บท 110: Flower’s desire for knowledge, along with her sneeze
Seeing this dark-blue stone cube standing lonely while the tree branches were enveloping created a mysterious atmosphere for the 3 next to Vlad, who approached the stele.
"Prince Vlad, what is this cube?" asked Zeke while also moving forward to observe this stele.
"Those stone steles are known as Poneglyph, and they are written down using an ancient script lost to our modern standard. They tell stories about the world's lost history, such as what happened to Tamuin in the past or Great Kingdom Atlas, along with other great powers of that era.
As he went even closer, brushing off some branches standing in his way toward the poneglyph, he touched the stone stele on its script and continued saying to Zeke and the others.
"They don't only have recovered about past history, they also hold information about other important information lost in time."
Sofiya moved forward and asked with a curious tone while staring at Vlad and the poneglyph.
"Dear, can you read those steles?"
"Unfortunately, no. I don't know this lost language, but this doesn't mean there's no one to decipher the content of these stones for me. Once in the not distant past, there was a group of scholars known as the Ohara Archeologists. Great scholars who dedicated their lives to the study of this lost history."
"Prince Vlad, where are those scholars now? Can you contact them?" asked Maisha while she also approached this mysterious stone cube.
Vlad frowned when remembering what Nius shared with him about how the World Government wanted to destroy all information about the world's lost history. They even went as far as to kill the Ohara scholars.
He just kept shaking his head with a sad expression.
"Sigh, I would wish they would come to my kingdom where I could offer them shelter and all the humane support, so they continue their study. But it was not to be. The rulers of this world didn't want the past to be found out."
Sofiya, when hearing Vlad say that, instantly thought of some information she read in some of the old Duke Philiph secret books.
'So it's true, the story about the world nobles living at the top of the world and their antics was indeed true.'
"Does this mean they are no longer with us?" asked Zeke while trying to read the stele, but without much success.
"Only one scholar remains, but she's not stationary. She's hunted down by the world. Nico Robin is her name. So far, all my attempts at finding her were meaningless while inside South Blue."
Letting the three look a bit more at the poneglyph, he took some steps back to look at the room. Maybe he could still find something hidden. However, after 10 minutes of searching while using his enhanced vision, he stopped with a long sigh.
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Meanwhile, somewhere in a distant place of the kingdom of West Blue, a young woman who seemed to be around 21-22 years old, with a tall and white slender body with shoulder-length hair, found herself in a significant conflict where people wearing black suits and shades flooded the town she settled down.
She seemed to be a bit nervous at the start, showing a panicked side of her that slowly turned to a serene calm, as if she was used to this type of situation. Her beautiful brown eyes showed an unexpected composure during this situation.
'[Ear Flower]'
As she thought of her ability, while blending with the crowd, she crossed her arms across her chest for a brief moment before flower petals began appearing around the wall of a grand mansion that was the Colombo's Headquarters where the boss Joseph Colombo and Spandine were talking.
She could hear the boss of one of the major mafia families of West Blue talking with Spandine, the leader of the CP9, without even fearing him.
"So what do the dogs of the World Nobles want from me, a simple businessman minding his own problems?"
"Joseph Colombo, leader of Colombo Family, one of the 5 mafia bosses of the West Blue, don't look down so much on the World Government and me."
"Do I seem to look down on you and your people, or are you expecting me to react like the Capone family or those brutes from Gambino?"
"Well, I don't care that much what you think about my visit to the Siciliana City, but I've received information that a dangerous person hides under your eyes, exactly here in your turf."
"Who could actually make you dogs of the world nobles to come to my humble lands, lands of Colombo Family. If you can make some sense to me, I might let your people search for who you are looking for, but if the answer is not satisfying, we will have to be a bit rude."
The young woman was listening to those two men's conversation professionally while she was walking like a normal lady on the city's streets while her face seemed a bit cold when she heard the following line.
