Warning! Spoilers for One Piece chapter 1053 ahead!
Just like every other member of the Straw Hat Pirates, Nico Robins is one of the most wanted people in the One Piece world. But, unlike the bounties placed on the head of her crewmates, the World Government has specifically requested she be brought in alive, not dead. However, with the revelation that Lord Kozuki Sukiyaki is still alive, Robin's life might just have become expendable.
Nico Robins' primary danger to the World Government is not physical in nature. Instead, it's the knowledge and intellectual ability she possesses. Robins is the last surviving citizen of Ohara, an island of scholars who dedicated their lives, among other endeavors, to reading and understanding the Ponegliffs, 30 huge stones scattered across the world inscribed with forgotten and secret information about the history of the world. This includes directions to Laugh Tale, the last island on the Grand Line, otherwise known as the location of Gol D. Rogers's One Piece. Realizing the information contained by the Ponegliffs threatened their authority, the World Government invaded Ohara, killed everyone in sight, and destroyed the research on the Ponegliffs that they completed. When they discovered that Nico Robins survived the assault, the World Government framed her for the island's destruction and the genocide of its people and put a bounty on her head. They've been chasing after her ever since. Capturing her would not only stop her from revealing the secrets of the Ponegliffs but also allow them the opportunity to obtain the One Piece before anyone else.
In One Piece chapter 1053, while Robins is looking in the basement for information about Pluton, an ancient weapon that she learned about while reading one of the Ponegliffs, she discovers that the former ruler of Wano, and Kozuki Momonosuke's grandfather, Lord Kozuki Sukiyaki is still alive. He disappeared many years ago and has been presumed dead. Robins presses him for information about Pluton, which he provides. But her focus on it suggests she has not realized the magnitude, in terms of the Ponegliffs and her personal safety, of how important it is that Sukiyaki is still alive, and well.
In One Piece chapter 818, it is revealed that a long time ago, the Kozuki Clan of Wano Country were the stonemasons who carved the inscriptions in the Pongliffs. After completing their work, knowledge of how to read and write the script used in the Ponegliffs was passed down to each successive generation of Kozukis. Unfortunately, circumstances did not allow Momonosuke and Hiyori to learn the script. However, their father Kozuki Oden could read and write the script, just as could their grandfather Kozuki Sukiyaki. With Sukiyaki still being alive, Nico Robins is now, suddenly, not the only person in the world who can read the Ponegliffs. Indeed, Sukiyaki's ancestors were the ones to actually carve the stones. Moreover, not only does Sukiyaki have the ability to read and write the script on the Ponegliffs, but assuming that he is the one who taught Oden how to do the same, he also has the ability to transfer that knowledge to others.
If the World Government figures out that Sukiyaki lives, which might not be that difficult when considering that Green Bull has arrived in Wano Country, Nico's usefulness to them zeroes out. Indeed, if they capture Sukiyaki, her threat to them would increase as she would cancel any advantage they would gain by having him and finding the One Piece themselves. More ominously, they would likely increase Nico Robins' bounty and request she be brought in dead.
Read the latest chapter of One Piece now on Viz Media's Shonen Jump app!