Ryan walked ahead with leisurely steps, while Robin followed half a step behind, her wide-brimmed hat pulled low. The sound of her cowboy boots on the cobblestones echoed intermittently as they turned a corner and ran headlong into a squad of Marines. Leading them was a blue-haired young woman in a floral shirt, the scabbard at her waist still swaying—Tashigi.
"Ryan!" Tashigi recognized him instantly—the man she had repeatedly invited to join the Marines.
A bespectacled Marine officer frantically flipped through a stack of bounty posters, his voice trembling. "Lieutenant Tashigi, it's Ryan the Wanderer, with a bounty of 60 million Belly, and the Devil Child, Nico Robin, with a bounty of 79 million Belly!"
The Marines immediately raised their rifles, the metallic clicks of their bolts echoing through the alley.
"So it's you. Long time no see," Ryan said, sizing up Tashigi with a smile.
The soldiers tensed, their gun barrels trained on the two. Tashigi drew her sword in one swift motion, the blade glinting coldly in the sunlight. "Ryan, I thought you were on the side of justice. I never imagined you'd be this kind of villain. How foolish of me."
Her voice carried a youthful stubbornness, and her grip on the sword trembled slightly with anger.
Ryan raised an eyebrow and glanced back at Robin, his tone indifferent. "Your turn."
Robin said nothing, but her fingers twitched slightly at her sides. The power of the Flower-Flower Fruit activated instantly, and multiple arms sprouted from the bodies of the rifle-wielding Marines—some covering their mouths and noses, others twisting their joints.
Screams erupted one after another, but not a single trigger was pulled. In moments, they all collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
"Damn it!" Tashigi slashed at the phantom limbs, but her blade only grazed skin each time. Just as she tried to charge forward, a hand suddenly appeared on her lower back, wrenching her arm behind her.
A muffled groan escaped Tashigi as excruciating pain forced her to her knees, her forehead hitting the cobblestones. More arms sprouted from her body, coiling around her limbs like vines, twisting her joints into unnatural angles.
"Ah—!" Her scream was ragged, but it carried an unyielding defiance.
Ryan crouched in front of her, tilting her chin up with a finger. Tashigi's face was contorted in pain, tears and sweat streaming down, yet she glared at him with nothing but fury and confusion. "Why did you choose a life of crime?"
"Crime?" Ryan chuckled darkly, pressing his finger harder to force her head up. "In your eyes, justice is just about reading bounty posters?"
The reason he was wanted was simply because of Captain Nezumi—but that rat deserved to die.
The pressure from his finger was unrelenting, and Tashigi winced in pain, yet she stubbornly held his gaze.
Ryan released her, studying her defiant expression. "I told you before—don't be too idealistic. This world has always belonged to the strong. The weak don't even get a choice."
Tashigi gritted her teeth, trembling from the pain, but she still managed to snarl, "Justice will never lose!"
"Justice?" Ryan stood, dusting off his pants. "Shouting slogans won't uphold justice. Come back when you can actually wield that sword of yours."
He admired Tashigi's stubbornness and sense of justice, but that didn't mean he would indulge her. His two years on the Floating Island had taught him one thing—this world operated on strength alone.
Robin had already retracted her abilities and stood silently to the side, her gaze beneath the wide-brimmed hat scrutinizing Tashigi.
Tashigi lay sprawled on the ground, her arms still twisted at unnatural angles, her body shaking from pain. Yet, with all her strength, she roared hoarsely, "Ryan, I'll never let you go! One day, I'll arrest you myself!"
Her voice was ragged, but it carried an unbreakable resolve.
"I'll be waiting." Ryan didn't stop walking, merely waving a dismissive hand behind him, his tone laced with cold indifference and an unmistakable warning. "But next time you stand in my way, I won't let you off so easily."
"Just letting the Marines go like that?" Nico Robin glanced back at Tashigi, still struggling on the ground, then at Ryan's retreating figure.
Ryan turned his head slightly, a faint smirk playing on his lips. "No need to test me. I let them go because I wanted to. Just a bunch of kids who haven't been weaned yet—they're no threat."
Tashigi? Just another naive fool shackled by the word "justice," thinking that waving the Marines' banner and shouting about righteousness could cleanse the world of darkness.
How naive.
This world wasn't black and white. Truth had always belonged to the victors. The Celestial Dragons sat atop the clouds of Mary Geoise, deciding the fate of millions with a flick of their fingers. Their words were law. Their actions were "justice."
