The sun was bright, the sea breeze was gentle, and the salty, damp smell spread through Robin's nostrils, yet her eyes were full of confusion.
She didn't know why this black fish hadn't eaten her, and had instead pushed her out of the sea.
At this moment, Robin was sitting on Xia Qiu's head, coughing continuously.
What in the world is going on?
Why isn't he killing me? Is he planning to save me?
More importantly, this sea fish hadn't taken her to Lodestar Island, but was instead heading away from the island.
What does he want to do?
Robin was utterly perplexed. She adjusted her posture, sat cross-legged behind Xia Qiu's ramming horn, and placed her hands on it.
"Awake?"
Xia Qiu sensed the movement on his head and grinned.
He hadn't expected to encounter Robin.
Xia Qiu really liked Robin as a character; she was his favorite female character. However, since he had become a fish, his feelings for Robin had faded considerably. He really wanted to eat her.
Robin's strength was decent. As Miss All Sunday, while she had the Poneglyph's advantage, her combat power was at least at the Senior Agent level.
But the only problem was that most of her abilities relied on her Devil Fruit powers. Her physical fitness was good, but not exceptionally so.
Without the Devil Fruit, her physical condition was likely no stronger than that of a Billionaire-level powerhouse, with limited Reinforcement Energy.
Eating her wouldn't be very useful, but keeping her around might be nice.
He had kept Moo Moo before. Having company was better than being alone. He would be staying in Alabasta for a long time, so it would be good to have someone to accompany him.
More importantly, perhaps she could communicate with him.
Since he couldn't speak for the time being, finding someone to communicate with was the best option, and she was the most likely person among everyone to communicate with him.
She was not only an archaeologist but also a linguist, possessing extraordinary linguistic talent. At the age of eight, she had already mastered multiple languages.
She had strong social, analytical, and work capabilities. As long as he responded and caught her attention, he could completely establish a communication system with her.
Communicating with others was what Xia Qiu looked forward to the most.
Therefore, Xia Qiu had no intention of letting her go and had spared her.
But if he were to keep her, he couldn't leave her in Alabasta; he needed to find a deserted island.
Fortunately, Xia Qiu had captured the magnetic fields of many islands on his way here. There were bound to be many islands along this route.
Xia Qiu swam forward with Robin on his head. If the weather ahead looked bad, Xia Qiu would take evasive action early.
"This black fish is indeed very smart."
Robin, sitting on Xia Qiu's head, narrowed her eyes slightly.
He avoided dangerous waters, not even getting close, and turned away early at the edges.
Many sea areas weren't a problem for him. The reason he was avoiding them, was it to take care of her?
This behavior was completely unlike a beast's. It possessed a certain intelligence and had a powerful strength far exceeding that of a Sea Beast.
This black fish was very strange.
Robin thought, and her mind relaxed somewhat.
On the ocean, she was no match for him. If he wanted to kill or torture her, she had no ability to resist.
She would see what he intended to do.
Robin sat on Xia Qiu's head and yawned lazily.
"This island is too close."
Xia Qiu sensed the surrounding magnetic field, shook his head, and continued forward.
"This island is a bit too close to the main shipping route, making it easy for people to approach," Xia Qiu rejected another island.
"Too big."
Xia Qiu shook his head, approached the island, and then slowly moved away.
Just like that, two hours passed.
"Over there?"
An island appeared and disappeared in the distance. Xia Qiu charged towards one of the islands.
This island was on the way from Alabasta, and there were several islands and some dangerous waters between it and Alabasta.
It couldn't be too close to Alabasta, in case she escaped on a raft.
It couldn't be near the main shipping route; it had to be some distance away, as secluded as possible.
Moreover, this island wasn't intended to be large, similar to Nar Island.
This was it.
Xia Qiu thought, and led Robin towards the island.
"We're closer to the island again? Will he leave this time?"
Robin straightened up and looked at the island in the distance.
Just now, they had encountered an island, but after this black fish approached, it turned away again, leaving the island.
"Getting closer and closer, what exactly does he want to do?"
Seeing the shore drawing nearer, Robin couldn't help but frown.
Xia Qiu, carrying Robin, arrived at the side of the island, searching for a spot with deeper water.
The water depth was limited at the front, while the back was an ocean cliff.
This place would do.
Xia Qiu arrived at a spot on the back of the island. The coast here was about a meter above the sea. Xia Qiu stopped by the shore.
"Do you want me to go up?"
Robin shook her head, stood up, and jumped onto the shore in one step.
Why does he want me on land? To save me?
But why didn't he take me to Lodestar Island? It's clearly closer.
And there were other islands on the way, but he didn't go to any of them, yet he made me get off on this one.
What's so special about this island?
Robin, puzzled, went onto the island and stood by the shore, surveying the distance.
The island was densely wooded. To the left, in the distance, were towering hills covered in vegetation and overgrown with weeds.
The weeds were tall, reaching past her knees, clearly indicating it was an uninhabited place.
"Nothing unique here."
Robin turned around and looked behind her. She saw the black fish was still there, with more than half of its head out of the water. It had bared its mouth, its chilling teeth making her shiver.
"Its teeth are a bit strange. Those two fangs look like a viper's poison fangs," Robin stared at Xia Qiu's two fangs, her expression filled with curiosity.
What kind of fish is this?
And why did it bring me to this deserted island?
Robin looked at the black fish, pointed at the island, and asked suspiciously, "Do you need me to find something for you on this island?"
"No, no, no," Xia Qiu shook its head vigorously.
"No?"
Robin nodded, then realized, and glared at Xia Qiu, asking, "You can understand me?"
"Mhm, mhm."
Xia Qiu's head, poking out of the water, bobbed up and down emphatically.
"This is impossible."
Seeing its actions, Robin looked surprised. To confirm, she said, "If you can understand me, shake your head."
Xia Qiu immediately shook its head left and right.
"It really can understand."
An expression of disbelief spread across Robin's face. Not only could it understand, but it could also respond.
This meant it fully comprehended her words.
Robin stared blankly at the black fish and said, "If you can understand, swim a circle in the water."
Xia Qiu heard this and immediately turned, swam a circle in the water, then returned to Robin's side, lifting its head.
"This..." Robin plopped down on the shore, finding it utterly unbelievable.
A black fish that could understand human language.
Robin, having lived twenty-four years, had never encountered such a creature before.
This was no simple matter.
It could understand language, understand the meaning of multiple sentences, and even when a few words were changed.
This proved it wasn't just reacting to specific sounds but had mastered language.
This had three implications: First, it possessed immense memory capacity; language mastery requires remembering sentence structure.
Second, comprehension ability; language requires a basic level of understanding.
Third, intelligence; the ability to master language indicated a high level of intelligence.
Fourth, it must have had contact with humans.
Knowing she wasn't in immediate danger, Robin became curious about this fish.
"If you can understand me, can we talk?" Robin asked from the water's edge.
"Mhm, mhm."
Xia Qiu nodded emphatically, its heart filled with excitement.
Finally, I can communicate with someone! It's been six years since I came to this world, and this is the first time.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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