of you talk for a moment.” I led her into the captain’s quarters on my ship and said, “The sole survivor of Ohara, Nico Robin… how about we make a deal?”
“You even know my real identity? Not bad. But a deal?”
“I’ll give you true freedom. In exchange, become my companion.”
“Hahaha! You’ll give me freedom? Me—the woman the World Government is hunting?”
She laughed mockingly. I looked at her with serious eyes.
“I can do it. With my ability I can erase every record of you and every memory people have of you. You’ll be able to live as an entirely new person.”
“Ability? Are you a Devil Fruit user?”
“I am a Devil Fruit user, but this power doesn’t come from any fruit.”
Robin pondered for a moment, then set a condition.
“If what you say is true, I’ll become your companion. But not right now. There’s something I need to find out first.”
“The Poneglyph hidden in Alabasta, right?”
!!!
“Haa~ Is there seriously nothing you don’t know about me?”
“I tend to know a lot about beautiful women. Especially you, Robin. I know your information very well.”
“You really are an interesting captain. Yes, I partnered with Crocodile because I wanted to see the Poneglyph. So for now I can’t join you.”
“You’re thinking about this the wrong way, Robin. Is learning the true history by reading a Poneglyph important enough to destroy a perfectly good country and put countless lives at risk?
The people of Ohara ignored the World Government’s prohibition and tried to learn it, so they were killed… but that wasn’t solely their fault. The World Government is hiding something.
Yet because of your curiosity you’re dragging innocent people into danger. What crime did those citizens commit? If you want freedom and to become my companion, then fix the mess you created with your own hands!
Apologize to Vivi. Then I’ll erase your records and accept you as a companion. I’ll even help you find the Poneglyph. How about it?”
Robin had nothing left to say. She lowered her head.
After a long silence she finally spoke.
“You’re right… I was wrong. Finding out what that history was—the history that got the people of my homeland killed—was more important to me than anyone else’s lives… Can I really fix things at this point?”
“You can. Because Luffy and I are going to defeat Crocodile. So apologize to Vivi and help us too.”
“All right… I’ll trust you, Captain.”
I shook her hand and smiled, then took the Information Erasure Ticket out of my inventory.
> Information Erasure Ticket activated on all records related to Nico Robin
> Memory deletion confirmed. Bounty records, historical documents, and all witness memories will be erased.
> Only [Character: Robin] and Lee Woojin will retain any knowledge.
I used the ticket and erased every record connected to Robin. From now on, the only two people in this world who knew her past were her and me. I led her back out onto the deck.
“Huh? Jin… you brought another new woman?”
“New woman??”
“Ah! Vivi doesn’t know yet? Our captain is a huge womanizer! You should be careful too, Vivi!”
“Hehe! Nice to meet you. I’m Vivi, princess of Alabasta.”
Robin glanced at me when Vivi introduced herself as if it were their first meeting. I simply shrugged.
“See? Just like I told you. There’s nothing left of your past records or anyone’s memories of you. You’ve been reborn, Robin.”
Robin’s eyes filled with tears.
“Thank you, Captain… I never dared to hope I would ever be free again…”
“Oh dear! What’s wrong? Cheer up…”
When Vivi comforted the crying woman, Robin bowed her head.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
“Huh? What are you apologizing for?”
“I was the one who helped Crocodile attack your country… because of me…”
“Vivi… Robin has reflected on her actions and decided to help us stop Crocodile.”
“Really? I don’t know who you are, but if you’ve reflected and want to help, I forgive you. So stop crying and stand up straight!”
Whether it was because she didn’t realize Robin had been a high-ranking Baroque Works agent or simply because she was kind-hearted, Vivi easily forgave her and pulled her into a hug.
While the two women comforted each other, I went down to the brig to see Miss Valentine.
“L-let me go! If our organization finds out I’m captured, you think they’ll just sit quietly?!”
“You’ve already been marked as having failed your mission. Your boss has sent agents to eliminate you. Probably Mr. 2 or Mr. 1.”
“D-don’t lie! That can’t be true!”
“Believe what you want. Quit that job and become my companion instead.”
“Hmph! What nonsense! Me, become your companion?!”
“If you refuse, I’ll have no choice but to kill you.”
“What…?”
“You choose. Become my companion or die.”
I released a wave of killing intent.
She trembled violently, terrified.
I withdrew the pressure and spoke again.
“If you become my companion I’ll treat you fairly. You know how to cook, right?”
“Y-yes! My original dream was to become a patissier, so I can cook fairly well and I enjoy it!”
Still standing rigidly at attention from fear, Mikita—formerly Miss Valentine—answered in a loud, nervous voice.
“Good. Then you’re our ship’s cook! I’ll introduce you to a cooking master named Sanji later. Learn everything you can from him.”
“Yes! I’ll work hard!”
“Hahaha! You don’t have to be so tense. Just speak comfortably.”
“Okay… I’ll work hard.”
“Oh, and Sanji is a huge womanizer. Since you’re my woman now, make sure you keep him at arm’s length.”
“Yes!… Yes?”
“Got it?”
“Yes!”
With both Robin and Mikita now officially part of the crew, we set sail for Little Garden.
[Nico Robin]
[Mikita: Miss Valentine]
