Proposal

Doflamingo grinned. "Fufufufu, Your Majesty, there's no need to be nervous. I came for this young Marine brother. You're Cudilia Noci, aren't you? I've heard much about you."

Ain immediately stepped forward, her left hand moving to the hilt of her sword as she guarded against any further action from him. "Doflamingo... sir, we are carrying out a mission. Please do not interfere."

"I have no intention of interfering. I merely want to have a chat with this young Marine brother." Doflamingo spread his hands innocently and smiled.

"Fine."

Noki frowned and said in a deep voice, "Ain, you'll be responsible for escorting the king and princess to the bubble gondola. It won't hurt for me to speak with the King of Dressrosa for a few moments."

"O-okay, but you must be careful, Noki." Ain gave him a worried look.

"Hey, hey, little girl, this is World Government territory, after all. You make it sound as though I'm going to eat him. Relax, I'll make sure he comes back to you in one piece. Fufufu..."

"Yes, you go on ahead. King of Dressrosa, please clear the way."

"Of course!"

Doflamingo casually stepped aside.

Only after watching Ain and the others leave did Noki turn toward the man beside him, who stood much taller than he did. "Are we talking here?"

"Follow me."

Doflamingo's sunglasses concealed his eyes, making his thoughts impossible to read.

Noki followed Doflamingo into an alley. There was a café there, empty inside, with a black-haired woman in a maid uniform standing at the entrance.

Doflamingo said, "Don't let anyone come near this place."

"Yes, young master. I guarantee I won't fail your expectations!" the woman replied with a firm nod.

Doflamingo entered the café, casually pulled out a chair, crossed one leg over the other, and gestured for him to sit. "Have a seat."

Noki spread his Observation Haki and examined the surroundings. Apart from a few employees, there was no one else. "Doflamingo, we've never met before. Why exactly did you bring me here?"

"Stop pretending, brat. Don't think I don't know that you already found out I was the mastermind behind the attack on the World Nobles some time ago—oh, no, the one who sent people after your mother.

"So? How does it feel to learn your true identity?"

"I don't understand what you're talking about." Noki's brows furrowed, a trace of coldness showing on his sharply defined face.

Doflamingo seemed to have expected that answer and continued smiling to himself. "Originally, I didn't know your true identity either. But a mere rear admiral like you actually defeated the men I sent. That really piqued my interest.

"As it turned out, once I investigated, I found quite an unexpected prize. You are the child born to the daughter of the Constantine Clan's patriarch twenty years ago!"

At this point,

there was no need for Noki to keep playing dumb. "The Donquixote Family's intelligence network is certainly formidable. You even managed to uncover something like that."

"Fufufu, I've met both of your parents. Other than your appearance, though, you're nothing like either of them.

"Speaking of which, you still haven't answered my question. How does it feel to know that divine blood runs through your veins?"

Noki sneered. "It can't make me a Celestial Dragon, nor was I ever as prominent as you. What use is such bloodline, then? It brings no benefits whatsoever, only a heap of trouble."

"That's true enough."

Doflamingo lifted one leg and planted his foot on the table. "Do you want to avenge your father?"

Noki feigned ignorance. "Didn't my father die at the hands of pirates?"

"So you don't know. No wonder. Let me tell you the truth, then. The person who truly killed your father was..." Doflamingo abruptly fell silent at the crucial moment.

"Who was it?" Noki asked urgently.

"For now, I can only tell you that she belongs to CP0, and she is not in Mary Geoise. If you want to know more, that will depend on your sincerity." Doflamingo revealed a sinister smile.

"What do you want me to do? No matter what, I will never throw in my lot with pirates!"

"Don't reject me so quickly. Hear me out first.

"Do you think being in the Marines means you can rest easy?

"I know you have extensive connections. Most of the Marine Headquarters officers are your friends. But do you really think they could protect you if the World Government wanted you dead? Your father was the best example. He didn't know how to adapt and stubbornly stayed in the Marines. All he could do was wait for death!"

Noki remained silent.

