One Piece: Nico Robin Collection

Chapter 86 New Members

"It was Roger who entrusted Esto to Garp before he died."

Caesar struck Yamato lightly on the head with a knife.

"Oh oh oh, so that's it, hahahaha, sorry!"

Yamato scratched his head and grinned, "But I never thought that Ace is the Pirate King's child. Unbelievable!"

Ace's face was gloomy, and his tone was cold and hard: "Why? You are surprised that such a sinful bloodline can be passed down in the world?"

Yamato was a little confused: "Sin? Why sin?"

Caesar explained, "Because in the eyes of the world, Roger is evil. The Great Pirate Era he started caused many weak people to suffer because of it, so this debt will naturally be attributed to him."

"That's it..."

Yamato nodded: "But this kind of thing doesn't matter, right? Caesar said that we can't choose our own birth, but we can choose what kind of person we become and what kind of life we ​​live."

“That’s right…”

Caesar looked at Ace and said, "You're not the only one with a history on this ship. For example, Yamato is Kaido's daughter, Robin is a survivor of Ohara, and Kuma is a remnant of the Bakhaniya tribe. Although the identity of the Pirate King's son is unique, it's not much more special than the guys on this ship..."

O'Hara?
Baccania?

What are those things?
Ace opened his mouth and was speechless for a moment. He obviously realized that the identities of these guys were not simple.

Choose what kind of person you want to be and what kind of life you want to live...

Ace's expression softened slightly as he recalled what Yamato had just said.

"Seriously, how about you come over to my boat?"

Caesar invited him sincerely, "I'm not trying to belittle you. Your strength and talent are absolutely no problem. Once you enter the Grand Line, it won't take long for you to make a name for yourself. But your mentality is destined to prevent you from sailing too far on this ocean."

"Hey…"

Ace was full of confidence: "You are not much older than me, right? Aren't you also able to fight against the Four Emperors? If you can do it, why can't I?"

"No, you can't."

Caesar shook his head slightly and said, "What can you compare with my cheating skills?"

"My growth path is a miracle that cannot be replicated. When I set sail a year ago, my strength was even weaker than yours now. It only took me half a year to grow to my current strength. But with your talent, if you want to reach this level, you will have to be around 25 years old at the earliest."

"impossible!"

Ace's face was full of disbelief, but then a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"But since you said that, it means you are very confident in your own strength, right? How about we have a fight? To be honest, I have been curious for a long time about how strong the Four Emperors are. However, considering my lifesaver, I really can't open my mouth to ask."

Caesar raised his eyebrows slightly: "Oh? Then why is it open now?"

"You can't let others look down on you, right?"

Ace said, raising his thumb and pointing in the direction of his nail plate, revealing a fox tail. "If you lose, how about you interpret the historical text in your hand and give it to me?"

What a fool!
As Ace finished speaking, everyone except Yamato and Bonnie sighed in their hearts.

In less than two sentences, all those little thoughts were exposed.

"I do not understand…"

Caesar raised his eyelids and said in an inexplicable tone: "You mean, I saved your life and treated you to a meal, and now you want to challenge me, and if you win you get to take my baby away?"

"Forehead…"

Ace's mouth twitched, and he looked slightly embarrassed.

After hearing what Caesar said, he also felt that he was a little shameless.

Bonnie curled her lips: "Greedy guy..."

Being confronted by the little girl in person, Aiden felt even more embarrassed.

"You can ask for anything you want, except getting on board, of course."

Ace quickly said, "Whether it's money or something else, I will definitely fulfill the bet when I find the treasure."

"Ah, you're so cunning..."

Robin supported her chin and smiled. She had already seen through Caesar's purpose, so she added fuel to the fire.

"The historical text is Caesar's most valuable treasure, a treasure that no amount of money can buy. Not to mention that Caesar himself is a wealthy man. To Caesar, the most valuable thing about you, Mr. Ace, is probably you, the person."

"Me? What value can I have?"

Ace frowned, "That guy's bloodline?"

"No, it's not about Roger. It's about you as a person."

Caesar smiled and said, "To be honest, you are very similar to Yamato back then. You are equally gifted and thick-skinned, but you also have a delicate side and are prone to self-doubt due to your bloodline troubles."

"Impatient, restless... It's like a ship without a clear direction. If left alone, it will eventually crash and be shattered. But if that happens, wouldn't that be a shame?"

