Chapter 885: One Piece: A Bottle of Rum and a Lack of Respect, A Kiss from Nami and One from Nojiko, Hina’s Doubts, Crocodile’s Rage, and the Demon Girl Nico Robin.
The original Black Pearl once had two sides. While Barbossa filled it with weapons and terrorized the seas with its firepower, speed, and maneuverability, Jack Sparrow preferred subtlety and stealth.
The Pearl possessed natural camouflage at night due to its jet-black color, making it perfect for crossing the seas like a wandering ghost. That was why it had been able to approach the galleon undetected. Of course, when combined with the upgrades Allen had given the Pearl, it became a destroyer by day and a grim reaper by night.
Naturally, the size of both vessels also played a role. Even though Allen’s Black Pearl was now a forty-meter brigantine, it was still tiny compared to a two-hundred-meter galleon. Because of that, the people on the deck and bridge wouldn’t even be able to see the Black Pearl.
To board the ship, the three girls still had to use a grappling hook and rope.
After watching them board, Allen observed the rest of the ship.
There weren’t many lookouts, but about fifty meters toward both the bow and the stern, two lantern lights slowly moved along the deck. Those were the watchmen.
Nami, Nojiko, and Uta crouched behind a cannon.
"Alright," Nami said. "According to Mikita, this galleon has three lower decks. Our target is the second one."
Despite her excitement at infiltrating such a massive ship for the first time, she remained serious. After all, this was her first mission as a thief on the high seas as part of White Hair’s crew.
"Got it, but why?" Uta asked.
"The first lower level is for the crew, the third contains weapon storage like cannons and other equipment, and the second is where they keep supplies—which is what we’re interested in," Nami answered.
Nojiko smiled while carrying a chest on top of her sword. It was Lenalee. Although her primary source of "food" was treasure and money, she could also "digest" anything valuable. Normally, the value-to-quantity ratio wasn’t worth it, but they were talking about a huge galleon loaded with enough supplies to equip an army. The cargo was definitely worth at least one hundred million Berries. If only twenty percent of it were converted into coins, that would still be twenty million.
Nami gave Allen one last glance and signaled that they were heading below deck.
Allen nodded and disappeared. His objective was different: the captain’s cabin. According to Mikita, this shipment carried a considerable amount of cash intended to pay "bribes" to Marines and local governments in case they were discovered.
Watching Allen leave, Uta, Nojiko, and Nami nodded. Unexpectedly, however, a fourth girl followed them.
"Wait, I’m coming too," Kaya said as she grabbed the railing and climbed up the rope as best she could.
"Kaya?" Nami widened her eyes but quickly helped her aboard.
"It’s dangerous!" Nojiko whispered worriedly.
All the girls possessed some combat ability. At the very least, they could defend themselves, and with the strength Lenalee provided, they could handle this mission without problems. Kaya, however, despite being Level Two, had been born with a weak body. Her current condition was merely that of a healthy but otherwise ordinary girl.
"I’m part of the team too," Kaya said.
She looked nervous and frightened, but firm in her decision. In the end, Nami relented and allowed Kaya to accompany them.
The girls moved across the deck, avoiding the watchmen’s gaze, and entered through a door.
They descended the stairs to the first lower deck, and the first thing they saw was a long hallway lined with doors on both sides.
"I can hear snoring..." Uta whispered, pressing her hands against her ears. "Dozens of them, both on the right and left."
That number of people was normal for a galleon of this size.
"Uta, can you make them sleep more deeply?" Nami asked.
"Of course." Uta puffed out her chest proudly before falling silent. She inhaled deeply and began singing a lullaby.
Her voice lacked the power with which she usually sang. Instead, it became a beautiful whisper in the ear. Even her aura changed, transforming from a mischievous little demon into an angel.
The three girls couldn’t help admiring Uta’s talent.
Slowly, the already sleeping Baroque Works agents fell into an even deeper slumber. Even the hallway guards yawned before sitting down and falling asleep as well.
A minute later, Uta stopped singing and smiled while giving a thumbs-up, though sweat covered her forehead.
In the original timeline, Uta possessed enough power to affect even Vice Admirals. However, that level of strength was still more than two years away. The current Uta wasn’t nearly as powerful or skilled with her Devil Fruit.
"Well done," Nami smiled.
"Amazing!" Kaya said.
"As expected," Nojiko laughed.
The praise made Uta happy. She had sung many times before, but it had been years since she had performed for an audience. The thought of her remaining isolated on Elegia all that time was simply too sad.
The girls advanced down the hallway until they reached the staircase leading to the second level. However, it was blocked by a metal door.
Nami smiled arrogantly, pulled out a lock pick, and proceeded to pick the lock. For someone with her skills, it was easy.
