One Piece: Who still has dreams?

Marian said in a low voice, "I didn't want to mess with such a powerful pirate like you... It was the boss who assigned me this strange mission. If I don't complete it, I'll be eliminated."

She sat back down on the picnic blanket, poured herself another cup of tea, blew on it, and said, "A sense of conviction."

Isn't this the same as not saying anything at all?

Redio asked, "Why are your hypnotic skills so powerful? Is there some special training method you use?"

Marian took a bite of her rice cracker and said, "I don't know... Every hypnotist has their own method. I didn't specifically try to improve my hypnotic skills; I just felt that my success rate was higher when I was drawing, and it gradually became like this... How do you use hypnosis?"

Redio took out a gold coin, flicked it high in the air, and said, "When the coin falls, you will tell me what you truly believe to be the secret of your hypnotism..."

A robin perched on an orange tree, flowers and snakes intertwined, and the obverse and reverse patterns of a gold coin shifted repeatedly in Marianne's eyes. She murmured, "I think it is..."

Her eyes suddenly cleared, and she looked at Redio with displeasure, pursing her lips.

Redio laughed: "Looks like there really is a secret."

Marian sighed, took a sip of tea, and held the cup, saying, "I think it's the flaw that 'the paint can be wiped off' that actually makes my hypnotic powers stronger. Although it's just my personal feeling, that's really what I think. Or perhaps it's the other way around—this 'sense of conviction' that enhances my hypnotic abilities. I can't really say..."

Isn't this a vow and a constraint?

What kind of restrictive settings are waiting for me here?

……

The gold coins twirled rapidly between Redio's fingers as he pondered Marianne's advice, leading her back to the battlefield.

Unsurprisingly, Zoro could now imbue his sword with Armament Haki, making cutting through iron effortless; Mr. 1 was left covered in blood. Miss Shuang's spiked fingers posed a slight challenge, but Nami easily whirled her around with her Seastone staff, turning her into a spinning top in the process, and also turning Bon Clay, who tried to help, into a ballet top as well. The twenty-meter-tall Candle Giant caused some trouble for the three giants, mainly because Mr. 3 was too cunning; he pretended to fight the giants hand-to-hand, but secretly created candles on the ground to wrap around Goltz and the others' feet, then used the candles to create giant axes and swords for the final blow, and then Ace, the Fire Man, arrived…

[Task Completed]

[Quest Rewards: 7500 Essence; Penance Card x1]

This is Mr.1's.

[Task Completed]

[Quest Rewards: 3500 Essence; 1 System Backpack Slot]

This is Miss.'s two fingers.

[Task Completed]

[Task Reward: 2400 Essence]

Third Brother, what kind of bad luck are you?

Redio looked at the reward that little Marian had revealed:

[Mission Rewards: 14 Essence; Radar Antenna]

The easy tasks seem to have yielded good loot; is there something wrong with this damn system?

Let's put aside what a radar antenna is for now.

Mr. 1, covered in knife wounds and blood, got up. By this time, the effects of Marian's group hypnosis had worn off. He was no longer the somewhat chuunibyou Kamen Rider, but had returned to his cool ascetic appearance. He and his brothers surrounded Robin, who had turned back into her black hair.

"You should answer the question now, Miss. All Sunday..."

Mr. 1 extended his five fingers, which had transformed into sharp blades, and made a grasping motion towards Robin. With a dark expression, he asked, "What exactly is your purpose in issuing the mission to everyone in the name of the boss, requiring them to challenge the Cursed Pirates? Your answer will determine whether you live or die."

Feng Kelei and his third brother stood like bodyguards, blocking Reddio and the others, saying, "This is our company's internal matter, (I ask you) not to interfere!"

Ace said irritably, "I don't even know what happened, and you want us to get involved? We don't even know where to begin." Zoro nodded in agreement.

"..."

Robin was silenced as five sharp fingers pointed at her. She met the gaze of Redio, who was standing not far away. Redio gave her a look that said, "Let's see how you perform." She smiled slightly and suddenly said to Mr. 1 and the others, "The boss has disappeared."

"what?!"

Baroque's top agents were taken aback.

They didn't even know who the boss was, and now they're suddenly being told that the boss has disappeared?

Robin said to the company's senior employees, "Don't look at me like that. I can't reveal Mr. 0's true identity. All I know is that he disappeared in a very dangerous place, most likely in the 'New World'..."

Mr. 3 exclaimed in shock, "You don't mean you expect us to find the boss with such a small clue, do you?!"

“The New World…” Miss. hesitated, pointing two fingers. “That’s the territory of the Four Emperors of the Sea. With our numbers…”

"That's why we need to rely on the strength of these people."

Robin gave a graceful, slight bow to Reddio. "You've all witnessed the strength of the Cursed Pirates, haven't you? All the senior agents of Baroque Works are here to request the assistance of the Cursed Pirates in finding our missing boss..."

