The sky gradually brightened as the disturbances of the night settled into calm.

Princess Vivi earnestly requested her father to agree to her plan, while Crocodile, having been beaten up, resumed plotting his schemes.

At the same time, he was constantly searching for Noir's whereabouts, planning his revenge!

However, at this moment, Noir was leisurely sailing away from the borders of Alabasta.

Inside the ship's cabin, a pair of individuals were sweating profusely, hard at work.

Noir sat on the bed, sweat dripping from his forehead, panting heavily. He asked in a deep voice, "How do you feel?"

Robin, lying on the bed, bit her lower lip gently, her face flushed as she softly replied, "I'm okay…"

"Turn over."

"It feels uncomfortable…"

"It'll be over soon!"

After a while, Robin let out a muffled groan, and Noir exhaled deeply.

Wiping the sweat off, Noir held a pair of tweezers, saying, "That bastard's golden hook is really something; it even left fragments in the wound."

As he re-bandaged the bleeding wound, Robin's complexion slowly returned to normal. She said, "Crocodile's methods are always like that. The golden hook likely has poison on it."

Having spent the entire night tending to Robin's wounds, a fatigued Noir collapsed onto the bed, saying weakly, "That guy is truly disgusting..."

Robin comfortingly patted his head and smiled, "I had anticipated this before, so although I don't have an antidote, I made an inhibitor."

Noir closed his eyes and thought for a while before saying, "We can't just let this poison linger; we need to find a doctor..."

Right, Chopper's hometown should be nearby!

Noir sat up and looked at Robin, asking, "Do you know where Drum Island is?"

Robin thought for a moment and said, "A famous medical country. I read about it in a sailing log, but I only know roughly where it is."

That's good enough. Robin had used her toxin inhibitor, so the situation wasn't extremely urgent.

Let's head to Drum Island!

Noir got excited for a moment and suddenly remembered something. He asked, "So, would you like to become my crewmate?"

Hmm... Why did that sound like a marriage proposal?

Robin propped her hands on the bed and, with an elegant smile, said, "Shouldn't I, a wanted criminal, be asking if I can join your crew?"

A wanted criminal?

Oh, Noir had almost forgotten if Robin hadn't mentioned it...

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

With a generous heart, Noir said, "It's fine! I'm not exactly a good person either."

Robin shook her head helplessly and extended her delicate hand, saying, "Then please take care of me, Captain."

Noir grabbed her small hand and laughed, "Of course!"

Thus, after over fifty chapters of trials, Noir finally found his first companion.

And it was Robin from the protagonist's group that he had intercepted.

Noir was very satisfied.

Having a girl on board indeed made life much more refined.

For one, at least Noir's pigsty was now taken care of.

Even the other rooms were cleaned, and Noir's clothes were washed.

This made Noir feel quite embarrassed, feeling like a useless person for the first time…

Days passed, and the ship had long left Alabasta's territory.

The environment around them also underwent a drastic change, from the scorching heat that could cook a person to the cold, icy air.

As they ventured deeper into the winter island region, the sky even started to snow heavily, covering the ship and the horizon in a blanket of white.

In this freezing weather, Noir and Robin huddled in the cabin, unwilling to come out.

In the warm room, Noir was tugging at his hair, struggling over the chessboard in front of him.

Across from him, Robin seemed to be reading a book diligently.

In reality, a small hand formed by her Hana Hana no Mi ability was on the table, moving the chess pieces.

Noir had created a set of Gomoku pieces because he didn't know how to play Go, so he dragged Robin to play this instead.

But who would have thought, Noir hadn't won a single game in these past few days!

Robin truly exemplified what it meant to beat someone blindfolded.

The small hand on the table placed a piece, and Noir's eyes widened in disbelief.

Damn it, lost again!

With a puff, the arm turned into petals and disappeared. Robin smiled at him and said, "You lost again, 121 losses now."

Noir slumped over the table in frustration, saying, "It shouldn't be; I thought I was playing well."

Robin, like an older sister teasing her little brother, said, "Your thoughts are too simple. I can see through every move."

Noir snorted defiantly.

Back in Bell-mère's house, he was at least the third-best at playing chess.

Only second to Bell-mère and Nojiko!

If Nami dared to win, she would get a good beating...

Unable to beat Robin in Gomoku, Noir planned to create other entertainment tools.

He already had a rough idea: to make a board game in the world of One Piece!

The systems and skill judgments could be based on board games from his previous life.

With such complicated rules set by himself, would he still lose to Robin?

Noir started chuckling to himself, lost in thought.

Robin gave him a disdainful glance and quietly moved her seat a bit further away.

Realizing he had scared Robin away, Noir blushed, wiped the drool from his mouth, and came back to his senses.

Speaking of which, he hadn't checked Robin's talents yet.

Noir focused his gaze on Robin, and lines of information unfolded in his mind.

"Name: Robin

Devil Child: Red quality, naturally ominous, bringing misfortune to anyone or anything associated with her. However, if accompanied by someone with great fortune, the side effects disappear, and her charm multiplies, gaining affinity and charisma, leading to smooth sailing.

Ohara Scholar: Purple quality, embodying all the knowledge of Ohara. Naturally proficient in history with a top-level learning and memory capacity for any linguistic subjects. Intelligence increases with combat.

Devil Host: Hana Hana: Blue quality, allowing any part of her body to bloom like flowers on any tangible object.

Abandoned by the Sea: Purple quality, cursed by the sea along with the devil's power. This curse causes weakness upon contact with seawater, rendering her unable to use abilities actively."

Hmm?

Robin's talents were impressive and certainly matched her achievements.

But the ability to read ancient texts wasn't considered a talent, which disappointed Noir a bit.

The system's talent descriptions were getting more mystical: naturally ominous, great fortune companion!

Then again, he should be considered someone with great fortune, right?

Noir pondered, and since he could traverse worlds, he should indeed count as having great fortune, right?