The battle between the Marines and the Strongman Pirates raged fiercely. Doflamingo waited with detached boredom for the conclusion, while Robin, hidden inside the wine barrel, possessed none of his leisurely calm. She was frantic with anxiety.
The sounds of shouting and killing outside were incessant, but for Robin aboard the pirate ship, it felt like being plunged into an icy abyss. All three parties were suffering – the pirates and Marines endured physical pain, but Robin faced purely mental torture. It was a relentless torment, an ordeal difficult even for an adult to withstand, let alone a child merely eight years old.
What do I do? What if the pirates lose? No, they can't, they absolutely can't! Come on, pirates, fight! Inside the dark barrel, Robin was a mess of nerves, pacing like a trapped animal, even starting to silently cheer for the pirates.
In her desperation, she was clutching at straws, clinging fiercely to the pirates as her last lifeline.
"Surrender, Strongman Martin! Your end is near!" Lieutenant Olivares, splattered with blood, snarled menacingly at the few remaining Strongman Pirates.
"Like hell I will! Damn Marines! I'd rather die standing than surrender to you!" Martin retorted, his voice booming with defiance, refusing to show any weakness.
"Fine, fine! Spoken like the great Strongman Martin, truly got guts! In that case, you can all die alongside Nico Robin!" Olivares declared coldly. "We'll not only claim the credit for capturing Nico Robin, but we'll also clean up trash like you lot while we're at it!"
"Anyone can talk big! Let's see you back it up with action!" Martin was not easily intimidated. Even at a disadvantage, his remaining strength wasn't far below the Marines'.
"Kill them! Slaughter these villains!" "Victory is close! A bright future awaits! Charge, men!"
The Marines continuously bolstered their morale, charging towards the pirates one after another.
"Brothers, kill them! Even if we die, drag a few more Marines down with us!" Martin, his fists already caked in dried blood, did his best to rally his remaining men, leading the final charge.
"The farce should be over by now, shouldn't it?" The outcome was decided. Doflamingo watched the monkeys fight from the shadows, bored. While it might look intense to others, to him, it was insignificant. What did they expect, some kind of spectacular show?
"It's over for you, Strongman Martin," Lieutenant Olivares said coldly, looking down at Martin, who had finally been subdued by his men.
"Just kill me," Martin said weakly, his voice low. The Strongman Pirates were finished, wiped out except for him.
"You'll get what's coming to you soon enough. Now, get aboard and capture Nico Robin!" Olivares paid Martin's words no mind. What was the credit for catching a minor pirate compared to capturing Nico Robin, the Demon Child herself? Olivares knew perfectly well which prize was more valuable.
The Marines had also suffered heavy losses, but compared to the Strongman Pirates, they were in far better shape.
Receiving Lieutenant Olivares's command, the Marines acted swiftly, swarming onto the pirate ship.
The battle concluded; the chaotic noise faded. Robin understood the outcome: the Marines had won. All hope, she guessed, was lost.
"Search the ship! Don't miss a single ant!" Lieutenant Olivares stood on the deck, watching his men work, his expression grim.
The rhythmic thud-thud-thud of boots echoed as Marines moved all over the ship.
Inside the barrel, Robin's heart hammered against her ribs. In the sudden quiet, she could almost hear its frantic beat. Clasping her hands together, she prayed relentlessly in her mind, Don't find me, please don't find me. Mama, Saul, please protect me.
Footsteps lingered just outside her barrel, never moving far, keeping Robin's heart lodged firmly in her throat.
"Report, Lieutenant Olivares! We've searched the entire vessel! No sign of Nico Robin!" a Marine saluted, delivering the report.
"How is that possible?!" Olivares's face turned ugly upon hearing the report. After going to such lengths, they hadn't found Nico Robin? He had locked down the entire island to prevent her escape, disrupting countless people's business. If complaints were filed, he'd be in deep trouble. "Bring me the informant!" Olivares growled, his face tight with suppressed fury.
Robin, inside the barrel, overheard the exchange and breathed a tiny sigh of relief. Mama and Saul really did protect me.
Soon, the informant, the little lackey in the black suit, was brought before Lieutenant Olivares.
"Tell me," Olivares began, his tone sharp, "you said Nico Robin was here. Did you actually see her with your own eyes? Why can't we find any trace of her?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! She must be here! She has to be!" The lackey saw Olivares's expression and instantly knew things looked bad. Betraying Doflamingo was unthinkable, so he could only stubbornly repeat, "Nico Robin is definitely here!"
He reasoned that he was just a small fry. Why would a figure as immense as Doflamingo deceive him? Just to play a trick? Unlikely. There could only be one explanation: these incompetent Marines hadn't searched properly and missed her.
Having convinced himself, the lackey's confidence returned somewhat. "She's definitely here! I saw her board this ship with my own eyes! There's no way she could have escaped!" His gaze was firm, his voice filled with certainty.
The lackey's conviction seemed to slightly improve Olivares's mood. "Is that so? Well then, I'll give you a chance. You find her for me," Olivares said smoothly, deciding to follow this lead. He also suspected his men might have been careless; after all, he knew exactly how useless his own soldiers could be.
"Uh..." The lackey hesitated, suddenly unsure.
"What is it?" Olivares's voice rose sharply. "Let me tell you, filing false reports carries its own punishment!"
"I'll go!"
