It was quite a coincidence. The group of bounty hunters that Himan and his crew had encountered earlier at sea was actually Baroque Works, the organization Robin currently belonged to.
Furthermore, Robin had learned through certain sources that this neglected island once harbored an unknown civilization, which is why she specifically took a ship to investigate.
Thus, Himan, who had just finished plundering, coincidentally ran into Robin.
Although they escaped at the time, who would have thought they would end up fleeing to the very destination Robin wanted to explore.
Even without Bitz's intervention, they likely wouldn't have escaped their doomed fate.
Dealing with a wanted criminal with a bounty of only 14,000,000 at most, Robin didn't bother informing her subordinates who were waiting for her on the coast.
Using the skills she honed over years of fleeing and navigating the underworld, she carefully infiltrated the ruins without making a single sound.
But just as she thought this was all thanks to her superb stealth skills, the scene inside the ruins caused her eyes to widen in shock.
'This is... the Himan Pirates? What happened to them? They've been completely wiped out?'
Looking at the corpses littering the ground, Robin's intuition told her she needed to leave quickly, and she fully intended to do so.
She carefully shifted her feet, slowly retreating without making a sound.
Thump~
Suddenly, Robin felt her back bump into something. The sensation was warm, unlike the broken stones in the ruins, more like a human body.
'Oh no!'
She hurriedly took a few steps forward to create distance, turning around while crossing her hands, already prepared to use her Devil Fruit ability.
But in the next second, a large hand quickly and powerfully grabbed her by the neck, lifting her into the air with one arm.
"So there's a fish that slipped through the net, and such a beautiful woman at that. This is a real windfall."
Bitz's delighted voice reached her. Robin, with difficulty, opened her eyes and saw the appearance of the person who had caught her.
He was a young man with black hair, black eyes, handsome with a hint of roguishness.
His physique was robust, and the arm locked around her throat was well-defined and muscular.
No matter how Robin struggled or beat against it, it didn't budge an inch.
While Robin was sizing up Bitz, he was also examining her.
Long black hair, blue eyes, her skin, perhaps due to her living environment, was a healthy wheat color.
Although her face was somewhat contorted from the inability to breathe, it couldn't hide her beauty.
A purple crop top not only exposed her flat and smooth abdomen but also accentuated her ample bosom, making it even more alluring.
Below the purple hot pants that reached only to the top of her thighs was a pair of long, slender, shapely, and powerful legs.
During her struggle, these long legs, clad in long leather riding boots, kicked towards Bitz multiple times, but he casually swatted them away one by one.
This hair color, eye color, and this style of dress felt strangely familiar to Bitz.
But seeing the woman who was almost out of strength from struggling, being choked to the point of suffocation, he loosened his grip first, lest such a beautiful woman meet an untimely end.
With a thud, Robin fell unceremoniously to the ground, clutching her neck, coughing and gasping for air.
Bitz crouched down in front of her, grabbed her hair, and tilted her head back, carefully studying her face.
'Huff~ Huff~ Who is this man? Such immense strength, I almost died just now.'
Recalling the feeling of suffocation, Robin still felt a lingering fear.
From just that brief encounter, Robin realized the vast gap in strength between them.
Since she was no match in combat, she could only hope to stabilize the situation with words.
"Cough~ Cough~ Handsome sir, you seem to be mistaken. I am merely a traveler who passed by unintentionally, not an accomplice of that pirate group."
Robin thought the other party had mistaken her identity and wanted to clarify the misunderstanding.
But Bitz's next words caused her expression to change dramatically, revealing a look of horror.
"You are... Nico Robin, correct?"
After looking for so long, Bitz finally remembered, 'Wasn't this outfit Robin's classic attire from her initial appearance in the original story?'
'I never expected to encounter one of the two flowers of the Straw Hat crew in this godforsaken place.'
"You... you know me? Are you with the Government?"
The moment her identity was exposed, Robin immediately thought of the Government's CP agents who had been pursuing her for years.
Her gaze towards Bitz held a trace more fear and despair.
"No."
Bitz flatly denied her guess. Before Robin could ask further, he directly slung her over his shoulder and walked deeper into the ruins.
"Let's not talk about that for now, Nico Robin. I need a favor from you."
"Wh-what kind of favor?"
The sudden turn of events left Robin momentarily unable to adapt.
But Bitz didn't care about her thoughts. He carried her straight into one of the tents left by the pirates and unceremoniously dumped Robin onto a blanket.
Stroking the soft, comfortable blanket beneath her, and watching the young man turn around to close the tent flap, a terrible guess suddenly sprang into Robin's mind.
With a stunned expression and hesitant tone, she asked:
"What do you want me to help you with? At most, I have some expertise in archaeology. A tent doesn't seem like a suitable place for research, does it?"
Bitz shook his head with a smile, untied the tail wrapped around his waist, and waved it in front of Robin.
"As you can see, I am from a minority race called the Saiyans."
"So rare that now I am the only one left of this race."
"Therefore, I want to trouble you to help me continue the Saiyan bloodline, so it doesn't disappear completely."
"I imagine someone as an excellent archaeologist as you wouldn't want to see a race become extinct in the pages of history, would you?"
Robin: "..."
After a long silence, Robin slowly let out a breath and spoke with complex emotions:
"I can't believe you have the nerve to say something so shameless..."
"What if I said I refuse? Would you agree?"
"No." Bitz gave a firm and resolute answer.
Robin sighed again, didn't struggle, and lay flat as if resigning to her fate.
"Please make it quick. I have work to do."
"...Sorry, but I must refuse."
Refuting her speechlessly, Bitz couldn't help but admire her composure.
'She really was a woman who had survived years in the underworld while being pursued; her ability to adapt was strong.'
'But this was fine too, it saved me the trouble of wasting my breath trying to persuade her.'
Immediately, Bitz leaned down, lay beside Robin, and tightly wrapped his arms around her slender waist.
And so, a grand ceremony concerning the continuation of a race began.