I created a foundation

There was no murderous aura about him, and he could even be described as gentle.

But this gentleness made her more alert than the sharpest blade.

Lin Qing took a cup of warm black tea from a special water dispenser. His movements were neither hurried nor slow, and every subtle movement revealed an indescribable calmness.

He gently placed the teacup on the coffee table in front of Robin, making a subtle clinking sound.

"Ms. Nico Robin."

Lin Qing's voice was calm and gentle, yet it carried an unquestionable power.

Robin picked up the teacup, feeling the perfect temperature between her fingers. She didn't drink immediately, but nodded slightly, waiting for the other person to continue.

She knew that the next conversation would most likely determine her fate.

Although she didn't know why she suddenly came to this strange and weird place from that chaotic banquet.

But her keen intuition told her that this place was completely different from any force she had encountered before.

"I know where you're coming from."

Lin Qing's first words made Robin's fingers holding the teacup tighten slightly, almost imperceptibly.

The expression on her face remained calm, and there was even a hint of a polite smile.

But her heart sank instantly.

The other party really knew her background.

"I also know that you have been hunted."

Lin Qing continued speaking without any change in his tone, as if he was just stating a very simple fact.

The hint of vigilance deep in Robin's eyes instantly expanded several times.

Her breathing, without her noticing, became a little lighter.

Betrayal and selling out have long been commonplace for her.

She didn't know what the man in front of her wanted from her.

It's her head.

Or the knowledge in her mind that is considered taboo by the World Government.

"but."

Lin Qing's tone paused slightly, and he looked at her calmly.

"Please do not worry."

He said these four words softly, yet with a strange solemnity.

Robin's heartstrings were plucked by this sudden turn of events.

rest assured?

How ridiculous.

Ever since she was eight years old and the flames of O'Hara dyed the sky red, these two words have been completely isolated from her.

She has seen too much false kindness and experienced too much betrayal wrapped in sweet lies.

Lin Qing seemed unaware of the turmoil in her heart, and continued to state one fact after another in a calm, almost cold tone that was enough to overturn her cognition.

"here."

He pointed at his feet and looked around.

“It’s another world.”

Robin's pupils suddenly contracted the moment he heard these words.

Another...world?

This thought exploded in her mind like thunder.

absurd.

This was her first reaction.

But then, she remembered her previous incredible experience.

That irresistible feeling of being pulled through space by an invisible hand.

And the place before her eyes, those technological creations that were completely beyond her understanding.

Is it...

Lin Qing didn't give her much time to think. His words were like precise hammers, hitting the most vulnerable part of her heart one after another.

"There's no world government here that's been hunting you down for twenty years."

These words, like an invisible needle, pierced Robin's heart.

World Government.

This behemoth, like an indelible shadow, shrouded her life for twenty years.

In order to avoid their pursuit, she had to hide here and there like a rat in the gutter, using all means to survive in the cracks.

The muscles on her face twitched almost imperceptibly.

"here."

Lin Qing's voice was still calm, but it carried a power that could penetrate people's hearts.

"There is no demon-killing order that can easily destroy an island."

The three words "Demon Slayer Order" were like the most vicious curse, instantly pulling Robin back to the nightmare of blood and fire twenty years ago.

O'Hara's flames shot up into the sky.

The scholars cried out in despair.

That last smile when the giant Sauro used his body to block the artillery fire for her.

And Aokiji's cold voice and the words "You must live well."

Those bloody images that she had buried deep in her memory surged up uncontrollably.

Her breathing became a little rapid.

She could even feel that the calm expression she had carefully maintained was gradually cracking.

Lin Qing noticed all her subtle reactions but did not pause for a moment.

He wanted to use the most direct and thorough way to break down all her psychological defenses, and then give her a new life.

"Nothing more."

His voice rose slightly, with a barely perceptible chill.

"Just because you can decipher historical texts, they'll consider you the son of the devil and offer a bounty of 79 million berries on you."

"Son of the Devil".

This title, which has accompanied her for twenty years, is like an invisible shackle, trapping her firmly in the prejudice and fear of the world.

She thirsts for knowledge and longs to explore the truth of history.

But in that world, this is a heinous crime.

Robin's lips trembled slightly.

She felt as if her heart was being tightly grasped by an invisible hand, and she could hardly breathe.

The man in front of her knew too much about her past, too much in detail.

So detailed that it frightened her.

Who is he?

What does he want to do?

Countless questions swirled in her mind, but more importantly, she felt an unprecedented and intense shock.

Lin Qing looked at her eyes that were slightly widened due to shock and pain, and slowly, word by word, said the last sentence.

Those words were like a ray of light that penetrated twenty years of darkness.

"Nico Robin."

"it's here."

"You are safe."

You are safe.

These five words are light and airy, yet weigh a thousand pounds.

Robin's body shook violently.

All the expressions on her face froze in an instant.

For the first time, those weathered blue eyes, which had seen the dangers of the world, revealed undisguised, extreme surprise and disbelief.

Lin Qing's voice was not loud, and as calm as the surface of a deep lake, without a single ripple.

"You...are safe."

Those four words, like a stone thrown into the center of a lake, stirred up unimaginable ripples in Nico Robin's dead heart.

Safety?

These two words were so strange and distant to her.

So strange that she almost forgot its meaning.

So far away that she thought she would never be able to reach it again in this life.

Her pupils suddenly contracted and then suddenly dilated at that moment, as if she couldn't focus.

The long eyelashes trembled violently, like fragile butterfly wings in the wind.

She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but no sound came out of her throat, only dry sobs.

Twenty years.