Andy and Robin walked out of the cabin with big smiles on their faces. The people on the merchant ship, who had been watching from afar, immediately ducked down. They timidly peeked over the railing, observing the man and woman who had just appeared on the pirate ship.
"Could they be the ones who saved us?" one person whispered.
"It must be them!" another responded. "Look, they came out of the pirate ship's cabin; they must have been searching for treasure."
"They're so young."
Suddenly, someone yelled, "Hey! Thank you for defeating the pirates and saving us!"
"Thank you!" another shouted.
In an instant, everyone on the merchant ship cheered, waving their hands enthusiastically. Even the timid ones stood up excitedly, shouting their thanks to Andy and Robin. Andy and Robin were a little bewildered; they weren't used to this kind of reception. Robin, in particular, was known as the "Child of the Devil," a name that could make children stop crying just by hearing it.
Just then, a Marine warship appeared in the distance, its cannons aimed directly at the pirate ship. A cannonball whistled past and exploded beside the ship, the shockwave making it sway violently.
Andy and Robin's brows furrowed.
"It's the Marines!" someone on the merchant ship cried out. "The Marines are here!"
People on the merchant ship were overjoyed to see the warship, but when they saw it still firing at the pirate ship, they started shouting. "Marines! Stop the shelling immediately! The pirates have been defeated; they are our great benefactors!"
The Marines on the warship didn't listen and continued to fire, causing the pirate ship to become even more unstable. The merchant ship's Captain quickly ordered his crew to move further away.
"How disappointing, Robin, let's go," Andy said, looking annoyed. Robin nodded.
Andy leaped into the sea, and as he hit the water, a jet ski appeared, and he sat on it. Robin jumped after him, landing perfectly on the seat behind him and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.
This scene terrified the people on the merchant ship, but the next moment, they watched in awe as the jet ski shot away like an arrow, disappearing from the Marines' shelling range in the blink of an eye.
"Wow... how incredible!"
"What kind of boat is that? It's so fast! I've never seen anything like it!"
"Haha, they're so cool!"
"Exactly! There's no way the Marines can hit them now!" The people on the merchant ship were both surprised and happy to see their saviors escape.
On the Marine warship, a Marine Colonel, Bacchus, the Base Commander of the West Blue's 41st Branch, saw Andy and Robin escape the shelling range and stamped his foot in anger. He immediately ordered the warship to give chase.
On the merchant ship, everyone's hearts sank again when they saw the warship pursuing their benefactors. However, they relaxed when they realized the small, strange boat was already out of sight. The Marine warship stopped beside the merchant ship, and Bacchus yelled across the water.
"What is your relationship with those two people?" he demanded.
"They're our saviors!" a merchant shouted back.
"That's right! They're the ones who defeated the pirates and allowed us to survive!"
"But you shelled our saviors!"
The merchants were angry, feeling that if their two benefactors hadn't been so fast, they might have been killed by the late-arriving Marines. Bacchus became furious. "You fools! Do you know who they are?"
"One of them is Nico Robin, the Child of the Devil, with a bounty of 79,000,000 Berries! The other is Garfield Andy, a wicked sniper who just received his first bounty of 30,000,000 Berries!" he roared at them. "They just committed a serious crime in Asriel! They murdered the mayor of the city and six World Government staff members!"
"No... that can't be..."
"Nico Robin, the Child of the Devil... Garfield Andy, the Wicked Sniper..."
"Are they really bounty criminals...?"
Listening to Bacchus, the people on the merchant ship didn't immediately believe him, but they became suspicious.
"This just happened not long ago in the West Blue, and our Marines received the intel early," Bacchus explained. "Tomorrow's newspaper will have a report on this incident! So you absolutely must not have any contact with them, because they are both heinous bounty criminals!"
"We... we understand..."
"We didn't have any contact with them just now; you appeared after they defeated the pirates..."
"We understand."
The merchants saw that Bacchus's words didn't seem like a joke and began to believe him, all of them promising not to contact Andy and Robin. Seeing that they were convinced, Bacchus nodded in satisfaction.
"Depart!" he ordered. "Continue the pursuit! We must capture them!"
"Yes, Colonel Bacchus!"
The Marines responded immediately, and the warship turned to pursue Andy and Robin once again. Watching the warship slowly move away, everyone on the merchant ship exchanged glances, and no one spoke another word about Nico Robin and Andy.
Over the years, the name of the Child of the Devil had become deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people of the West Blue, and the name Nico Robin was now taboo. They also couldn't believe that Garfield Andy, her companion, had committed such a major act. To kill a city's mayor and six World Government staff members was truly too bold!
"Captain, let's leave quickly; this sea area feels unsafe," a crewman said nervously.
"Yes, Captain. If they really are..." another chimed in, trailing off.
Everyone was deep in thought, and the more they thought, the more afraid they became. They all urged the Captain to leave quickly.
"You're right, leave quickly, leave quickly, set sail!" The stunned Captain snapped out of his daze and immediately gave the order to depart.
The merchant ship sailed away just as the pirate ship, which had been rendered unstable by the shelling, slowly began to sink into the sea.
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