Chapter 877 - 877: A Nighttime Conversation

"What Koza gave me was a Poneglyph engraved with ancient writing."

Robin picked up the conversation and said softly, "Although the content Koza was able to memorize was fragmented and insufficient to translate into complete sentences, I deciphered several extremely important words from it."

She paused and looked at Luffy and Kuro in turn, "Pluton, Nika, and Laugh Tale. It was only based on these few words that I confirmed the value of that stone tablet."

Robin wasn't lying.

Getting Koza to pay attention to the Poneglyph was something she had been doing ever since she arrived.

She knew that given the Arabasta royal family's status, they definitely had a Poneglyph.

But she didn't know where they were hidden.

As far as she knew, the World Government didn't care about the Poneglyphs.

There were even Poneglyphs on display in museums in some places.

As for the accuracy of history, Robin didn't think there would be a problem.

After all, Olvia was the only person besides her who understood Poneglyphs.

She was someone who valued history more than her own daughter. Given her character, she would absolutely never alter history.

The chronicles currently written within the World Government must also be completely accurate.

The World Government no longer concealed anything that had happened eight hundred years ago.

They had indeed overthrown others and established the World Government.

But eight hundred years had already passed, and Joy Boy had been dead for eight hundred years. Aside from certain places in the New World, who would still care?

If not for the fact that her identity made it inconvenient for her to appear in those museums, she would have wanted to take a look herself.

"So that's how it is. Mr. Koza really is lucky. No, rather, the World Government really was careless," Kuro said with a light laugh.

But inside, his steady heartbeat skipped a beat.

Kuro lowered his head slightly, concealing the fear deep in his eyes.

There were simply too many problems here.

He didn't know whether the people in front of him really didn't understand, or whether they were already caught up in the situation and could no longer see it clearly.

Why could an ordinary civilian minister wander around the heavily guarded royal mausoleum?

Why was it that after merely sneaking a few glances and randomly memorizing a string of ancient characters that looked like gibberish, the words he happened to translate were these three key terms?

'What a coincidence.'

'Nika, Laugh Tale, Pluton...'

These few words were enough to attract everyone with ambitions of becoming the Pirate King.

If Koza simply had incredible luck, then so be it.

But what if all of this, from beginning to end, had merely been deliberately arranged for Koza to see, with Koza's mouth being used to pass the information on to them?

'If that is the case...'

'No...'

Kuro suddenly shook his head inside.

From the very beginning, this had been a play.

Since it was a play, there naturally had to be a script, a director, and stagehands.

Some people were acting in this play, while others were watching it.

Then there had to be someone controlling the play from behind the scenes, making sure it didn't stray from the script.

That person, or that group of people, in Kuro's eyes, they were the most frightening group of all.

They might not necessarily be stronger than Rosse, but Kuro would rather face Rosse than face people who could subtly alter his perception of reality.

If they really existed...

———

[Night, World Grand Hotel]

"Wow! This hotel is seriously luxurious."

Usopp lay comfortably on a huge, soft sofa, letting out a hehe laugh.

With Luffy gone, the few of them were actually much more relaxed and uninhibited.

After all, when the protagonist wasn't around, the supporting characters naturally wouldn't attract any attention. They only needed to mind their own business.

"This hotel must be expensive, right?"

Zoro came out of the gym, wiping the sweat from his body as he looked at Sanji, who was sitting on a lounge chair with his legs crossed.

"Expensive, of course it's expensive. I just asked around. The suite we're staying in costs one million Berries a night," Nami said seriously.

"One million?"

Zoro hissed. Even his swords weren't worth that much money.

That price was basically equivalent to a decent named sword to him.

"Come on, it's only a million. You can casually take out more than that."

Sanji had a cigarette between his lips and looked at Nami speechlessly.

"Oh-ho, Nami's a rich lady after all. How about you keep me?"

Usopp rolled over and looked at Nami with a cheeky grin.

"Heh! Come on. I dare you to make a move. Do you dare?"

Nami rolled her eyes and openly stuck out her chest slightly.

"Hahaha! I really don't."

Seeing this movement, Sanji and Usopp instinctively looked away.

