"I know that after what I just said, you probably don't trust me anymore. But I do know about your situation. Yes, through a giant Vice Admiral named Haguar D. Saul."
Robin, who had been watching Wood with a cautious expression, was once again surprised when she heard the name that came out of his mouth.
Jaguar D. Saul was not an unfamiliar name to Robin. He was her friend and her benefactor.
When Ohara was destroyed by the Buster Call, it was thanks to Haguar D. Saul that an eight-year-old girl like Robin was able to escape.
Haguar D. Saul was a Vice Admiral in the Navy Headquarters, tasked with capturing the group of scholars led by Robin's mother, who were researching the Poneglyphs. After speaking with Robin's mother, Olvia, and realizing the injustice, he decided to free her, which led to him being hunted by the Navy.
During the Buster Call on Ohara, Saul even managed to sink two Navy warships with his bare hands.
However, the Vice Admiral sent to Ohara at that time was no ordinary one; it was Aokiji, Kuzan, one of the Navy's most promising young officers.
Although both were Vice Admirals, Saul was no match for Kuzan. But since they were friends, Kuzan chose to respect Saul's decision and allowed Robin to escape.
Does Wood really know Saul? That's obviously impossible. After all, Saul was from the same generation as Aokiji. But there was no way Robin could know this.
Wood was formerly part of the Navy, and so was Saul. Moreover, Wood knew so much about Ohara, which made his claim of knowing Saul seem more plausible.
Their meeting must have taken place before the Buster Call. If Wood knew this much, it suggested that he really did know Saul.
And the details about Ohara might have been something Wood sought out after his friend Saul's death.
Robin was a smart child, and after hearing that Wood knew Saul, she quickly pieced everything together and labeled Wood as someone she could cautiously trust.
"The pirate crew I'm with now is called the 'One-Eyed Pirate Crew.' Their captain, One-Eyed Bebbart, is a major pirate with a bounty of 25 million Berries. They..."
Now that her identity had been recognized, there was no point in hiding anything. Since Wood was supposedly Saul's friend, Robin didn't want to see him and his crew die here, so she revealed the One-Eyed Pirate Crew's plan.
Robin knew all too well what it meant to betray the One-Eyed Pirate Crew, so she hoped Wood and his crew had a good solution. Otherwise, she might have no choice but to die alongside them.
It was impossible to sneak off the island now because the One-Eyed Pirate Crew had surely ambushed Wood's ship by now.
Robin could only think of two options. The first was that Wood and his crew had a Den Den Mushi (communication device) and could use it to contact the nearby Navy branch to stir up chaos on the island and escape.
The other option was to launch a surprise attack on the One-Eyed Pirate Crew and seize their ship to escape.
Since One-Eyed Bebbart was likely guarding Wood's warship, the defenses around the One-Eyed Pirate Crew's own ship would probably be weak.
Given the strength Wood had demonstrated earlier, as long as they launched a surprise attack before Bebbart could react, they should have a high chance of success.
As Robin sat by the fire, risking her life to expose the plan, she spoke confidently about the strategies she had thought up.
However, to her dismay, she noticed that no one around her was paying much attention. Instead, they were all focused on the roasted meat in their hands.
"Did you not hear what I just said? You're up against one of the largest pirate crews in the West Blue right now! One-Eyed Bebbart is a major pirate with a 25 million Berry bounty, and the One-Eyed Pirate Crew has 500 members. There are only a dozen or so of us here, and yet you still have the nerve to sit here eating meat? Are you not afraid of dying?"
The difference in numbers was so overwhelming that Robin was extremely anxious, fearing that the One-Eyed Pirate Crew might lose patience and attack suddenly.
Yet her new companions seemed oblivious to the seriousness of the situation. Not only were they not coming up with a plan, but they were also busy fighting over the roasted meat.
If Wood hadn't claimed to know Saul earlier, Robin might have decided to betray them herself.
After all, if Wood and his crew didn't want to live, Robin still wanted to survive, even if her future life would be filled with humiliation and hardship. She wanted to live to witness the world's history.
"One-Eyed Pirate Crew? One-Eyed Bebbart? Russ, have you heard of these guys?"
With a bounty of 25 million Berries, Wood genuinely didn't take them seriously. But Robin kept emphasizing their danger, so he looked over at Russ to ask.
Russ was a veteran in the Navy, having previously worked in administration at Impel Down, and was somewhat familiar with the world's wanted pirates.
"One-Eyed Bebbart? I think I've seen this guy's file before. He's one of the up-and-coming rookie pirates in the West Blue over the past few years. It seems he's not a Devil Fruit user, and his high bounty is mostly due to his extremely cruel and cold-blooded nature. His actual strength is fairly mediocre, just an insignificant minor character."
Hearing Russ's response, Wood relaxed and returned to dealing with his roasted meat.
In his memory, several major figures seemed to have come from the weakest East Blue. Aside from Shanks, Gecko Moria, Chinjao, and San Juan Wolf, there weren't many particularly powerful people from the West Blue.
With Wood's current strength, he couldn't claim to be invincible on the seas, but there weren't many who could easily defeat him.
Among these people, this guy with a 25 million Berry bounty, called One-Eyed Bebbart, definitely didn't belong in that category.
A pirate with a 25 million Berry bounty might be considered a big deal before entering the Grand Line, but compared to the pirates in the Grand Line, they were not on the same level.
Even in the West Blue, known as the strongest sea, the same bounty amount had significant inflation when they entered the Grand Line.
Pirates born in the Four Seas couldn't compare to those from the Grand Line in terms of vision or strength. Their high bounties were simply due to the Navy's weaker control over the Four Seas and the lack of competition.
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Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 230+ at patreon.com/Betek.