One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Chapter 485: Old Comrades



'Time to go,' Robin concluded.

There was little more that she could gain from schmoozing with these people, and the party was most certainly over now. She didn't want to be here if an actual fight broke out, lest she be forced to expose that she was far from the helpless geisha she had portrayed herself as.

With that thought, she slipped out of the room. It was beyond easy, what with Orochi hogging the attention of the entire room.

"I'm extricating myself," Robin clicked her den den mushi awake and whispered into it.

"I'll move into position," Brook responded. His ghostly form would serve as an excellent distraction, just as it had when stealing war supplies from the factories or the farms. Something in the back of her mind told her that something was wrong, though. Nami hadn't said anything. It wasn't totally necessary for Nami to do so, but the younger woman was a bit of a chatterbox. It was unusual, to say the least.

Robin scanned the crawl spaces around the area, where she knew Nami and Shinobu were hiding. She found that Nami and Shinobu were moving away quite quickly, leaving behind one of the ninja that almost found Robin snooping in the records room.

"Looks like Nami and Shinobu were spotted, Brook," Robin spoke to the snail, keeping her voice low.

"Got it," Brook returned.

Robin picked up the pace, trying to stay roughly in the vicinity of Nami without giving away the fact that she was in too much of a hurry.

Only a handful of party-goers had the sense to leave when things started to get heated. As a result, Robin was alone in the quiet hallways of the castle. She wasn't going to any great length to hide either, so it was only natural that she would get spotted.

A man with a long, bald head and long earlobes stepped out from a corner. "Where are you going? The feast isn't over."

"Ah, well..." Robin put a complicated look on her face, mixed with a bit of fear. "I- I was feeling a bit faint, so I thought I should go home early..."

"Is that so?" Fukurokuju asked. "Perhaps I can escort you, then. You're going the wrong way, after all."

"... I would appreciate that," Robin spoke with some hesitance.

Fukurokuju stepped past her, expecting her to follow. "Say, were you in attendance at the feast the entire time?"

Robin briefly considered if she could kill the man fast enough not to draw other unwanted individuals to herself. She stamped that instinct down and answered, "I stepped away for a few minutes to... freshen up."

Fukurokuju's false smile dropped a bit. "It's inadvisable to wander the castle by yourself."

"Yes, of course," Robin answered in a hurry, bowing slightly even though he wasn't looking at her.

Fukurokuju was filled with doubt. He thought to himself, 'Did I get it wrong? Or is she more skilled at diverting suspicion than I expected?'

It was only a hunch that told him that "O-Robi" was suspect, but her answers to his questions were exactly as he would expect from someone who wasn't. Someone in his line of work, for example, would usually be somewhat desperate to distance themselves from any evidence of guilt. And yet she had just confirmed that she had left the feast unattended.

"I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," Fukurokuju said. He figured it was better safe than sorry.

Unfortunately for him, being sorry was the only true safe option.

"MMMM?!" Fukurokuju stumbled to the ground as he felt a blade slip through both of his achilles tendons. A powerful grip clenched over his jaw prevented him from doing anything more than moan in pain.

His many years of training allowed him to spin himself around to face his assailant. Except the arms locked around his neck and head strangely followed him and the woman he had thought was his attacker was still standing right where she had been. Her arms were held aloft in front of her in the shape of a blooming flower and her eyes glinted with the cold, reflected light of the moon.

He tried to lift his arms, but found them swiftly held down by yet more arms stronger than his own. As a last ditch effort, he sent his ear lobes in for the kill, only for them to be chopped off right below the ear.

Had he not lowered his guard, he would not be nearly so outclassed. That was the way of ninja, though; there was no point in crying foul. He had been beaten at his own game by a woman half his age.

With him completely out of the fight and rendered thoroughly defenseless, Robin told him, "A traitor should know when the wind no longer blows in his direction."

'A haiku...?' Those were the last words he heard before he felt something crunch in his neck, and all he knew was darkness.

...

Elsewhere, just outside the land of Wano.

A human woman large enough to be mistaken for a half-giant loomed over a den den mushi. "My old friend! How good it is to speak with you again! Mama-Mama!"

"What the hell do you want, Lin Lin," Kaido's voice came through.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"How rude! I can't just check in with a former comrade?" Big Mom asked.

"No," Kaido answered instantly. "Why are you here, knocking on my front door?"

Big Mom's goofy, terrifying smile faltered. "A little birdie told me the Straw Hats are lurking around your turf."

"And?" Kaido seemed to refuse to see the point.

"They've got a little monster with them, but I'm sure you know that. I should think you would happily accept a helping hand, freely offered?" Big Mom cut to the chase.

"Or you've lost your touch, you old hag. I can handle a few rookies on my own," the Kaido

snail sneered at her.

Big Mom grit her teeth. "You're no spring chicken yourself, brat! That bitch will tear through your dragon scales like a hot knife through butter!"

"Ridiculous," Kaido clearly didn't put any stock in her words.

"Fine! If you don't want to team up, then I'll come up there and kick your ass! I'll show you which one of us has 'lost our touch'!" Big Mom roared. "Take us up!"

"""Yes, Mama!"""echoed her children.

She didn't come all this way to get turned away at the gates. If Kaido wouldn't see reason, then she'd rather take him down with her!

More importantly, the Straw Hats stole her only hope of reading the poneglyphs! She wasn't leaving until Pudding was back in her hands!

The giant koi tied to her ship were allowed to swim free and started dragging her ship up the waterfall. Beast pirates fired upon them from the cliffside, but regular cannons didn't have any hope of hitting her ship with half of her children aboard, let alone with herself as well.

Nothing could stop the gargantuan ship from charging forth.

The only beast pirate who might have stood a chance of doing so in a timely fashion was currently flying over and searching the coast lines of Wano for a certain pair of escaped

prisoners.