"what?"

Ace and Zoro were both completely bewildered. "You've been provoking us for no reason for so long, and in the end you just want us to do you a favor?"

“No problem!” Redio said, patting his chest. “However, we’re pirates; we can’t work for free. You’ll have to pay a price, right?”

Mr. 1, with blood still streaming down his forehead, asked expressionlessly, "How much do you want?"

Mr. 1 has given you a task: Find the BOSS.

Marian has given you a task: Find the boss.

Mr. 3 has entrusted you with a task...

Mr. Merry Christmas entrusts you with...

……

Mr. 2 has given you a task: Find Little 0.

Estimated Difficulty: ★★★★

"Don't make me laugh, I don't need money."

Reddio's gaze swept over the high-ranking agents of Baroque, and only after they had all handed in their missions did he speak, pointing at Robin, "This chick is not bad, I want her as collateral."

Robin looked a little troubled. “Mr. 0 is my partner after all. Since that’s the case… then I…” She sighed softly, pressed down on the brim of her cowboy hat, and turned to Baroque and the others to say, “Then we’ll have to split up. I’ll go with the Cursed Pirates to find the boss. If you’re interested, you can try going to the New World yourselves. If you’re not, we won’t force you.”

Robin took out a Den Den Mushi and handed it to Mr. Twofingers. "There are confidants of the boss in the Kingdom of Alabasta. You can contact them through this Den Den Mushi. After I left, Baroque's work was handed over to her. Her code name is 'Miss. Water Festival'."

"..." Nami looked at Redio and the mysterious woman in the cowboy hat with suspicion the whole time.

Chapter 109, Person 3

[Chapter Opening Serial: After Redio Left, Kuja 2: What Will Happen Towards Them?]

[On the outskirts of Serpent City, Sanda and Gentian watched as the 14 girls Redio had rescued played with the little girls from Serpent Village.]

*******************************************************

"Let me introduce you. This is Nicole Robin, our archaeologist and librarian."

After the Baroques left, Redio introduced himself to the others.

Zoro exclaimed in surprise, "You guys already knew each other?" Ace suddenly realized, "That's not surprising." Nami muttered, "I knew it."

Gertz smiled and extended his hand to Robin: "Welcome."

"..." Robin looked up at the female giant and asked in confusion, "Isn't she the 'Cyclops'?" As she spoke, she waved her hand, and a wave of petals rose from the ground, condensing into a slender hand the size of a giant, which gently shook hands with Goltz.

Redio flipped his hand, and a copy of "The Domineering Manual 2.0" appeared in his palm. He laughed and said, "You need to brush up on your skills."

"?" Robin took the booklet, her gaze still lingering on the two twenty-meter-tall male giants. Dorry and Brogy, confused, had been transformed into "Nika" and "Thunder Dragon," and then confusedly witnessed a chaotic battle before being deactivated. Still bewildered, they saw the little girl on the ground scrutinizing them and laughed, "Hehehehehehe/Gababababa, little human girl, is this your first time seeing a giant?"

“Haguvar D. Saulo,”

Robin asked, "Have you heard of this giant's name?"

"Ok?"

Dorry and Brogy scratched their beards. "No recollection!"

Gertz gaped, exclaiming to Robin in surprise, "Teacher Saul?"

"Teacher?" Robin was also taken aback. Could it be that they had the same name?

Donley and Brogy were shocked: "Elbaf has a school? A warrior's school?"

Gertz chuckled, “No, the new generation of children in the village are studying and playing in school now, but they won’t be trained to be warriors. That’s exactly what King Harald wanted to see most when he was alive! More than ten years ago, Teacher Saul brought many valuable books from overseas and stored them in the Owl Library. King Harald later invited him to help establish the ‘Walrus School’…”

"Harald? That guy really became king! How could he die so young? Hehehehe, what a pity!"

"He built a school in Elbaf that doesn't train soldiers? Clatter clatter clatter, that's unprecedented! I really want to see it, clatter clatter..."

Donley and Brogy felt as if they had truly been isolated from the world in this little garden for too long, and even the changes in their hometown of Elbaf were somewhat incomprehensible to them.

With tears in his eyes, Robin asked, "Was the book that Saul took to Elbaf from 'Ohara'?"

……

Reddio smiled slightly, and while Robin and Gertz were talking about their benefactor Saulo, he took the opportunity to check the "boarding gifts" that Miss Robin had brought earlier.

There's not much to say about the thousands of essences; the only two items that dropped were... He opened the quest reward panel and checked them...

[Ascetic Card]

[Description: After using this item, a random target will be selected, and there is a certain probability that the target's cultivation experience over the next 24 hours will be fed back to you.]

[Note 1: This item is a one-time consumable.]

[Note 2: This item cannot be duplicated.]