Chapter 516: Law, Nearly Fuming to Death; Just What on Earth is Straw Hat-ya Doing, You Bastard!

Chapter 516: Chapter 516: Law, Nearly Fuming to Death; Just What on Earth is Straw Hat-ya Doing, You Bastard!

"After passing through this town ahead, we should be able to reach Green Bit," Usopp said.

According to the information they had gathered, this should be the last town.

"If the intel is correct, yes," Law said, nodding.

"Joker..."

Beside them, Caesar looked toward the distant town with expectant eyes, thinking about what he would do once Doflamingo rescued him.

Yes, I must kill these brats who don’t know their place!

"Shurororororo~"

"What is this idiot laughing at now?" Usopp said, glancing at Caesar.

Hearing Usopp, Caesar immediately stopped laughing and looked away conspicuously, acting as if he hadn’t been thinking about anything just now.

But this obvious "guilty conscience" act was truly speechless.

Having spent a long time navigating the underworld, Law and Nico Robin knew exactly what that expression meant.

Unfortunately for him, his heart was in their hands, so Caesar couldn’t cause any trouble no matter what he planned.

"Ignore him," Law said. "We..."

Before he could finish, the Den Den Mushi in his arms suddenly started ringing.

"Buru buru buru~"

"Buru buru buru~"

"Buru buru buru~"

"A Den Den Mushi?"

Seeing Law take out the device, Usopp’s face changed. "Did something happen with the others?"

Please don’t let anything unpredictable happen.

"I’m not sure," Law said, frowning.

His instinct told him that the news from this call might not be good.

"We’ll know once we answer," Nico Robin said.

Law simply nodded this time, saying nothing more as he connected the call.

Clack!

"It’s me," Meiser said.

"So it’s Sunglasses-ya," Law said. "What’s the matter?"

At this moment, he really wanted to hear the words: "We’ve found the factory’s location."

"There’s been a slight accident," Meiser said. "I’ve also gathered some information, so I thought I should coordinate with you."

"Speak," Law said, a look of ’as I expected’ crossing his face. "What is it?"

"We’ve encountered someone here suspected to be a Marine Admiral."

At those words, the pupils of everyone on Law’s side constricted to the extreme.

An Admiral?

A Marine Admiral?

"Are you sure?!" Law demanded quickly.

Usopp, meanwhile, said frantically, "Hey, hey, hey, you’ve got to be joking?!"

Why would they run into a Marine Admiral here?

"Although it’s just a suspicion, I’m quite certain it’s Fujitora," Meiser said.

All the characteristics matched, and given the man’s strength... Meiser was basically certain it was Marine Admiral Fujitora.

Meiser then briefly described Fujitora’s appearance so they would recognize him.

"This is troublesome," Nico Robin said solemnly.

Even though Meiser was powerful, the presence of a Marine Admiral spelled danger!

Thinking of this, Nico Robin looked at Law and continued, "Should we proceed?"

Law didn’t speak; his expression had turned grim.

Should they continue?

If possible, of course he wanted to!

This might be his only chance at revenge in his entire life. If he gave up now, he might never be able to kill Doflamingo.

But a Marine Admiral appearing... the risk was too great.

While he was willing to perish together with Doflamingo, the Straw Hat Crew might not be willing to follow through with the plan.

Thinking of this, Law’s expression darkened further.

"Say something!" Usopp said excitedly. "But I suggest we scrap the plan. After all, it’s a Marine Admiral!"

They had faced an Admiral before; they knew what kind of terrifying monsters they were.

It was better to give up than lose their lives.

Caesar’s expression was also strained. A Marine Admiral? Why is one here? Is he here for Joker? That won’t do! If Joker is captured, I’m finished!

Caesar wanted to cry, but fearing Law and the others would notice, he held it in.

"An Admiral is indeed a problem, but..." Law mused. "Why would an Admiral appear here?"

Normally, a Marine Admiral shouldn’t be in Dressrosa at this time.

Even if the Marines wanted to take down Doflamingo, they should wait until a Wanted Poster was issued.

So this was somewhat irregular!

Unless... unless Akainu, the Marine Fleet Admiral, was an incredibly decisive person!

Perhaps the moment he received word of Doflamingo resigning from the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea, he had issued the order to deploy an Admiral!

That would explain why an Admiral was here.

But that raised another question... if an Admiral was here, why hadn’t they fought Doflamingo yet?

Unless... the Admiral wasn’t here to capture Doflamingo!

But how could that be?

Doflamingo’s actions were a direct slap in the face to the Marines!

Under such circumstances, would the Marines not arrest him?

This was clearly illogical.

But Law couldn’t figure out where the specific problem lay.

After a moment of thought, he decided to hear what Meiser had to say.

"According to my analysis, the Marine Admiral is here on a mission," Meiser said. "And the target of that mission might not be Doflamingo."

Law’s pupils shrank. Had Doflamingo teamed up with the Marines?

But how?

Why would the Marines listen to him?

As if sensing Law’s thoughts, Meiser said, "It’s complicated. Are you alone?"

"Only Caesar is here."

"Knock him out first," Meiser said. "I assume that’s no problem for a doctor like you."

"Of course."

Law nodded. Such a thing was simple for him.

He turned to Caesar, who was wearing Seastone Handcuffs, and slowly raised his hand.

"Hey, don’t do anything to me, I won’t tell them your—"

Thud!

Before Caesar could finish, Law put him to sleep.

Tossing Caesar aside, Law sat on him and said, "Go ahead."

