One Piece: Nico Robin Collection

Chapter 75 Barrier Fruit
"Mr. Caesar is back!"

Soon, as the ship docked at the port, the news of Caesar's return quickly spread throughout Rogue Town.

"Long time no see, Mr. Caesar. I'm so glad you're back safely!"

"Mr. Caesar, long time no see!"

"Ah~ Mr. Caesar is still so handsome!"

As soon as they set foot on the port, people from all walks of life and in all kinds of clothes kept greeting Caesar on the road.

Passersby, young girls, shop owners, young children, gentleman businessmen, and even gangsters.

Some greeted warmly, some saluted, and some took off their hats to greet.

Even with a tall and tough-looking guy like Big Bear following around, it couldn't stop people's enthusiasm.

"The man with the coat hanger hairstyle is called Han Ge, the owner of a fashion store in the shopping street. The guy with the mustache rubbing his hands next to him is called Yin Jie, the owner of a grocery store. He loves to rip off outsiders. The guy with the truffle nose over there is called Ipponmatsu, his ancestors came from Wano Country. I bought my Third Generation Kitetsu from him."

Along the way, Caesar introduced some of the people he was familiar with to everyone one by one.

"The uncle at the corner is called Layton, the landlord of the shopping street. The woman with the pink peacock-like hairstyle is called Carmen, a famous chef in the East China Sea, but she's quite narcissistic. The stylish old man in the knitted hat over there is called Mistbu, the owner of the Pirate Bar and an old acquaintance of Roger's."

"An old acquaintance of Roger's?"

Hearing this, Yamato immediately perked up.

Caesar nodded. "Yes, Roger often went to his bar to drink when he was young, and the two of them were pretty good friends."

"So, in this Rogue Town, I can even meet the legendary old friend? It feels amazing."

Robin smiled and said, "But what I didn't expect the most is that your prestige in Rogue Town is so high. Is it because of your charity work?"

"not quite."

Caesar said leisurely, "There are countless poor people in this world, and humans are actually very fragile. When their survival is threatened, they will sell out their conscience without hesitation and become unscrupulous beasts."

"It's like a bad guy laying down his butcher knife is like a prodigal son returning home, but if a good person does one thing wrong, people will frame him as unjust. Wealth and kindness alone cannot earn people's respect."

"I'm a philanthropist, yes. But I'm also a major shareholder in the Rogue Town business community, the de facto controller of over a hundred nearby village and town gangs, the resource sponsor for several nearby naval bases, and the biggest boss of nearly half of the island's young and strong men."

"People fear violence, hate power, covet wealth, trample on kindness, and fear evil. A single trait will only expose your weakness. Only when you possess all of these qualities and utilize them wisely will people truly respect, fear, and love you."

"Do you understand, Bonnie..."

Big Bear held Bonnie in his hands and moved closer to Caesar: "Caesar's understanding of human nature and the world is worth learning from, but don't try to imitate him in terms of emotions..."

Bonnie nodded repeatedly: "Yeah!"

Caesar: "..."

"That's an interesting argument, but it's true."

Robin's tone was a little complicated. Years of fleeing had not erased her kindness. Sometimes she would quietly help those in need, but most of the time she was betrayed and hurt in return.

It was precisely because of this that she understood more deeply that simple kindness could not solve anything, and might even put herself in crisis.

"So, evil is necessary?"

Yamato looked at Caesar in confusion. In her simple worldview, good and evil should be incompatible.

"If kindness alone could reform evil, there wouldn't be so much evil in this ocean. You should be kind to the good, and to the evil, you must be more evil than them."

Caesar said in a gentle tone that he admired Yamato's simple and kind character, but he didn't want Yamato to become a pushover.

Fortunately, although this girl is a little stubborn, she is not someone who refuses to listen. Now with her contact with the outside world, Caesar is confident that he can cultivate a healthy outlook on life for Yamato.

"I don't quite understand, but since you said it, Caesar, it should be fine."

Yamato chuckled and said, "After all, you're smarter than me. No matter what happens, you can handle it. If you say that, you must have a point!"

"Yes, it's a good habit to learn from others' strengths."

Caesar nodded and raised his hand slightly. Yamato quickly leaned over to ask for a touch.

"Ohhh Mr. Caesar!!!"

Suddenly, an excited shout was heard, and in the distance a green cockscomb-headed creature rushed towards Caesar with tears in its eyes.

