A rather short chapter, but it's the introduction.

One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda.

Updates will be once a month.

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"Did you hear the latest from East Blue? There's a man there they call the Pirate Hunter!"

The tall, black-haired beauty stopped in her tracks and looked back at the newsstand cashier gossiping with a man.

"East Blue? So what? I'd bet he wouldn't last a day on the Grand Line."

"Still, such a fearsome name. "The" Pirate Hunter. Look here, in this article."

"Heh, you sell an East Blue paper? How ridiculous."

"I'm a versatile businessman. Look, it's said he uses three katana and looks like a demon!"

Boots clicked on the pavement as the woman walked towards the stand. "I will take one of those papers, the one from East Blue."

"Oh, the manager from Crocodile's casino! Pleasant day, though I wouldn't complain if it rained!" The newsstand owner laughed. "Ah, that's 130 belli. Sorry it's so expensive, but it IS imported, after all." (I'll assume belli is approximately equal to yen, here.)

"No. That doesn't bother me. I'll take it."

"Thank you! It's rare that someone purchases this paper! There's just not enough news there to interest them, compared to everyday life on the Grand Line! Hahaha!"

"… I like to keep informed of all the oceans."

"Oh, of course! It's a great thing to do, really."

"Sayonara."

"Ah, that Crocodile-san and his manager. He's so wonderful, protecting …"

She tucked the paper under her arm and strode off, trying not to tremble. No one could have guessed that at the very precise moment she had overheard the conversation, she had been trying to decide what she should do about the famous Shichibukai, Crocodile. She had just thought, "If only I could ensure his death before he seals mine, at the end of all this. It would be much easier than running from both him AND the government for the rest of my life! But who would take on one of the famed, eight government pirates?"

Little wonder that mention of "Pirate Hunter" would catch the attention of Nico Robin, at the moment under the alias of Ms All-Sunday.

Turning down a side-street, she finally allowed herself to unfold the paper. "Pirate Hunter…" she muttered. Her eyes widened as she read of his exploits against pirate kind. Robin swallowed. She needed somewhere to read this article thoroughly. Ah, a lovely café.

"Just a cup of coffee, please." It came quickly, though she almost didn't notice it. There she sat, appearing to everyone else as the beautiful manager of the casino there to relax. Oblivious to everything around her, Robin's pulse quickened as she read. The bounties of his victims weren't anything much, but the sheer number of them … The picture that accompanied the article was one of a man, his face shrouded in shadow. His eyes captivated her; even in black and white they were glowing. This man could …

"He is most easily recognized from his haramaki and three swords, one of which is a white meitou," she read, whispering. Ah, what was she thinking, just from a picture? She chuckled, drained the last of her coffee, left a few bills, and stood up leave. Not two steps from the table she hesitated. Ah, what are you doing? she thought irritably as she turned, snatched the paper up, and left the café.

Back at her room, Robin tossed the paper on a chair along with her hat and sank down onto her bed. She stared at the chair, a corner of the paper peeking out from under her hat. "Really," she muttered, "what, in all these oceans, am I thinking? Even in the rare chance a swordsman could defeat a man who can turn to sand, why would he help me, a wanted refugee? A top priority bounty?" She barked out a harsh laugh. "No, why am I even thinking like that? I doubt he's even that strong! Making a name for yourself in East Blue isn't the same as being known in the Grand Line."

She flopped down on the bed, stretching out to get some rest. After all, she had to coordinate several towns of bounty hunters and hunt down more strong people to be Number Agents. The plan to incriminate Nefertari Cobra was well underway. She sighed and closed her eyes.

AARGH. Who was she kidding?! That article was driving her mad! Robin sprang up and snatched the paper, not even bothering to recover her hat as it rolled across the floor on its rim, and stretched out once again on her bed, devouring the paper with her eyes. Greedily, as if she couldn't read it enough, as if her life depended on it, she read and re-read and re-read that article. Pirate Hunter.

Oceans away, a man's stomach growled. "Damn I'm hungry." He sighed. No bounty heads all week, and people were beginning to call him weird things. "When've I ever said I hunted pirates?!" he snarled at the twentieth person in this blasted town that had stared at him for five minutes before shrieking "It's the Pirate Hunter!" and fleeing down the street, flailing.