Seeing that his words had taken effect, Doflamingo continued, "I'm not asking you to leave the Marines. I won't interfere with the justice you uphold in your heart. I merely want you to leave yourself a way out while pursuing justice.

"To put it plainly, you and I are both gods who fell from their pedestals. We share the same affliction and should help each other."

Noki sneered again. "So you want me to be your mole and feed you internal intelligence?"

Doflamingo bared a mouthful of white teeth. "Fufufufufu, do you think I lack intelligence?"

"Then what do you mean?" Noki asked, puzzled.

"You are the user of the Dark-Dark Fruit, aren't you? According to the encyclopedia, it possesses the power to absorb Devil Fruit abilities.

"Now, I have a buyer willing to pay a high price for genuine Devil Fruits.

"I have ways to obtain Devil Fruits, but the cost is too high and the success rate isn't good enough.

"If we cooperate, I can provide you with information on ability users. Using your identity as a Marine, you can hunt them down and provide me with their fruits.

"When that happens, I'll keep the high-quality fruits to build an army of my own, while selling the inferior ones for profit. Within ten years, we'll possess the power to contend with the World Government.

"Once the time is right, we can join forces and drag those Celestial Dragons in the Holy Land down from their pedestals. Then you'll have avenged your father. I can even make you the undisputed commander of the entire Marine force. We'll rule the world together and become its joint sovereigns. Money and beautiful women will be yours for the picking! Wouldn't that be better than waiting helplessly in the Marines?"

"What a wonderful dream," Noki said sincerely.

"So, you agree?"

Noki shook his head. "No. I refuse."

He silently thanked Doflamingo for giving him such an excellent suggestion.

Keep the high-quality abilities for himself, sell the lesser ones for Beli, and strengthen ties with all the major powers at the same time.

What a brilliant plan that killed two birds with one stone!

Naturally, such a good plan should be kept for himself.

Doflamingo was far too ambitious. If Noki truly followed his proposal, there was no telling when the man might stab him in the back.

Besides, Noki could not guarantee how much harm pirate rule would bring to the world.

In that case,

it would be better for him to bear that responsibility himself.

As a transmigrator, Noki had been shaped by the ideals of his previous life and the Marines' teachings of justice in this one. He was confident that, even at his worst, he would still be better than the current World Government!

Doflamingo had just been speaking with growing enthusiasm when he was suddenly rejected. Annoyed, veins bulged on his forehead. "Why?!"

Noki replied calmly, "I already told you. I will never throw in my lot with pirates."

At the very least...

Noki had to keep this identity clean.

He knew well that, if he wished to overthrow the Celestial Dragons, it would be impossible to remain completely unconnected to criminal forces.

As a Marine, all he could do was act according to his conscience and the justice in his heart.

Doflamingo gradually calmed down. "It seems you're still too young. Youthful arrogance—I understand. But it won't be long before you come to me on your own. Fufufu, we are destined to become excellent partners!"

"Heh, then I'll wait and see."

Doflamingo said no more and rose to leave the café.

Noki glanced at the employees. They were clearly all Doflamingo's subordinates.

He had influence even this close to the Holy Land?

No wonder he was JOKER, the man who moved freely through both the underworld and the legitimate world!

Noki returned to the main road and came face-to-face with a woman with long pink hair and a slender cigarette between her lips.

She noticed the man by the roadside and quickly walked over. "Isn't this Noki? It's been so long. Tina missed you."

"Sister Tina."

Noki called out to her.

Tina was both his and Ain's senior.

While Ain had still been a cadet, Tina had also served as an assistant instructor. In a sense, she had been Ain's teacher.

And Ain was Noki's teacher.

So if Noki stretched things a little, he could call Tina his grandmaster...

"Have you completed the mission of escorting the Alabasta royal family?"

Tina removed the cigarette from her mouth. "Speaking of which, the area around Alabasta has always been Tina's responsibility. You snatched this mission halfway through, so how are you going to compensate Tina? How about cooking Tina a meal?"

