Chapter 156: The Invitation
The young woman in the patterned dress and loose black hair slowly stepped forward, speaking timidly under the subtle gazes of Louis and his group.
"I have something to confess to you, my lord."
"I was once forced to join the Donquixote Family and worked for Doflamingo..."
Violet knew that her past association with the Donquixote Family couldn't be hidden for long. Therefore, she had to be the one to inform the new master of Dressrosa about this herself. If those surrendered pirate grunts chose to tell them about her, the probability of her being dealt with would be much higher.
As her words fell, a strange light flashed in the eyes of the group behind Louis. They looked at each other, and finally, their gazes fell on Louis, waiting for his decision.
Hearing her words, Louis did not give his response immediately. Instead, he quietly shifted his gaze to Baby-5, who was in a maid's uniform and following beside Violet.
"What about her?"
"According to the intelligence we received, she was not forced to join the Donquixote Family like you were."
Louis's voice was devoid of any inflection, his eyes incredibly deep, revealing no thoughts.
To this, Baby-5, who had heard his words, showed no particular reaction. At this moment, she was respectfully watching Violet's back, unmoved by Louis's dangerous words.
Louis's question caused a subtle change in Violet's expression. After organizing her thoughts, she explained in a concise tone. "Due to her childhood experiences, Baby-5 has developed a severe psychological condition. She has an extreme desire to be needed. She believes that as long as someone makes a request of her, it means they need her, and thus she is unable to refuse. Whether it's for money, a sales pitch, a marriage proposal, or to assassinate someone, she will not refuse."
"Furthermore, she is the user of the Paramecia-type Arms-Arms Fruit, which is very valuable."
"Not long ago, she wanted to intercept the attack on the royal palace. I happened to run into her and stopped her."
Violet stopped speaking, not specifically stating her reason for bringing Baby-5 to see Louis. She believed that the people before her should be able to deduce her purpose.
In front, the group behind Louis now had even stranger expressions, looking as if they were somewhat skeptical of Violet's words.
Louis's gaze fell on Baby-5, who looked extremely loyal to Violet, and he fell into thought. He knew some things about Baby-5 and knew that what Violet had said was true. Louis considered whether he should execute Baby-5 as well. But soon, another idea came to him, and he temporarily gave up the thought of executing her.
Then, Louis lowered his eyes to meet Baby-5's and spoke in a deep voice. "Baby-5, I need you to come before the young girl with the two-toned hair behind me."
Behind him, Uta was taken aback. She subconsciously tilted her head, a look of confusion on her face.
As Louis's words fell, Baby-5, who had been standing behind Violet with a loyal expression, seemed to have registered a keyword. She jolted, and a joyous smile appeared on her fair face, her eyes narrowing into crescents. "Understood! As long as I can be of help to you, I'll do it right away!"
With that, Baby-5 stepped forward with a smile, walked straight past Louis, and came directly before Uta.
SHING. Beside Uta, Kuina, who was covered in blood, expressionlessly pushed the guard of her sword with her thumb. Her eyes locked onto the girl, ready to draw her blade at any moment.
And when Baby-5 arrived in front of Uta, Uta had a flash of insight and understood Louis's intention. Then, several colorful scales appeared near the corners of Uta's eyes, and she instantly transformed into her Siren form. A pair of purple eyes, containing a fatal magic, met Baby-5's. Her lips moved slightly, and she softly uttered a single syllable.
The moment the sound fell, Baby-5's eyes, which were looking into the purple ones, also began to glow with a purple light. The next moment, her gaze became vacant.
Soon, under the watch of Louis and the others, a strange light appeared in Uta's eyes. The smile that was always on her face gradually disappeared. She looked extremely grim, and her expression became complicated. This situation made Yelena, Hajrudin, and the others even more puzzled. Uta had always faced people with a smile, a faint one always on her face. And at this moment, for them to see her with such a complex expression was quite confusing.
Then, Uta looked with a rather complicated expression at the black-haired maid before her who, although deeply in an illusion, still had tears streaming down her face, which was filled with terror.
In the end, Uta nodded to Louis with a complex expression. The latter saw this and returned a look of understanding. The next moment, Uta released Baby-5 from the illusion and reverted to her human form.
The group saw this and one after another wanted to step forward and ask Uta what she had seen in the illusion. However, before they could ask, a mournful cry came from the black-haired maid in front of Uta.