Inside the barrel, Robin had barely processed her momentary relief when Olivares's words plunged her back into torment. She despised this informant with every fiber of her being. If it weren't for him, these bumbling Marines would never have found her!
"Did you people really search everywhere?" the lackey asked the nearby Marines.
"What, you don't trust us to do our job?" the questioned Marines retorted, their faces souring.
"Frankly, no. Bunch of unreliable idiots," the lackey muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?! Say that again!" The Marines heard his muttering, their faces turning livid as they demanded clarification.
"Nothing! I said you all look very handsome today!" the lackey quickly backpedaled with a forced smile.
"Hmph!" The Marines weren't appeased by his flattery. "Let me tell you, if you don't find her, you'll answer to us!"
"Did you check inside these barrels?" The lackey ignored their threats, pressing his inquiry.
"Well... no, actually," a Marine admitted, realization dawning. "Quick! Search all the barrels! Check every possible hiding place, everything! This is our bright future we're talking about!"
Hearing the order to search the barrels, the last flicker of hope in Robin's heart was extinguished. She could only hug her thin frame tightly, alone, silently waiting for the Marines to reach her.
Soon, they arrived at the very barrel where Nico Robin hid.
CRACK!
The lid was ripped open. A shaft of light pierced the darkness, illuminating the small girl curled up inside. Robin couldn't escape being discovered after all.
The moment they saw someone inside, the Marines were overjoyed. Promotion! The lackey also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Quick! Report to Lieutenant Olivares!" "Lieutenant Olivares! We found Nico Robin!" a Marine reported excitedly.
"Really? Hahaha! That's wonderful! Lady Luck truly favors me!" Olivares was ecstatic, the earlier frustration completely forgotten. "Quick, bring Nico Robin here!" he commanded.
Soon, Nico Robin was dragged out, hauled by several Marines. Her eyes were empty, lifeless. Her heart was completely filled with despair. She knew what her fate would be now.
"So, you're Nico Robin? The Demon Child? The last remnant of Ohara, seeking to destroy the world?" Olivares questioned her.
"You cursed jinx! Damn you! It's all your fault we ended up in this mess!" Captain Martin, bound nearby, spat hatefully at Robin.
But Robin had no mind to respond. Even Martin's furious curses didn't register.
"Take her away," Olivares ordered, seeing Robin's utterly broken state. No need for more words. The credit was almost his. Soon he'd be living the good life. Olivares and his men could already taste their bright future.
From the shadows, Doflamingo witnessed Nico Robin's capture. He still didn't plan to intervene. It wasn't time yet.
When the fighting ended, the civilians who had scattered at the start gradually began to gather again. Though the scene – slick with blood, littered with corpses – was nauseating, their morbid curiosity drew them back to witness the outcome. Doflamingo, of course, had subtly encouraged this, wanting Nico Robin to experience this moment fully.
The Marines dragged Nico Robin off the ship, preparing to leave.
"My, so that's the Demon Child? She's just a little girl, barely eight years old!" "What do you know? She's a remnant of Ohara! Inherited their dangerous ideas! She wants to destroy the whole world!" "You really can't tell, so young but such a poisonous mind. Nothing good ever came from Ohara. Better that they were all wiped out!" "Yeah! Ohara should have been destroyed long ago! With dangerous people like that around, how can we even eat in peace?" "Little rat! Better off dead! Don't come here sickening us!"
Seeing Nico Robin captured, the residents unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse, spewing all sorts of vile words without restraint.
Young Robin had never faced anything like this. The onlookers reveled in the drama, hurling the most vicious insults imaginable, targeting not just Robin, but everything she held dear. Even today, adults struggle against online trolls; imagine an eight-year-old girl facing such hatred directly, in person!
Robin, already sunk in despair, initially felt numb to their taunts. But everyone has things they cherish, and Robin was no exception. She absolutely could not tolerate these people slandering Ohara, slandering everything her mother and the scholars had stood for.
"What do you know?! Shut up! You ignorant fools know nothing!" Robin lifted her downcast head, glaring fiercely at the surrounding crowd, shouting back in fury.
"Look, she snapped! She snapped!" "Looks like we hit a nerve!" "Little brat, what are you looking at? Keep looking and we'll gouge your eyes out!"
The crowd delighted in Robin's reaction. Seeing her break down brought them a perverse sense of satisfaction.
"May you all die horribly!" Raised with refinement, this was the strongest curse Robin could muster.
But this single sentence ignited the crowd's fury. "Who are you talking about?! You should be the one to die horribly!" "Your whole family should die horribly!" "Oh, wait! Isn't she the only one left in her family? And now she's going to die horribly!" "Hahaha!"
People rarely empathize with others' suffering. Even the Marines seemed to think the crowd was going too far and began trying to restrain them somewhat.
"Someone save me... Anyone..." Robin sobbed, utterly despairing and helpless. She hated the World Government, hated the Marines, hated these ignorant masses. If she could, she would destroy them all.
"No one is coming to save you. Give up hope!" Lieutenant Olivares stated flatly.
"Save me... someone save me..." Robin repeated the phrase endlessly, her head bowed low, limbs limp as the Marines dragged her away.
It's time. In the shadows, Doflamingo's expression turned serious. Now, it's Doflamingo's moment to shine.
He stepped out into the open.
"Little girl," his voice cut through the noise, addressing Robin directly. "Do you need help?"
_______
+40 chapters on: patreon.com/Shinobi_Scrolls