In the end, strength was all that mattered.
In a world like this, where the gap in individual power was so vast, personal strength had a huge impact.
Cyrus now understood this situation clearly.
Robin had also considered this possibility.
Of course, Robin supported whatever decision Cyrus made now.
"Shall we continue?"
Robin asked, following behind Cyrus and tightening her grip on the sword in her arms.
"Wait, we have more uninvited guests."
Cyrus's gaze shifted to the sea in the distance.
"Is it Doflamingo's men?"
"No!" Cyrus shook his head.
At the edge of his vision, a strangely shaped ship was slowly appearing.
A snail-shaped ship.
"It's a ship from the Germa Kingdom."
"The Germa Kingdom? Why are they here? Could they have joined forces with Doflamingo?" Robin asked with a serious expression, also spotting the ship that had appeared on the horizon.
"There's only one. They probably have a different objective." Cyrus said with a wave of his hand.
"So we wait?"
"Let's wait and see what their purpose is!"
...
Aboard Germa's Den Den Mushi Battleship, Reiju, clad in a battle suit resembling a butterfly, looked at the island appearing in the distance with a grave expression.
The information had come from the World Economic Journal.
But making contact with such a person would likely not be easy.
The newspaper had not provided any information about what happened after Kizaru set out to find this man.
Perhaps their price wasn't high enough.
But after Kizaru's return, this person had continued to attack Doflamingo's armories, which already said a lot.
Or perhaps, they had guessed wrong, and Kizaru had never made contact with this person before.
But now the Navy seemed to have stopped their pursuit, making the whole situation somewhat difficult to grasp.
Nevertheless, her father had still decided to try and make contact.
The goal was to recruit him.
If recruitment failed, then there was another objective.
As the battleship approached the island, Reiju pondered how to approach this unknown young powerhouse.
Then, she saw two figures standing on the shore in the distance.
"Stop!"
Reiju raised her hand and gave the order.
The Den Den Mushi Battleship slowed to a halt, and then Reiju leaped up, flying toward the shore like a giant moth spreading its wings.
Cyrus watched the woman flying over the sea's surface, noting her iconic eyebrows and that strange battle suit.
Sanji's sister, Vinsmoke Reiju.
Cyrus's eyes sized up Reiju as she landed before him.
After landing a short distance from Cyrus, Reiju was also sizing up Cyrus and Robin.
"I am Vinsmoke Reiju, a princess of the Germa Kingdom!"
Reiju met Cyrus's gaze and spoke first.
"So, what do you want?"
"My father, the king of the Germa Kingdom, would like to invite you to join the Germa Kingdom."
Reiju stated her purpose directly.
"Join the Germa Kingdom?" Cyrus was taken aback.
He had never considered this possibility.
He didn't even care about the Navy's invitation, so why would he join Germa?
Reiju saw Cyrus's expression clearly.
"If you agree, you can name any condition. If it is within our power, we can agree to it." Reiju directly laid out the terms of the invitation.
It seemed to be full of sincerity.
"What if I said I want to be the king of Germa?" Cyrus chuckled upon hearing this and then asked.
Robin, standing to the side, nearly rolled her eyes.
Reiju was also stunned for a moment.
Any other condition might be fine, but becoming the king of Germa?
Then what was the point of inviting you?
That was basically the entire kingdom surrendering to this person.
"It seems that's not possible, then."
After speaking, Cyrus turned and walked toward the boat on the shore.
Robin glanced at Reiju before following him.
"Wait!" Seeing Cyrus about to leave, Reiju called out.
"What? Did you agree?" Cyrus turned his head to look at Reiju.
"No, but since the invitation was unsuccessful, we have another plan for cooperation."
"Another plan for cooperation? Why should I cooperate with you?" Cyrus said with a half-smile.
"You can hear me out first!" Reiju said, not minding Cyrus's attitude, her expression very serious.
"Let's hear it!"
"You're still going to attack Doflamingo's armories next, aren't you?" Reiju inquired.
"That's right. So?" Cyrus nodded.
"We can cooperate. We can help you from now on!"
'Help me?'
Cyrus turned around, his eyes fixed on Reiju.
"What do you mean?"
"We know that these things are nothing to you, and no one can stop you, like Admiral Kizaru for example. But this kind of work is very tedious. So, we will handle it for you." Reiju said, casually mentioning Kizaru while observing Cyrus's expression.
Seeing no change in Cyrus's expression, she confirmed it in her heart.
'This man had indeed encountered Kizaru, and they had even fought.'
"You're interested in Doflamingo's armories?"
The Germa Kingdom's objective wasn't hard to figure out.
Without sufficient benefits, the Germa Kingdom would never do such a thing.
As for currying favor with him, they wouldn't go this far.
So, the most likely goal was that they had their eyes on Doflamingo's business.
After all, they were both in the North Blue.
Doflamingo had used this business to become a big shot in the underworld, which represented enormous profits.
The Germa Kingdom was ambitious and naturally coveted it.
It was just that they probably hadn't wanted to confront Doflamingo head-on before.
But now, with him as an unexpected factor, the Germa Kingdom, or rather, Judge, had become interested in these profits.
"Cyrus?"
Seeing Cyrus lost in thought, Robin spoke up, wanting to get his attention.
"Mm." Cyrus waved his hand.
"As it happens, I was indeed finding it a bit tedious. But since I'm giving you such a huge benefit, what can you give me?"
Hearing this, Reiju naturally understood that Cyrus had seen through their objective.
"Anything, of course, except for becoming the king of Germa." Reiju said, adding a patch to her statement.
Just in case Cyrus wanted to become their king of Germa again.
"Is that so? I'll be heading to the Grand Line later and will be forming a guild. When the time comes, your Germa Kingdom can send some people to join this guild." Cyrus said after some deliberation.
'A... guild?'
Reiju was a little puzzled, but she didn't press for details.
Sending some people was a simple matter for Germa.
With their cloning technology, they could produce as many people as they wanted.
"Deal!"
No matter what kind of guild it was, this deal was essentially trading some clone soldiers for the profits from the armories.
They could, of course, act on their own.
But if Cyrus continued his destruction, they would only get ruins in the end.
As for Doflamingo, with Cyrus distracting him now, Germa didn't need to be overly concerned.
"Then, the deal is done!"
Cyrus turned and jumped onto the boat, and Robin followed him aboard.
Flames appeared, and the small boat instantly accelerated, speeding away across the sea's surface.
Reiju stood on the shore, thinking about her brief contact with Cyrus and organizing the intelligence.
"So he's a Devil Fruit user. Flame huh... likely a Logia Type!"
Reiju guessed to herself as she watched the small boat with a long tail of fire at its stern.
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