Chapter 365: A Corner of the Conflict

Chapter 365: Chapter 365: A Corner of the Conflict

Chapter 365: A Corner of the Conflict

The slash that destroyed the Krieg Pirates was impossible to miss.

From inside Baratie, everyone had seen the fleet that had dominated the East Blue for years reduced to wreckage in a single strike.

For people whose understanding of battle rarely went beyond guns, cannons, and ordinary swordsmanship, what they had witnessed no longer felt like human strength.

The restaurant fell into silence.

Then the door opened.

Axel stepped inside.

The faint crimson glow had not yet faded from his eyes.

To the frightened diners, his delicate appearance no longer seemed harmless. They knew nothing about him beyond what they had just witnessed, and that uncertainty made the fear worse.

No one knew whether the man who had erased fifty pirate ships would turn that strength on them next.

Axel ignored the staring faces and walked directly toward Zeff.

"Can I borrow a room?"

Zeff paused.

"...Sure."

He did not ask why.

Axel headed upstairs.

Only after he disappeared did the restaurant seem to breathe again.

Several customers immediately rushed for the exit. Others quickly followed.

No matter how good Baratie’s food was, few of them had any desire to remain near someone capable of destroying an entire pirate fleet with one attack.

Patty watched the diners flee with obvious pain.

The knife in his hand slipped onto the counter with a clatter as his tense shoulders finally relaxed.

"That pressure was suffocating..."

He looked toward the stairs.

"Why would someone like that come to our little restaurant?"

The other chefs turned toward Zeff.

Zeff remained quiet for a moment.

"Who knows?"

His gaze shifted toward Sanji.

Sanji noticed.

The two looked at each other briefly before Sanji turned away, dropped his cigarette, and crushed it beneath his shoe.

Then he looked toward Robin.

His expression immediately softened again.

Zeff sighed.

...

Inside the room Zeff had lent him, Axel closed the door.

He reached into his clothes and took out a golden Den Den Mushi.

There were only a few forces capable of influencing the flow of information on such a scale.

The World Government.

The Marines.

And money.

Enough money could make newspapers discuss almost anything.

There was only one person Axel knew who possessed both the wealth to influence major information networks and knowledge of the Pluton blueprints.

Gild Tesoro.

Axel stared at the golden Den Den Mushi for a moment before dialing.

The call connected almost immediately.

Too quickly.

As though the person on the other end had been waiting.

"Hahaha..."

Tesoro’s laughter came through the Den Den Mushi.

"I knew you’d contact me eventually."

Axel frowned.

That one sentence confirmed most of his suspicion.

Tesoro had expected this.

Perhaps he had even arranged events specifically to force Axel into making the call.

Axel hated that feeling.

It reminded him of a bird raised in a luxurious cage. It might be fed the finest food and protected from danger, but its path had still been decided by someone else.

"What are you planning, Tesoro?"

Axel went straight to the point.

Using his name directly was deliberate.

A reminder.

They were not master and subordinate.

The Den Den Mushi copied Tesoro’s crooked smile.

"I have no idea what you mean."

"I don’t like wasting time."

"Tch."

Tesoro clicked his tongue.

Then laughed again.

"Neither do I."

"Our time is valuable."

"So I’ll be direct."

The Den Den Mushi’s smile widened.

"I want to cooperate with you."

Axel did not answer the offer.

Instead, he asked,

"Before that, why were you working with Doflamingo?"

Silence.

Krieg had learned the Pluton rumor through the underground weapons trade.

Doflamingo had deep influence over that world.

Axel could not prove Tesoro and Doflamingo were connected through this specific incident, but the overlap was too suspicious to ignore.

And asking aggressively cost him nothing.

If he was wrong, the conversation would continue.

If he was right...

The Den Den Mushi slowly reproduced Tesoro’s arrogant expression.

"You know something?"

"Sometimes you surprise me enough that I genuinely consider getting rid of you."

Tesoro had never enjoyed looking up to anyone.

In his world, people were assets.

Tools.

Pieces to be bought, manipulated, or discarded.

Axel had repeatedly refused to fit neatly into any of those categories.

That made him troublesome.

And interesting.