The group looked up and saw the black-haired maid fall to her knees with a thud, drenched in sweat. She was in a state of extreme panic, trembling, her hands covering her tear-streaked face as she muttered to herself, "Don't abandon me—I can be useful—"
"I can be useful—"
"I can be useful——"
Under everyone's gaze, Baby-5, like an abandoned small animal, let out a piercing, sorrowful cry. In just a moment, the ground beneath her was wet with sweat and tears. This scene left everyone at a loss for words.
Yelena saw this, couldn't help but turn to look at the complex-faced Uta, and asked in a hoarse voice, "What's wrong with her?"
To this, Uta glanced at Baby-5 with pity and sighed. "After I confirmed her dangerousness in the illusion, as usual, I showed her a glimpse of her greatest fear. This was the result." At this moment, Uta recalled what she had just seen, and felt an incomparable disgust for the woman who had abandoned her own child. Uta couldn't imagine how desperate she would be if she were abandoned.
After hearing this, the group fell silent, no longer expressing any opinions, and let Louis make the decision.
Then, Louis's gaze fell on Baby-5. "Arms-Arms Fruit, obedient."
"Yelena, you watch her for now. When Daz gets back, hand her over to him to manage." Louis felt that it was a bit inhumane to leave all the dirty work to Daz Bonez alone. Therefore, Louis took this opportunity to give him an assistant to help with the dirty work. When there was a mission, she would do the dirty work. When there was no mission, she would be a maid.
Yelena heard him and nodded lightly. "Okay." Then, she mimicked Louis's words and spoke to the kneeling maid. "I need you to stay by my side for now and follow my arrangements."
Hearing this, Baby-5 trembled as she stood up, a strange smile on her tear-streaked face. "Yes, I understand!"
Suddenly, she saw Uta beside Yelena, and her smile instantly froze. She subconsciously took a few steps back.
The group saw this and all shook their heads.
After the matter with Baby-5 was concluded, Louis looked up at Goldberg, Road, and Gerd. "I remember you said that many of the low-ranking pirates of the Donquixote Family surrendered to us?"
"That's right," the three said in unison.
"Then gather them up and temporarily incorporate them into our crew," Louis quickly issued a task. Although these people were weak, Louis's crew just happened to need a group of people to run errands. They could make do with them for now. In the future, after he had recruited subordinates who met his standards, he would find a time to weed them out. Whether they were sent to the battlefield to be consumed or disbanded would depend on their past conduct.
"Understood, Captain," the three heard him and nodded, then strode toward the streets.
After the three left, Louis instructed Yelena, Kuina, and the others, "You take Baby-5 and go to the royal palace to receive our spoils of war." Although Louis and the others didn't care much for treasure, that didn't mean he would give up his spoils.
Yelena heard him and nodded, leading the group away without a word.
When most of the group had dispersed, Uta unhurriedly walked over, preparing to familiarly lean against Louis and sit down. However, Louis reached out, lifted her up, and threw her in Yelena's direction. "You go too!"
In mid-air, Uta pouted. She then did a flip and sat on Yelena's shoulder armor.
After everyone had left, Louis turned to look at the somewhat uncomfortable King Riku and his two companions. To be precise, Louis's gaze fell on the man with a greatsword on his back and only one leg.
"Kyros, is it? I've heard of you. The champion who won three thousand consecutive victories in the colosseum."
Kyros was taken aback. It was a good while before he came to his senses and spoke with some surprise. "An existence like you... you would know of a small character like me?"
"No. Winning three thousand consecutive matches is not something anyone can do." To this, Louis stated that winning three thousand consecutive matches and winning three thousand matches were not the same concept.
"Kyros, you are very strong. Do you want to join my crew?"
At these words, not only did King Riku and Violet become nervous, but Kyros also fell into a brief silence. He had never expected that the famous "Archangel" Louis would give him such a high evaluation, and even personally ask him to join his crew.
But, leaving aside the other party's infamous reputation, and Doflamingo, who had given him an extremely bad impression... he couldn't be sure if the Archangel would follow through on his promises. Therefore, Kyros currently had no intention of agreeing to join his crew.
"I apologize, Lord Archangel, but I currently have no intention of becoming a pirate—"
"I see. If you change your mind, just come and find me." To this, Louis did not insist. After leaving these words, he turned and left.
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