Chapter 302: Strength and Weakness
The moment Mr. 3 saw the person he had been sent to meet, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Axel's condition matched the intelligence Crocodile had provided.
That did not mean the danger had disappeared.
It simply meant the threat had been reduced.
In Mr. 3's view, someone in this condition had little reason to make an enemy of Crocodile. And if Axel did not already know the identity of Baroque Works' Boss, Mr. 3 intended to make sure he understood exactly who he would be refusing.
He adjusted his glasses and quickly recovered from his embarrassing entrance.
"That was simply my unique way of entering a room. My apologies for the spectacle."
Miss Goldenweek stood beside him, noticeably more relaxed after seeing Axel's frail appearance for herself.
Axel did not bother pretending to be polite.
"It was certainly a spectacle."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"It actually improved my mood."
Then he got straight to the point.
"Did you bring what I asked for?"
"I did."
Mr. 3 did not reach for it.
"But before I hand it over, I need your answer."
"An answer?"
Axel tilted his head.
"And if I refuse?"
Mr. 3's expression hardened slightly.
"Then I'm afraid I cannot give you the Log Pose."
He paused.
"And Baroque Works will consider you an enemy."
Axel smiled.
The expression revealed nothing.
"Then tell me something first."
"If I accept, what exactly do I get?"
Mr. 3 raised one hand.
Wax flowed from his fingers and rapidly took shape.
Within moments, a small figure stood in his palm.
Slicked-back hair.
A scar across the face.
A distinctive hook.
Crocodile.
Beneath the figure, Mr. 3 deliberately formed the words:
[SEVEN WARLORDS OF THE SEA]
"This man is the Boss of Baroque Works."
Axel looked at the wax figure without surprise.
Mr. 3 continued confidently.
"If you join us, you'll gain far more than protection from the Marines."
"Baroque Works can provide intelligence, money, status, resources, and influence."
"And with the Boss backing you, many of your current problems will become much easier to handle."
He adjusted his glasses.
"Most importantly, the Boss has personally promised that you may name your own condition."
Axel gave him an amused look.
"That sounds wonderful."
His tone carried a trace of mockery.
"But surely Baroque Works isn't a charity."
"If I join, what do I have to give in return?"
Mr. 3 failed to notice the sarcasm.
He assumed Axel had finally begun seriously considering the offer.
"Naturally, there is something we require."
His voice became more deliberate.
"The Pluton blueprints."
Axel's expression did not change.
Mr. 3 continued.
"You only need to hand them over."
"Your location has already been exposed here in Whiskey Peak, so the Marines will almost certainly learn about it soon."
"The Pluton blueprints are useless to you in your current situation anyway."
"In exchange for something you cannot properly use, you gain the protection of a Warlord and the resources of Baroque Works."
He spread his hands.
"It benefits both sides."
"And that is before considering the additional condition the Boss has offered."
"As long as your demand is not completely unreasonable, he has no intention of refusing."
Axel listened quietly.
He was not surprised.
What else could Crocodile possibly want from him badly enough to offer such favorable terms?
Pluton.
That had always been the obvious answer.
Crocodile's approach was clever.
A threat from one side.
Benefits from the other.
Then an open-ended promise allowing Axel to name his price.
If someone else were standing in his position, Crocodile's so-called sincerity would be extremely difficult to refuse.
Unfortunately, Axel was not most people.
He looked at Mr. 3.
Then smiled.
The expression sent a chill through the man.
"I refuse."
Mr. 3 blinked.
Axel's tone remained calm.
"I already made myself clear."
"I dislike being under someone else's control."
"So from the beginning, I never intended to join Baroque Works."
Mr. 3 stared at him.
"Then why did you ask about the conditions?"
His voice sharpened.
"And what about the Log Pose to Drum Island?"
"You clearly need it."
"I do."
Axel nodded.
"I definitely need the Log Pose."
"But needing something and agreeing to join Baroque Works are separate matters."
Mr. 3 frowned.
Axel continued as though explaining something perfectly obvious.
"When dealing with bad people, there's no reason to follow their rules."
His smile widened slightly.
"If I want something you have, I can simply take it."
Mr. 3 went silent.
What kind of logic was that?
Even Miss Goldenweek looked toward Axel with greater interest.
The answer was absurdly straightforward.
And it meant one thing.
Axel intended to oppose Baroque Works.
Mr. 3's expression darkened.