"I've been meaning to ask, why are you two so afraid of Nami? And you seem like you're both afraid to even look at her."

Zoro frowned and couldn't help asking.

Back on the ship, the two of them had always gone around Nami intentionally or unintentionally. Even when they really had to act together, they never looked directly at her.

Although he was somewhat slow-witted, his observation skills as a swordsman were quite good.

"Heh! She's a Chosen Princess. I don't want to get myself killed."

Sanji blew out a smoke ring and said helplessly.

A Chosen Princess was one of his old man's women. How could he dare look at her too much?

"A Chosen Princess?"

Zoro looked at Nami in shock. This was the first time he'd learned about her identity.

Even he, someone who had lived in the East Blue, knew what a Chosen Princess meant.

It didn't merely mean wealth and status.

It also meant that she would become Rosse's woman in the future.

"So what if I'm a Chosen Princess? I'm still a person."

Nami rolled her eyes helplessly. She really did have the status of a Chosen Princess, but she had never fulfilled her duties.

She didn't want to talk about this topic any further, instead looking suspiciously at Usopp, "Speaking of which, it's one thing for Sanji to know my identity, but how do you know? Could it be that you're also someone from inside the World Government?"

The identities of the few of them were basically already half out in the open.

Zoro was Kuina's childhood friend, while Kuina was Gion's direct disciple.

With that connection, Zoro naturally leaned toward the World Government.

And Sanji was Rosse's biological son, so there was no need to say anything about his position.

Now, everyone else also knew that she was the World Government's Chosen Princess, in other words, Rosse's forbidden possession, or rather, his plaything.

Only Usopp's true identity was something she genuinely didn't know.

She only knew that nothing seemed to have happened to his wife and child.

"Do you guys want to hear a story?"

Usopp rested both hands behind his head and lay on the soft sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling as he suddenly said this.

"Don't be so sentimental. Why do you make that face every time you tell this story?"

Sanji kicked Usopp and couldn't help laughing as he cursed him.

"You two really do know each other," Nami covered her forehead with one hand.

Her woman's intuition had told her before that these two might know each other.

Who would have thought they actually did?

"Not only do we know each other, we've been childhood friends who grew up together. We've known each other for ten years," Usopp laughed loudly.

Looking at the ceiling, he then told the other three his story.

From his irresponsible father, to the despair he felt when his mother was seriously ill, to Shirahoshi's sudden appearance, then to her marriage to Kaya, and finally to his voluntarily joining this journey to repay his debt of gratitude.

"Usopp," Zoro looked at Usopp, his eyes serious.

"What?"

After Usopp finished telling the story again, the gloom he had felt from seeing Yasopp again during this period had also faded considerably. He raised his head and looked at Zoro curiously.

"You're a man!"

"Hahaha! You don't have to tell me that. I, Usopp, am the manliest man on the seas," Usopp laughed loudly, puffing out his chest, but as he laughed, he began crying bitterly.

What kind of man was he?

He knew very well that he had simply happened to meet benefactors.

If he hadn't met Shirahoshi and the World Government, Usopp would have been nothing.

Not only would his mother have died, he might not even have been able to protect Kaya.

Maybe if he were still the same person he used to be, Kaya wouldn't even have liked him.

Perhaps because of Yasopp, he could have joined Luffy's crew, but he estimated that he would only have been a useless fringe member.

After all, setting aside the help from his benefactors, what was he really?

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about sad things anymore. Sanji, tell us about your brothers and sisters," Nami changed the subject at the right moment and looked at Sanji.

She had only just met Vivi today, and the other party had indeed left an extremely deep impression on her.

But as far as she knew, Vivi wasn't the only one among the World Government's next generation.

"Yeah, yeah, tell us. I promise I won't record it."

Usopp teased him. He also wanted to hear what Rosse's other children looked like in Sanji's eyes.

He himself wasn't actually familiar with many of them. He had only exchanged greetings with most.

After all, their statuses were different. They might look like they were around the same age, but they were actually not part of the same circle as him.

"Since you want to hear it, I'll tell you."

Seeing that even Zoro was looking at him curiously, Sanji took a satisfying drag from his cigarette and decided to talk about it.