"Amazing," Kaya said with sparkling eyes.
"It really is amazing..." Uta murmured. "Just remind me never to make you angry."
"No, I wouldn’t break into your rooms. Don’t worry," Nami smiled.
The girls descended to the second level. There was another hallway with rooms on both sides, but halfway through there was an open central space stretching between both walls. In the middle stood a massive hatch.
"Are those doors?" Kaya asked.
Nojiko nodded.
"On ships this large, cargo is loaded directly through those side hatches."
"Doesn’t matter. This is what we’re interested in." Nami approached one of the rooms with a metal door and forced the lock open. Inside were countless wooden crates and barrels.
Nami walked over to a crate and opened it with a knife she pulled from her pocket. Inside was ammunition.
She opened another and found brand-new weapons.
"Bingo!"
"That’s a lot of weapons..." Nojiko gasped.
The price of rifles and pistols varied, but each could easily be worth tens of thousands of Berries. If every room contained the same amount, there were hundreds of millions worth of weapons stored here.
"Come on, no time to waste," Uta said.
"Right," Nojiko agreed.
She placed Lenalee on the floor. The small magical chest expanded until it was the size of a bathtub.
Nami tossed a new rifle inside, and it disappeared.
When the scroll appeared, only a tiny fraction of the copper coin bar had been filled.
"Barely one percent?" Nami sighed.
They would need a hundred rifles just to equal a single million. It really wasn’t worth feeding Lenalee anything other than money and treasure, but the good news was that there were thousands of weapons in the hold.
The girls nodded and got to work.
...
Meanwhile, Allen arrived at the captain’s cabin.
Two guards stood in front of the door.
Allen smiled and vanished.
As one of them collapsed unconscious, the other tried to shout, but a blow to the back of the neck sent him to the ground as well.
"Good evening, gentlemen."
Allen appeared in front of them with a smile, glanced at them, and entered the cabin.
As expected of a galleon, the captain’s quarters were enormous. There were several bookshelves, a desk with a map spread across it, a leather chair, a massive window covering the entire back wall, sofas, armchairs, a tea table, and a custom-made bar.
Allen grinned and walked over to the bar, inspecting the various bottles. There was everything from rum to wine, some of exceptional quality.
"Oh..."
Allen grabbed a bottle of rum, walked over to the leather armchair, sat down shamelessly, and even propped his feet up on the desk.
[And just like that, all the tension of the mission is gone -_-]
"Come on, don’t worry. The girls are probably having a harder time than I am," Allen laughed.
He opened the bottle and started drinking with a complete lack of respect for the captain of the ship.
There wasn’t much tension on his side, but what did anyone expect? The guy had fought Garp just yesterday. Why would a simple raid on a cargo ship make him nervous?
There were Baroque Works members aboard, but even if there were five hundred of them, they wouldn’t pose a threat.
[Hey, did you see the map?]
Allen stopped drinking and looked at the map on the desk.
It was a map of Alabasta with several locations marked on it. Those were the destinations for the cargo.
"Alubarna... Nanohana... Rainbase... Yuba... Erumalu... Tamarisk... Ido... I understand the smuggling, but do they seriously need this many weapons in so many cities? Are they planning a revolution or something?" he said casually. It wasn’t as if he cared much.
[Who knows?]
Allen finished the bottle of rum in one gulp and stood up. He lost his balance for a moment before steadying himself against the desk.
[Are you an idiot?!]
Lenalee was speechless. This fool had a low alcohol tolerance and still decided to finish an entire bottle of rum.
"Ugh... I thought with Garp’s physique..." Allen covered his mouth as if he were about to vomit but managed to hold it back. Then he slapped his cheeks twice. "I’m fine..."
Allen staggered slightly as he walked around the cabin.
[What are you doing now?!]
"Working," Allen said, slurring his words. "Gotta find the safe, the hidden stash, or the fake wall that leads to the treasure!"
He opened the closet and found the captain’s wardrobe. There were noble outfits alongside pirate clothing.
"Wow, he has more clothes than Nami," Allen said while swaying. "I guess he dresses according to what he’s transporting and where he’s going... either an elegant gentleman or a shameless chameleon."
Allen laughed, grabbed a feathered hat, put it on, and looked at himself in the mirror.
"Oh! Somewhere between a musketeer and a fifteenth-century French nobleman! Haha!"
He tossed the hat aside and grabbed a cloak trimmed with feathers. After putting it on, he looked at himself again.
"What do you think? Do I look like a nineties pimp or a flirtatious pirate captain? Haha!"
[Good grief... this isn’t going to end well...]