"I'm different from those brutal pirates. If I lose once, I have to sacrifice my life forever. That's too unprofitable. How about this..."

As he spoke, Caesar stood up slowly, raised his index finger, and looked straight at Ace.

"One hundred times!"

"I'll give you a hundred chances to challenge me! During this time, I can take care of all your living needs and even teach you how to become stronger!"

"You can also...at any time, anywhere..."

Caesar paused for a moment, then said, "No, except when my girlfriends and I are resting, challenge me at any time, anywhere, or even attack me by surprise. If you can win once, I will give you the full text of history."

"But if you lose, how about you get on my ship?"

"One hundred times..."

Ace's face twitched: "No matter how much you look down on others, there is a limit!"

"I've already lowered the stakes..."

Caesar spread his hands and said, "How about it? Do you want to give it a try?"

“…I’ll be waiting for you on deck!”

Ace turned and left the restaurant.

Although he was unsure of Caesar's true strength, he was also a man who cared about his reputation.

He has been given a hundred chances to challenge, and if he still doesn't dare to accept the challenge, that would be too cowardly!

Seeing Ace's reaction, Caesar smoothed his hair, stretched slowly, and had an unconcealable smile on his lips.

Finally got fooled!
"Go! Go and see!"

Yamato stood up excitedly, and Bonnie grinned and joined in the fun.

Everyone stood up, Nami and Robin talking and laughing.

"I've been on the ship, but I haven't seen Caesar fight yet. Has Sister Robin seen it?"

"I saw it in Wano Country. If I must say, it was like a natural disaster." Robin chuckled.

Natural disaster?!
Deuce followed weakly behind the crowd, and felt a surge of panic when he heard the words.

But everyone was going to the deck, and he didn't want to stay alone in the cabin.

Soon, everyone came outside the cabin, and Caesar and Ace were confronting each other on the deck.

Seeing that Caesar didn't even take up the knife, Ace frowned: "Aren't you a swordsman? Why don't you use a sword?"

"Well... firstly, you're unarmed, so using a sword wouldn't be fair to you. Secondly..."

Caesar paused, chuckled, and didn't continue speaking, but Ace understood what he meant.

This undisguised contempt made him a little angry, even though Caesar was his savior.

"Come on, let me see your strength..."

Caesar said this and hooked his finger at Ace. Before he finished speaking, Ace rushed in front of him with a quick step.

call--

A powerful punch was aimed straight at Caesar's face, but Caesar easily dodged it by simply turning slightly to the side. Missing his target, Ace abruptly stopped and turned to strike Caesar in the abdomen with an elbow.

Caesar retreated slightly, and Ace's elbow passed in front of him by a hair's breadth.

"Wow... that's pretty neat, this guy!"

Yamato raised his hands to block the sunlight and said in surprise, "His strength and speed are quite good, even stronger than Caesar when we first met!"

As he spoke, Ace, who was not far away, suddenly twisted his body and raised his leg to sweep towards Caesar's waist.

However, just as he raised his leg, Caesar raised his foot first, tripping him lightly at the ankle of the leg that was supporting him. With a dull thud, Ashe fell on his butt.

The moment he fell, Ace suddenly rolled backwards to create distance between the two of them, crouched on the ground, one hand supporting the ground, the other hand hidden behind his back, looking at Caesar warily.

"Ok?"

Seeing Ace's actions, Big Bear was slightly stunned.

The other person's movements reminded him of someone.

A young man who is about the same age as Ace, also from the East China Sea, equally talented, and now an important cadre of the Revolutionary Army.

There was a clear difference between the boy's fighting style and Ace's. In comparison, Ace's punches and kicks were more impetuous and violent, but their fighting postures were highly similar, which inevitably made him speculate about the connection between the two.

Just as he was thinking, Big Bear's eyes suddenly fell on the tattoo on Ace's left shoulder.

ASL?

There's a cross on the S in the middle...

Is it a person's name?

If so, A is Ace and L is Luffy...

So this S...

It reminded me of the young man from the East China Sea in the revolutionary army who lost his memory due to the bombardment, and Ace's familiar fighting posture.

A white light reflected from Big Bear's frameless lenses.

there is only one truth!
Just as he was lost in thought, Ace suddenly jumped up and rushed towards Caesar not far away.

Straight punches, jabs, swinging punches, punches from all angles and in all shapes and sizes all poured towards Caesar.

Caesar was like a nimble bat, dodging all of Ace's attacks with simple moves.