"You might know this person very well since she's been hunted and hiding for about 14 years old. She's the "Devil's Child" Nico Robin."
Joseph Colombo, a man of ordinary stature that looked like your average middle-aged uncle, while wearing a blue suit, lit a cigar and took a smoke while looking at the CP9 head.
"So that cursed child arrived at my turf, and I didn't know about this? Interesting. So how much money are you willing to offer to have a go at her?"
"If we catch her, we will offer you 70.000.000 bellies for the trouble of letting us act in your territory."
"Hmph, you think I'm some cheap retard? With that sum, I can't even buy some prostitutes. Do you look down on me, Joseph Colombo?"
"How much do you want?" asked Spandine while looking at this regular middle-aged guy blowing smoke in his face.
"I think the right sum of money, taking into account how much you desire her, should be 350.000.000. Got a deal?"
"Tsk, we knew you would ask for that. Fine, you got your money, but after we catch her."
"No. I want it now."
When the young woman heard that, she canceled her devil fruit ability and looked a bit panicked when she heard that the biggest power of this region would land a hand to the CP9.
'I need to get out of here before they block all access routes out and in for the city.'
As she thought to herself, planning her next set of actions, she looked left and right for the black-suited people, and she began walking toward her home located in a more peaceful area of the city.
"How did they find my location this fast? It's only been 2 years since I've arrived in Siciliana to hide and continue my studies and search over the poneglyphs. '
'Who was it? I always watch my back and never give people my real identity or even mention my real name, so how could they find me, even here where they don't have influence?'
'I need to take my research and some necessities from my home before journeying out once again.'
As the young woman said that, she moved like any people and got back to her home where she quickly began taking some books from a table using her devil power and rapidly she began placing them in a backpack. Slowly the bag was getting filled with necessities she needed, and once she was over, she looked once again to check all the things she needed.
"Right, I almost forgot about you."
Said that young woman, while seeing a book next to her pillow that had written on it "Legends of Atlas" along with the cover that had drawn a grand palace similar to the one in Sagletius.
"I think I've taken everything I need. Now let's get out of here before things start getting bad for me. Should I start planning for my journey to the Grand Line or continue my search for Atlas?"
"Ahh, and I thought this place will keep me away from running for some time. Maybe I should head for the Grand Line and start planning while continuing researching those mysterious places like Atlas and Shandora for any tellings of Poneglyphs."
Saying that, the girl took off from her house and began walking to the port like any common people who wanted to journey out. She didn't look much different from the people going toward the dock, maybe she was a bit more beautiful than the common girls, but this was just one aspect.
Then, before she could reach the port properly, a black-suited guy with shades appeared before her saying to her while getting a poster of a little girl that looked to be around 8-9 years old,
"Excuse me, lady, can I ask you something for a bit?"
When the young woman saw the black-suited man stopping her while showing her the poster it was taken of her when she was young, she looked calmly at the man who took his shades off.
"She seems familiar. Ahh, yes, the Devil Child, I've heard some news about her being spotted last time at the Genovalse Kingdom. Why ask this, sir?"
"We have news that this girl who should be around 20 years old was spotted here. Can you tell me what your name is, young lady?"
When the young woman heard the agent ask her that, she replied in a normal, calm manner.
"Voclain Rose"
The CP agent starts asking her some questions. Still, the young woman replied calmly and collected, even in the face of tricky questions that would make her say something about her fake identity that would contradict other questions.
"I'm done with my questions, young lady. Take care of yourself in your journey. The seas are sometimes ruthless to decent people."
"You're welcome, now if you excuse me." said the Robin while continuing her journey toward the port.
As she did that, the CP agent looked a bit conflicted. Yet, he took another picture of Nico Robin. He could indeed confirm that the young lady who passed past him wasn't the target, especially when she acted so calm and even collaborated, responding to his questions.
Meanwhile, Nico Robin arrived at where some merchant ships were beginning pulling up their anchors, and seeing a young sailor looking on the wooden platform, she asked.
