Monster Hunter of the One Piece World

"Brother Sherwin, is Sister Robin a bad person meow?"

Klee Meow held her little paw to her mouth, glancing back and forth between Sherwin and Robin, who were seated opposite each other on the ship with serious expressions. Unable to resist, she tugged at Sherwin sleeve and asked in her childish voice.

"Uh... of course not."

Interrupted by Klee Meow like that, Sherwin naturally couldn't keep up his serious demeanor. He scooped the little plush Felyne into his arms and scratched her chin as he explained,

"But she is a big problem."

"Meow?" Klee Meow tilted her head in confusion.

"It a bit complicated to explain. You just need to know that Robin is being hunted by the Navy and a bunch of troublesome people because of some things... Uncle Cody is one of them too." As he spoke, Sherwin looked up at Robin to confirm,

"Uncle Cody went to Gules because of you, right?"

"That right." Nico Robin nodded.

"But he didn't go there on his own initiative—it was me who lured him there through the Buano Family."

"Huh?" That caught Sherwin off guard. He couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Why?"

"Because I originally intended to use the Simente Family and the Capone Family to get rid of him... or at least injure or entangle him for a while, so I'd have enough time to escape from Gules. Ideally, I wanted to break off his trail entirely." Robin said with a bitter smile.

"I didn't expect Capone Bege to be hiding so much strength, and even more unexpected was that Cody would hire a strong person like you as a bodyguard..."

"Hold on, this is getting a little confusing. Can you explain everything to me from the beginning?"

Sherwin rubbed his temples, feeling a little dizzy. The Klee Meow in his arms had already started spinning her eyes in circles.

Whether it was because Robin truly trusted that Sherwin wouldn't harm her, or because she'd simply given up, she actually told him everything from start to finish.

After Ohara was destroyed, Nico Robin had been living a life on the run. At first, she hid among ordinary people, but after several close calls where she was nearly turned in for her bounty, she began to move between underground organizations.

Basically, she'd join a faction, work for them, and then, before they could turn on her or before the CP or Navy caught up, she'd betray her employer, cut off any leads, and flee again to find the next group. It was a cycle she repeated endlessly...

Well, this part, Sherwin already knew from reading the manga.

The Buano Family was the latest faction Robin had been working with. In fact, their desire to turn Gules into a member nation of the World Government was something she had subtly guided them toward through various means.

Originally, Robin intended to take advantage of the royal family status once Gules became a member nation, which would allow her to better evade the Navy and CP agents.

However, not long ago, she sensed that her identity might have been exposed—by none other than Cody, whose true identity she had discovered first.

At that time, Robin wasn't certain whether her identity had truly been compromised, and she wasn't willing to give up on her plans with the Buano Family just yet. So she informed Buano John about Cody identity—but deliberately exaggerated it.

After all, based on her experience, she could tell Cody was most likely a CP agent. But as for which CP unit he belonged to or what rank he held, that was beyond her knowledge.

In any case, under Robin persuasion, Buano John came to believe that "Cody could influence decisions made by the World Government."

Acting on that belief and Robin suggestion, he sent Cody an invitation to the trade conference.

And when Robin learned that Cody had accepted the invitation, she realized her identity must have been exposed—at least, the other side had figured out she was hiding on Gules Island.

Thus, Nico Robin began her second plan—she leaked Buano Family ambition to become royalty on their own to the Simente Family, which had comparable strength.

Then she told the Capone Family, whose strength appeared slightly weaker on the surface, that the Buano Family was relying on Cody. However, she didn't tell the Capone Family that Cody was a CP agent.

In her plan, the Simente Family, which didn't know Cody true identity, would surely try to seize the opportunity and join forces with the Capone Family to move against the Buano Family.

Meanwhile, the Capone Family—though weaker—knew that Cody was the key. In order to prevent the Simente Family from becoming the next Buano, they might very well try to eliminate him.