"Amazing!"

Deuce was shocked. He could see that Ace must have some strength, but Caesar could easily dodge all of his opponent's attacks as if he was teasing a child. It was not difficult to see that Caesar's strength was definitely far above Ace.

"hateful…"

Seeing that he couldn't hit Caesar at all, Ace gritted his teeth.

He naturally realized now that Caesar was not fighting him seriously at all, but was just leading him around like a child.

Suddenly, he threw another punch, blocking Caesar's sight with his right fist, and with his left hand, he drew out the dagger from his waist and slashed at Caesar while turning around.

However, the next second, in front of Ace's stunned gaze, a slender hand seemed to have been waiting there for a long time, and it lightly grasped the blade of the dagger!
This is impossible!

Ace's eyelids twitched, and before he could react, a fist as big as a sandbag suddenly appeared in front of him.

Snapped!
There was a crisp sound, and Ace saw several golden stars exploding. Then everything went black, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Ah this..."

Looking at Ace who couldn't get up again, Nami was bewildered: "Is this the end? Where's the natural disaster? And this is too trifling, right? It looks like Caesar didn't even put in any effort!"

"Do you want to kill him?"

Baby5 sighed. "That light punch could easily shatter a rock, but if it hit you, your internal organs would be scattered everywhere."

Nami shrank her neck: "Ah...don't say such horrible things!"

"Bato, carry him back to the room."

Caesar waved his hand, Barto stepped forward, carried Ace and left, and Caesar came to Deus.

Seeing Caesar walking towards him, Zeus suddenly felt panicky.

"take it easy."

Caesar smiled gently, and his words seemed to carry a magical power that instantly calmed Zeus's mood.

"How about it, Deus? Have you made up your mind? Do you want to come on my boat?"

"I…"

Hearing Caesar's invitation again, Deust felt awkward.

After learning so many shocking secrets in just one morning, it would be a lie to say he wasn't looking forward to it.

But his past life experiences made him feel deeply uneasy about all this.

Since childhood, he has always longed for the mysterious and desirable sea in the books, but the people around him responded to him with ridicule, rejection, and even bullying.

The ugly faces of the people around him fostered his solitary character, causing Deuce to always be suspicious and skeptical of others, which in turn fostered a world-weary mentality.

Therefore, when faced with Caesar's invitation, his first reaction was not excitement, but whether there was any trap in it.

But... even if it's a trap, what good can a guy like me do?

"Can I ask why?"

Zeus mustered up the courage to look Caesar in the face. "With your strength, a weakling like me shouldn't be worth mentioning, right?"

“How rude…”

Before Caesar could say anything, Nami couldn't help but complain: "Then what am I? No matter how weak you are, can you be as weak as me?"

"Forehead…"

Deuce was taken aback by Nami's question: "Aren't you Mr. Caesar's girlfriend?"

Nami's face darkened. "Who is his girlfriend? I'm the navigator! The navigator!"

"See, this is why."

Caesar smiled faintly. "Even with my strength, I still need a navigator to take me where I want to go. Without a navigator, I would be lost. Without a historian, I would not be able to understand the historical texts... although I myself have no interest in that."

"Everyone on this ship has their own position and responsibilities. It's true that I can do everything they do, but omnipotence doesn't mean I can do anything. Although I am powerful, I am still human after all. I will feel lonely and suffer, and naturally I need companions."

"But...why me?"

Deuce was puzzled: "Just because I want to be an adventurer?"

"Maybe it's fate?"

Caesar laughed: "Who cares?"

"Eh?!"

Deuce was stunned. "So careless? But...what can I do?"

"Do you have any skills?"

Deuce thought for a moment. "Well... I'm a medical student. Not a particularly outstanding one, but still pretty good. Also, because of my dreams, I've seen a lot of ship designs since I was a kid. I have some shipbuilding skills, and a few other miscellaneous skills..."

"That's right, I need someone like you!"

Caesar was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Zeus would be a medical student, and an all-round one at that!
Sure enough, he was right. Anyone who could serve as Ace's deputy must be quite capable. At the very least, his character must be trustworthy.

"Can I...really do this?"

"Don't get it wrong, I never asked if you can, but whether you want to!"

Caesar held out his hand: "Want to go with me and see this world?"

Zeus was stunned for a moment, then smiled with relief and reached out to shake Caesar's hand.

"Please advise me, Captain Caesar!"

(End of this chapter)