Sister?
One with black hair and blue eyes, the other with white hair and black eyes; though they look alike, they don't seem to be related by blood.
"Impossible!"
Robin exclaimed excitedly, "I don't remember having a brother, my mother only gave birth to me!"
"I said it's a blood relation, don't get so worked up, I never said we're biological siblings."
Sage tapped the stone, looked around, and then said:
"Ever since I can remember, my family said there was a 'monster' nearby, always shunned by others, until it disappeared. Later, I heard you went to study with those scholars."
Monster...
Shunned...
Robin widened her eyes, "You are..."
A long time ago, before studying with the scholars, she was fostered at her mother's brother's home. At the time, she was shunned by relatives for eating a Devil Fruit.
Until one day, when she went to study with the scholars, she was freed from the foster home.
"Yes, I'm the child of your mother's brother. I was born after you went to study with the scholars," Sage said.
As for why he calls her sister and not cousin...
In this world, there's no language for cousins or such; everyone is just a sister. Besides, even if there was, he's practically illiterate, not an old scholar, how would he know those tongue-twisting terms?
As long as people understand, that's enough.
"Since you're siblings..."
Cobra exclaimed in shock, "Why? Knowing the history here only records the location of weapons, why come here?"
"Isn't it possible that we're unfamiliar, and, strictly speaking, she should really dislike my family, although it doesn't matter now."
Sage said, "This is probably our first formal introduction. I know you because your last name is Nicole... that's my father's last name, it's just that simple."
That's really how it is; this 'sister' of his had disappeared after he was born, but he often heard the family's curses and disdain.
Just because of the Devil Fruit.
O'hara wasn't just scholars; there were also common families like theirs.
"But you're clearly not named Nicole..." Robin murmured.
"It's a trivial reason. Anyway, the name just stuck over time, it's not important anymore."
Before Sage turned two, he was indeed called Nicole Sage.
It's just that after he fled, he took his foster father's surname and has used it ever since.
"In O'hara, besides me, are there any others alive, especially a brother... who escaped by changing his surname? I still can't believe it."
Robin glared at Sage, "I clearly saw them; they were all dead, even the escape ship... and you even set off from the East Sea!"
"Yes, how did I set off from the East Sea..."
Sage raised his head slightly, his gaze showing a trace of reminiscence.
At that time, he didn't know where in the world he was; he thought he'd been transported to some magical fantasy world. Although he bore the name Nicole and saw that gigantic tree, he never thought in that direction.
It wasn't until the Buster Call incident at age two that he knew where he had ended up.
The escape ship was destroyed, but he didn't die. Instead, he fell into the ocean, and maybe through luck or misfortune, he and an old man were swallowed by a Sea Beast.
That's when he Awakened the Supreme King Haki.
With the power of Supreme King Haki, he intimidated the Sea Beast to bring him and the old man to a safe island before spitting them out.
The old man later became his foster father, and they hid in the West Sea for a while. The foster father thought the West Sea was unsafe, so he planned to take him to live on the Grand Line. But an accident occurred while crossing Inverted Mountain, causing them to flow backward to the East Sea, flying straight down.
Although the ship was half-destroyed, they survived by sheer luck, and thus lived in the East Sea.
The reason for his illiteracy was because his foster father, fearing too much, wanted to erase all traces of O'hara, so he didn't allow Sage to learn words. As for Sage himself...
Study?
Study my ass!
Sage always thought maybe he used up all his life's luck by surviving then, leading to constant misfortune since.
Or maybe his foster father was extremely fortunate, suppressing his bad luck.
But whatever the case...
It no longer matters.
"The sea is just so magical; stop asking why. Believe it or not, it's not important!" Sage sneered.
Apart from being relatives and fellow O'hara survivors, their connection was as shallow as strangers.
Relatives?
They weren't even as important as his few subordinates.
He found a direction, stood beside the Poneglyph, thrust his fingers into the ground, and with a boom, lifted the Poneglyph with one hand.
"I'll just take it!"
Its hardness was excellent, even Haki couldn't destroy it, making it perfect for the training method he always wanted to do.
After raising the Poneglyph, Sage said to Robin, "As relatives... I'd ask, do you want to board my ship?"
Robin blinked, then said, "Are you a scholar too? Interested in uncovering true history?"
"I'm only interested in making a fortune," Sage replied.
"Having O'hara's knowledge..."
Robin shook her head with a smile, thought for a while, and then slumped her body again, "We're not the same kind of people. You go, having one O'hara is already enough."
Sage was about to leave, but hearing her last words, he paused and looked into Robin's blue eyes.
This woman...
Suddenly, a figure got up from the ground, ran over, and lifted Robin onto his shoulder, then grabbed Cobra, glaring at Sage.
"She saved me, so I must save her too!" Luffy shouted, "Are you going to stop me?"
When they were outside Rain Land, it was Robin who pulled him out of the quicksand!
"Did you just wake up? Haven't listened to anyone this whole time..."
Sage rolled his eyes, but after thinking, he looked at Robin on Luffy's shoulder, "Forget it, so be it. Since you have your own decision, I won't force you to stay. As you wish."
With that, his body bounced, using Moon Step to charge upward, watching the surge from the city gate.
Whoever saves her is the same, as long as she's saved.
He indeed had no interest in Robin; he merely asked out of familial ties, if not for that last statement...
Robin's meaning was clear, she had resigned herself to death; even Sage's appearance couldn't change her mind, only causing a slight disturbance.
But Sage could pull her out forcibly for that last sentence.
Because it was clear, in this world, even one O'hara was noteworthy; two O'haras, the World Government wouldn't let them go.
If she dies, Sage wouldn't draw attention.
Deep down, she's a good woman...
Even if forcibly saved, she probably wouldn't join his ship anyway, considering there were two O'haras, but such details didn't matter to Sage.
He's always saved people depending purely on his mood.
But now that the Straw Hat intervened, let it be.
Though Sage didn't care about the World Government, he also wasn't interested in history, being illiterate. Knowledge was merely decorative.
Being a landlord doesn't require knowledge, just understanding how to rule is enough.