Even if the Capone family was wary of the World Government reaction, or had greater ambitions and wanted to revive the Buano family plan, even if they didn't make a move against Cody, they would still try to get close to him.

In that case, Cody, who had lost his target due to the destruction of the Buano family, might instead suspect that Robin had been captured by the Capone family. That way, Robin could take advantage of the probing and hesitation between both sides to escape from Guresse.

The first half of the plan went very smoothly, but what Robin hadn't expected was that Capone Bege had actually concealed the fact that he was a Devil Fruit user.

He secretly used his fruit ability to store a group of men inside his body, which caused the second half of the plan to deviate from the original course.

What surprised her even more was that before Capone Bege could even have much contact with Cody, he was already beaten down by Sherwin. As a result, it became even less likely that Bege would go after Cody.

Fortunately, Sherwin later swindled a ship from Capone Bege and left Guresse ahead of time. Otherwise, Robin would still be stuck worrying about how to get out.

Without Sherwin, since those merchants would have stayed behind to negotiate cooperation with the Capone family, it would've been unlikely for any ships to leave during that period.

In that case, Nico Robin chances of escaping Guresse in the short term would've been slim, and while waiting for an opportunity, she'd also have to be cautious not to be discovered by Cody.

Although with her abilities it wouldn't have been impossible, the risks were still far greater than simply hiding aboard the Explorer No. 1.

Sherwin probably understood then why Cody had stopped him from killing Capone Bege back then… If the leaders of all three major families had died, Guresse would have descended into complete chaos, and it would've become even harder for him to find Robin.

As for why Cody never considered the possibility that Robin might be hiding on Sherwin ship—or thought it impossible—no one would ever know. And it wasn't like they could go back to ask him.

"So, what do you plan to do with me now?" Robin rested her chin on the back of her hand with a charming flair and winked at Sherwin.

But Sherwin could sense that her body was still tense the entire time. Clearly, if he intended to harm her, even knowing she wasn't his match, Robin wouldn't let herself be captured without a fight.

"I already told you before—I don't plan on turning you in for the bounty." Sherwin shrugged, once again making his stance clear.

Even so, Robin didn't lower her guard. She'd been through this far too many times—people acting friendly to make her drop her defenses, only to turn around and try to capture her.

Sherwin didn't mind her wariness. He rubbed his chin lightly against the head of the small plush cat in his arms and said with a smile, "Besides, even if I wanted to do that, Klee here wouldn't allow it."

Klee Meow still didn't quite understand what was going on, but she nodded seriously and said, "Klee thinks Big Sister Robin is a good person. We mustn't bully her, meow."

Little cats really were born diplomats. Sherwin had tried so hard without managing to ease Robin guard, but one sentence from Klee Meow made her completely relax.

"But…" Sherwin gave Robin—who had just breathed a sigh of relief—a somewhat apologetic smile. "We can't keep you around forever."

He gently pinched Klee Meow ear and rubbed the head of Sanji Meow beside her, then explained, "I have to take responsibility for these little ones. Your presence would put them in danger. That something I can't accept."

"No handing me over to the Navy is already more than I could ask for," Robin said with a smile as she shook her head, though there was a trace of sadness in that smile.

"Besides, I never intended to drag you all into this. Otherwise, I would've found a way to stay on the ship from the start."

"Yeah," Sherwin nodded. That was one of the reasons he wanted to help Robin as much as possible.

So he added, "But until you find a safe place to settle down, I'll do my best to protect you…"

"Wait a minute, meow!" Klee Meow in his arms suddenly turned around and pressed her little paw against Sherwin mouth.

"Why are you trying to make Sister Robin leave, meow? She in danger right now, isn't she? Klee not scared of those bad guys who want to catch her, meow!"

Sanji Meow chimed in from the side, "Yeah, as long as Miss Robin hides her identity well, isn't it fine if she stays on the ship, meow? Since when did you get so timid, Sherwin, meow?"

Sherwin gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "It not that simple…"