Chapter 86 The Player's Heroic Rescue
"Where is he? Did he run away through that back path?"
"Impossible, there have been guards there for a long time."
"It's all your fault! One of you must have leaked the information, otherwise why would she have suddenly left this morning?!"
Hiding behind the bushes, Robin nervously covered her mouth, numbly listening to the people discussing how to capture her and take her to the Navy in exchange for the bounty.
A week ago, Robin, as usual, mingled in the cargo ship's hold, evading the sight of the navy and bounty hunters, and quietly arrived at this small island, making a living by petty theft and occasional odd jobs.
The wanted posters that have spread throughout the world and the Grand Line make it impossible for Robin to settle down in one place. Once her identity is exposed, the bounty of more than 70 million Berries is enough to make an ordinary person who was kind to her just a moment ago develop a terrible greed.
In order to survive, Robin learned early on not to trust anyone.
In order to survive, Robin would choose to betray before those people could sell her out for the bounty.
So when she noticed the villagers looking at her with shifty eyes and strange expressions, Robin calmly said goodbye to the old woman who had given her food, as usual, and went into the dilapidated, uninhabited room. She curled up on the makeshift bed made of discarded planks and cardboard boxes, pretending that she was still fast asleep.
No one knew that she had already left another exit at the back of the room. Without anyone noticing, Robin quietly crawled out through the narrow hole in the wall and secretly hid in the bushes behind the house to observe their choices.
Should we say that these people did not "disappoint" her once again?
Sometimes Robin would dream of returning to her hometown, a beautiful island with countless books and stories.
But each time, the green island in her dreams would eventually be shrouded in a blinding crimson, with raging fires burning on the island, and the scorching air seemed to open countless gaping maws, relentlessly tearing at her flesh.
Saul's dying laughter kept echoing in her ears.
Saul pushed her toward the other side of life, telling her that laughter can make people happy, so she should laugh out loud even more when she is in pain.
Robin, who had been awakened from his dreams countless times, hugged himself tightly, tears welling up in his eyes.
But Mr. Saul, she had completely forgotten how to laugh.
Robin gritted her teeth and held back her tears. The villagers had discovered her disappearance and were working together to search for her.
Robin watched as the villagers gradually approached her. They were so simple and honest that they couldn't find any decent weapons and could only use hoes to intimidate her. Yet, after discovering her identity, they still firmly chose to exchange her for the bounty.
Robin carefully and slowly backed away, but suddenly felt a huge upward pull on the back of his neck!
She opened her eyes wide in terror, trying to struggle, until a face about her age appeared in her field of vision.
The other person had exceptionally bright, jet-black eyes and the same black hair as her. After looking her up and down, he smiled and said, "Robin, right?"
"I've finally found you, I'm Violet."
"It was Olbia who sent me to find you."
Mother? !
Robin was surprised to hear his mother's name at this moment and looked at Vera with suspicion.
Violet raised a hand to her lips, shushed him, and gestured to Robin to search for the villagers below.
Robin nodded knowingly, gestured to Vera that he wouldn't make a sound, and then watched with great curiosity what Vera was going to do.
She magically produced a sapphire-encrusted staff and effortlessly created a thick wall of ice with a wave of her hand. Before Robin could even panic at the familiar power, Val jumped down from the tree with her in her arms, grabbed her hand, and ran towards the distant shore.
Robin looked back at where they had jumped down, only to find himself staring at the villagers behind the transparent ice wall, who were holding hoes. They were angrily pounding on the thick ice wall, but could only leave a few insignificant white marks.
Robin: "Pfft!"
Seeing the guys' furious expressions, Robin couldn't help but laugh.
She shouldn't have trusted someone she'd only met once to leave with her, but Robin was too drawn to Violet's resolute and unwavering aura.
Anyway, things can't get any worse than they are now, right?
It was as if a dandelion that had been floating in the air for years had finally found soil to take root. Robin couldn't control his instinct to grab Violet and escape the island with her, heading towards the wooden boat docked on the shore.
They also headed towards a place of miracles.
The wooden boat wasn't very spacious; besides the island owner, Violet, there were two other islanders of similar age.
Vera introduced, "This is Luo, and this is Sabo."
“They are all my islanders.”
Robin's forced training in reading between the lines allowed her to tell from Law and Sabo's expressions that they already knew her identity.
But they didn't say much. They simply followed Vera's instructions, raised the sails, and moved away from the island before the villagers following behind caught up.
The propeller mounted at the rear of the armored ship greatly increased the ship's speed, and coupled with their lucky tailwind, they quickly left the people and the island behind.
As the ship sailed across the boundless sea, before Robin could even feel any regret, he was called by Violet to the shadow of the stern sail.
Robin had a vague feeling that Violet was going to tell her about her mother.
Robin doesn't have many memories of her mother. When Robin was two years old, her mother, Olbia, left her in Ohara to pursue her dreams, while she went to sea with an expedition to search for historical texts.
Robin was only able to have a brief reunion with her mother when the artillery fire descended upon Ohara.
