Naked Conspiracy

Chapter 41: A Barefaced Scheme

The sea mist had dispersed, and in the sky not far away, large white clouds were floating motionlessly.

BOOM!

A massive Flying Slash sliced horizontally from within the white clouds.

A rift instantly opened in the clouds above.

Caesar Clown, with an apple on his head and drenched in sweat, trembled all over, his eyes filled with uncontainable panic.

"Oh my, I missed! I'm truly sorry, Mr. Caesar, for not letting you enjoy the game. It's my fault.

My apologies, please let me try again."

Roy, holding his blade with one hand and a cigarette in the other, squinted one eye as he gestured towards Caesar Clown.

"Lord Roy, I surrender! I surrender, okay?

Can you please stop playing these games? A slash covered in Armament Haki, that could kill someone!"

Seeing Roy gesturing with his long sword, as if preparing for another Flying Slash, Caesar Clown's legs trembled, and tears streamed down his face as he shouted.

There was nothing he could do. Caesar Clown didn't want to submit, but reality often forced one's hand.

Facing Roy, an opponent he could hardly resist, Caesar Clown had only one path before him: submission.

Because all other avenues had been completely blocked by Roy.

His plan to defect to Doflamingo had become an unrealistic fantasy.

In fact, the moment Caesar Clown awoke in this Sky City, he knew he had no choices left.

After all, a defeated dog had no rights.

His only option to survive now was to accept Roy's recruitment.

Although Caesar Clown was a Logia-type Devil Fruit user and possessed considerable strength, his personality was not as tough as a warlord on the seas.

Bullying the weak, fearing death, loving vanity – these words best described his character.

Roy, precisely because he understood these aspects of Caesar Clown, had adopted the most direct and brutal method to subdue him.

After all, dealing with an ambitious, cunning, and evil scientist like Caesar Clown, simple appeasement and brainwashing wouldn't be very effective.

As the saying goes, every fruit has its own way of being cut.

For someone like Caesar Clown, ignoring all his pride and directly threatening his life was the best way to tame him.

"Oh, Mr. Caesar, are you willing to be my dog now?

But, what a shame.

Perhaps next time, I might actually hit the mark?"

With a hint of regret in his tone, Roy retracted his sword.

Caesar Clown, still trembling all over from fear, his face streaked with snot and tears, wanted to celebrate his survival.

"Damn it, I'm finally alive! This guy is a lunatic, using Flying Slash to cut the apple on my head, what kind of joke is this?"

Of course, this was all just his internal monologue.

Roy personally removed the Seastone handcuffs from Caesar Clown's wrists, then put an arm around the somewhat weak-kneed evil scientist.

"Caesar, may I call you that?

Please believe in your choice. Becoming my subordinate, you absolutely won't regret it.

Of course, I also believe your allegiance is sincere, but let's establish trust first. You know no one likes betrayal, so you'll put my mind at ease, right?"

Feeling the strong arm on his shoulder, "Lord Roy, I sincerely want to be your dog, so please rest assured, I will never betray you."

Caesar Clown said this with a tearful face, making promises to Roy beside him.

At a time like this, of course, he had to say whatever sounded best.

But Roy treated Caesar Clown's promise as nothing more than hot air.

Because Roy had no way of knowing how much of those words were true or how sincere they were.

"Oh, you won't betray me?"

"Excellent, I was right about you, Caesar. You truly are the scientist I handpicked!"

Roy patted Caesar Clown on the shoulder, his face filled with satisfaction.

As Roy let go of Caesar Clown, he suddenly seemed to remember something.

He turned to look at the scientist, whose face was still covered in snot that hadn't been wiped clean.

"Oh, right, Caesar, there are some things I seem to have forgotten to tell you.

For some reason, there's been talk outside these past few days about you being able to translate Poneglyphs.

The World Government has already issued a bounty on you.

I must say, you're quite capable!

To reach a Bounty of seven hundred million Belly on your first bounty, you truly are the man I value, so outstanding."

He pulled out a newly issued World Government bounty poster from his pocket.

It clearly featured Caesar Clown's portrait, and below it, a seven was prominently displayed before a string of zeros.

As soon as Roy finished speaking, Caesar Clown looked at the bounty poster in his hand, which had clearly just been printed.

His formerly fawning expression instantly turned to one of terror.

"What, what Poneglyphs? I don't know anything about them!

How could I possibly translate Poneglyphs? This is slander, pure and simple slander!"

As a genius scientist once specially hired by the World Government, Caesar Clown was well aware of certain taboos for them.

In Caesar Clown's eyes, Poneglyphs were definitely among the top forbidden subjects.

He knew that Ohara was annihilated by a Buster Call from the World Government simply for researching Poneglyphs.

And now, rumors were spreading across the seas that he could translate Poneglyphs, and even more absurdly, the World Government believed it.

Looking at the seemingly genuine bounty poster in his hand.

Caesar Clown knew that Roy had no reason to deceive him.

He felt like crying but had no tears; this was Caesar Clown's most accurate depiction of his current state.

It was like getting mud in his pants – impossible to clean off.

Roy was very satisfied with Caesar Clown's expression.

He believed that after this ordeal, Caesar Clown would definitely hide away in the safer Sky City to work for him.

Glancing back at Caesar Clown's disbelieving face.

Roy felt that his fabricated intelligence hadn't been a waste of effort.

Yes, the matter of Caesar Clown being able to translate Poneglyphs was a fabrication he himself had orchestrated.

After all, as a transmigrator, Roy still retained some memories from his past life watching manga.

Therefore, all he needed to do was to process those memories from his past life, spread them across the seas, and the people in Mary Geoise would surely be unable to sit still.

Sometimes, a conspiracy doesn't need to be overly complex.

It's enough for those who need to know to know, and the intended plan can be realized.

Now, Caesar Clown had become a thorn in the World Government's side.

Furthermore, through the deductions of relevant departments, the previous Punk Hazard incident had been forcibly linked to Poneglyphs.

Just like Nico Robin.

Caesar Clown had now been branded with the mark of a devil.

It could be said that besides Roy's side, there was nowhere left for Caesar Clown to go in the entire world.

And this was Roy's blatant, open scheme.