"Relax, Lenalee. I’m just having fun. I’m not that drunk..." Allen said, raising an eyebrow. "Although I could be..."
He started walking toward the bar to grab another bottle.
[Stop!]
Instead, Allen picked up a crate and began filling it with the finest liquor bottles.
"Just kidding."
[Then find the safe!]
Allen froze before setting down the crate and shaking his head. He regained a little clarity and frowned. The power of money alone had brought him back to reality.
"You’re right."
He searched the cabin thoroughly: the desk, behind the paintings, inside the furniture, and finally discovered a loose floorboard. When he removed it, he found a hidden chest.
Allen ripped up the remaining boards and burst out laughing. Several gold bars were hidden beneath.
[That has to be worth at least ten million...]
...
Back on the ship, the rest of the girls didn’t know what to do.
One would expect Allen to act like a thug and attack the ship directly, but instead, he had chosen a stealthier method.
"Well, the cargo wouldn’t do us much good at the bottom of the ocean," Mikita said lazily while leaning against the railing.
"Is he really going to steal the entire shipment?" Tashigi couldn’t imagine all the contents of that galleon fitting into Allen’s ship. It made no sense.
"Maybe they’ll just take the money," Vivi said.
She gently patted Karoo’s head.
She wasn’t worried that anything would happen to them. Originally, the ship was supposed to be protected by Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, but one had been defeated and the other was now on Allen’s side.
Soon, they heard something land on the deck. It was Allen, carrying a large cloth sack over his shoulder.
"Well, that was a great harvest," Allen mocked.
Hina snorted. To her, a pirate’s success was a Marine’s failure.
Tashigi clicked her tongue.
Mikita, on the other hand, reacted completely differently. She jumped up, clasped her hands together, and smiled brightly.
"Yay~ The captain is the best!"
The praise was obviously fake flattery, but Allen welcomed any compliment, so he puffed out his chest proudly.
"Of course!"
Meanwhile, Vivi remained silent as she looked between the galleon and Allen. That massive shipment of weapons had been destined for Alabasta, but that wasn’t all.
She knew the truth. In his attempt to seize control of the kingdom, Crocodile was secretly supplying weapons to the rebels to destabilize the country. However, neither her father, the King of Alabasta, nor the revolutionaries knew that the true puppet master was the acclaimed Hero of Alabasta himself, Crocodile.
"Is something wrong, Vivi?" Allen asked.
Vivi quickly shook her head and waved her hands.
"It’s nothing!"
...
The girls spent another half hour on the ship before finally finishing and returning. They were completely exhausted after throwing thousands of weapons into the chest.
Allen welcomed them with a smile.
"Good work," he said.
Nami gave him a thumbs-up and approached him to whisper something in his ear. Allen laughed and pointed toward a sack resting beside the mast.
"The captain is the best!" Nami exclaimed excitedly before kissing him on the cheek. However, her impulsive action instantly turned into an awkward moment for both of them.
"Don’t worry about it," Allen said, coughing.
"R-Right," Nami replied, embarrassed.
"Hey, Captain, don’t we get a good job kiss too?" Nojiko teased.
Her joke eased the atmosphere and helped the awkwardness disappear.
"To begin with, I’m the one who got kissed by Nami, so shouldn’t you be the one doing it?" Allen said with a smug smile and raised eyebrow. "Though I doubt you’d dare."
Nojiko looked at him silently before stepping forward, grabbing his shirt, and pulling him closer.
Everyone was stunned, including Nami, who watched her sister kiss Allen right in front of everyone.
It only lasted a couple of seconds before she pushed him away.
"I’m not Nami..." Nojiko said before walking toward her room with slow, confident steps.
Allen was left speechless. What exactly was that supposed to mean? That she wasn’t the kind of girl he could embarrass?
"..."
Nami stared at her sister’s back in silence.
"That’s unfair..." Kaya said with lifeless eyes.
Uta blushed all the way to her ears, but when she noticed Vivi looking in her direction, she whistled and looked away.
"I don’t understand what the big deal is..." Mikita sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "There aren’t any children here. If I’d walked in on them having sex, that would be one thing, but causing a scandal over a little kiss?"
"Shut up!" Tashigi growled, her face bright red.
Which earned her a laugh from Mikita.
"Ara, sorry. I forgot the representative of virtue was here~"
"Huh?!" Tashigi snarled.
She was about to draw her sword, but Hina’s hand stopped her. The woman had remained silent while observing the scene.
"Captain Hina?" Tashigi asked in confusion.
Hina lit a cigarette and looked thoughtfully toward the galleon.
’To be honest, I feel a little sorry that these good kids chose the life of pirates.’
