Nico Robin had no friends on Ohara. Her father had passed away long ago, and her mother had left her for the sake of archaeology when she was only two.
Robin hadn't started forming memories yet at that age, so she had no impression of her parents' faces at all.
Living at her uncle's house all these years, her status was worse than a dog's. But since the Flower-Flower Fruit had long been taken away by Ren, Robin hadn't been called a monster because of a Devil Fruit.
Still, the kids in the village didn't really want to play with this parentless, shabby-looking brat.
But Robin didn't actually like playing with those stupid, childish kids either. The young Robin had inherited her parents' intelligence, especially her mother's. She was far more mature than peers whose heads were full of nothing but playing in the mud.
"Right!"
While accepting Dr. Clover's congratulations, Robin suddenly seemed to remember something. She took off on her short little legs, sprinting out of the Tree of Knowledge.
"I have to tell my friend the good news!"
Robin called back to Dr. Clover as she ran.
That actually sent Dr. Clover into thought.
Robin had made a friend?
He was one of the people who knew Robin's situation in the village wasn't great, but the help he could offer was limited. On Ohara, there was a vast gulf between the scholars in the Tree of Knowledge and the ordinary villagers.
Their status carried some weight if they went out into the world, but at a time like this, Dr. Clover didn't want Robin getting too entangled with them. Because even he didn't know when the World Government would turn its sights on them.
Actually, Robin should never have been allowed to become a scholar in the first place…
Not long ago, the World Government had issued Olvia's bounty to the entire world.
— Bounty: seventy-nine million Berries!
Even in Paradise, twenty years later, that would be a great pirate-level bounty. Many officers of New World pirate crews had bounties of only a few tens of millions.
Dr. Clover hadn't told Robin about the bounty. The little girl didn't have money for newspapers anyway, so he'd keep hiding it for as long as he could.
But that friend she mentioned — could it be…
Thinking of that, the old scholar sighed again.
Meanwhile, Nico Robin was beaming with joy, racing toward a remote stretch of forest coastline.
She'd met her new friend at that beach.
Someone who looked a bit strange.
But Robin hadn't been frightened or put off by his strangeness. Instead, through their interactions, she'd slowly become his friend.
'I wonder if he's at the beach right now… But the weather's so nice today, he probably is.'
She thought as she ran.
Soon, she reached the beach.
The shallow sandy shore was empty. The salty sea breeze blew against her face, leaving the thin, somewhat malnourished little girl feeling a bit disappointed.
"He's not here…"
Just as she was about to pout and leave, she suddenly heard a tremendous boom. A massive black shadow crashed down in front of her, shaking the sand across the entire beach!
Robin dropped straight onto her butt in fright.
By the time the little girl finally came to her senses, she realized the enormous black shadow wasn't anything dangerous — it was a huge fish from the nearby sea.
That fish was thicker than four Robins laid side by side, not to mention its length. It took up nearly half the already small beach!
If she had to eat this herself, it'd take years to finish!
After her shock, Robin felt a surge of joy.
In her mind, there was only one person who could catch a fish this enormous — her recently made friend!
So the little girl immediately broke into a beaming smile and shouted at the top of her lungs: "Mr. Bal! Are you there, Mr. Balzebud!"
Hearing her, a figure leapt down from the big fish's back and landed in front of Robin.
It was none other than Ren!
Only now, Ren was in his Eight-Headed Serpent Soul form. The World Government's wanted poster still had a photo of his Rumble Soul appearance.
In truth, outside of Inazuma, very few people had seen him in this form.
Ren busied himself preparing the fish. He found a towering tree in the forest, stripped and trimmed a ten-meter-plus trunk clean, then barely managed to prop the massive fish up on it before lighting a fire to grill it.
After finishing the prep, he sat on a toppled log and looked at the scrawny little girl. "What's up, Robin? You seem extra happy today."
In truth, Robin had gained quite a bit of weight over the past three months. Her sharp-tongued aunt had even suspected her of sneaking food.
But Robin had been so thin before that even after putting on some weight, she still looked quite slim. Her complexion had improved a lot, though — she no longer gave the impression of being malnourished.
"Mr. Bal, I passed my doctoral exam!" Robin pulled out a piece of paper with a beaming smile. It was clearly her doctoral certificate.
Seeing that, Ren perked up too. He took the certificate from Robin's hands and rubbed her head happily. "A doctor at only eight years old? You're really something, Robin!"
"Hehe!"
Hearing Ren's praise, Robin felt like she'd eaten honey. The joy was even greater than the achievement of becoming a doctor itself.
"From today, I'm a scholar too!"
"In that case, let's call this fish a celebration feast for you becoming a doctor," Ren said.
He was genuinely happy too. Robin earning her archaeology doctorate at eight showed just how brilliant she was. With her on board, Enkanomiya's scientific progress would get a huge boost!
And her specialty was a perfect fit!
After all, scientific progress depends on archaeology!
But for Ren, one Robin wasn't enough. Don't forget, he was Xia A-M… cough cough cough. Don't forget Robin also had a wind… cough, an archaeologist mother!
Wouldn't he have to take them both?
That'd give Inazuma's donburi one more flavor variety.
How nice!
Just kidding, just kidding.
In truth, Ren didn't have any particular designs on Robin. Taking the mother and daughter was real, but it wasn't just the two of them. In fact, he planned to bring back all of Ohara's scholars.
He'd even already worked out the plans.
Since Enkanomiya already existed, adding a Sanctuary of Surasthana wouldn't hurt. This batch of goofballs were all scholars, so building a Sanctuary of Surasthana to watch over things alongside Enkanomiya would work out nicely.
And Ren had grafted a Moon Tree a long while back, which could serve as the foundation for the Sanctuary of Surasthana.
[
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