He had grown up alongside this group of brothers and sisters, so naturally he had a lot to say.

But while he was in the World Government, he couldn't exactly talk to his own family about them. If he did, everyone would know by the next day.

He couldn't tell Zephyr either. Their identities made that inappropriate.

Telling the companions in front of him was just about right.

"Nominally, I'm Dad's first child, but actually, Vivi is a little older than me."

Sanji planned to go by age, so the first person he mentioned was Vivi.

"Vivi..."

At the mention of Vivi, Sanji sighed.

"If we're not talking about strength, she should be Dad's most outstanding child. She's basically the perfect model of a successful person. She has the best abilities, the highest emotional intelligence, and the most comprehensive methods. No matter what happens, she has her own way of dealing with it."

"Wow, that high of an evaluation?", Zoro asked in surprise.

"After all, she used to be a queen," Usopp said matter-of-factly.

Everyone in the World Government knew that Shirahoshi was the most favored one, but Vivi had the best relationships with everyone.

If something really happened, finding Shirahoshi might not necessarily help, but finding Vivi was definitely the right choice.

Vivi really did help, and the way she handled things would also make you feel comfortable.

Usopp himself had received plenty of help from Vivi.

If Shirahoshi had saved his mother, then Vivi had helped him when he needed it.

"Yeah, Vivi is the most sensible one. Maybe it also has something to do with her identity," Sanji took a drag from his cigarette as he spoke, without avoiding the subject.

After all, by now, Vivi's identity was basically common knowledge.

"The most sensible children always seem to have unbearable pasts."

Nami sighed, deeply relating to it.

Because she had been an orphan and adopted by her adoptive mother, she understood this feeling very well.

"What level has Queen Vivi's strength reached?", Zoro asked curiously.

He wasn't interested in all those family matters. He only cared about strength.

The strength Vivi had displayed earlier had really left a deep impression.

That feeling of being completely unable to move was something he had also experienced at first. It was only after Vivi released her suppression of him that he could speak freely.

It hadn't lasted long, but it was enough for him to remember it vividly.

"Her strength is pretty good. She isn't especially talented in that area. What she's mainly strong in is that Devil Fruit."

Sanji paused, then called out the name of Vivi's Devil Fruit, "Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Jehovah Form!"

"Jehovah? What kind of mythical creature is that?", Nami looked confused. She had never heard of that name.

Everyone knew that Mythical Zoans were extraordinary.

"According to His Majesty Rosse, it's the Creation God Fruit. As for what we call it privately, we call Vivi's fruit the true Sun God Fruit. She's the one who should really be the ancient weapon."

Usopp smiled, "The true Ancient Weapon..."

Nami swallowed. Just from being given that name, she knew without thinking how powerful it had to be.

No wonder her entrance had been so spectacular earlier.

This really wasn't on the same level.

"Dad's second child is me, so there's nothing much worth talking about."

Sanji continued down the list, clearly not wanting to say much more.

There was still plenty of information he could share about Vivi, but that was all considered confidential.

Even in private, and even though they were all people he could more or less trust, Sanji couldn't possibly reveal it.

Besides, this was Arabasta.

Within this territory, it was no exaggeration to say that everything was Vivi's divine kingdom under her control.

Every plant and blade of grass here, every sound and movement, could be detected by Vivi.

Even things that had happened before could be replayed as long as Vivi wanted to.

So as long as they were in Arabasta, no one below SS-rank could defeat Vivi, not even Shirahoshi.

It was the same as how no one could defeat Shirahoshi in the sea.

"What? I really wanted to hear you talk about yourself," Nami smiled.

"I'm the least outstanding of all Dad's children."

Sanji shrugged and continued, "Next, I'll talk about someone you all know. She's also Dad's third child."

"I know, Princess Shirahoshi!"

Nami said with a smile.

"That's right, Shirahoshi. My little sister, who has the love of the entire world. From the very first day she was born, she was destined to be Poseidon, the one favored by the sea," Sanji sighed.

Omens accompanying a person's birth were usually just fabricated legends.

But his little sister really had been born with an omen.

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