"According to the Boss's intelligence, your injuries have severely restricted your strength."
Axel said nothing.
"You can barely use your abilities properly."
"Even ordinary pirates have managed to injure you."
Mr. 3's confidence returned with every sentence.
"You're wounded."
"You've become weak."
"And whatever strength once earned you a bounty of four hundred million Berries, you no longer possess it."
He stared directly at Axel.
"So tell me."
"In your current condition, how exactly do you expect to survive after rejecting Baroque Works?"
"I refuse because..."
Axel did not get to finish.
Mr. 3 attacked.
Wax erupted from beneath the floor.
He had prepared it in advance.
The entire time he had been approaching the house, Mr. 3 had not merely been trembling in fear.
While pretending to be nervous, he had continuously secreted wax through the soles of his feet, spreading it around the building without drawing attention.
His hesitation outside the house had concealed preparation.
Now that preparation revealed its purpose.
Wax surged upward from every direction.
At the same time, Miss Goldenweek moved.
Her brush swept across Axel's clothing.
A patch of color appeared.
Relaxing Green.
The emotional suggestion was meant to strip away his desire to resist.
Then Mr. 3 unleashed everything he had prepared.
Wax flooded through the small house like water released from a broken dam.
Walls snapped.
Wooden boards vanished beneath the pale mass.
The entire structure was crushed as hardened wax swallowed Axel's position.
Within seconds, a huge solid block stood where the house had been.
Several meters of wax surrounded the center.
Mr. 3's Wax-Wax Fruit could produce material as hard as steel.
There were no hollow spaces within the prison.
Even a Giant would eventually suffocate if completely sealed inside.
Still, Mr. 3 did not relax.
He was dealing with someone whose name had once shaken Marineford.
Ignoring his own exhaustion, he created several enormous wax spikes.
Then he drove them through the block from multiple directions.
It resembled a stage magician's trick, swords thrust through a box containing a helpless victim.
Except these blades were real.
And they converged on the exact place Axel had been sitting.
Only after completing the attack did Mr. 3 finally exhale.
"Finished."
Crack.
His expression froze.
A thin fracture appeared across the wax.
Then another.
Crack.
Crack.
Mr. 3 stared.
"What?"
The fractures spread.
"No..."
He immediately tried to reinforce the structure.
More wax flowed toward the damaged areas.
It made no difference.
The enormous prison continued breaking apart from within.
"How is this possible?!"
Mr. 3's face twisted in disbelief.
"My wax is as hard as steel!"
The cracks multiplied.
Then the entire structure collapsed.
Chunks of hardened wax crashed across the ruined ground.
At the center sat Axel.
Still on the edge of the bed.
Still wearing the same indifferent expression.
As though nothing had happened.
The commotion had drawn Vivi back.
She stopped at the edge of what had once been her room and stared at the wreckage.
Surprisingly, the destruction itself did not upset her nearly as much as the situation.
She had already begun regretting how carefully she had treated the matter of keeping up appearances.
Thinking about it now, even if she had slept elsewhere, few people would have questioned it.
If anything, spending too much time alone with someone as dangerous as Axel was more likely to attract suspicion.
Miss Goldenweek stared at him.
Her attention went immediately to the colored mark she had painted on his clothing.
"Why didn't Relaxing Green affect you?"
The ability should have worked.
Yet Axel showed no sign of emotional influence at all.
He looked down at the mark.
"For someone who once lost his emotions entirely..."
His voice remained calm.
"Learning to control them after getting them back isn't particularly difficult."
Vivi immediately looked at him.
"Then who was it yesterday who claimed he might lose control of his emotions?"
Axel spread his hands.
He offered no explanation.
Instead, his gaze returned to Mr. 3.
"You said I'm injured."
Mr. 3 tensed.
Axel smiled.
"Perhaps that's true."
There was something strange in that smile.
Mockery, perhaps.
Directed at Mr. 3.
At himself.
At the entire situation.
Then Axel spoke.
"I have become weaker."
He rose from the bed.
"But that doesn't mean you've become stronger."
His foot touched the ground.
Just once.
A simple stomp.
The hardened wax beneath him exploded.
The entire surface buckled upward as though struck from below by an unimaginable force.
Cracks tore through the ground.
Fragments of wax and stone blasted outward.
What had been debris a moment earlier became a storm of projectiles.
They shot toward Mr. 3 like cannon fire.
....
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