"Excuse me, are you guys set to sail soon?"
The young sailor looked at Robin and whistled at how gorgeous she was and said, confirming her thought.
"Yes, beauty. We're set to go to the next big island by here, Fiorense. Why do you want to join us?"
"Can I join you guys?" asked Robin while she watched this young sailor's eyes, who observed her in a perverted manner.
"Yes, yes. Come on board. The captain will surely not complain if you give him some money."
She nodded her head with a smile on her face and stepped on the boarding platform with her long slender legs.
When she stepped on the merchant ship's main deck, she was met by the young sailor who looked at her with an infatuated stare while asking her.
"What is your name?"
"Rose."
"Rose, such a beautiful name. I'm Gaspar. Let me take you to the captain, and you settle down how much it requires until our stop."
Robin just smiled at the young sailor as she followed at his back, looking at the busy merchant ship who seemed to be prepared to take off.
'What luck to think I would encounter a merchant ship that would leave right now. My luck usually was so bad that I had to board so many pirate ships that I lost count. Sigh, with this occasion, I will be able to settle my thoughts and prepare for my future journey.'
Going on the captain's cabin, she met a gray-haired man who seemed to be taller than her, who was a tall woman in her own right.
"So you want to join us on our journey? What is your profession, young lady?"
"I'm a wandering performer, sir, an actress if you know about this job. I can sing, dance, and even act."
"Ohh, impressive. Okay, I will take you with me to Fiorense, the journey will cost you about 75.000 bellies. Can you afford it, young lady?"
"Ahh, while the sum is a bit much for a starting performer like me, I can afford it. Here take this sum of money."
As she said that, she took some money from her backpack and gave it to the merchant ship captain without much regret. However, to her surprise, the ship captain shook his head slightly and only took 50.000 belies for himself.
"That should be enough, young lady. For the rest, maybe you will sing something for me if the weather gets bad."
"My pleasure, captain." responded Robin with a slight smile on her face.
"Hmm, right, young Rose, just ask one of the sailors to take you down to one room. I hope you are used to the shaking of ships and seafaring because this journey of ours will take us 15 days."
"There's no problem, sir. I've traveled quite a bit around West Blue, still trying to make a name for myself in the performing circle."
After she ended talking with the ship's captain, she walked to a sailor who seemed to be passing and asked him.
"Can you direct me to an open room? I have permission from sir Machelle."
"I see, so you paid that old gouger. There should still be open rooms on the lower deck. Come after me." responded a teen sailor without being bothered by Robin's request.
In just some minutes, Robin found herself staring at a small room with a small bed and an oil lamp inside, but she was fine with that too, as long she had a place to sleep and feel secure.
"Thank you for being patient with me."
"For nothing, hope you don't have trouble with the seasickness or trouble getting used to the night atmosphere of the ship. Also, be careful of crazy guys who want to jump on you. Better stay in your room to avoid those drunk retards."
"Huh, so there are also those types in this ship? No problem, I will keep in mind what you just said."
After biding the sailor farewell, Robin entered the small wooden room, placed her backpack next to the bed, and took a seat on the bed.
"A bit hard, but for only 15 days, it's sufficient. Let's see how welcoming Fiorense City is before I'm followed there too."
Following that, she could feel the ship shaking as if finally going out of the port, and soon the voices and bells of the ship began ringing.
Seated on the bed, she took the book named "Legends of Atlas" and with a serene face, she opened it to the mark she left inside where the chapter she was left was "Marks of Sun King".
As the ship was sailing, she was reading the book in a quiet manner, even seeming a bit lonely in this environment, but her face told the opposite. Her face showed a curious expression while she said to herself.
"Where is your kingdom, King Atlas. In what sea should I look? I've been journeying in West Blue for 14 years and only encountered one poneglyph besides the ones from home. That new poneglyph only talked about the history of the place the stele was and a bit out the great powers of that time. Atlas, Shandora, Assyr, Kush, Hellen, Qinn, such names, but I could only find a book on Atlas which is stated as a fantasy book and nothing more."