Noki smiled brightly. "If you want to eat my cooking, just say so. Why bother making excuses?"

"That won't do. You already belong to someone. Tina doesn't want people to say she's seducing another woman's man just because she asked you to have a meal with her for no reason."

"Why not?"

Ain had just completed her task and returned, spotting the two of them. She said with a smiling gaze, "As long as Sister Tina has time, you can come find Noki anytime. If anyone gossips, I'll personally go explain things to them."

Noki also wanted to deepen his relationship with Tina.

Of course, not in that impure sense.

Tina's jurisdiction was near Alabasta and included most of Baroque Works' territory.

After he became the boss behind Baroque Works, he would likely need to draw information and intelligence out of her more than once.

"Ain, then Tina won't stand on ceremony."

"There was never any need to."

At that moment, Tashigi, Dezaya, and the other Marines caught up with them.

Noki glanced at them and said, "Sister Tina, we'll head back to headquarters to report in first. See you at headquarters."

"Mm. Once Tina finishes escorting the royal family, Tina will return to headquarters to find you."

Noki led his unit toward the harbor.

Ain quietly asked beside him, "Doflamingo didn't make things difficult for you just now, did he?"

Noki shook his head and replied quietly, "He only wanted to cooperate with me. I already refused him."

"Oh."

Ain responded, thought carefully for a moment, then leaned close to the man's ear. "Although I don't want Noki working with pirates, Doflamingo's influence is anything but ordinary. Wouldn't cooperating with him be more beneficial to you?"

Noki rubbed Ain's head, smoothly brushing through her soft dark hair, and smiled faintly. "You're right. So I will cooperate with him, just not now, and not as a Marine."

Ain blinked her clear eyes, looking as though she understood but did not quite understand.

Back at headquarters,

Noki handed the unit over to Ain as usual, then went to report to Kuzan first.

"Ara ara, you're back."

Kuzan lifted his sleep mask, climbed up from the desk, and stretched lazily.

"I've already investigated Nico Robin. She has now joined Baroque Works."

Kuzan propped up his chin. "Baroque Works? That organization has close ties to Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords, doesn't it?"

"The truth is... the two are not as closely connected as people believe. The specifics will naturally be announced once the Reverie begins."

"It seems you gained quite a few unexpected rewards on this trip?"

Noki's expression remained unchanged as he answered mildly, "I was merely lucky. To be honest, the previous Dance Powder incident in Alabasta was Crocodile's doing."

"Sigh, the Seven Warlords system really is unreliable."

After sighing, Kuzan fixed his eyes on Noki and asked, "Was Nico Robin involved in this as well?"

"Which matter are you referring to?"

Kuzan's expression turned unusually solemn as he said in a low voice, "Helping Crocodile carry out the Dance Powder plan."

"Not at all. On the contrary, the reason I was able to find the evidence and expose Crocodile was because of her help.

"You know I've always been good with words. After giving her some education in love, she may not have completely turned over a new leaf, but she has certainly come to a profound realization."

Kuzan laughed. "The kind of education in love Vice Admiral Garp gives?"

"Of course not. Do you take me for that kind of violent person?"

"Ara ara, I heard that. I'm going to tattle to Vice Admiral Garp and have him show you what violence really is during your next training session."

"Hey, Kuzan, that's going too far!"

The two chatted for a while.

Kuzan tactfully chose not to ask Noki for the specific details regarding Nico Robin.

He understood Noki's personality very well, so he trusted him immensely.

Ohara's events decades ago had left him confused about the meaning of the word "justice."

So much time had passed.

Kuzan himself had come to understand many things. Noki had given him some inspiration: as long as one acted without shame or regret, that was enough to call justice.

Everyone had a different understanding of justice in their heart.

Sakazuki's absolute justice.

Borsalino's ambiguous justice.

And his own lazy justice.

Justice was such an intangible concept that it was truly difficult to say which kind was right.

Perhaps there was no standard answer at all.

As long as one believed it was right and could pursue it from beginning to end with a clear conscience, that was enough. Why overthink it?