Chapter 446 - 97
In the weeks following the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi incident, Nightless City began to find its footing again. Rosinante's return, and the permanent presence of the Oathblood Imperial Guard, had breathed something back into the place. But breathing life into a city and restoring it to what it once was are different things entirely, and anyone who had known Nightless City in its prime could feel the distance between then and now.
Some things, once broken, do not simply reassemble themselves because the conditions for their existence have returned.
The city's original brilliance had rested on three pillars. The Grey Kingdom's effort and ambition was one. The backing of three great pirate crews was another. But the third, and perhaps the most essential, was the flood of wealthy merchants and entrepreneurs who had arrived from every corner of the world, drawn by the promise of what Nightless City was becoming. It was their investment, their energy, their willingness to plant roots in something new, that had turned a dream into a thriving reality faster than anyone had a right to expect. Without them, even the Grey Kingdom at full strength couldn't have produced what Nightless City had been.
Those people were gone now. The years of Celestial Dragon occupation had taken everything from them, grinding down their ambitions and stripping away their wealth until nothing remained but exhaustion and the memory of what they had once hoped for. Without the drive, without the capital, the city's foundations couldn't sustain what they had once supported.
There was also the matter of the Three Declarations. Nightless City's promise to the world had rested on those words, and when Rosinante vanished, the Celestial Dragons had trampled them without ceremony. It hadn't been Rosinante who broke faith, but the result was the same. A promise that had already been shattered once was not easy to believe in again. And so despite the news of his return having spread across the seas for some time now, not a single mermaid or member of any other rare race had come to Nightless City. The trust that had once drawn them was still waiting to be rebuilt.
For all these reasons, the city's recovery, while real, was nowhere near what it had once been.
Rosinante, for his part, didn't particularly mind. If anything, he thought the slower pace suited the moment. What Nightless City had achieved in its first rise had been extraordinary, a product of unique circumstances that had driven everything forward at a pace that couldn't be sustained naturally. What was growing now would grow on its own terms, and the foundation it built would be more solid for it.
...
In the courtyard before the Sky-Veiling Palace, two figures moved in rapid, flickering bursts, one pressing forward with relentless attacks, the other deflecting every single one without apparent effort.
Nearby, Rosinante sat with a cup of tea that Shaxia had brought him, savoring it at a comfortable pace. Beside him stood a maid who looked deeply unhappy with her uniform, tugging at it periodically as though hoping it might rearrange itself into something less undignified.
"Elsa has come so far in just these past few days," Shaxia said warmly, watching the two sparring figures with open pride.
"With the chakra training layered on top of her regular practice, and the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi on top of that, this much progress makes sense," Rosinante said.
"Chakra," Momousagi said from beside him, mouth pulling to one side. "That's the power you brought back from the other world, isn't it? Doesn't seem like anything exceptional, honestly. At most it just substitutes for stamina and feeds into Devil Fruit abilities. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about."
"That's because in that world, chakra was simply what ordinary ninja ran on," Rosinante said, unbothered. "To actually build mastery with it takes serious, sustained work. Elsa is only just beginning."
He had no intention of keeping chakra secret. He was already considering how to introduce it across the Oathblood Imperial Guard more broadly. For those without Devil Fruits, it offered a meaningful path to strengthening themselves. For those who did have fruits, it could supplement their stamina and give them a more reliable engine for their abilities, allowing them to push further than they otherwise could. What he wasn't planning to share widely were the ninjutsu themselves. Chakra as a foundation, yes. The techniques built on top of it, that was a different matter.
"Either way, she's doing wonderfully," Shaxia said, smiling. "She's only ten years old, and she can already hold her own against a Marine Vice Admiral. At her age, that's genuinely extraordinary."
"Naturally," Rosinante said, with the particular satisfaction of a parent who considers the result obvious. "Look at whose daughter she is."
It was at that moment that Raijin Kisuke came hurrying across the courtyard and leaned down to speak quietly into Rosinante's ear.
Rosinante's expression shifted immediately.
"What is it?" Shaxia asked, reading his face. "What's happened?"
"Robin seems to have run into some trouble," Rosinante said, his voice carefully level.
Shaxia's expression changed in the same instant.
Just the day before, she had brought up Robin and Raki with a note of worry she hadn't been able to keep out of her voice. For ten years, the two of them had been out in the world searching for a way to restore Rosinante's mind, moving constantly, never settling. It had been a long time. The news of his return had spread across every sea by now, Robin and Raki would certainly have heard it, and yet there was no sign of them. No word, no arrival. Nothing.
Shaxia had found herself growing quietly uneasy, and had said as much to Rosinante.
He had taken it seriously. He had asked Enel to locate and bring in one of the World Government spies currently moving through Nightless City, of which there were more than a few. Momousagi's presence hadn't convinced the World Government to put all its information-gathering in one basket. They had sent in additional agents alongside her, not because anyone expected them to accomplish anything remarkable, but because having eyes on the ground gave a certain comfort. Enel had identified and retrieved one of them with minimal fuss.
Rosinante hadn't made things difficult for the man. He had simply asked him to carry a message back to the World Government's intelligence apparatus: find Robin and Raki, and report back. At the same time, he had placed a call to Doflamingo and asked him to put his own networks to work on the same question.
Between the two most formidable intelligence operations in the world, results had come quickly. Less than a day later, the information was in Rosinante's hands.
And what it told him made the color drain from his face.
...