"Thinking of complaining to your brother?"
Nojiko saw through it immediately, "We still can't get in touch with him now. We've discussed it and decided to keep sailing aimlessly like this. When we come across an island, we'll stop, store magnetic force, and wait for a call from him."
"As for when that call will come."
Nojiko looked out at the distant sea:
"We'll just have to wait. It's only the second day, and knowing my brother, he's probably exhausted, drifting somewhere on the sea and sound asleep..."
————
"Hoo, hoo..."
Shano indeed was still sound asleep at the moment.
But it wasn't drifting on the sea; he was lying on a soft lap instead.
Robin rested her chin on her hand, leaned back on the sofa, with a pile of clothes on her lap, and Shano lay across it.
There was no choice; the seat on the turtle's back was limited in space. This might not be an elegant posture, but at least it allowed both to be comfortable.
As for tossing Shano onto the hard, uncomfortable turtle shell nearby...
Robin gently shook her head, her lips slightly curled.
—She couldn't bring herself to do that.
She tilted her head slightly, her gaze tenderly watching this handsome sleeping face before her.
For some reason, purplish-green toxins on the young man's body would surge up one moment and disappear without a trace the next.
Could it be that his body's resistance is fighting the poison?
Robin speculated, in any case, his breathing was consistently steady, and they were getting closer to that Medical Power, so there was no need to worry excessively.
And now, he seemed back to normal.
The young man's black hair was scattered messily over his forehead, his eyelashes casting a faint shadow below his eyes, and there was a subtle smile at the corner of his lips, as if experiencing something amusing in his dreams.
"Really..."
Robin couldn't resist reaching out, gently brushing aside the hair on his forehead, murmuring softly, "Even after just experiencing a fierce battle, he sleeps so peacefully."
—He's clearly a "heinous criminal" that even Navy Headquarters finds troublesome, a terrifying powerhouse who easily finished off his former boss, Crocodile.
Yet now, in her arms, he appeared like a completely defenseless child.
"Heh." Robin chuckled lightly.
This kind of contrast, really makes one inexplicably...
want to protect him.
She suddenly recalled last night's events.
Just after she had pulled him onto the turtle's back and not long after they had set off, he suddenly opened his eyes, sleepily glanced at her face, and said, "So it's you."
No sooner had he spoken than he collapsed back and fell asleep again.
So strange.
How could he trust her so much?
Wasn't he afraid that she might be a malicious enemy, ready to take him to the Navy for a bounty?
And what did that sentence mean? Did he already know her?
It didn't make sense...
On the other hand, it was true; she had known him for a while.
After that phone call with Crocodile, she couldn't resist investigating and gathering intelligence on this black-haired young man.
When Crocodile set out for an ambush at Whiskey Peak, Robin, having finished her mission, took an interest, quietly setting off and following from a distance.
Then soon after.
She witnessed him killing Crocodile, practicing boxing with the Giant in Little Garden, and later staying behind at Thor Island single-handedly holding off Akainu, allowing his companions to escape, ultimately achieving a sensational record that shocked the world...
At the beginning.
She had merely been curious, and with the Baroque Workshop shut down, having nowhere to go, she had decided to continue following, hoping to find protection under a new boss.
But now, what she cared about was not just the formidable strength displayed by the Endgame Pirates, but the camaraderie on the ship that she envied.
Freedom, trust, bonds.
Things she had never truly had in more than twenty years, yet seemed so natural on this ship.
If she could be accepted and become a member of the crew...
The sea breeze blew gently as she suddenly snapped back to reality, smiled self-deprecatingly, thinking to herself, why would someone like me start fantasizing about such things?
But why did he recognize her?
Robin lowered her eyelashes, her fingertips absentmindedly brushing through Shano's hair.
Perhaps he was too tired, his consciousness blurred, mistaking her for someone familiar with a similar appearance?
That was all she could think of.