The Log Pose pointed to the island below. Its needle quivered lightly as it slowly aligned with the island's magnetic field.
Robin temporarily tucked the Log Pose into her pocket, deciding to check it again after she and Liam finished resupplying on the island. Since Liam could instantly recharge the Log Pose's magnetic force with his Magnet-Magnet Fruit powers, there was no rush.
The two of them strolled across the island as if on a leisurely outing. It wasn't particularly large.
Unlike the former Magnetic Drum Kingdom or the present Snow Kingdom, this was a spring island with a pleasant climate, birds singing and flowers blooming everywhere.
However, unlike the winter island, this beautiful environment also felt excessively "natural," bordering on a wild, untamed atmosphere.
Robin observed the surroundings as they walked through the forest. Bending down, she pushed aside the waist-high weeds and found what should have been a wide dirt path beneath her feet.
"Abandoned?" she thought.
Suddenly, the giant head of a 4–5-meter-tall beast emerged from the weeds, its jaws wide open as it lunged at her.
Liam's massive hand shot out and gripped the beast's head. He clenched tightly.
The beast let out a heart-wrenching scream, and with a dull thud, its head collapsed to the ground sideways.
"Let's check over there." Robin pointed to another patch of forest.
Liam kicked lightly, and the corpse of the ton-heavy beast spun through the air. Its last leg landed in B.I.B.'s hand and dragged along behind it as it followed the main body and Robin.
Robin entered a grove—a small orchard. She examined the branches, which were heavy with wild fruit. "Someone cultivated these, but the traces aren't clear anymore."
She glanced back at Liam. He activated Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki), sweeping across the entire island in an instant and making a rough assessment: "There's basically no human presence on this island."
The two of them walked side by side out of the forest and stood on a hillside overlooking the plains below, where a small city lay.
Soon, they walked along the streets of that city.
Buildings had collapsed and the streets were littered with rotting wood, rusted gun barrels, torn clothing, and broken swords.
At one corner stood what looked like an old restaurant overrun with weeds.
The walls bore marks from swords and knives. Robin ran her fingers over the marks, considering that the island enjoyed mild weather year-round. "These marks are probably over two years old," she deduced.
"Looks like we can't buy proper food here," Liam remarked. He stepped forward, the weeds towering above his waist. With a crack, something broke beneath his foot. Turns out, he had stepped on a set of dried bones.
Robin squatted down and examined the white vertebrae. A black bullet was embedded in the spine. With a snap, she carefully removed it with her fingers.
"A lead bullet..." Robin sighed and stood up. "A type commonly used by pirates. Easy to make and cheap to produce."
The wind blew, rustling the weeds among the ruins—a sha-sha sound—punctuated by a startled cry.
Rosé rolled and tumbled out of the weeds, followed by a black wolf roughly her size.
Liam and Robin watched the wolf chase the girl.
"This city was completely destroyed by a pirate attack at least two years ago, along with the entire country on this island," Liam said.
The girl panicked under the wolf's sudden attack and fled.
"Seems so..." Robin nodded. Even though she was a history Ph.D. and archaeologist accustomed to reading about similar events, she still felt a pang of regret.
Cornered in the ruins, the wolf pursued her relentlessly and finally leaped at Rosé with a howl.
Rosé pressed her left hand against the wolf, creating a tubular passageway from its mouth to its rump. She plunged her right arm inside, and a sharp spike suddenly pierced its back, spraying blood.
The wolf's jaws had transformed into a tube due to the Gomu Gomu Fruit, so it could no longer bite Rosé. It could only watch helplessly as she repeatedly stabbed its abdomen with her right arm until it slid down, exhausted, and fell.
Rosé collapsed on top of the ruins, holding a plate in her bloodied right hand.
Liam lightly raised and lowered his right foot. He was ready to perform Rankyaku, but then canceled.
Robin noticed and gave him a subtle Issho gesture. Liam rolled his eyes and glanced at her hand behind her back. She was poised to use her Flower-Flower Fruit (Hana Hana no Mi) ability.
Among the wolf's fur, which was scattered in a pool of blood, petals were scattered as well. Robin shrugged and playfully winked.
Shh, shh. The corpse of the four- to five-meter-tall beast was dragged by an unseen force past them and approached Giorno and Jolyne.
Rosé steadied her breath, pursed her lips, and carefully followed the beast's corpse to the two pirates.
Liam gave her a questioning look.
"I—I'm here to return the plate..." Rosé said nervously.
She handed over the plate and realized that, after using it to spike the wolf, it was now covered in blood, making her even more nervous.
"Boru." A familiar voice came from Jolyne's shoulder.
Rosé looked up and saw Little Green popping out from Jolyne's shoulder. Jolyne handed it over. Little Green licked the blood off the plate, opened its mouth, and swallowed it into the City Castle.
"I..."
