One Piece: The Half-Blood Ninja Who Hides on the Straw Hat Ship

Chapter 589 Terrifying Abilities

"So that night, Doflamingo forcibly seized the throne of this country?" Usopp said.

After he finished speaking, he realized something was wrong, because he remembered what the other person had said about King Riku harming his people.

Could it be that King Riku was threatened by Doflamingo to kill his own people?

"No, that's not it." Cyrus shook his head and said, "That night, Doflamingo didn't directly seize the throne of Dressrosa, but instead made two demands of King Riku."

"The first thing is to make King Riku abdicate and make him, a descendant of the Don Quixote family, the royal family of this country."

"The other one is... before dawn, give Doflamingo 10 billion Berries to buy this country, but don't tell the people about it!"

"Otherwise... let Dressrosa be stained with blood!"

Upon hearing this, Usopp's expression changed once again.

Ten billion?

Is it really that exaggerated?

This is an astronomical figure for a country.

After all, they are not Celestial Dragons.

"That's quite an outrageous number," Nicole Robin said.

As someone who is well-versed in history, I know very well how much money a country can normally afford.

For a country that has always lived in poverty to come up with 10 billion peggis is simply...

"Yes, that's an astronomical figure," Cyrus sighed. "At least for us in Dressrosa."

Dressrosa was so poor that King Riku really couldn't come up with a billion Berries directly.

This is probably why that bastard Doflamingo would directly propose this condition.

Ok?

wrong!

That bastard never intended to keep his promise from the beginning, as evidenced by what he did later.

Thinking of this, Cyrus felt incredibly angry.

That damn Doflamingo!

"So you only have the former option?" Perona said.

If he couldn't come up with enough money, he would have no choice but to abdicate. Otherwise, the country would be slaughtered by the Don Quixote family, which is probably not something a royal family like Riku would want to see.

No, that's not the case.

Cyrus shook his head and said, "King Riku has chosen to gather as many as possible one billion Berries to solve this problem."

"For this reason, he did not hesitate to lose face and send troops to raise funds for Pele."

"Wait a moment."

Perona spoke up, "Didn't Doflamingo say that King Riku wasn't allowed to reveal the truth?"

If the military had mentioned this when they were collecting Berries, Doflamingo would probably have just led his men to wipe out the entire country.

"Yes, Doflamingo indeed forbade King Riku to reveal the truth," Cyrus said. "So when the army was collecting Berries, they didn't tell anyone the truth either, only saying it was the king's order."

"Afterwards, in order to make these words more convincing, King Riku even knelt down and kowtowed to everyone using a video Den Den Mushi in order to borrow enough money from them."

"That's why...everyone chose to believe King Riku and gave all their money to the army that came to collect Berries."

"What an appeal this is," Nico Robin murmured.

Although His Majesty the King personally knelt down to make the request, it still demonstrates just how powerful his influence is.

After all, that's all the money an ordinary person has!

"So you've raised enough money, right?" Mary asked.

Upon hearing this, Cyrus fell silent.

For a moment, he didn't know how to answer the question.

"What's wrong?"

Mei blinked, clearly not understanding what Cyrus's reaction meant.

"Doflamingo didn't give us time to raise the money," Kyros sighed. "This whole thing was a trap set by Doflamingo from the very beginning."

"trap?"

Meili paused for a moment, then asked, "What do you mean?"

"It seems this guy never intended to give King Riku a way out from the start," Nico Robin said.

Upon hearing this, Mary glanced at Nico Robin with a puzzled look. Did the other girl understand?

How come she didn't notice anything?

Nicole Robin didn't explain, but simply glanced at Cyrus, signaling him to continue. Once he finished speaking, Mary would understand.

"Doflamingo's condition was problematic from the very beginning," Cyrus explained. "Because Monet entered the palace beforehand, Doflamingo knew very well what kind of person King Riku was."

"So... Doflamingo seems to have put forward two conditions, but in reality he only gave King Riku one choice."

"And this choice... is a trap set by Doflamingo!"

At this point, Cyrus's expression gradually turned angry, and his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"It's problematic in itself to solicit Berries from the people without letting them know the truth," Cyrus said. "You could say that Doflamingo is exploiting the trust that King Riku has in the hearts of the people."