"Argh, it is so frustrating sometimes. No matter how much I try, I can't scrape my head to find the accurate location to where Atlas could be."
Then as she was thinking of the book she was writing, she suddenly sneezed all of a sudden.
"Did I catch a cold by chance?"
*Hapchu*
She sneezed yet again, three times continuously in a cute manner. Looking around herself with a puzzled expression, she put the bookmark in its place and took a break from reading, and lay down on the bed.
"What got into me? I'm sure this is not a cold since I know how the cold gets to me. That's so weird. It's just like what happened to me 2-3 years ago when I arrived in Siciliana, suddenly sneezing like I was one of those characters from fantasy stories which would sneeze when their name was pronounced."
"No way. What got into my head? Those are just fantasies."
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Meanwhile, while going back from Robin's journey toward another place, Vlad shook his head while staring at the Poneglyph and began walking away with the group while thinking in his mind.
'I will gather those steles, and when I find you, your job will be soothed out. At the same time, I will know everything that should be known. Especially about my enemy, those dead people warned me about and the so-called chosen one.'
Moving out of the temple and sealing back the entrance to the inner chambers, Vlad kept moving toward the camp the soldiers set up at the periphery of the town.
"Prince Vlad, I will stop here. I hope you have a safe journey back to your home, and also, once I'm done settling down, my people bring a bit of stability in the hearts of the people I would want to visit your country. How can I achieve that?" asked Zeke while stopping at the center of the town.
Vlad stared at Zeke, and without wasting too much time, he took a telephonic snail from his coat and give it to Zeke, following by saying to him.
"You see that there are some numbers on the shell that you can turn around using your finger? On the top of the shell, it's engraved a number you will have to spin that thing that holds numbers on the snail shell to call."
"Just like what Flex did?"
"You know? That's even simpler. You just have to spin the shell number and form what's enraged on the shell. The food the snail eats its vegetables, they are not so demanding on your pocket. Once you are prepared to visit my kingdom, you will always be welcomed. Also, this applies in case you need help from me, food supplies, new technology, and so on."
"Prince Vlad, no need to worry about the food shortage of Tamuin. With that, we were blessed plenty. I will look forward to seeing for myself what Velomer and the other merchant friends told me about."
"Heh, once you are in Sagletius, I will make sure you have the chance to meet those guys and see around what my kingdom can offer. Take care." ended Vlad, bidding farewell to Zeke together with Sofiya.
The couple began walking toward their camp, but Vlad heard another pair of footsteps walking behind him.
"Young girl, do you really wish to come along with my people back to Kaysang?
"Yes, Prince Vlad, since Valen took me out from the prison where I was chained, I decided to follow him."
Vlad wanted to comment on some insensitive things, but Sofiya, as if feeling what he was up to, took the lead saying to Maisha in a calm tone.
"There is no problem in joining us. Come along. That young soldier will make sure to introduce you properly to Kaysang customs and the way of life inside. Right, almost forgot. Get the necessities you have left home."
"Unfortunately, Lady Sofiya, I no longer have a home. So with this occasion, I will thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me join your country."
The group of 3 arrived at the soldier camp that seemed to only contain some who assisted the merchants in bringing their goods they brought from the inhabitants of Tamuin. There was also Flex and some soldiers who remained behind, who among them was Valen and his squad.
"Those greedy guys really brought everything they could get their hands on. Hey, solider, does that slight fatty merchant is here by chance?"
"Ahh, Your Highness, you are finally back. Sadly, the merchants are at Valor. They only left their attendants to deal with the goods." said Flex while seeing Vlad approach the camp and staring at the attendants and soldiers carrying packages filled with god knew what.
"How long will it take for all the goods to be packed in Valor, Flex?"