Robin looked at Violet, wondering when Violet, at her age, had first come into contact with her mother.
She thought that Violet was at most a descendant of a friend her mother met during her adventures, but she didn't expect that after Violet went into the shadows, she would call out Olbia without giving Robin any time to think or process it.
Violet said considerately, "You two can continue your conversation; I won't disturb you."
Robin, looking at her mother in her semi-transparent ghost form: ...
Things happened so fast and so illogically that Robin felt like his brain was short-circuiting.
Olvia stepped forward, her cold, transparent body giving Robin a flimsy hug.
“I never thought we’d have the chance to meet again,” Olbia said softly. “Thank you for your hard work these past few days.”
"I think you have a very exciting adventure story to share with me?"
Feeling her mother's embrace, tears streamed down Robin's cheeks. She raised her arms to hug Olvia, finally letting go of her forced maturity and crying out loud like a real child.
On the other side, the three, not wanting to disturb the mother and daughter's reunion, sat at the bow of the boat. Sabo, wearing a straw hat, leisurely fished with a fishing rod.
As soon as Violet sat down, she heard the sound of the little ghost Olbia completing her mission.
You have helped [Olbia] find the treasure.
[Olbia has sent you [Gratitude of the Dead]*1]
[The Gratitude of the Dead] is a pure white lily. When gently shaken, it emits tiny white fluorescent lights. If you get closer, you can hear a gentle voice, like a lullaby sung by a mother at her bedside.
[You have crafted the Flower of Abigail, consuming 1 Undead Gratitude and 1 Nightmare Fuel]
[Description: Whose soul resides within?]
[You have unlocked a new character: your twin sister]
【Twin Sister】
Health Points: 100 (A frail young girl embarks on a dangerous and unknown journey to find her blood-related sister; fragility is your defining characteristic.)
Satiety level: 150 (You have the small appetite common among the nobility, but your love for high-calorie desserts makes up for it)
Sanity: 200 (Do you have some unrealistic fantasy about the mental state of a little girl who can talk to ghosts?)
Character traits:
[Darkness Friendly]: In the dark, your sanity will decrease more slowly.
【Weak and powerless】: In your current character state, your attack power is 75% of the normal state.
Starting items: Empty hands
Survival chances: slim
[Handmade Tombstone Blueprint Unlocked], [Potent Soul Lure Blueprint Unlocked]
[Handmade Tombstones]
[Description: A tombstone engraved with childlike flowers, the name on it now blurred and illegible. If you fall asleep within ten meters of this tombstone, a random spirit will appear in your dream.]
[Crafting Materials: Stone Brick*1, Demon Flower*5, Snail Fragment*2]
[Potential Soul Seducer]
[Description: What is this? It smells so good, let it take a sniff. After spraying, you'll be the coolest kid in the little ghosts' eyes; they can't resist their instinctive urge to get close to you. But be careful, humans and ghosts are different; no matter how kind they are, they will still cause you to continuously lose sanity.]
[Crafting Materials: Butterfly*5, Fresh Flower*5, Demon Flower*5, Firefly*5]
[You have unlocked the twin sister's exclusive skill: "Sister, save me!"]
[Sister, save me!]
[Once the Abigail Flower is in full bloom, players can summon the ghost residing within it. When enraged, the ghost will fight alongside you, its attack power increasing by 100%, 150%, and 200% of the player's attack power during the day, evening, and night, respectively.]
Violet looked down at the Abigail Flower in her hand. The Abigail Flower, which had not yet been inhabited by any little ghosts, was still in bud. Its soft pink petals were tightly closed, and it looked no different from an ordinary flower.
So, the character [Twin Sister] is a summoning mage. To utilize her abilities, you'll have to wait until Abigail becomes available.
Moreover, this character is not afraid of the dark and has the characteristic that the closer to night, the stronger the fighting power of the little ghosts becomes, making it very suitable for use when exploring underground caves!
Luo looked at the beaming Vera: "Looks like you've had a great time?"
“Hmm~” Violet shared the uses of the Abigail Flower with the two of them, “I just wonder what the little ghosts living inside the Abigail Flower look like.”
Judging from the phrases "[twin sister]" and "[sister, save me]", the person living inside must be a beautiful, strong, and cute young lady.
While it's fun to be the island lord and shelter the islanders from the wind and rain, it's also nice to occasionally be a little accessory who shouts "Sister, save me!" and then obediently waits on the sidelines for the battle to end and loot the corpse.
With her hands clasped behind her head, Vera relaxed on the deck, looking forward to her future life of lounging around and slacking off.
"ah--"
The fishing float on the sea surface suddenly sank, and Sabo got up, grabbed the fishing rod, and pulled it back forcefully.
"It's on the hook!" Sabo, holding the struggling fish, turned to look at Violet. "The fish lately seem so silly, they're so easy to bite."
"Poor little thing, I'll eat you up tonight."
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Author's Note: I feel like my outline-writing speed can't keep up with Oda's plot development speed at all, forcing me to revise the outline so much. If this continues, I'll be running around without an outline! [crying emoji]
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