The mysterious woman clearly hadn't expected Arashi to describe their encounter as "fate." She turned her head slightly again, and for the first time, a subtle ripple appeared in those crimson eyes.
"Fate?"
Tilting her head faintly, she looked at Arashi with newfound interest.
"If we meet again… then perhaps it can truly be called fate."
"Then let's look forward to that fate together."
Arashi waved casually with a smile before turning around and walking back toward the Traveler without hesitation.
Watching him leave so decisively, another trace of emotion flickered in the woman's scarlet eyes.
Moments earlier, she had deliberately allowed the sea breeze to lift her veil, intentionally revealing her face for Arashi to see.
During her month in the West Blue, countless men who saw her beauty had gone mad with desire.
Without exception, she had killed every one of them.
Originally, she thought Arashi would be the same. Especially after he used the word "fate" to describe their encounter, she assumed he would use it to continue the conversation and draw closer to her.
But instead—
He stopped exactly where he intended to.
Then simply turned and left.
The result genuinely surprised her.
Of course, what shocked her most wasn't his departure.
It was that, despite keeping her Observation Haki active the entire time, she had been unable to predict Arashi's next move.
She couldn't even hear his inner thoughts.
She was confident in her own strength.
Especially her Observation Haki.
She could perfectly foresee the actions of others and even hear the voices of their hearts.
Yet just now—
Her foresight had completely failed.
And she couldn't hear Arashi's thoughts at all.
Her crimson eyes remained fixed upon Arashi as he boarded the Traveler. Only after he disappeared into the cabin did she finally withdraw her gaze.
"Traveler…"
She blinked thoughtfully.
The next moment, the small black boat beneath her moved without wind, accelerating instantly before vanishing into the moonlit sea.
Inside the cabin, Perona hugged a huge pile of Beli while enthusiastically discussing with Robin what they should buy.
After talking for half the night, she realized there was simply too much money to spend.
This immediately troubled her.
In the end, she even decided they should buy another ship solely to store her snacks and pretty clothes.
Watching the excited little girl, Robin couldn't help smiling warmly as well.
"I have a suggestion."
Walking into the cabin and seeing Perona wanting to buy everything in existence, Arashi joined the discussion.
"This amount of money actually isn't that much. Let's save it first. Once we've accumulated a few hundred billion Beli, we can just buy a small country to play with."
"At that point, there'll be endless snacks and beautiful clothes."
"Buy a country?"
Perona instantly became serious.
"That idea is amazing!"
"Then I'll be a princess! No, wait—I'm already the Ghost Princess!"
"I'll be the queen!"
"Arashi, you should be king, okay?"
"As for Robin-chan…" She paused awkwardly. "Um… aside from queen, Robin-chan can be whatever she wants!"
Hearing this, Robin burst into laughter again.
She had never cared much about treasure or money, but simply being with Arashi and Perona already made her feel happy.
Still, seeing Perona's excited expression made her begin looking forward to it too.
After all, she was only eighteen or nineteen herself—not much older than Perona.
"No, wait!"
Perona suddenly realized something.
"If we already have hundreds of billions of Beli, why buy a country? We could just buy all the delicious food and beautiful clothes in the world instead!"
"And what if the money runs out?"
Arashi flicked her forehead lightly.
"Buying a country is a long-term investment, got it?"
"Of course, buying a country isn't very realistic for me. There are still countless places in this world I haven't traveled to yet."
"So are we buying one or not?" Perona fell into deep conflict.
"We'll think about it after we actually get a few hundred billion."
After joking around with Perona for a while, Arashi finally turned toward Robin and became serious.
"Robin, how far have you developed your Devil Fruit ability?"
"Huh?"
Caught off guard by Arashi suddenly becoming serious, Robin quickly composed herself and answered honestly:
"I'm not entirely sure. I've spent all these years surviving in the West Blue… I never really had time to train properly."
"That's fine. There's no rush with Devil Fruit development."
Arashi nodded.
"Next, I'm going to teach you and Perona Armament Haki, Observation Haki…"
"And the Six Powers."
"Armament Haki?"
"Observation Haki?"
Robin and Perona both looked up simultaneously.
After a brief moment of shock, Robin suddenly realized something and asked carefully:
"Mr. Arashi… you know the Six Powers? Isn't that a Marine technique…?"
"Yeah. Back when I was traveling through the East Blue, I learned a few things from Garp."
"G-Garp?!"
Robin never imagined Arashi actually knew Vice Admiral Garp—the legendary Marine Hero.
After her initial shock, she quickly noticed her own overreaction and hurriedly lowered her head.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Arashi, I—"
"You don't need to apologize."
Arashi interrupted her gently.
"And stop saying 'sorry' all the time."
"You haven't wronged anyone."
"It's this world that wronged you."
Of course, Arashi understood exactly what Robin was thinking.
Her fear of the Marines was perfectly understandable. The Buster Call had left an indelible scar on her childhood.
And because of that, he became even more determined to teach both Robin and Perona Haki and the Six Powers.
Unlike Makino or Belle-mère, these two wouldn't remain tied to one place forever.
They would continue traveling with him.
Although he originally only agreed to let Robin stay for one month…
Now that she was already aboard the Traveler, there was no way he intended to let her leave.
Since he had decided to keep them by his side, their strength needed to improve.
While Arashi had no intention of joining any faction and only wanted to travel freely, once they entered the New World, unexpected dangers would inevitably arise.
Preparation was always better than being caught off guard.
Both girls were already Devil Fruit users, and their abilities were fixed. But right now, neither of them had much understanding of Haki, nor any grasp of swordsmanship.
It was time to seriously begin strengthening them.
Swordsmanship could be optional.
But Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and the Six Powers—
Those were things they absolutely needed to master as quickly as possible.
"Alright, get some rest."
Having made his decision, Arashi stood up.
"We'll rest tonight. Tomorrow, we continue our journey."
"And we'll start with Armament Haki."
Perona instantly jumped up excitedly.
"So exciting! Armament Haki! Observation Haki!"
"Ahhh, I want to start right now!"
"No no no—I'm sleeping with Arashi tonight! Otherwise you'll wake up tomorrow and forget all about this!"
The moment she finished speaking, she leaped onto Arashi's back and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.
Arashi turned his head toward the little girl hanging from him, a giant question mark practically appearing over his face.
"These two things have absolutely nothing to do with each other…"
"I don't care!"
Perona clung to him stubbornly.
"No wait—not just tonight."
"I'm sleeping with Arashi forever!"
"Hehe…"
Watching Perona shamelessly jump onto Arashi while he stood there looking helpless, Robin finally completely let go and laughed so hard her whole body trembled.
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