Hina had observed Allen’s crew up close. Every girl lacked the malice that characterized most pirates, and yet by choosing this path, they would inevitably have bounties placed on their heads sooner or later.
The woman turned to look at Allen.
’And this young man...’
If Hina had never boarded this ship, if she herself had never been captured, she would still think Allen was another incarnation of the devil—a pirate destined to bring chaos and death wherever he went. However, during this time she had seen something different.
He was selfish, ambitious, and egocentric, but not pure evil. She had never seen him harm innocent people, nor even consider it. More than that, he genuinely believed the world would be better if he ruled it.
But for something like that to happen, the World Government would have to disappear—or at least be radically changed—which would require removing all of its current leaders.
In short, Allen would have to become the enemy of the world to change it.
Hina smiled with a hint of melancholy.
’What a foolish man...’
Hina turned around and returned to her cabin. Tashigi watched her back, unsure what to say, though she deliberately avoided looking at Allen. She felt that the longer she stayed with them, the more her determination would weaken.
’We have to escape...’ Tashigi thought fearfully.
Fearful of the strange feeling that was beginning to poison her. Was it the comfort of this place? Her admiration for this crew? The respect she felt for someone like Allen, who was willing to face the world for his dream?
Tashigi didn’t know.
Vivi watched one girl leave after another. Then she clenched her fists while looking at Allen, who was trying to calm Kaya down as she pouted and weakly punched his chest.
"That’s enough, we need to set sail!" Allen exclaimed, and the sails unfurled.
The Black Pearl set sail for its next destination, while the galleon’s crew didn’t realize what had happened until much later.
...
The galleon’s captain returned to his cabin after adjusting the course toward Alabasta. It had been a difficult day. Without official escort agents, the stress had been exhausting. Fortunately, they were already in Baroque Works territory, and the rest of the journey would be safer.
The moment he opened the door, he froze.
The first thing he saw was his clothing scattered all over the floor, and he turned pale. Then he looked toward his bar, where he had spent most of his salary over the years building up his liquor collection, and his face turned blue.
Finally, he noticed the hole in the floor. When he saw it empty—not even a single coin left behind—he collapsed unconscious, foam spilling from his mouth.
...
(Baroque Works Headquarters, Rainbase City, Kingdom of Alabasta.)
"Damn it!"
Crocodile swept everything off his desk as his face twisted with rage.
Crocodile was a tall man with a square jaw and the bearing of a mafia boss. He had a horizontal scar across his face and a golden hook in place of one hand. He typically wore a suit beneath a dull green coat.
At this moment, he was beyond furious. He had just received information that left him beside himself.
The largest shipment of weapons to date had been stolen. That alone was a severe blow to his plans, but it was nothing compared to the report delivered by Mr. 13 and Miss Friday.
Allen Walker—the brat who had fought Garp—was responsible for defeating two of his elite agents. Furthermore, from what they had understood, the boy seemed to have set his sights on Crocodile himself.
"I’m so close to obtaining Pluton! I won’t let some brat interfere!"
"I don’t know if I’d call someone who survived Garp a brat..." a woman said from the doorway.
"Nico Robin..." Crocodile growled as he turned around. "What do you want?"
The woman smiled as she adjusted her cowboy hat. Even now, after years of working together, Crocodile still looked at her with suspicion, as though she might betray him at any moment.
"I just thought it might be too early to jump to conclusions. Perhaps you should investigate his intentions more thoroughly."
"Does it matter?!" Crocodile hurled a knife that embedded itself in the wall beside Robin. There was a sketch of Mr. 13 there, but with Vivi’s face drawn over it.
"That princess not only survived, but she was hiding right under our noses!" Crocodile narrowed his eyes. "And now she’s aboard White Hair’s ship..."
"Are you afraid of him?" Robin asked, blinking.
Crocodile’s eyes turned bloodshot.
"My apologies," Robin bowed, realizing she had said too much, and turned to leave.
"Wait, Miss All Sunday."
"Do you need something, Mr. Zero?"
"With your Devil Fruit, you can easily investigate Walker’s intentions. Depending on whether he intends to confront me or was just passing through, I’ll decide what to do."
"Understood..."
Robin turned and walked away from the spot while Crocodile watched her back.
"What an unpleasant woman... but what else could one expect from the demon girl?"
Robin stopped walking for a moment but didn’t change her expression before resuming her walk; she was all too used to being treated that way.
Instead of worrying, the beauty with blue eyes and black hair pulled a "Wanted" poster from her clothes and watched the young man there in silence before smiling slightly.
Cherry blossom petals floated around her before she left the building.
====
A/N: Here’s the character many consider to be the waifu of One Piece: Nico Robin... Personally, I can’t decide whether she or Nami is better—I like them both. 🍷🗿
