Chapter 183 — Rebirth, Deity, Pleasantries

The registration office.

"All of my wealth?"

Perona blinked, finding the other party somewhat unreasonable.

Still, a normal academy would never teach something as advanced as Haki.

She bit down on her pearly teeth, steeling her resolve: "If that is what it takes, then take it all! I must grow stronger—so that Lord Moria can rise again!"

Hearing these words from the Ghost Princess, Robin's lips curved faintly upward.

If the Headmaster were to hear this, she imagined, he would rather like this young lady.

That man Wang Xu had an odd and changeable temperament, acting on whatever whim seized him—yet after spending some time together, Robin had, after all, grasped a little of his likes and dislikes.

After murmuring a few words to the crystal ball, Nico Robin lifted her head and smiled: "Congratulations. You are now officially a member of the Protagonist Academy."

"Just like that?"

Perona hovered in the air, hands planted on her hips, her black-and-white striped stockings dazzling in the sunlight, her legs long and slender.

"You are not some swindler, are you?"

At those words, Robin covered half her face with one hand and sighed.

Were all the young girls of this day and age this wary?

A coating of black-purple Armament Haki plated her slender hand; she reached out and seized the Ghost Princess by the ankle.

"Time for class."

"You arrived rather late. You are far behind the other students and will need extra tutoring."

As though hauling along a human-shaped balloon doll, Robin dragged Perona into the classroom.

The Ghost Princess's plush pet Kumacy followed after them, its face beaded with cold sweat.

"Hey! Let go of me!"

"You will address me as Teacher Robin."

"Is the Protagonist Academy truly this short-handed?"

"Heh heh..."

And so it was that Perona, Nami, and Natasha became the first three students of the Protagonist Academy.

...

The first half of the Grand Line.

The desert kingdom of Alabasta.

The royal capital, Alubarna.

At this very moment, Queen Vivi was granting an audience to the White Hunter Smoker and his assistant Tashigi.

Smoker had a cigar clamped between his teeth, wearing his usual surly look.

Tashigi, newly promoted from petty officer to lieutenant of Marine Headquarters, had taken on the mission of requesting aid: "The Straw Hat crew is formidable and full of cunning tricks. They are very difficult to capture."

"For the sake of justice, we need your help, Your Majesty!"

Vivi gazed at the faint glimmer flickering in Tashigi's eyes, and a tall, graceful figure rose once more from the depths of her memory.

She could never forget who had stepped in to save him from that red-haired devil.

Nico Robin—bearer of the Hana Hana no Mi, said in legend to be the strongest of all the far-seeing powers.

She could save others, yet she could not save herself.

A solitary figure, standing all alone, with only her own shadow for company.

She could trust no one, and could accept no one's trust.

It truly made one's heart ache.

Though their time together had not been long, Robin's place in Vivi's heart had already come to surpass that of her childhood friend Koza, who had been butchered like a pig by Gaara.

Noticing that the other seemed somewhat lost in thought, Tashigi puffed out her cheeks and childishly recited the other's name: "Queen Nefertari Vivi, Your Majesty?"

Vivi, sunk in her fond remembrance of Robin, was startled awake, her awareness returning from fantasy to reality.

She forced a smile and said: "It is quite all right. I understand what you mean."

"To wipe out pirate crews and preserve the order and peace of the kingdom—that is my duty to fulfill."

"Speaking of which, during the recent turmoil in Alabasta, we owed a great deal to Rear Admiral Nami."

"You have truly worked hard."

At these words, the cigar in Smoker's mouth suddenly dropped to the ground.

With an expressionless face, he lit himself another.

According to reliable reports, Rear Admiral Nami had scarcely lifted a finger at the time.

The ones who had forced Crocodile to disband Baroque Works and voluntarily withdraw from the Seven Warlords of the Sea were merely the three generals under her command.

Blood Wolf Logan, Mystic Turtle Steve Rogers, Black Widow Natasha.

Smoker understood the might of the Seven Warlords better than anyone.

It was not simply strength on the physical plane—it was a might that was complete in every dimension!

Influence, wealth, manpower, martial power!

He could not imagine how those three generals—mere colonels like himself—had managed to accomplish such a thing!

"That is good to hear."

Smoker steadied his churning emotions and turned to leave.

"Forgive the intrusion. My apologies!"

Tashigi, the bespectacled girl who clutched her sword, bowed to Queen Vivi and at once departed the palace.

Vivi looked around in a daze.

Palace maids, guards, attendants...

People came and went, yet she felt a certain chill and emptiness.

The one she cared for—where in the world was she at this moment?

Vivi was somewhat worried about Robin.

Legends of the strongest Hana Hana no Mi user had always circulated along the Grand Line.

What if someone, out of jealousy, were to move against her?

What if Robin's fruit were to awaken, and like that far-seeing Hana Hana user of several hundred years ago, she were to erase the existence of her own true body—what then?

She still wanted to thank her in person.

"You wish to see Nico Robin, is that not so?"

A gentle male voice sounded at Vivi's ear.

"Who goes there!"

Vivi's pupils contracted in an instant into dangerous needle-points, her spine bending ever so slightly, gathering power like a drawn slingshot.

Her slender, hardly robust body shot several meters away in an instant.

Within the palace, every guard, palace maid, and minister kept their heads bowed, as though they had seen nothing and heard nothing at all.

"Has everyone... been bought off?"

Vivi's heart turned cold, yet she drew a self-defense dagger from beside her leather boot and looked at the other with unyielding eyes.

Her throne had not been inherited in smooth and easy succession.

Before becoming queen, she had once gone undercover in Baroque Works for a time as a mole and bounty hunter.

Stubbornness was branded into every drop of Vivi's blood.

She took in the other's appearance clearly.

Hair black as ink, pupils like dimly gleaming gems, soft stray locks framing his face—he looked like a gentle, sunny, handsome boy next door.

Yet Vivi found it very strange.

His looks were plainly striking, yet the moment she closed her eyes, she forgot what he looked like.

She was too weak—she had no right to remember his face. This thought surfaced in Vivi's mind in an instant.

Queen Vivi knew well that such a notion defied logic and rested on no basis whatsoever, yet that was precisely what she believed.

It was as though her mind and memory were protecting themselves.

"There is no need to be so tense."

Wang Xu smiled gently, his words like a babbling brook, nourishing the heart: "I know where Nico Robin is."

At the mention of Robin's name, the hostility on Vivi's face subsided considerably.

She reversed the dagger that had been aimed at Wang Huai'an and sheathed it: "Just who are you?"

"Though it will be hard for you to follow, I suppose I should explain a little."

Wang Yanzhou's tone was indifferent.

Like a bard of history, he intoned softly: "At the beginning, I was merely a peeper of the world."

"Then, I became an observer of the universe."

"As for now..."

"I am a guide of the planes."

"I hold fate in my grasp, twist cause and effect, and alter the future."

Vivi felt a chill creep between her fingers, and goosebumps rose all over her skin.

From his description, she could only imagine a divine 'nature' devoid of all emotional fluctuation.

If Wang Muyuan's words were not false, then perhaps...

He was a true god.

Then the question arose.

What did he intend to do?