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Crocodile's strength was unquestionable, and the Marine Headquarters' bounty system wasn't an absolute measure of a person's true power.
When Vice Admiral Tsuru saw Crocodile take his seat, she gave a sharp "Hmph!" of disapproval. "You Warlords think you can ignore Marine summons whenever you please. Looks like this meeting won't have full attendance again."
Crocodile didn't bother replying. He simply took a drag from his cigar, the smoke curling lazily upward.
Still, being the only pirate in Marine HQ at the moment left him feeling the faintest twinge of unease.
Footsteps echoed from behind him. Crocodile took one last drag, exhaling a slow cloud of smoke as the newcomer stepped up beside him, pulling out the chair next to his and resting one foot on the seat.
"Fuffuffuffuffu… Well, well, the Desert King himself at such a boring meeting? This should be fun," the man drawled.
Tall and lanky, with short golden hair, red-tinted sunglasses, and a flamboyant pink feathered coat draped over his shoulders this was none other than the "Heavenly Yaksha" Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, with a former bounty of 340 million berries.
Crocodile spared him only a sidelong glance and said nothing.
"Don't be so cold," Doflamingo grinned. "Interested in a little partnership? Together, we could dominate the underworld's entire black market."
"That's enough, Donquixote Doflamingo!" Tsuru snapped, her voice cutting through his words like a whip. "This is Marine Headquarters, not your personal playground."
"Oh? Vice Admiral Tsuru," Doflamingo said, feigning surprise as he pushed up his sunglasses. "Didn't notice you there. My mistake." His smirk returned almost instantly. "But seriously, shouldn't you be retired by now? Why meddle in the seas' affairs? Is Marine HQ running out of people?"
"As long as criminals like you are still roaming free, I will never forget my duty," Tsuru replied coolly, ignoring the jab.
Doflamingo's grin faltered for a moment. There were a few people in this world he treated cautiously, but this old woman was one of them.
"Doflamingo! What are you doing?" came a deep, commanding voice from the hallway.
"Fuffuffu… Fleet Admiral Sengoku," Doflamingo replied, finally taking a seat. "Just adding a little excitement to this painfully dull meeting."
Sengoku, his braided hair neat and his pet goat in tow, ignored the comment and walked to the oval table.
He scanned the room, his gaze settling on the two Warlords already present. "I'm surprised. Two of you actually responded to our summons. That's more than I expected."
He clapped his hands once. "Enough small talk. It seems those absent won't be joining us, so let's begin—"
But he stopped mid-sentence when more footsteps echoed from the hall.
Doflamingo turned, then chuckled. "Fuffuffu… Well, this just got interesting."
The newcomer wore a black wide-brimmed hat, had piercing hawk-like eyes, a short beard, and a massive black cross-shaped sword strapped to his back, with a golden cross pendant hanging at his chest.
It was Dracule Mihawk the "Hawk-Eye" and the greatest swordsman in the world.
"I am still a Warlord," Mihawk said simply as he stepped into a shadowed corner and sat down. "Happened to be nearby, so I thought I'd see what this was about."
Sengoku chuckled. "Three Warlords in one meeting… More than I dared hope for."
Tsuru gave a subtle cough to get him back on track.
"Right," Sengoku said, picking up a stack of bounty posters. "I'm sure you've guessed why we called you here."
"It's about filling the vacant Warlord seat," Crocodile said, breaking his silence.
"Correct," Sengoku confirmed. "We invited 'Fire Fist' Ace to take the position, but he refused. Now the world questions our authority."
Tsuru added, "We had a plan to capture him, but he joined the Whitebeard Pirates one of the Four Emperors. That failure is an embarrassment to the Marines."
Crocodile smirked faintly. "So you want to fill the vacancy quickly, restore the Warlords to full strength, and use us to help fight the Four Emperors?"
Tsuru's gaze hardened. "The Warlords are not here to 'help' the Marines. You are a subordinate institution bound by contract to fulfill your obligations."
Her tone left no room for argument.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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