"I'm not one to be good at calculating Your Highness, but 30 more minutes should be enough for the last batch of goods to arrive at Valor. After that, we should be set ready for sailing."
Vlad nodded his head, and while keeping looking at Flex, he said something unexpected to the officer, even being a bit weird.
"Get me your snail for a bit. I want to call home. Hey, you Maisha, run back to your charming knight. You don't need to stay and watch my back. I already have eyes behind my back to do that."
Flex looked a bit weird at Vlad, but seeing his angry look, he remembered the pummeling he received when they first met at the back streets of Sagletius when he was a thug wannabe from Leviathan Syndicate. While Maisha finally breathed relief that Vlad gave her the okay. She quickly went back to where Valen and the 9 soldiers were standing as if waiting for her.
"Valen, I'm back. Sorry for making you wait."
"Ahh, Maisha, you are back. No problem, it's fine. I understand you had to work a bit. Come here, tell me how it was. Did you find something interesting while being with His Highness Vlad?" asked Valen when seeing Maisha get back.
"Hmmm, sure. If you are not bored by those types of stories."
"Haha, don't worry. We need 1 day to sail back to Kaysang. We have plenty of time." replied Valen when seeing Maisha's face looking slightly shy.
Maisha nodded her head as she started talking with Valen and sometimes respond with an annoyed expression to Bors comments.
Sofiya just smiled when she saw Maisha act genuinely around Valen and the other soldiers and turned her attention back on Vlad, who took Flex snail and touched its head a bit.
"Come, little guy, don't get shy now. We need to call home, to old Aldenis."
Yet the snail stuck his head inside his shell and didn't want to come out, making Flex's expression turn a bit to a mix of holding his laugher and fear to what Vlad could do to him if he let his laughter.
Meanwhile, Sofiya was having a good time pocking fun at Vlad.
"Come give me that snail. It is normal snails would be afraid of you, brute."
"Tsk, let's get already back to our ship and head back. Flex, I'll wait for you back home. Talk with Aldenis before visiting me."
"I understand, Your Highness. You have nothing to worry about. I will make sure to visit you."
"Good. Let's go, love. See, that snail doesn't want to talk with you too. Who's the brute now?" said Vlad in a sarcastic tone when seeing Sofiya try her best to lure out the snail from its shell.
"Hmph. I will make this little guy get his head out before we arrive at Sagletius. Take care, Flex, just use your brother's snails if you want to communicate with the headquarters."
"Don't worry, Your Grace. We'll handle ourselves in some shape and form. Have a safe journey."
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A/N: Here it goes, my first test. I've finally introduced her to the most befitting setting for her character.
So what do you think of the way I've written Nico Robin in this chapter? Should I make her attacks in French or use the English approach for her attacks? Better tell me so I know how to do her attacks in future appearances.
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There are also some ancient powers from the poneglyph she discovered while she was on the run in West Blue.
Question. Should I make a special mini-arc for each of those ancient great powers? What do you say, guys?
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Small Spoiler about those great powers!!!
I will also do some info for those great powers. First is obvious Atlas, the one Vlad's kingdom is sitting upon, and also the reason he finds those poneglyphs is because in the ancient past the land looked ... no more spoilers from here on. You'll find out the backstory of the world as I envision it.
Shandora, that one is also obvious since it was introduced in the Canon (City of Gold - Carthage or Tyre (Phoenician if you are history nerd like me) - small backstory for them, they were a great power in the bronze age and had colonies from Lebanon to Hispania )
Assyr is based upon Assyrian Empire
Kush - Egyptian Empire that stretches from the lower Egypt to the Kush area (where the Nile River Splits in White and Blue Nile)
Hellen - Oho boy, you don't need much introduction to this one (it's the Macedonian Empire at the pick of Hellenistic Age)
Qinn - or Qin Dynasty China that's the most infamous of dynasty from Chinese History
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Hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to vote for support.
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Thanks for reading this chapter.
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