Chapter 230: Giving a Gift
Inside an ordinary Marine base.
"I am very sorry! I let Doflamingo escape this time. I will accept any punishment."
Doberman lowered his head and apologized in a heavy voice.
Anyone who saw him like this would probably be shocked.
Was this really the same forceful Doberman from before?
However, Doberman himself felt that this was only natural.
When Doflamingo arrived on his warship with soaked clothes and left those words echoing through the air, Doberman had understood everything.
He had done his best to arrest Doflamingo.
Yet in the end, the man had still escaped.
That meant the responsibility was his.
He had let a criminal flee.
It was something even Doberman himself could not forgive.
"What did you just say about Doflamingo?"
Axel stopped his spoon and swallowed the food in his mouth.
Doberman frowned slightly.
"Of course, I mean the Seven Warlord Doflamingo, whom you repelled that day."
"You say I repelled Doflamingo?"
Axel looked at him strangely.
"Stop joking. He's one of the Seven Warlords, and I'm just someone who became a Rear Admiral through connections. Even a normal Rear Admiral wouldn't be his match."
He waved his spoon casually.
"If you're tired, you should rest early. Your health is more important than work."
Doberman understood at once.
Axel had no intention of admitting it.
"Then how do you explain the wounds on your body?" Doberman asked. "Could there be someone in this base capable of attacking you?"
"No, of course no one dares attack me."
Axel answered without hesitation.
"But these wounds weren't caused by a person. They were caused by a cat."
"A cat?"
"Look, while I was sleeping, some stray cat from who knows where scratched me. It was quite vicious too."
As he spoke, Axel displayed his wounds.
The cuts left by Doflamingo's threads did happen to resemble marks made by cat claws.
Doberman could not understand why Axel wanted to hide the truth.
Was repelling a pirate something shameful?
Just as he was about to continue questioning him, Axel interrupted first.
"Also, don't you think it's very rude to keep disturbing someone while they're eating?"
Doberman did not think so.
In his view, eating was merely an act to satisfy the body's physical needs. There was no need to waste too much time on it.
Using that unimportant time to answer a superior officer's inquiry was also expected.
However, he could not press the matter at this moment.
A strong sense of guilt still lingered in his body.
After all, he was the one who had ruined the original opportunity to arrest Doflamingo.
Without asking any further, Doberman withdrew.
Watching him leave, Axel picked up his spoon again.
His eyes were fixed on the food on the table, but his mind was elsewhere.
He had his own reasons for refusing to admit it.
A child defeating one of the Seven Warlords.
Something like that would be far too sensational.
After experiencing previous incidents, Axel clearly understood that excessive fame often attracted trouble rather than prestige.
In the matter of Pluton, not everyone who was drawn to Enies Lobby had come for Pluton itself.
Some were simply people who craved battle.
Furthermore, the Seven Warlords were, on the surface, a neutral organization independent from both the World Government and pirates.
The seven pirates within it were essentially powerhouses recognized by the World Government.
They were living proof of strength.
At such a time, if news spread that one of them had been defeated by a child, it would be like throwing fire into a boiling pot.
It would shock people.
But it would also attract those who coveted fame and those who craved battle.
That was definitely not what Axel wanted.
Although his body craved battle, he did not crave that kind of trouble.
Moreover, he had realized something.
For some unknown reason, as he grew, his temperament was also gradually changing.
He needed to consciously restrain and correct it.
He did not want to become a bloodthirsty person.
He did not want to become something like a killing machine.
Fear, anxiety, panic, and slaughter were all things that could change a person.
And Axel was doing his best to avoid being changed by them.
At least until he truly realized what he should do, he would choose restraint and avoidance.
Axel took out a magnificent Den Den Mushi from his robe.
It was the one Tesoro had given him.
He had used it to successfully trigger his backup plan.
The incident of exposing Vergo had given Tesoro a certain illusion.
Axel had even informed him about this direct clash with Doflamingo.
So, what would Tesoro do now?
Would he really start dealing with Doflamingo as agreed?
Axel did not think so.
Agreements and oaths were the most unreliable things in this world.
He would never believe in promises made with an enemy.
Tesoro's position dictated that he would definitely become enemies with Doflamingo.
But when that enmity would truly erupt was something Axel could not grasp.
At least, Axel did not believe Tesoro would act at this moment.
Was there a way to ripen this fruit faster?
Just as Axel was thinking, Doberman, who had just left, entered again.
But this time, he was not here to ask questions.
He looked more like he had come to interrogate him.
"Rear Admiral Axel, why has someone sent wealth to you at the port?"
Doberman's voice was stern.
"Could it be that you had people plunder wealth from the surrounding islands?"
This kind of situation usually happened when wealth was taken from ordinary civilians.
Otherwise, how could a normal Marine possess such property?
Axel found it strange.
Who would be bored enough to send him wealth?
But after thinking for a moment, he guessed it was most likely Tesoro.
So he replied calmly, "I didn't. But is it only wealth? Nothing else?"
Doberman also thought about it.
Aside from being somewhat extravagant with food, Axel did not seem like someone greedy for wealth in other areas.
On top of that, since he had just defeated Doflamingo, Doberman's impression of him was currently quite good.
He immediately felt that he might have misunderstood.
"It's not just wealth," Doberman said. "But the Marine who reported it ran over in such a hurry that I didn't think much about the details."
Axel frowned.
Doberman was full of justice, but he acted somewhat recklessly.
"In a situation like this, instead of running here to ask me, shouldn't you first investigate who sent it?"
"Uh... yes!"
Doberman replied without even thinking.
For a moment, he even forgot that his military rank was higher than Axel's.
Except when it came to the Doflamingo matter, Doberman usually held the authority.
When they arrived at the port, the matter had already been clarified.
The person who delivered the wealth had not hidden anything.
Instead, he openly stated the reason.
"This was sent by Lord Tesoro as a congratulatory gift for Rear Admiral Axel's promotion."
Axel muttered to himself.
"A congratulatory gift for my promotion?"
This short sentence explained at least two things.
The first was a reminder.
Tesoro was telling Axel that he also had spies planted within the Marines.
After all, the fact that Axel had become a Rear Admiral had not yet been publicly released outside Marineford.
The second was urging.
Since ancient times, whenever a gift was sent, it usually came with a request.
The same applied in this world.
Tesoro was urging Axel to start dealing with Doflamingo.
But was that really all?
For a simple congratulatory gift, he had sent wealth worth billions of Berries.
Even if Tesoro was rich, he would not do something like that without a deeper purpose.
After all, he was a businessman shrewder than anyone.
He understood very well that if he did not keep the price as low as possible while he could, how would he use Axel's cheap labor later?
Wouldn't that be allowing Axel to name any price he wanted?
.....
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