The mist over the sea had already dispersed, while not far away, vast white clouds hung motionlessly in the sky.
Boom!
A massive Flying Slash cut horizontally outward from within the clouds.
The clouds overhead were instantly sliced open.
Caesar Clown stood there with an apple balanced on his head, his entire body drenched in sweat.
He trembled all over, his eyes filled with uncontrollable terror.
"Oops, I actually missed. I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Caesar. I didn't let you experience the fun of this game. That was my fault. My apologies. Please, you must let me try again."
Roy held his blade in one hand and a cigarette between the fingers of the other.
With one eye narrowed, he aimed at Caesar Clown.
"L-Lord Roy, I surrender! Isn't that enough? Can you please stop making jokes like this? A slash coated in Armament Haki can kill someone!"
Watching Roy wave his longsword before him as though he intended to launch another Flying Slash, Caesar Clown's legs shook as tears streamed down his face.
It could not be helped. Caesar Clown did not want to submit either, but reality was always so helpless.
Faced with an opponent like Roy, who was nearly impossible to resist,
Caesar Clown had only one path before him now: submission.
Because every other path had been completely blocked off by Roy.
His plan to seek refuge with Doflamingo had already become an unrealistic fantasy.
In truth, the moment Caesar Clown woke up in this Sky City, he knew he no longer had any room to choose.
After all, a beaten dog had no rights.
And if he wanted to live now, his only option was to accept Roy's recruitment.
Caesar Clown was a Logia Devil Fruit user and possessed considerable strength.
Yet his personality was nowhere near as unyielding as those sea tyrants.
Bullying the weak, fearing the strong, clinging to life, and craving vanity—those words were the best description of his character.
And it was precisely because Roy understood Caesar Clown so well that he had directly chosen the simplest and most brutal method to tame him.
After all, when dealing with an evil scientist like Caesar Clown, someone ambitious and cunning,
simple persuasion and brainwashing were not particularly effective on him.
As the saying went, every fruit had 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 become my lapdog now? What a pity, though. Maybe next time, I'll hit it directly."
Roy withdrew his sword with a hint of regret in his voice.
Meanwhile, Caesar Clown, who had been scared stiff, was covered in tears and snot, as if he wanted to celebrate being reborn.
Damn it, I finally survived! This guy is completely insane! Using a Flying Slash to cut the apple on my head—what kind of joke is that?
Of course, that was only his inner complaint.
After Roy personally removed the Seastone handcuffs from Caesar Clown's wrists,
he put an arm around the weak-kneed evil scientist.
"Caesar, I can call you that, right? Please believe in your choice. You definitely won't lose out by becoming my subordinate. Of course, I also believe your surrender is sincere. But let's be gentlemen before we become villains. You know everyone hates betrayal, so you'll put my mind at ease, right?"
Caesar Clown felt the powerful arm around his shoulder.
"L-Lord Roy, I sincerely want to become your lapdog, so please rest assured. I will absolutely never betray you."
Caesar Clown wore a mournful expression as he assured Roy beside him.
After all, at a time like this, he naturally had to say whatever sounded best.
But Roy treated Caesar Clown's promises as nothing more than hot air.
Because Roy had no idea how much of what he said was true, or how sincere any of it was.
"Oh, you won't betray me? Very good. I knew I hadn't misjudged you, Caesar. You truly are the scientist I carefully selected!"
Roy patted Caesar Clown on the shoulder, his face full of satisfaction.
Just as Roy released Caesar Clown, he suddenly seemed to remember something.
He turned to look at the scientist, whose face was still smeared with uncleared snot.
"Oh, right, Caesar. I seem to have forgotten to tell you something. For some reason, people outside have been spreading rumors these past few days that you can translate Poneglyphs. The World Government has already issued a bounty for you. I have to say, you really are capable. Your very first bounty is seven hundred million Beli. You truly are the man I value. You're exceptionally outstanding."
Roy pulled out the latest bounty poster issued by the World Government.
Caesar Clown's portrait was clearly printed on it, and beneath the portrait, a seven stood before a long string of zeros.
As Roy finished speaking, Caesar Clown stared at the bounty poster in his hand, which had indeed been printed only recently.
His previously fawning expression instantly turned to terror.
"What Poneglyphs? I don't know anything at all! How could I possibly translate Poneglyphs? This is slander—barefaced slander against me!"
As a genius scientist once specially employed by the World Government, Caesar Clown naturally knew very well what the World Government's taboos were.
And in Caesar Clown's eyes, Poneglyphs were absolutely among the highest-ranking of those taboos.
Ohara had once studied Poneglyphs, only for the World Government to directly issue a Buster Call and wipe out the entire island.
And now, word had spread across the sea that he could translate Poneglyphs. What was even more absurd was that the World Government had actually believed it.
Looking at the bounty poster in his hand, which did not seem fake,
Caesar Clown knew Roy had no reason to deceive him.
He wanted to cry but had no tears. That was Caesar Clown's truest state of mind right now.
Now that the mud had fallen into his pants, no amount of washing could clean it away.
Roy was extremely satisfied as he watched Caesar Clown's expression.
After this ordeal, Caesar Clown would surely hide in the safer Sky City and work for him.
Roy glanced back at Caesar Clown's disbelieving face.
He immediately felt that the effort he had put into fabricating this information had not been wasted.
Yes, the claim that Caesar Clown could translate Poneglyphs had actually been fabricated by Roy himself.
After all, as a transmigrator, Roy still remembered some of the manga he had read in his previous life.
So long as he polished up those memories from his past life and spread them across the sea,
the people atop Mary Geoise would definitely be unable to stay seated.
Sometimes, a scheme did not need an overly complicated design.
It only needed to be known by those who needed to know it for the intended plan to succeed.
Caesar Clown had now become a thorn in the World Government's side.
And through the imagination of certain departments, the previous Punk Hazard incident had also been forcibly linked to the Poneglyphs.
Just like Nico Robin,
Caesar Clown had now been branded with the mark of a demon as well.
It could be said that, across the entire sea, other than Roy's side, there was no longer anywhere for Caesar Clown to take refuge.
And that was Roy's barefaced open scheme.
Before you continue