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Chapter 38 - Chapter 38 My Life is Like Walking On Thin Ice

Under the cover of night, Robin, who had been sternly forbidden from researching the Void Century, pushed open the library door and ran out, tears streaming down her face.

For the first time, she had found a friend her own age, and she had also obtained the scholar's medal of Ohara.

These two joys overlapped, and this double joy should have brought even more happiness.

'I should have already obtained a dreamlike time of happiness.'

'Yet, why... why did it have to turn out like this?'

Inside the library behind her, the world-renowned archaeologist Clou D. Clover let out a heavy sigh.

"How ruthless~"

Sakura emerged from the shadows cast by the bookshelves, cut herself a piece of the cake meant for Robin's celebration, and began to eat.

"And you have the nerve to say that! Weren't you the one who suggested we drive that child away?!"

With his arms crossed, Clover turned his head and roared at the girl sitting improperly on the dining table.

"Eh? For Dr. Clover to say such a thing, it must be this little Sakura's fault~"

Sticking out her small tongue, with a bit of cream smudged on her nose, she looked like nothing more than a greedy child at that moment.

But every scholar present knew that this cute-looking pink-haired girl was absolutely black on the inside once you cut her open!

Just take her actions from this evening, for example… barging into the Tree of Knowledge then knocked everyone out with Conqueror's Haki… Utterly despicable!

"Whatever. You should leave soon too, if you don't want to turn to ash along with this island!"

Clover reluctantly raised his head, wiping the tears from the corner of his eye.

Sakura's news had come too suddenly. Even if the Buster Call battleships from Marine Headquarters departed now, taking the currents through the Gates of Justice, it would take only five days to reach Ohara.

Such a short time left the scholars of Ohara with no way to relocate the books stored in the Tree of Knowledge.

'Four thousand years of accumulation on Ohara, precious knowledge gathered from all over the world… this was all invaluable human wealth.'

'And now it was going to be destroyed because of the World Government's ridiculous laws… It was really... really...'

"I'm not leaving. Find me a place to stay!"

Sakura flipped onto a chair, placing her hands behind her head and propping her legs up on the table.

'Her demeanor suggested that we, the scholars, were the guests here. She even dared to ask her hosts to cook her a couple of dishes? Just what gave her the right?'

"You... just what is your goal?"

Clover frowned, looking at the enigmatic girl before him.

'An ordinary person would avoid a dangerous situation like this at all costs, yet here she was, gleefully rushing to get involved.'

'Was it sheer recklessness, or the lawless nature unique to pirates?'

"Didn't I tell you already? I'm here to make an enemy of the 'World'!"

Sakura rocked back and forth on her chair, turning her head to reveal an 'arrogant' smile.

Causing trouble for the World Government was just a bonus. She was here to farm achievement points anyway, and it was only logical to shear the sheep with the thickest fleece.

"Suit yourself. Just don't cry when the World Government's agents come to arrest you!"

Clover snorted coldly and led the other scholars away.

Though the old man's words were sharp, before leaving, he still arranged a room for Sakura in the living quarters above the library.

The next day.

Waking up in the towering, genuine 'tree house', Sakura first stretched luxuriously on the not-so-spacious wooden plank bed.

Lying on her stomach on the bed, Sakura, who had been adrift at sea for days, finally had the chance to retrieve from her system the item she had long awaited… the Flying Thunder God Technique's scroll!

"Hehehe, little treasure, let me give you a check-up!"

The girl giggled foolishly as she untied its cloth... ahem, the scroll's fastening cord, and spread it flat on the bed.

The scroll didn't contain much text. The most important parts were three depicted patterns.

One was the design that spreads across the ground when the Summoning Technique is used. Another was a miniature model of the Basic Sealing Technique, the One-Light Lamp Array. The last was a complex, nested spiral pattern.

'Let's give it a try. See if I have the legendary talent for Space-Time Perception!'

Sakura excitedly gathered Chakra in her palm and began tracing the pattern of the last drawing on the scroll.

Crack!

The sound of shattering suddenly rang out, so clear and subtle, and the erupted Chakra sent a numb shock through Sakura's left hand.

"Hiss?"

Sakura sucked in a sharp breath, shaking her numb hand.

"Why? I constructed it exactly according to the pattern on the drawing!"

Refusing to believe it was impossible, Sakura tried again.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The continuous shattering sounds echoing in the room testified to the girl's stubbornness. Half an hour passed in this manner.

After who knows how many failures, a sudden spark of inspiration struck Sakura. She wanted to try using Observation Haki to perceive space.

Raising her arm, Sakura closed her eyes, using the other sensory ability that existed within her body to observe the process of the pattern's formation.

As the Chakra pattern coalesced, a multi-dimensional spatial shadow appeared in her senses… but this spatial shadow was incomplete!

"No wonder the village couldn't nurture other Flying Thunder God's users even while possessing the technique."

Having deduced the general situation, Sakura opened her eyes. The completed Chakra pattern, burning with blue flames, materialized in her hand.

'This spatial pattern was multi-dimensional! Written records and drawings were two-dimensional models, utterly incapable of recording or fully describing a Space-Time model that existed in higher dimensions.'

'Learning solely by following the scrolls left by predecessors would only lead one into a pit. But if they didn't have the predecessors' scrolls... they'd probably find their own way into a pit just as easily.'

'It was a classic case of being stuck between a rock and a hard place.'

"Now that the Space-Time model is built, the remaining steps are just a matter of meticulous grinding!"

Rolling over on the bed, unable to contain her excitement, Sakura hugged the blanket and kicked her legs in the air.

Meanwhile, on the coast of Ohara.

A dejected Robin kicked a small stone as she walked along the beach.

The cry of seagulls in the distance caught her attention. Looking up, her eyes fell upon a massive figure collapsed on the sea's surface.

"Huh?"

Robin ran to the giant's side, startling many seagulls into flight.

The Giant lying on the beach twitched a finger. As he began to push himself up, a large cloud of dust was stirred.

"Gah!"

The giant in the dust cloud made a scary face, trying to frighten Robin away. To his surprise, she remained completely unfazed, instead looking at him with an expression as if watching a child.

Saul held his grotesque pose, cold sweat dripping down his forehead.

Finally, exhausted, he collapsed back onto the sand, letting out a weak sound, "Water... give me water!"

A short while later, Saul, lying by a riverbank gulping down fresh water, threw his head back and let out a satisfied voice.

He turned over and heavily fell onto the ground, crushing several tall trees to splinters.

"So refreshing!"

"Managed to cheat death again... I wonder how Sakura is doing?"

Saul turned to look at Robin beside him, about to thank her, but he saw her astonished expression.

"Sakura? Did you say Sakura? Haruno Sakura?"

"Oh! You know her?" Saul's eyes lit up, and he pressed eagerly, "Where is she now? Is she alright?"

"She's staying at the Tree of Knowledge, living with Dr. Clover and the others."

Robin placed her hands behind her back, tilting her head as she answered Saul.

The moment the words [Tree of Knowledge] left her mouth, Saul visibly paled.

"Wait, you said this is... the Tree of Knowledge, Ohara!!!!"

"Yes!"

Hearing this, Saul could no longer withstand his injuries. His eyes rolled back, and he fell unconscious.

In the final moment before his consciousness descended into chaos, he saw a giant, glowing danger word above his head.

'I… I…'

'My life is like walking on thin ice!'

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