Seeing the two pirates turn to leave, Rosé opened her mouth. As they looked back in surprise, she gritted her teeth and said, "I snuck onto your ship. You don't hate me, do you? I mean..."
These pirates were so strange! She snuck onto their ship, and they didn't react at all.
"Just hitching a ride. It's no big deal." Liam waved dismissively. "Aren't you supposed to be studying medicine to help your hometown? Go take care of that."
With that, he and Robin continued walking.
A few steps later, Rosé was still following behind.
Liam stopped walking, and Robin followed. Rosé was startled. She looked up and saw Jolyne turning back. She hurriedly tried to explain herself, but Jolyne wasn't looking at her. Instead, she was staring at the sky.
Rosé raised her head and saw the shadow of a massive eagle circling high above.
Whiz!
A shadow shot down from the eagle at incredible speed, heading straight for Giorno. Strangely, Giorno remained calm. He didn't move quickly, but he lifted his hand at just the right moment. The shadow practically landed in his hand as he caught it, snap.
Liam flipped his hand and muttered, "Throwing stones?"
"Caught?" The person atop the giant eagle was also shocked. They had a bag of stones strapped to their waist.
The eagle let out a loud cry, beating its wings and circling above Liam and Robin. Then, whiz! Whiz! A hail of stones rained down on the three of them.
Liam pulled Robin and Rosé behind him. Amid the stone rain, he threw a stone back, striking the eagle and bringing it down.
Rubble scattered everywhere. From where the eagle had landed came a hoarse, concerned voice, "Pig, are you all right?"
Rosé peeked from behind Liam and saw the eagle slowly rising from the dust. Its shadow appeared even larger. Its legs were thick and powerful. Its wings spread like a canopy. Its head was massive with two horns on top.
In the dust, next to the eagle's shadow, stood a small human figure.
"My God! Is that a dragon?" Rosé cried. "A dragon knight?"
When the dust fully cleared, Rosé's expression fell. The eagle's head was not a dragon's; it was a boar's, and the "horns" were tusks curving upward like a wild boar's. A giant boar with eagle-like wings?
The small figure beside it wasn't a Dragon Knight either; it was an elderly man who looked more like a primitive tribesman.
"You're pirates, aren't you? You're not welcome here!" the old man scolded. He patted the empty cloth bag at his waist.
Liam and Robin remained calm.
"You have no choice, Pig. You'll have to protect this place," the old man shouted at Liam and his crew. "Go! Take them down!"
"Roar!" The giant boar-eagle spread its wings wide, stomped its hooves, and charged toward Liam and the others.
A few seconds later, the eagle returned to its original form, and the small old man apologized as bumps formed on their heads.
"I'm really sorry. I mistook you for pirates and attacked."
"No need to apologize for that," Liam said. "After all, we're on the bounty list. Being treated as pirates is normal."
"Really, pirates?!" The old man and the eagle jumped up, only to fall back down a second later, more bumps forming on their heads.
Liam clenched his fist. "If you can't speak properly, old man, you might as well stay down."
Soon, a bonfire was lit in the ruined city.
Liam skillfully skinned the beasts and wolves, cleaned them, and set them on the fire to roast.
Rosé watched cautiously. Seeing no reaction from Liam, she quietly crept closer, her eyes fixed on the oozing fat of the roasting wolf.
Liam, Rosé, and Little Green fought over the meat, while Robin chatted with the old man.
The old man was the last surviving resident of the island nation destroyed by pirates. His only companion was a giant eagle that had eaten the Pig-Pig Fruit and helped repel arriving pirates.
"This country is almost gone. Even pirates rarely linger here now. We don't even need to chase them; they leave on their own…" The old man looked at the flickering flames, their light deepening the wrinkles on his face. "Two and a half years ago, pirates completely destroyed the Igor Kingdom. Its citizens either died or fled. Nobody wants to stay in a hopeless place anymore."
"The Igor Kingdom," Robin thought briefly. "It was an Allied Kingdom and a member of the World Government. Didn't they request Marine assistance?"
Upon hearing this, the old man twisted his mouth into a grimace and shook his head. "They couldn't pay the Heavenly Tribute. Without Marine protection, more and more pirates raided the nation until it was completely destroyed."
Rosé, who was struggling over meat with Little Green, froze at the news.
At that moment, the old man's pet, a giant hawk named Eyes, swooped in. Lightning fast, it snatched the roasted meat from her hand and swallowed it.
"The amount of the Heavenly Tribute varies depending on each country's circumstances," Robin explained. "The World Government's tribute is a significant burden, but it's rare for a nation to be unable to pay and lose its status as an Allied Kingdom Member entirely. It's even rarer for an entire country to collapse because of it."
Families collapsing under unpaid tribute happen everywhere, which is not surprising. But a whole country falling because it couldn't pay is extremely rare.
(End of chapter.)
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