"Right."

After recalling what had happened, Meiser said, "This starts from before we entered the town."

"Can you make it brief?" Law said, somewhat helpless. "We’re pressed for time."

Although they were close to Green Bit, they still needed time for preparations, so they had to hurry.

"I am making it brief," Meiser said, rolling his eyes.

Why is this guy so impatient?

After silently complaining, Meiser said, "Before entering the town, I spoke with Luffy’s brother and got some useful intel from him."

"Straw Hat-ya’s brother?"

Law blinked, then remembered who that was.

The great pirate of the New World, Fire Fist Ace!

He hadn’t expected Sunglasses-ya to know that man.

"Fire Fist Ace," Meiser clarified, then continued, "Do you remember the Diamond-Diamond Fruit Doflamingo mentioned before?"

"I remember."

Law nodded, then realized something. "You mean... because of the Diamond-Diamond Fruit, the Spade Pirates are coming to Dressrosa?"

"And the Marine Admiral’s target is actually Fire Fist Ace?"

"Smart!" Meiser praised.

The man had deduced so much from just a hint; he truly had a good head on his shoulders.

"If that’s the case, then there shouldn’t be any problems on our end," Law said.

As he spoke, his expression gradually returned to calm.

"How can there be no problems?" Usopp freaked out. "Even if Ace and the others are coming, we could still be attacked by a Marine Admiral!"

Just thinking about it made Usopp feel unwell.

That was a Marine Admiral!

Even with Meiser there, he was terrified.

Wait... Meiser wasn’t even with him!

Usopp wanted to cry. Law couldn’t possibly beat an Admiral...

"Calm down, Usopp," Nico Robin said. "Things aren’t as bad as you think."

"What do you mean?"

What did she mean, ’not as bad’?

Nico Robin didn’t explain, just glanced at the Den Den Mushi.

The look in her eyes seemed to say: Meiser is in Dressrosa, what are you afraid of?

Usopp: "..."

He knew that, but the man wasn’t by his side!

Law didn’t pay attention to their interaction. He stared intently at the Den Den Mushi and said, "Sunglasses-ya, tell us everything else you’ve found or thought of."

Although he had some ideas, he wanted to hear Meiser’s thoughts first.

"According to my guess, Doflamingo has likely reached some kind of cooperation with the Marines," Meiser said. "For example... capturing Fire Fist Ace or our Straw Hat Pirates to trade for his title as a Warlord!"

"But judging by his actions, the possibility of him wanting to capture Ace is higher."

After all, it was unlikely Doflamingo had obtained that Devil Fruit on short notice. Meiser felt Doflamingo must have planned to use the Diamond-Diamond Fruit to bait Ace a long time ago; it just happened to coincide with them forcing him to resign his title.

While it was a coincidence, for Doflamingo, this was his chance to turn the tables!

"I see!"

Law and Nico Robin both showed expressions of ’as expected.’

While Meiser’s explanation wasn’t exactly what they had thought, it was very close.

"Wait, why do you both look like you expected this?" Usopp looked at them, dumbfounded. He felt like the only slow one.

"Because I lived in the underworld for a long time, so it’s easy to see the underlying motives," Nico Robin explained.

"Same here," Law said deeply.

Ever since Corazon was killed by Doflamingo, he had been wandering the seas, so he hadn’t experienced much less than Nico Robin.

Usopp opened his mouth. So out of the three of them, he was the only normal person?

Law ignored Usopp’s reaction. After his brief explanation, he focused back on the Den Den Mushi.

"So, Fujitora’s main target this time is the Spade Pirates," Law said.

"Not entirely," Meiser said. "Doflamingo’s targets might include us as well."

Meiser paused, then continued, "And... I don’t know if the Admiral will change his mind and capture us on a whim."

"Change his mind?"

Law frowned. "Did something else happen?"

"Yes."

"We met the Admiral while we were eating," Meiser explained. "He didn’t seem to want to move against us yet."

"I just don’t know if he lacks the inclination for now, or if he’s afraid of alerting the Spade Pirates and letting them escape."

The latter was a thought that had just occurred to him.

If Fujitora was afraid of spooking the Spade Pirates, he might temporarily forgo attacking the Straw Hat Pirates.

"You mean..." Law said, his face pale, "he already recognized your identities?"

"Correct," Meiser said. "Before he left, he said something specific."

Meiser then recounted everything that had happened at the restaurant, making them understand exactly what he had dealt with.

When Law heard Meiser’s words, his composure shattered completely.

"What on earth is Straw Hat-ya doing?!" Law said, gnashing his teeth. "Does he even realize where we are, you bastard?!"

Meddling in other people’s business in enemy territory... did he have a death wish?

If Doflamingo found out, they were all dead!

Listening to Law, Meiser just shrugged.

Luffy’s personality was simply like that; there was nothing he could do about it.

Law realized this too, but he was still furious!

Damn it, if I had known Straw Hat-ya had this kind of personality, I never would have allied with him! Law roared in his heart.

But there was no way out; things had already progressed to this point, and there were no regrets.

He could only continue to work with the Straw Hat Crew while weeping inwardly.

"That’s why I tried to warn you back then," Usopp said helplessly. "Did you think I was joking?"

He had been very serious when he told Law to think carefully before deciding, but Law hadn’t cared at all.

So... he had to live with the consequences.

Law: "..."

Law remained silent after glancing at Usopp.

That was true, but he hadn’t expected Straw Hat-ya to be this ridiculous!