"You guessed correctly."

Tesoro’s voice remained calm.

"I did work with Doflamingo."

"But I was only using him."

Axel leaned back.

"That’s surprising."

"You hate the Celestial Dragons."

"Even if Doflamingo lost that title, he was born as one of them."

Axel paused.

"I doubt you forgot that."

Tesoro’s smile vanished.

"Hmph."

"Making one Celestial Dragon suffer means nothing to me."

His voice became darker.

"I want all of them."

"I want every one of those arrogant bastards who once looked down on people like livestock to crawl at my feet."

"To beg."

"To understand what it feels like to be treated as less than human."

The Den Den Mushi’s face twisted with hatred.

"Only then will they begin to repay what they did to me."

Axel listened without interrupting.

Tesoro continued,

"Do you understand?"

"So Doflamingo’s desire to drag the Celestial Dragons down suited you."

Axel thought for a moment.

"But he was arrested."

His eyes narrowed.

"Unless he escaped?"

"He did."

Tesoro answered casually.

"He came to me afterward."

Axel’s expression changed slightly.

"The Marines seem to have arranged it."

"Arranged it?"

Axel sat straighter.

"You mean they let him escape?"

"More or less."

Tesoro sounded amused.

"Go on."

"Guess why."

For someone who claimed to hate wasting time, Tesoro seemed to enjoy wasting Axel’s.

Axel closed his eyes.

He considered what he already knew.

Doflamingo had been defeated.

Kaido’s forces had already tried to interfere with his transport.

The Marines had deliberately avoided killing Crocodile because the balance at sea was becoming unstable.

If Doflamingo had been intentionally released, then his freedom had to serve a purpose greater than keeping a defeated Warlord imprisoned.

Axel opened his eyes.

"The Marines want to use him against one of the Four Emperors."

The Den Den Mushi’s grin widened.

Axel continued,

"For them to willingly release someone like Doflamingo, whatever they gain from it must outweigh the threat he poses."

"And right now, the only powers important enough to justify that are the Yonko."

He paused.

"I don’t know exactly what the Marines are planning, or what cooperation you want from me."

"But I already know I don’t want anything to do with it."

Tesoro laughed.

"How frightening."

His voice said fear.

His expression showed appreciation.

"You’re mostly right."

"Doflamingo was deliberately released."

Tesoro paused.

"The Marines gave him two choices."

"Spend the rest of his life inside Impel Down..."

"Or kill members of Whitebeard’s crew."

Axel’s expression became still.

So that was it.

The Marines were preparing to move against Whitebeard.

If that information leaked, it would shake the entire sea.

But Axel was not particularly shocked.

In the future he remembered, the Marineford War revolved around Ace.

Yet Ace had only been the trigger.

The deeper conflict between the Marines, the World Government, and Whitebeard’s era had existed long before his execution.

The balance was already becoming unstable.

Eventually, someone would have tried to break it.

Ace had simply given the Marines the perfect battlefield.

They could force Whitebeard to attack Marine Headquarters, where every advantage favored the defenders.

Ace’s identity as Roger’s son gave the event even greater symbolic meaning. His execution was not merely about one pirate. It represented an attempt to sever part of the legacy that had created the Great Pirate Era.

But this time, events were developing differently.

The Marines appeared to be setting Kaido and Whitebeard against one another first.

If they remained outside the initial clash, then the future Marineford War might never happen in the same form.

For Axel, that was not necessarily bad.

"Whitebeard treats his crew like family."

Axel spoke slowly.

"If Doflamingo kills one of them, Whitebeard won’t let it go."

"And Doflamingo is tied to Kaido through their business."

"Kaido isn’t exactly someone who backs away from conflict either."

He leaned back.

"So the Marines are using Doflamingo to push Kaido and Whitebeard toward each other."

Then his tone sharpened.

"What are you trying to gain by throwing yourself into that?"

Tesoro was silent for a moment.

Then he laughed.

"Think of it as gambling."

"The Marines and the Four Emperors each have chips on the table."

"Right now, the Yonko are enemies."

"The Marines intend to profit while they fight."

His voice grew amused.

"But gambling has another side."

"If the position that looks advantageous suddenly turns against you..."

