"Blueprints?" Robin raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Blueprints for the legendary Ancient Weapon, Pluton." Franky lowered his voice, his tone heavy.
Robin's pupils contracted slightly. "Pluton's blueprints?"
She did indeed know where the Ancient Weapon Pluton slumbered—information she had read on the Poneglyph in Alabasta's Royal Tomb.
But she had never imagined that blueprints for Pluton still existed.
While she didn't think the World Government could easily recreate such a world-ending weapon from mere drawings, the idea of causing trouble for the World Government was something she welcomed.
"So that's it. That's their true purpose for all these years of infiltration."
Robin nodded in understanding. She walked over to Franky and lightly moved her fingers. "Sanjū Rō Hanazono: Gigant." (Thirty-Flower: Unarmor)
Amidst Swirling petals, the sturdy ropes binding Franky came undone, as if untied by invisible hands, falling away.
"Whew, finally free. SUPER comfortable!"
Franky stretched his stiff mechanical limbs, producing clicking sounds. "Thanks, woman. So, what do we do now? Enies Lobby's just ahead!"
"What do we do?"
Robin gazed out the window again, her eyes following the Going Merry as it raced through wind and waves. A truly relieved and expectant smile appeared on her face. "We wait for our captain to come get us and take us home, of course."
Meanwhile, outside the Sea Train.
"Faster! Merry, can Vivi go any faster?!"
Nami gripped the railing tightly as the fierce wind whipped her orange short hair wildly. She shouted toward little Merry at the helm and Vivi, who was driving her Fūfū no Mi at the stern.
"Nami, we're already going as fast as we can!"
Little Merry tried to control their direction, her small face flushed red with excitement and focus.
The Going Merry was now enveloped in a powerful whirlwind. Its sails were stretched to their limit, and the hull had even slightly lifted from the water—as if flying across the sea surface.
This was the miracle speed born from Vivi pushing her Fūfū no Mi to the extreme, combined with little Merry's perfect mastery as the ship's spirit!
They absolutely had to rescue Robin.
Vivi couldn't forget the threats those CP9 agents had made to Robin.
So she also knew—Robin was waiting for them.
As for CP9's threat to destroy the Going Merry? All those guys had been taken care of by Nika.
Using her Fūfū no Mi, Vivi had gathered everyone in a short time. Nami conveyed the captain's orders: full speed ahead!
"Waaahhh! We're gonna fly!"
Usopp clung desperately to the mast, tears streaming from fear.
"This is too fast."
Chopper transformed into his reindeer form, all four hooves gripping the deck tightly—both scared and excited.
Earlier he'd envied riding the Sea Train; now the Going Merry was a Sea Train.
"But at a time like this... where's Luffy?" Usopp asked.
"He's already ahead."
Nika pointed toward the Sea Train. "I don't know how he did it, but he's already on that train."
Sure enough, the next moment, a terrifying aura erupted from that train.
Zoro and Sanji stood on either side of the bow, their expressions solemn as they stared at the Sea Train ahead.
"That idiot captain—hope he doesn't tear the train apart before we get there." Sanji lit a cigarette, a trace of concern in his tone.
"He's our captain."
Zoro held his sword, his words were tough, but the hand gripping his sword showed he was far from relaxed.
Nearby, another Sea Train with a strange rocket-like shape raced alongside.
This was the Rocket Man—keeping pace with the Going Merry, no—the Going Merry was actually faster. It was packed with Franky Family underlings, coming to rescue their boss.
"Hey, why is that wooden ship faster than the Rocket Man?!" The Franky Family underlings stared at the flying Going Merry, their eyes practically popping out.
"HAHAHA! Interesting! This is too interesting!"
From the Rocket Man's driver seat came Kokoro's hearty laugh. She lifted her bottle for a drink. "They're worthy of a crew that caught Iceburg's attention! That ship has developed its own soul!"
Back on the train, just as Luffy arrived—
The reporting official, seeing Luffy, trembled and fell to the floor.
"Straw Hat Luffy with the 200 million Berry bounty?!"
The World Government official stumbled back in fright, collapsing to the ground as he pointed at Luffy and shrieked.
"Straw Hat... Monkey D. Luffy."
A calm voice sounded from behind.
"Two hundred million Berry bounty. Starting from the East Blue, he's consistently defeated pirates with bounties higher than his own. Got caught up in the Alabasta rebellion, defeated Warlord of the Sea Crocodile, disrupted World Government operations, abducted a kingdom's princess... To the World Government, he's a truly great criminal."
Lucci walked around from behind him, standing at the front facing Luffy. "You disappeared from Mock Town for a while. Now you harbor a woman like Nico Robin and attack CP9. Are you trying to provoke the World Government?"
The atmosphere inside the train car instantly dropped to freezing point.
Every CP9 member—except the unconscious Blueno—entered combat readiness almost simultaneously, their gazes locked onto this uninvited guest!
This man had defeated Blueno, whose Doriki was considerable—and seemingly with ease.
Even though the man before them appeared completely relaxed, they dared not be careless. Luffy was utterly different from the small-time crooks they'd dealt with before.
Having worked in Water for 7 for years, they'd certainly encountered pirates. Those pirates were mostly dozens of million Berry types—not weak, but easily handled by Lucci and the others.
Over time, they'd grown to look down on such pirates.
But pirates with bounties exceeding 100 million? No matter how you looked at it, there wasn't much room for exaggeration.
Nico Robin's current nakama—even just standing there—emanated such a rich and dangerous aura that it instinctively made people shudder.
This was the aura of infamous, dangerous great pirates!
A 200 million bounty was itself a terrifying thing. And CP9's intelligence naturally knew the truth behind the newspaper reports—they had access to many insider details.
Defeating Crocodile itself demonstrated strength. The Seven Warlords of the Sea were recognized as great pirates of these waters.
Moreover, the Marines assessed pirates based on dangerousness. Pirates lacking strength couldn't accomplish anything truly dangerous, and their bounties wouldn't be particularly high.
In the first half of the Grand Line, the most dangerous pirates barely reached 200-300 million.
The Straw Hat before them had already proven himself—he was the most dangerous existence in the first half of the Grand Line.
***
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