Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 234 Nico Robin

"Don't sit on the mast and get windy, let's come down and talk, Miss Nico Robin?"

Robin pursed her lips. The mysterious atmosphere that Uchiha Tou had suddenly created was shattered by Uchiha Tou, which already made the mature woman somewhat uncomfortable. Now, hearing Uchiha Tou suddenly call out her real name, she was thrown into complete disarray.

However, since she was eight years old, she had been living in the underground world, experiencing countless betrayals and being hunted down countless times. She had become accustomed to the coldness and warmth of human relationships and had long since developed a strong mental fortitude. Therefore, even though her mind was in turmoil, the expression on her face remained unchanged:

"This gentleman seems to know me very well. May I ask your name?"

As she spoke, Nico Robin leaped off the mast with a polite smile on her face.

"My name is Uchiha Touyu, just an unknown nobody on the high seas."

Uchiha Touyu crossed his arms, said calmly, and looked directly at Nico Robin:

"Nicole Robin, known as the 'Devil Child' by the World Government, was given a bounty of 8100 million by the Navy at the age of eight for destroying five Navy warships. Am I right?!"

Robin dropped his polite smile and slowly began to speak:

"It seems Mr. Uchiha really knows me quite well! What, are you perhaps planning to capture me and collect the bounty?"

As he spoke, Robin slowly clenched his fists, ready to strike if things went wrong.

Nico Robin is currently suffering from severe psychological issues, including both defensiveness and self-destructive tendencies. Her seemingly cunning, mature, and shrewd exterior is merely a protective layer; in reality, she has serious mental health problems, and it's hard to say what she might do next.

Moreover, Nico Robin wasn't the only one whose expression changed after Uchiha Tou's introduction.

"8100 million Berries!! He sank five warships when he was only eight years old!!"

Everyone on the deck gasped, looking at Robin as if she were some kind of monster. Princess Vivi shakily took out the Peacock Feather, Nami pale-faced as she took out the Weather Stick, Leigh the Lion immediately hid at the edge of the deck, and Usopp made himself a candle and a championship trophy without saying a word.

The group's tense demeanor made the air on the deck almost freeze, but Uchiha Touyu simply shrugged and said calmly:

"Of course I'm not planning to exchange the bounty for anything, so you don't need to be so nervous, Miss Robin."

"Furthermore, you all don't need to be on guard anymore. Although Miss Robin's current strength is roughly enough to meet the requirement of 8100 million Berries, in reality, all of her achievements and crimes were fabricated by the Navy and the World Government."

"The real reason is that, in order to cover up the history from 800 years ago, the World Government ordered the Navy to launch a Buster Call, destroying Robin's hometown, Ohara Island, where a large number of archaeologists had gathered."

"Fortunately, some of the navy members had a guilty conscience and either resisted directly or let their subordinates go easy on them, which allowed Miss Robin, the last surviving child of Ohara, to escape."

"Who are you?!"

Upon hearing this, Nico Robin finally lost her temper. She crossed her arms and activated her Devil Fruit ability, extending her two hands directly from Uchiha Tou's shoulders and gripping his neck.

"Don't be in such a hurry, Miss Robin!"

Uchiha Touya's body jolted, and with the vibration of Armament Haki, the flowery arms that had grown from his shoulders instantly shattered into a pile of petals. As the pain spread, Robin felt a sharp pain in her hands and couldn't help but groan.

The Flower-Flower Fruit is actually an extremely powerful Devil Fruit, possessing the ability to extend limbs anywhere. If it were used by a monster with exceptional physical prowess, it could be used in countless creative ways.

Unfortunately, although Nico Robin had undergone some training while mingling in the underworld and was not exactly weak, her physical abilities were clearly far inferior when facing true masters on the high seas.

Sensing the gap between them, Robin did indeed quiet down, but the wary expression disappeared, replaced by an indifferent look of resignation.

"Hehe, is there anything you need me to do, Mr. Uchiha? If so, please let me know!"

Tsk, look what's happened to this child. She's being taken advantage of every day, and now she's traumatized. She sees everyone as someone trying to use her.

Uchiha Touyu knew very well that gaining Robin's trust would not be easy, and getting her to join the crew would be even more difficult—yes, having already recruited so many members of the Straw Hat Pirates, recruiting one more historian wouldn't be a problem. Uchiha Touyu did indeed have his eye on Nico Robin.

As for Nico Robin's troubles... to be honest, Nico Robin looks very different now than she did when she was a child. In the original story, it was due to some coincidences that she was discovered by the World Government's agents. As long as Uchiha Touyu is a little careful, he can avoid these problems.

Even if he were to be discovered due to bad luck, with his current strength, he would not be afraid of ordinary naval or World Government agents.

Aokiji's daily "hunt" for Robin is, frankly, to protect his "daughter"! What ordinary Marine Admiral has the time to specifically hunt down a criminal with a bounty of less than 100 million Berries?

Furthermore, Uchiha Touya knew very well how to break through Robin's cold exterior and gain her trust.

"Miss Robin, you've misunderstood. I don't need you to do anything for me. On the contrary, I have some good news to tell you."

Robin's lips twitched slightly, revealing a polite smile. Over the years, he had seen far too many different kinds of people. Did you think this little bit of disguise could fool my eyes? Probably just another ambitious person chasing after the true history of the world!

But the next moment, Robin heard Uchiha Touyu speak softly.

"Sauro is still alive."

"What did you say?!"