Even if they burned, slaughtered, and trampled lives underfoot, the people below could only kneel and cheer.
The Marines? Just the Celestial Dragons' lapdogs, wagging their tails to maintain their rule. No matter how fast Tashigi's blade was, could it cut through the chains the Celestial Dragons had fastened around the world's neck?
Only after Tashigi had battered herself bloody against the walls of reality would she understand—so-called justice was just a lie the strong fed the weak. And the rules she fought so desperately to uphold? They existed solely to keep the Celestial Dragons on top forever.
Robin didn't respond, silently following his footsteps. The rhythmic tapping of her cowboy boots on the cobblestones gradually slowed as they reached the western part of the kingdom.
"This is…" Robin lifted her head, a flicker of surprise in her eyes beneath her hat. "The royal mausoleum. This is where the kings of past generations rest."
She turned to Ryan, her gaze probing. "The Poneglyph… is hidden here?"
Ryan nodded, his eyes sweeping over the stone statues lining the courtyard before settling on a half-human-sized stone carving of a sea cat in the corner. He walked over, pressing a finger against the dorsal fin of the statue. With a slight push, the statue emitted a soft click and began to rotate.
As it turned, the grassy center of the courtyard split open with a rumble, dust cascading down to reveal a stone staircase descending into the earth. A musty odor of dampness and rotting wood wafted up.
"Follow me." Ryan took the lead, the scabbard of his Wind Ripper Blade clinking against the stone steps, the sound echoing hollowly in the passage.
Robin followed closely, her hat nearly brushing against the ceiling. The closer she got to the Poneglyph, the faster her heart raced, her breath growing slightly uneven.
Those ancient words carved in stone—they were the light she had spent half her life chasing.
At the end of the passage stood a heavy stone door. Ryan pushed it open, revealing a spacious chamber illuminated by a cold, eerie glow that made every detail starkly visible.
In the center stood a massive stone slab, three times the height of a man, its surface covered in twisted, spiral-shaped script. The characters shimmered with a bluish-gray sheen under the glow of the luminous pearls—ancient and mysterious. This was the Poneglyph Nico Robin had spent half her life searching for.
"Found it…" Robin's voice trembled imperceptibly as she stepped forward, her fingers tracing the cold engravings. Her hat slipped to her shoulders, revealing the flickering light in her eyes—a long-suppressed euphoria.
Ryan leaned against the doorframe, watching Robin's usually calm and distant expression replaced by fervent focus. He said nothing, letting her commune with the ancient script in silence—this was part of their deal, after all.
Nico Robin stood before the Poneglyph, her fingertips gliding along the spiral-shaped characters, her gaze unwavering. The cold light cast on her face revealed the complex emotions in her eyes—elation at finally achieving her goal, but also a trace of melancholy.
These words held clues to the ancient weapon Pluton, each one weighty, yet they were not the history she sought.
"...Is there nothing else?" After a long silence, Robin pressed her palm against the cold stone.
"No." Ryan pushed off the doorframe, walking up behind her, his voice firm. "This is the only Poneglyph in Alabasta."
Robin's fingers stilled, but she didn't turn around, staring blankly at the script.
Of course… her journey was far from over. This discovery alone was not enough.
Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her firmly against Ryan's chest. His warmth contrasted sharply with the cold stone in front of her.
"I kept my promise—I brought you here." Ryan's breath brushed against her ear, his voice low and suggestive. "Now, it's your turn to keep yours."
Robin's body tensed instantly, her fingers clutching the hem of her clothes. A wave of humiliation surged through her, stronger than when she had been touched in the alley earlier.
This was the Poneglyph's resting place—a sacred site to her. And yet, he would…
But Robin didn't resist. Since the flames of Ohara had consumed her home at the age of eight, she had learned to weigh her options. To see these words one more time, to continue her pursuit of the truth—she could endure far worse than this.
Her shoulders trembled slightly, but she forced herself to relax, her voice steady despite the faint stiffness in it. "...I know."
Her hat had long since fallen to the ground, strands of black hair framing her face, hiding the turmoil in her eyes. She closed them, pushing down the resentment and humiliation, leaving only one thought.
Survive first. The rest… could come later.
Ryan seemed to sense her tension, tightening his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder. "Relax."
Robin didn't answer, turning her face toward the Poneglyph as if the ancient script could shield her from the unwelcome touch behind her. The chamber was silent save for their breathing, mingling with the mute words on the stone—a quiet compromise.
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