Chapter 57: Motive
Dialogue "sample"
Thoughts 'sample'
Author notes -sample-
Disclaimer: One piece and all of its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda.
Chapter 57: Motive
Iceberg took them to a secret dock where He kept a prototype of the Puffing Tom called Rocketman.
While He was working on getting it ready.
"There is something else I wanted to speak with you."
"What is it?" Asked Luffy.
"Is about your crewmate Robin." Said Iceberg.
This got everyone's attention, and they approached Iceberg to listen.
"I have talked before about the Ancient Weapons. My master told me about another way to awaken those weapons. In this world, some ancient tablets speak about the location of these weapons. Luckily, they are written in a language that no one can understand anymore. No one, except the sages of an island called Ohara."
"Was that Robins home?" Asked Nami.
Iceberg nodded. "That island was completely destroyed by the World Government. But one child managed to escape."
"Wait, didn't Vivi say something like that to Admiral Aokiji? You said the government committed genocide and put a bounty on Robin when she was eight." Nami looked at Vivi.
"You knew all of that about Robin already?. Why didn't you tell us?" Asked Chopper.
"Because is not my story to tell. If Robin wanted you to know about her past, she would have told you herself. But I doubt this is something she likes to talk about." Said Vivi. She then faced Iceberg.
"You have been drawing the wrong conclusions, Mister Iceberg. What the people of Ohara and Robin wanted was not to find those Ancient weapons."
Iceberg rose an eyebrow. "What else could they have wanted by studying those old texts?"
"Those texts are called Poneglyphs and they supposedly lead to two things. One is the location of the weapons and the other one is the truth about the Void Century."
Iceberg gasped and his face became paler. "The Void century?!"
"What the heck is that?" Asked Luffy.
"Is a century-long gap in history during which the current World government was created and some ancient empire was destroyed. The mere study of the Void Century is forbidden by the World Government under the death penalty. This is why Ohara was destroyed and why they wanted Robin dead. The government is afraid of anyone who can find out the truth."
"Why would they be so afraid of that? what could be so bad if people found out?" Asked Nami.
Vivi shrugged, she didn't know either. "Who knows, only the higher-ups in the government may know something about that."
"They used to want her dead…but now the World Government has decided that they want to make use of the Ancient weapons so they need her alive." Said Iceberg.
"Is that the goal she was talking about? finding out about this Void Century?" Concluded Zoro.
"That may have been her main goal in the past, but I don't think that's the case anymore"
"What do you mean?." Asked Nami.
"When I was fighting that Blueno guy, He and Robin mentioned a deal they made to leave us alone, as long as we don't interfere in their business." Said Vivi.
"Why would Robin be so afraid of those guys? I mean, they looked strong but we can definitely beat their asses!" Claimed Luffy.
"I don't think it is just them that she is afraid of. Their leader, Lucci mentioned having access to a Buster Call."
That was a lie, Lucci never mentioned that, but Vivi had to come up with a way to bring that up since Robin never had that solo conversation with Iceberg where she revealed everything.
"Buster call, are you sure you heard that right?" Iceberg said with terror on his face.
"What is that? why is it so bad?" Asked Nami.
"A buster call is the ultimate form of military attack that the Marines are capable of. If the call is made, A Marine Admiral, five Vice-Admirals, and ten warships will arrive at the island where the call was made and destroy everything…is a death sentence." Said Iceberg.
"If I had to guess, they used the threat of using a Buster Call to kill us all in order to force her to cooperate with them. And the threat of a Buster Call would be especially effective with Robin since she already witnessed one in person." Explained Vivi.
"You mean her home was destroyed with a Buster Call?.... that's horrible…" Cried Chopper.
"So…she never betrayed us then…she is trying to save us" Tears started to pour of Namis eyes.
"It seems like I misjudged her." Said Zoro.
"Robin…" Usopp said softly.
"How dare they do that to Robin!" Luffy clenched his fists.
"Vivi!" An angry Luffy turned to look at her.
"If you knew what Robin was going through...why did you stop me from taking her back!"
"For her own good." Answered Vivi.
"What do you mean?" Asked Nami.
"Robin has many demons of her past and she possesses a great trauma related to Marine Admirals and the Buster Call. If we don't allow her to face those demons, if we just take her by force and ran away she would live the rest of her life terrified of the World Government and the Marines. And what do you think will happen next time when some marine comes to her and threatens her with another Buster Call?"
"She will run away again." Spoke Zoro.
"So...what do you suggest we do?" Saiid Luffy after calming down a bit.
"At this point, Robin has most likely given up on life and is just awaiting her inevitable fate. So, we go to Enies Lobby and show her that we are not afraid of confronting the government for one of our crew members. We let her see that we will never abandon one of our friends and that one has the right to decide her fate for her."
Luffy nodded in understanding. He then looked at Iceberg. "How long until this thing is ready?."
"I need at least twenty more minutes to finish the maintenance. The trip to Enies Lobby will take three hours more or less." Said Iceberg.
"Is good that we have a bit of time then. There is something I need to show you all." Said Vivi while removing the dial from her bag.
"That's the vision dial you borrowed from me. What did you use it for?" Asked Usopp.
Instead of saying anything, Vivi activated the dial and projected the images into a nearby wall.
The images started to pass in quick succession one after the other, forming a primitive film.
"That's Blueno." Said Iceberg.
"So, you fought that guy too, uh?" Commented Luffy.
"Pay attention. He is going to showcase his techniques."
They all watched the 'movie'. There was no sound so Vivi will comment on the name of the techniques used and what they did.
Once it was over, she passed the dial to Luffy.
"Use the time we have until we reach Enies Lobby to watch this and try to understand those techniques, they could be useful for the future. I will write some notes with what I have learned myself by personal experience."
"This could be useful. Especially that movement one, Soru, right?" Said Zoro.
"This is giving me an idea!" Exclaimed Luffy.