Robin's expression changed drastically immediately. Disbelief, anxiety, joy, and a mix of emotions flashed across her face. Then, disregarding everything else, she rushed to Uchiha Tou, grabbed his shoulders, and said in a trembling voice:

"What did you just say? What did you just say... Is it true? Saul, he's really still alive!!"

"Not bad. That admiral isn't as ruthless as you think. He even secretly released you, the orphan of Ohara. Naturally, he didn't kill his own friend."

Although Saul was frozen and sealed by Aokiji, Aokiji's actions at that time were probably more to protect his friend.

Robin, a little girl, could sneak away when the Marines weren't looking. How could Saul, a giant of such a size, possibly escape Ohara?

On the contrary, after being frozen and sealed, Sauro was truly unnoticed, and eventually escaped with his life when the ice melted.

"Sauro is alive! That's great! You're not kidding me, are you?"

"Of course not. If you don't believe me, you can go to Elbaf, the land of giants. Saul lives there now, and he also took the books that the scholars threw into Lake Ohara to protect. Those books are now in the land of giants."

"By the way, Vegapunk, the scientist of the World Government, also knows about this news. He even went to Elbaf to read those books by Ohara. If you have the chance, you can also ask this world's number one scientist."

Robin took a deep breath and managed to calm herself down. Although she was still a little afraid that Uchiha Touyu was just deceiving her, she decided to believe him because he seemed to have a lot of evidence to back it up.

Most importantly, she had been lonely for far too long. Upon hearing this news, she desperately wanted it to be true, even if it involved a degree of self-deception. Moreover, Uchiha Touyu's message was logically sound and had no flaws.

"Alright, I'll believe you for now, Mr. Uchiha Touyu. You've told me so much, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Well, my ship is still short of some crew members, and I think you, as a user of the Flower Flower Fruit, would be a very good crew member."

"Our voyage will take us to the land of giants in the New World. You can come with us to verify what I'm saying and also collect some World History texts along the way."

Upon hearing this, Robin maintained his unchanging smile while secretly pondering: The other party's terms are quite good, seemingly entirely for my benefit; I just wonder if they will make any further demands later.

But regardless of the circumstances, the other party has pinpointed my weakness, so agreeing to their request is a foregone conclusion.

"Sure, but first, we should figure out how to deal with my former boss, that hero from Alabasta. Otherwise, I'm afraid your journey will have to end here, Captain."

"By the way, over the years, Shacrokfar has been hiding behind Baroque Works. I'm the one who usually contacts the members of the workshop. Apart from Mr. 1, whom I'm not sure about, the others have no idea about the identity of the Baroque Works boss. So as long as we can deal with Shacrokfar, Baroque Works will no longer be an obstacle for us."

After deciding to change bosses, Robin immediately revealed everything about his former boss without saying a word, and even made a plan to betray him.

Uchiha Touyu nodded and stroked his chin:

"In that case, you should be able to mobilize Mr. 1, right? Let's bring out this Baroque Works member who might know who the boss is and deal with him first."

"After we deal with him, you can work with Princess Vivi to take over Baroque Works."

Anyway, Baroque Works only communicates with Robin directly, and apart from Mr. 1, no one in the entire workshop can beat Robin. Although it's a bit difficult to control her, with Robin's intelligence and the reputation of the Alabasta royal family, controlling Baroque Works is not a difficult task.

Robin nodded. She had this idea when she first reported the intelligence, and it's hard to say whether Robin had planned to control Baroque Works from the very beginning.

—This devil's child has no ambition, but she would do things like use the studio's convenience to explore ancient historical texts, or use the studio's power to smooth things over when she falls out with her boss.

"So the question now is, Captain, are you confident you can defeat my former boss? Logia-type Devil Fruit abilities aren't easy to deal with, especially in this desert country."

Uchiha Touyu glanced at Robin, who appeared calm on the surface but was actually a little uneasy, and said calmly:

"At his peak, I might not be a match for Shacrocodile, but this Shacrocodile who only bullies rookie pirates in the first half of the Grand Line would have a hard time lasting even half a day against me!"

……

Alabasta, a port city with rapeseed flowers.

The Going Merry docked at the port, and Nami and the others disembarked and began shopping and strolling around.

However, Uchiha Tou followed Robin out of the port city and came to the edge of the desert.

"Is this the place?"

On the edge of a desolate desert, a rather dilapidated little wooden house stands. According to Robin's information, this is the place where she will meet Mr. 1.

"Yes, it seems he hasn't arrived yet."

Robin glanced around and spoke, but Uchiha Tou shook his head:

"No, he's already here, he's just a little far away."

Robin raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. During her time at sea, she had gotten to know her new boss a little better.

Setting aside the things the crew members mentioned, such as defeating the giants and the aftermath of the battle altering part of the Little Garden's terrain—things she hadn't witnessed firsthand—she could roughly estimate, based solely on the intensity of Uchiha Touya's training, the enormous weight he carried, and his performance in battle against the Sea Kings, that her boss's strength was unfathomable. It wasn't surprising that he had discovered Mr. 1's location much earlier.

Sure enough, a moment later, a tall figure slowly walked out from the distant desert.

The newcomer had a monk's hairstyle and wore clothes that gave him a martial monk feel. However, his well-developed muscles, the scar near his eye, and his indifferent and cold eyes indicated that this guy was not someone to be trifled with.

This is Baroque Works' number one ace, and the strongest person besides Shackleton, the user of the Slash-Slash Fruit, Dazbonis.

At the same time that Uchiha Tou and Robin saw Dazbonis, he also saw the two of them. He frowned and said in a low voice:

"Miss Sunday, who is this person?! Why did you bring a stranger from outside the company to see me?!"

(End of this chapter)