Inviting Rebecca

"No! Rebecca! Right now, King Riku and Princess Violet are the only family you have left!"

Cyrus the toy shouted in a panic, wondering how it was possible for his daughter, who carried the blood of Scarlet in her veins, to sever ties with the Riku royal family.

"Enough! Soldier, if we can't defeat Doflamingo, there is no Riku royal family in this world!"

"I'm going to take revenge for my mother!"

"Besides, you're just a toy! Do you know? I'm really tired, so lonely..."

Rebecca suddenly burst into tears and shouted at Cyrus, having had enough of this life of hiding, facing scorn, and enduring insults.

She couldn't see any hope...

The toy soldier couldn't give her hope or warmth, and neither could Aunt Violet.

If she could defeat Doflamingo to avenge her mother and restore the royal family, what did it matter if she sacrificed herself a bit?

Besides, life out at sea might even be better than staying in Dressrosa.

On the streets, the citizens of Dressrosa chased her away and cursed at her; in the Colosseum, she was insulted and wished death upon...

Even if those citizens were deceived by people from the Donquixote Family, those hurts had already driven themselves into her heart like a series of nails.

She was just a teenage girl; why should she have to bear this kind of pressure?

Why did the toy soldier have to heap the responsibility of restoring the country onto her shoulders?

Aunt Violet had joined the Donquixote Family, and her life was much more comfortable than Rebecca's.

If she could never see hope, perhaps she would have kept enduring it all.

But if hope was placed within her reach, she wanted to change everything.

"Rebecca..."

Cyrus felt a pang of profound heartache, desperately wanting to cry, but he was only a toy with no tears to shed.

His daughter truly had already borne far too much.

Luo Ji hadn't expected Rebecca to have such thoughts at a time like this; it seemed anime really did portray human nature far too ideally.

How could someone who had lived her entire life in oppression and darkness possibly remain pure and kind?

How was the current Rebecca supposed to keep a kind heart in such a harsh environment, just like Naruto from the neighboring world?

Shouldn't they have turned dark like Doflamingo?!

Then again, the protagonists' side always needed truth, goodness, and beauty—that much was true.

Even with countless flaws and stains, their other positive, shining traits had to be intensified and highlighted.

If a supporting character on the protagonist's side was cruel, bloodthirsty, and lustful, the narrative would focus on amplifying their loyalty and sense of brotherhood.

Take Bartolomeo the cannibal, Tian Boguang the lecherous bandit from The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, or Ma Moujun the evil-fire phoenix from that other guy's story...

Looking at the tear-streaked Rebecca, Luo Ji figured that at her age, she was right at the critical turning point for solidifying her worldview.

Without Luo Ji and his crew showing up, or with the guidance of the toy soldier and the Tontatta, she would have slowly grown into the kind and upright Rebecca of the future.

Now, however, Luo Ji's appearance gave Rebecca another choice, and she would choose to walk down a different path.

Under Rebecca's expectant gaze, Luo Ji flicked two wanted posters forward.

In this world, nothing carried more persuasive proof than a bounty poster.

This was also the main reason why Luo Ji wanted to be on the wanted list.

A massive bounty could scare off eighty percent of enemies.

The ones left over were either stubbornly reckless or heavy hitters with genuine power.

"1.399 billion Beli! 550 million Beli! Rakshasa Queen? Yama?"

Rebecca stared with wide eyes at the man and woman, who looked completely different from their portraits on the wanted posters.

With a pop, however, the disguises of the two vanished, and they returned to their original appearances.

"Join us now, and you'll get a rapid boost in strength!"

Luo Ji smiled faintly, extending an invitation to this pink-haired beauty-in-the-making.

Princess, beauty, potential—multiple conditions aligned with Luo Ji's preferences.

"Please take me out to sea and make me stronger!"

Rebecca looked at the wanted posters of the two people, took a deep breath, and resolutely stepped onto this path of piracy.

If she stayed in Dressrosa, she would only endure a grueling life of ostracization, insults, and fighting for her life in the Colosseum just to earn money.

That was still better than heading out to the open sea, building up enough strength, and returning later to defeat Doflamingo.

She believed these two companions would help her.

"Rebecca..."

"So be it! I'm just a gladiator whose hands are stained with blood anyway; what qualifications do I have to interfere with your path?"

Cyrus offered a bitter smile, recalling how back when Rebecca was born, he even had to wear gloves just to dare hold his own biological daughter.

He didn't want his hands, stained with life and blood, to taint his daughter.

During those three thousand life-or-death duels, the number of contestants and pirates who had died by his sword was countless.

Was he a good person?

Probably not.

He wanted nothing more than to stay by his daughter's side, but he couldn't leave Dressrosa—he still had preparations to continue with the Tontatta.

Seeing Rebecca join a powerful pirate crew and receive protection meant he wouldn't have to worry about her quite as much.

"Welcome to the Luo Ji Pirates, Rebecca!"

"Are these our new crewmates? A bit weak, but if she puts in some effort, she should be able to catch up to Ulti's strength."

"Welcome, big sis Rebecca! Have some dumplings."

The friendliness of Luo Ji and his companions touched Rebecca's heart; it had been a very long time since anyone in Dressrosa had treated her with such kindness.

"Please take care of me, Captain Luo Ji!"

Rebecca solemnly bowed to Luo Ji in a formal greeting, looking just like a student meeting a teacher.

From now on, Luo Ji wasn't just her captain; he was also the guide who would teach her how to become stronger.

"Alright, to welcome Rebecca to the crew, let's hold a banquet!"

Luo Ji cheerfully produced a storage scroll, and as the scroll expanded, a massive quantity of gourmet food materialized within it.

This was precisely a portion of the spoils Luo Ji and his crew had plundered in Dressrosa earlier that day.

"A Devil Fruit ability?"

Rebecca's eyes lit up. This seemed to be a spatial storage ability, meaning Captain Luo Ji must carry countless items on his person.

"Come on, Rebecca, and Cyrus too—let's join the banquet."

"If you have any other friends, feel free to call them over."

Luo Ji warmly extended the invitation, even hoping to use these two to draw out the hidden Tontatta.

"Soldier, what is your name? How is it the same as the name of the Colosseum's strongest gladiator?"

Only then did Rebecca ask with delayed realization, feeling as though she didn't really know much about this toy soldier who had stayed by her side for years.

"I have forgotten my name."

Cyrus had no intention of revealing his identity to Rebecca just yet, and without his memories, what good would reconciliation do? For now, he was still just a toy soldier.

As Cyrus and Rebecca prepared to join these strangers for a banquet, the Tontatta in the Flower Field underground base had been watching them the entire time.

The Tontatta warriors never expected that Rebecca and Cyrus would actually become friends with total strangers.

Following the principle that a friend of a friend is a friend, the Tontatta figured these strange big humans should be their friends too, meaning they didn't need to be overly guarded.

With that, they planned to head outside and properly introduce themselves to these big humans.