"The winner can become the biggest loser."

Tesoro’s grin widened through the Den Den Mushi.

"And if the Marines, the greatest shield standing in front of the Celestial Dragons, are gradually weakened..."

Axel interrupted.

"Then ordinary people suffer."

Tesoro fell silent.

Axel continued,

"This is still the Great Pirate Era."

"If the Marines become too weak, countless people will end up experiencing the same kind of tragedy you did."

Tesoro’s expression twisted.

"What does that have to do with me?!"

His voice rose.

"When I was suffering, who came to save me?"

"No one!"

"If people want to escape their fate, they should fight for it themselves!"

Tesoro’s breathing grew heavier.

"Depending on someone else only means being swallowed by fate sooner or later."

Axel did not answer.

The situation was becoming clearer.

The Marines were calculating how to weaken the Four Emperors.

Doflamingo was searching for a path to survive.

Tesoro was planning around both sides.

And once a conflict of this scale began, more ambitious people would inevitably enter.

Pirates.

The Underworld.

Governments.

Anyone who smelled opportunity.

A struggle involving multiple powers was beginning to take shape.

Axel wanted no part of it.

His injuries had not healed.

Chopper had already warned him that another serious fight could push his body beyond what his ability could maintain.

Getting involved in a conflict between the Marines and the Yonko would be absurd.

He needed rest.

Tesoro spoke again.

"I’m telling you this because I want you involved."

"You’re an indispensable part of my plan."

Axel answered immediately.

"Why should I help you?"

It was a refusal.

Tesoro laughed.

Not mockingly this time.

Confidently.

As though he had expected that exact answer.

When the laughter stopped, the golden Den Den Mushi’s eyes narrowed.

"You’ll help me."

Axel’s expression remained unchanged.

Tesoro continued,

"What if the price of refusing is the life of one of your friends?"

That finally caught Axel’s interest.

"Friend?"

He tilted his head.

"I don’t have many."

"Which one?"

Tesoro answered,

"A blue-haired girl from a few years ago."

The air changed.

An invisible pressure descended across the entire Baratie.

The wooden structure creaked.

Robin’s expression shifted downstairs.

Chopper froze.

Several weaker chefs suddenly collapsed to their knees as though a great weight had pressed down on them.

Plates rattled.

Windows trembled.

Then, only a few seconds later, the pressure vanished.

Everyone remained still.

The same thought passed through several minds.

Perhaps leaving Baratie immediately would be a very good idea.

Upstairs, Axel’s voice was quiet.

"Ain?"

The Den Den Mushi smiled.

"I don’t believe things without proof."

Tesoro did not sound worried.

"Believe it or don’t."

"That’s up to you."

He paused.

"I’ve watched you carefully ever since we began working together."

"Emotion is both the weakest weapon and the sharpest."

"Trying to find a weakness in you directly was difficult."

"So I focused on the people around you instead."

Axel said nothing.

Tesoro continued,

"Saving her during that battle wasn’t easy."

"But you know I have someone under me with an ability that can steal luck from others and use it for herself."

Axel remembered.

Tesoro’s voice became almost casual.

"One hundred people were sacrificed."

"The accumulated luck was enough."

"And the girl survived."

Silence filled the room.

Then Axel asked,

"What do you want me to do?"

No hesitation.

No wasted words.

On the other side, Tesoro smiled.

For the first time in their dealings, he felt as though he had seized the initiative.

Previously, every cooperation with Axel had left him reacting to someone else’s schemes.

This time was different.

At least on the surface.

Tesoro did not believe Axel had suddenly become obedient.

Their previous arrangements had always contained deception beneath the cooperation.

This one would likely be no different.

But that did not matter.

Tesoro only needed the result he wanted.

"I’ll contact you when the time comes."

His voice became cheerful again.

"Until then..."

"Happy cooperation."

Axel stared at the golden Den Den Mushi.

"I’m not happy."

Tesoro chuckled.

"And if I get the chance," Axel continued, "I’ll erase you from this world."

Tesoro’s smile turned vicious.

"I feel exactly the same."

Click.

The call ended.

....

? QUICK NOTE FOR MY READERS

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