"Here, here, Mr. Lost, I'm right behind you."
"Who are you calling Mr. Lost!"
"With your pace, it should only take 20 minutes to get here from your location yesterday, but you took a full 15 hours and circled the entire mountain. I can't find another word to describe you.
Oh, here's your sword, returning it to you. I even maintained it for you."
Robin got the result she wanted, and it turned out she was overthinking things. The person in front of her just simply couldn't find his way, not because he had a strong anti-tracking sense.
By his way of detouring, the location she estimated certainly wouldn't have blocked him.
Based on Zoro's performance, she added the label of self-awareness confusion behind "Mr. Lost."
After tossing the sword back, Robin lost interest and planned to go on a company-funded tour as per her original plan. But when Johnny and Joseph saw the woman their elder had found with great difficulty wanting to leave like this, they immediately wanted to stop her.
"Wait!"
"Explain clearly!"
"Four-Wheel Bloom · Trip Vine."
Then came the sound of falling; the ankles of the two were grabbed, and they fell straight to the ground, bringing Zoro along to enjoy the same treatment once again.
It was then that Zoro noticed, appearing on the ground were none other than a bunch of arms.
"You... who exactly are you?"
"Just a traveler looking for answers. Now that I've got the results I wanted, I'm naturally not interested in tangling with you. Have you never heard of Devil Fruits?"
"So in your eyes, I'm just a toy?"
The name of the Pirate Hunter was gradually becoming known. He felt somewhat proud and arrogant, thinking he had taken a big step towards their old promise, but now it seemed he was thinking too much.
"I didn't mean that. You shouldn't overthink it. By the way, in this East Sea, you're already considered quite strong."
"Where do you come from?"
"Where? If I say now, it's the Grand Line."
"Are people there all very strong?"
"Very strong. If you were in the Grand Line now, you probably wouldn't even make a splash. Alright, consider these answers as my compensation for you. Until we meet again, Mr. Lost."
After answering some of Zoro's questions, Nico Robin turned away and left, and the newly standing Zoro didn't do anything extreme. Instead, he had a smile on his face as he envisioned a grander world.
"Decided, Johnny, Joseph, I also want to go to the Grand Line."
His goal is to become the world's greatest Great Sword Master. It's a road he'll eventually have to take, provided he can find his way. As it stands now, finding the Inverted Mountain won't be easy.
"Wait, Brother Zoro, where are you going now?"
"Leaving this town, where else?"
"But... the way out is over there."
They didn't stop Zoro. In their eyes, perhaps Zoro could indeed make a name for himself in the Grand Line. But for now, getting him out of here was more important.
After a round of public-funded tourism in the East Sea, exploring one or two ruins, Robin returned to Alabasta with the excuse of not finding Zoro. This result didn't make Crocodile suspicious; aside from Mr. 7 at that time, none of the people he sent out managed to find Zoro.
Every now and then, Yamato would try reasoning with the twin dragons, and after failing to do so and unable to outplay them physically, she'd revert back to square one. Arceus and Kaidou alternated in their searches, and so time slowly drifted towards the end of 1517.
...
In Wano Kuni, Kuri, Miaona and Wolf were recently very happy; their seventh birthday was about to arrive.
This means they've grown another year older. Wanting to grow up and loving birthdays is a unique childlike innocence. As they grow up, with increasing experience and understanding of what time is, adults don't look forward to birthdays that much.
And it wasn't just Miaona and Wolf who were looking forward to this day; Hichugiskhan was too.
"Regent, are you really this happy?"
In the Fluffy Kingdom, a Lion Fur couldn't quite understand why the excited Hichugiskhan was so enthusiastic, especially since there weren't any special occasions recently.
"You don't understand, Shishilian. I should've retired many years ago. At first, she said she was still young, so I served a few more years as Duke.
But Setsuna, that child... She forcibly made it into a seven-year agreement. Now her child has grown up and is strong enough, and the appointed date has arrived. I wonder what she'll do now!"
Hichugiskhan patted his head as he spoke. After giving up the Duke title, he no longer wore a crown. Now, he had no accessories on his head, and even his hair had thinned considerably.
Everything in Zou was developing for the better, but as a manager, he had more and more issues to handle.
He initially thought that Setsuna was still a naïve child, but he didn't expect her to have so many clever tricks. After obtaining the Duke's power, she used the loophole that allows the Duke to command all the Fur Race, making him, an old senior, work overtime for seven years.
'Moo!'
With a bellow, the Zunisha paused its steps. Following Setsuna's previous communication, it arrived near Wano Kuni once again.
Gazing down upon the elevated Wano Kuni, Hichugiskhan immediately left Zou, running towards Setsuna's residence.
He'd been to Setsuna and Zeraora's home numerous times before, and could navigate there with ease. However, this time, he noticed many more ducks around.
"Setsuna! Setsuna! Come out here! The time has come! I've finally waited for this day!"
He couldn't contain his joy as he approached. Yet, after calling several times, only Miaona and Wolf appeared.
"Grandpa Hichugiskhan, what do you need Mom for?"
"Miaona, Wolf, where did your mom go? I came to bring her gifts, and there are birthday presents for you too. You're about to become the Prince and Princess of the Fluffy Kingdom, aren't you happy?"
Although the highest leader is called Duke, in reality, it meant the King of Zou. The title wasn't inaccurate.
Previous leaders of Zou, when relinquishing the title of Duke, might not have children, so Setsuna was certainly paving the way.
"What benefits does that title have?"
"Yeah, can we trade it for something?"
"Well... Ask your mom and dad about that later. First, tell me where your mom went."
"We don't know."
"Yeah, we don't know. Mom went out to have fun earlier, but she didn't tell us where she went."
Listening to the kids' replies didn't catch Hichugiskhan off guard. He had expected this not to go smoothly.
He immediately took out Setsuna's Life Card. With the kids' birthday approaching, he didn't believe that this mom would leave Wano Kuni.