Beside him, a beautiful woman with pink hair with a few strands of yellow was walking briskly, afraid of losing her hair even for a moment.

"Get away from me, Barto! Get out of my way!"

"Huh? You're the one who needs to get out of here! De Zaya!"

"I'm the security captain appointed by Mr. Caesar. Do you believe I'll hand you over to the navy, you bastard?"

"I have thousands of subordinates, and you're the only one who can rely on me, a stinky woman?"

squeak--

Without time to continue arguing, a sharp brake sound was heard and the two of them suddenly stopped in front of Caesar.

"Sir! You're finally back!"

"Mr. Caesar! Welcome back!"

The two of them came up to Caesar together, both with excited looks on their faces.

Caesar turned slightly and introduced them, "This is Bartolomeo, the gangster boss of Rogue Town. The one next to him is De Zaya, the security captain of Rogue Town. Both of them are my confidants."

"Mr. Caesar~" ×2
Hearing Caesar's words, the two of them held their hearts together, their faces filled with emotion.

"Uhhhhhhh!"

Bartolomeo wiped his tears and suddenly burst into tears.

"I truly don't deserve the title of confidant! I knew Mr. Caesar was going to the New World, but I couldn't follow you. Damn it! This past year, I've hated my own weakness every moment..."

"It was me who told you not to go."

Caesar shook his head helplessly: "At the time, my strength was insufficient, and I could only guarantee my own safety at best. I allowed you to follow me even though I knew there was danger. That would be irresponsible to your lives."

"This guy...really admires you?"

Robin cast a questioning look at Caesar, and the meaning was obvious: could this guy be gay?
Caesar understood immediately and shook his head slightly.

"Worship? Of course!"

Hearing Robin's words, Bartolomeo suddenly opened his arms.

"Sir... he is definitely the savior sent by God to save this world!"

Everyone: "???"

"Actually, I don't quite understand it, but it's probably like this... when these guys were little, they had nothing to eat, so I gave them a bite to eat and taught them some knowledge and principles along the way?"

Caesar explained, "I later started my own business with this group of people, and provided shelter for many people who couldn't find food. Due to geographical factors, Rogue Town has many orphans and descendants of pirates. This group of people is quite a large number. In order to ensure a stable life, I simply solved this hidden danger."

Robin nodded suddenly, "I see. Is this the result of education?"

"Oh!!"

Barto's eyes lit up. "Miss, you understand a lot! But it's not just that! The gentleman controls endless resources! Although it's inconvenient to say more, the gentleman must have been sent by God to save this rotten world!"

Caesar glanced at him expressionlessly: "Come to think of it, the title of the man who controls endless resources... was revealed to the World Economic Daily by this guy." "Haha, is that so?" Robin couldn't help but chuckle.

Big Bear seemed to understand something, and a smile appeared on his face.

They had all seen Caesar's magical ability to conjure food and even ships.

In this way, Caesar's thoughts and the ability of endless resources are indeed like a messenger sent by God to rectify the world.

"By the way, sir! I have a gift for you!"

Bartolomeo seemed to have thought of something, and he leaned over and invited, "It's right here at your house. I've taken good care of your place this past year, and I guarantee there won't be a speck of dust left!"

De Zaya was immediately furious: "Bullshit! We clearly agreed to have one day each, so how can you take all the credit for it? If you really want to say it, it should be half and half, right?"

"Hahaha! Naive guy! I even checked the ant nests on the roof and in the yard!"

"Are you crazy?!"

The two of them walked in front while arguing, and everyone came to a small manor with elegant environment. There was a two-story villa in the manor. Although it was not luxurious, it was still quite grand, and even someone of Big Bear's height could be easily accommodated.

Turning his head to look at Big Bear, Caesar smiled and said, "In order to facilitate training, I specially raised the height of the floor a lot. I didn't expect it to come in handy now."

Big Bear smiled sheepishly: "My height is indeed very troublesome."

"It doesn't matter! Most of the construction companies in the entire Rogue Town are made up of our people. We will definitely be able to expand this place again before tonight!" Bartolomeo said, patting his chest.

"That's not necessary..."

Caesar shook his head: "I won't stay long this time. I have other things to do later. I'm afraid I won't have the chance to come back in the future."

