Chapter 207: Diverting the Trouble
Of course, Tesoro wanted to ask how Axel knew Stella's name.
But he did not want others to learn about his past, so what came out instead was, "Didn't you ask me to come here? Why are you asking me instead?"
"Oh?" Axel said. "Then you don't mind if I talk about it here?"
Tesoro choked on those words.
Naturally, he did mind.
But this also proved that the brat in front of him did know something.
There was a chance he was bluffing, but since he had spoken Stella's name, Tesoro would rather believe him this once.
"Hahaha..."
Tesoro suddenly laughed.
His laughter rang through the shipyard, but none of his subordinates dared to follow along. They only stood there silently, watching him.
"What's wrong?" Tesoro asked with a smile. "Isn't it funny? Why aren't you laughing?"
His subordinates still did not laugh right away.
They glanced around, waiting until they were certain it was an order from Tesoro before they dared to force out laughter.
If they laughed without Tesoro's permission, they would be punished.
And that punishment was called death.
As slaves, having their lives taken by their master was only natural.
"What I just said was truly funny," Tesoro said. "How could such an important matter be discussed in a place like this?"
Then his tone shifted.
"So, where do you want to talk? Name any place on this island, and I can clear it out for you."
His tone seemed completely indifferent, but every movement he made carried the air of a wealthy tycoon.
To Tesoro, buying this island was no more difficult than buying a trinket from a street stall.
Truly inhumanly rich, Axel thought with a sigh.
Because of his position as a Marine captain, Axel also had a considerable amount of funds. Unfortunately, because of his love for good food, that money was often not enough.
Sometimes, when he encountered food he liked, he still had to choose carefully and suffer through painful decisions.
"That won't be necessary," Axel said. "We'll talk right here."
After saying that, he waved his hand, signaling for Ain and the others to leave.
Although Ain and Binz wanted to stay and hear the reason, they chose to trust their friend and followed his wishes.
Tom and the three shipwrights also walked out.
After Axel's people left, Tesoro responded in kind.
He only gave his subordinates a look, and they immediately understood, withdrawing through the door.
Before long, only Axel and Tesoro remained in the vast shipyard.
"How do you know about Stella?"
Tesoro cast aside his previous tycoon-like posture. In an instant, he became stern and rigid.
Perhaps this was his true face.
Axel did not answer him.
Instead, he picked up a snack from an exquisite plate on the deck and held it between his index finger and thumb, turning it idly.
He did not even look at Tesoro.
"I don't just know about Stella," Axel said. "I also know that you, Tesoro, were once a slave of the Celestial Dragons."
"Who exactly are you?"
Tesoro's voice sharpened.
It sounded almost like the voice of a vengeful spirit, carrying the urge to erase Axel from existence.
This matter, just like Stella, was an eternal wound in his heart.
A needle buried deep within him, reminding him every moment of the importance of status, position, power, and wealth.
He had never told anyone about it.
No one should have known.
So why had it been exposed?
"A Devil Fruit ability?" Tesoro frowned as he voiced the answer forming in his heart.
Since he was a Devil Fruit user himself, he would not find any strange phenomenon too unbelievable.
Axel continued looking at the snack in his hand.
His stomach was already slightly full, which reduced his enjoyment of the food somewhat. But even this snack, whose flavor had become less appealing because he was full, seemed more worthy of his attention than Tesoro.
Just as Tesoro was becoming impatient, Axel finally spoke.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. But before this, I didn't know Stella, and I didn't know you either."
It was an ambiguous answer.
Tesoro's brows tightened even further.
However, since Axel was not someone connected to Stella, Tesoro did not want to waste more time.
"Then you have business with me?"
"I want you to leave this place and allow the Marines to train here."
"A joke," Tesoro said sharply. "Why would I ever agree to that?"
He had bribed the World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons, to obtain this opportunity.
Starting over would not simply cost money. Money was the smallest issue.
It would require more energy and more time.
And Tesoro did not have that much time to waste.
More importantly, this victory meant he had gained an advantage over the Celestial Dragons.
That feeling made him proud.
It also brought him one step closer to his plan.
One day, he would use the power of money to make the Celestial Dragons bow their heads.
"Because I can make you agree."
Axel finally stopped playing with the snack.
With a calm, decisive motion, he swallowed it.
"So, do you want to fight?" Tesoro asked.
"Not really," Axel said. "I have information to exchange with you."
From their exchange so far, Tesoro could see maturity, wisdom, and mental depth that did not belong to a child of Axel's age.
This brat did not seem to be making empty boasts.
What kind of information could make him so confident?
Confident enough to think he could make Tesoro change his mind?
"Oh?" Tesoro said. "Then tell me. What information will you use to make me change my mind?"
"How did the Gold-Gold Fruit taste?"
Tesoro fell silent.
This feeling of having everything known by someone else was extremely unpleasant.
But after everything that had already happened, he was no longer surprised.
"It tasted awful," Tesoro said. "The taste of a Devil Fruit is simply terrible. Worse than the spoiled rice I ate during my days as a slave."
His voice became steady again.
"But it brought me power. And I have clearly used that power to achieve success, haven't I?"
His gaze sharpened.
"Stop telling me irrelevant things. I don't have the patience or time to listen."
Axel only smiled.
"You've been targeted by Doflamingo."
Tesoro was all too familiar with that name.
He had stolen the fruit at an auction held by Doflamingo, and that was how he had obtained his power.
"Targeted?" Tesoro said. "So what? I'm no longer the person I was back then. If this is the information you're talking about, then there's no way I'll change my mind."
"But what if I told you that Doflamingo is also Joker, the mastermind behind the slave trade, and has connections to the slave auction where Stella was held?"
Axel was making that part up.
He could not be certain.
However, Doflamingo's reach in that business was so wide that whether there had been a direct connection or not, all roads would eventually lead back to him.
"I know," Tesoro said.
His answer was surprisingly calm.
"But the ones who killed Stella were the Celestial Dragons. I won't take my anger out on him for that."
His tone was cold.
"If anything, I'm somewhat grateful. If not for his auction, I would never have obtained this power. If not for the slave establishment he ran, I would never have met Stella."
Axel once again reached out with his slender hand and picked up a snack, staring at it as if it were prey.
Tesoro's answer was within his expectations.
With Tesoro's wealth, how could he not have his own intelligence network?
However, that answer was exactly what Axel wanted.
"Then let's add one more thing."
Axel looked up at last.
"Doflamingo was once a Celestial Dragon."
.....
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