"Ka-"

Bartolomeo's mouth dropped open, tears streaming down his face. "Although I've known this day would come, it's still a little overwhelming... Sir, you're a man of great ideals, so of course it's selfish of me to ask you to stay, but this time, no matter what—please take me with you!"

"it is good."

Caesar nodded. He returned to Rogue Town just for Bartolomeo, who was his absolute confidant and die-hard fan.

"Eh? What about me? I want to be with you, sir, too!"

De Zaya kicked Bartolomeo away and looked at Caesar expectantly.

"De Zaya will stay."

Caesar shook his head slightly. "I have other plans for you. Rogue Town is my hometown after all, so I need someone to stay here and take charge. When we have our own territory in the Grand Line, if you're willing, can I still leave the security work to you?"

Unlike Bartolomeo, De Zaya is a very smart girl and is very good at intelligence analysis.

She used meat to fish for Luffy, predicted Usopp's plant sniper attack, and stuck Zoro with glue shells. These were all things she did.

Although his strength is not that strong, there are not many people in this world who know how to use their brains...

"Hi~ Glad to help you!"

De Zaya's face lit up with joy. Although she couldn't be with Caesar for the time being, she couldn't help but feel overjoyed that Caesar trusted her so much.

"By the way, sir! Please take a look at the gift I prepared for you!"

Bartolomeo rushed into the room and soon appeared in front of everyone carrying a small wooden box.

He opened the box, and inside lay a square-shaped green fruit with arabesque patterns.

"Devil Fruit!"

Everyone was surprised. They didn't expect that the gift Bartolomeo mentioned would be a devil fruit.

"Yes, Devil Fruit..."

Bartolomeo nodded, his face solemn. "To be honest, in the two years before you set sail, you spent a lot of time every day practicing and often browsing the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. Therefore, I can also feel your eagerness to become stronger. In fact, I had a premonition about your decision to go to sea a long time ago."

"Sure enough, after that, you suddenly asked me to contact the Whitebeard Pirates. I knew that you had probably chosen a certain devil fruit. Otherwise, with your personality, you would never take such a risk."

"Although I'm convinced you'll succeed, I still can't help but worry. So I searched for as much information as I could about devil fruits, and then I found this!"

"Metahuman-type Barrier Fruit! I got this from a previous battle with a group of pirates!"

"Yes, you are thoughtful, Barto."

Caesar was a little surprised. As expected, the fruit fell into Bartolomeo's hands.

He picked up the fruit and weighed it. The fruit disappeared in the blink of an eye, and reappeared in his hand when he flipped his hand again.

"Eat it, I have already eaten a suitable fruit."

"Eh?"

Bartolomeo was stunned for a moment: "But don't you love collecting these rare things the most?"

"I just enjoy the satisfaction of getting something. Devil Fruits can only be used to their full potential if you eat them."

Caesar smiled and said, "By the way, we are all esperates on board now, and you were the one who found this fruit, so you are the most suitable candidate."

As soon as Caesar finished speaking, Bartolomeo picked up the fruit and took a bite without hesitation.

"It tastes so bad!"

Bartolomeo retched, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

"To be honest, I've really liked this fruit from the very beginning!"

He looked at Caesar excitedly: "Ever since I got this fruit, I've been thinking that if I can eat this fruit, I will definitely become your strongest shield!"

De Zaya curled his lips: "What a disgusting bastard..."

"De Zaya will also be available in the future. Thank you for your hard work during this period."

Caesar smiled slightly and said, "I have another buffalo fruit here, but it's not quite suitable for you. I'll find you a better ability later."

"Ha…thank you sir!"

De Zaya's eyes lit up, and then she glanced at Yamato and Baby5 who were leaning against Caesar without leaving a trace, and there was a hint of sourness in her tone.

"By the way, are these your companions, sir?"

"Just a quick introduction. This is Yamato, this is Baby5, and this is Robin..."

Caesar introduced them with a smile: "They are all my girlfriends!"

De Zaya: “…”

I don't know why, but I felt disappointed and at the same time suddenly relaxed.

Bad news: Mr. already has a girlfriend!
Good news: Mr. has more than one girlfriend! I still have a chance!

Just as she was wondering whether Caesar's philandering behavior was good or bad, Bartolomeo silently gave her a thumbs up.

"You're doing three things at once, and you're still doing it. You're worthy of being called Mr. Caesar!"

"..."

Okay, okay, you still know how to lick!
(End of this chapter)