"After collecting the Berries, he used the power of the String-String Fruit to manipulate King Riku into massacring his people, thus completely erasing any good impression Riku had of him and turning him into a murderous demon!"

"After that... Doflamingo used his abilities to manipulate the Royal Army and, together with King Riku, hunted down the people. As a result, the unsuspecting people harbored deep hatred for the Royal Army and King Riku."

"And that was Doflamingo's original goal."

By using special means, he incited the unsuspecting populace to resent King Riku, so that he, as a descendant of the Don Quixote family, could legitimately inherit the country.

It can be said that the method was quite clever.

Nicole Robin naturally realized this as well, which is why she said that earlier.

Perona recalled the scene where Doflamingo used his ability to immobilize Sanji, and she never expected that Doflamingo's ability could also control others.

Is it similar to a marionette?

What a terrifying guy.

Mary simply said, "How vicious!"

Doflamingo's plan was too vicious.

"It is indeed vicious, but also very effective," Cyrus said.

"And then?" Usopp asked quickly.

"Then, this guy made a powerful entrance, defeating all the royal army with absolute strength and taking down King Riku." Cyrus said through gritted teeth, "In this way, in the eyes of the people, he is a savior who has defeated the demon, and at that time... the people will be able to accept him as the king of Dressrosa."

As he finished speaking, a shadow fell over Cyrus's face.

He wasn't blaming King Riku, after all, the country had been able to live in peace and prosperity for so long because of the benevolence of the successive Kings Riku.

If anyone's to blame, it's that bastard Doflamingo!

"But is this reasonable?" Melly said, "Although he became a hero of this country in this way, becoming the king of a country is not an easy thing."

After all, the throne isn't something that can be inherited just like that.

"Have you forgotten what the clan chief just said?" Sauron asked.

"What did you say?"

Meili paused for a moment, then remembered what Uncle Ganqiao had mentioned about things from eight hundred years ago.

If we had to be precise, Don Quixote was indeed the king of that country.

Thinking of this, Merry said, "So... because Doflamingo is a descendant of the Donquixote Family, he was able to rightfully become the king of this country?"

"That's probably true," Cyrus said.

Although he didn't know why Doflamingo, a Celestial Dragon, would become a pirate and even a Shichibukai.

But since the other party is a Celestial Dragon, then they have special privileges.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the other party could become the king of this country.

The problem lies in whether the other party can get the people to accept him, this parachuted-in royal.

But after what he did before, the people accepted him, which is what makes Doflamingo so clever.

Cyrus then glanced at his daughter, who was still fighting hard in the scene, and sighed silently.

He only hoped that his daughter could live peacefully until they won.

"Overnight, this country fell into Doflamingo's hands..." Usopp said, "It's like a nightmare."

This was truly a nightmare for the Riku clan.

Overnight, they went from royalty to prisoners... Who could accept that?

"What a cunning man," Nicole Robin said.

No wonder that guy was able to fake his resignation from the Seven Warlords of the Sea; he's definitely got some brains.

"That damned Doflamingo!" Franky, his face streaked with tears, exclaimed, "I'll never forgive you!"

That guy is such a jerk!

"Back then, we couldn't see the truth behind King Riku's madness either," Gancho sighed. "So we tried to contact the new King, Doflamingo, but it ended up like this..."

""

"We feel deeply ashamed that we failed to trust King Riku."

"To let a king, revered by millions, die on trumped-up charges..." Mary said, "That's just too cruel!"

King Riku probably couldn't rest in peace even after his death.

"No, King Riku is still alive," Cyrus said.

"?"

Merry was stunned. Wasn't Doflamingo supposed to be ruthlessly exterminating the Riku royal family? How come he's still alive?

Could it be... that the king managed to escape?

"Doflamingo took a liking to Princess Viola's Devil Fruit ability at the time," Kyros explained. "So Doflamingo had Viola join the Donquixote Family."

"She agreed, on the condition that Doflamingo must spare her father."

"So, to this day, this princess is still Doflamingo's subordinate."

"She became a cadre and changed her name to Violet."

At this point, Cyrus's expression became somewhat complicated; his sister-in-law was probably having a hard time too.

After all... she was working for the enemy.

"cadre?"

Usopp said, "So, this princess traded her entire life's freedom for the old king to live?"

""

"Um.

Cyrus nodded and said, "Now... he must be living somewhere in this country."

"However... the suffering he endured over these ten years is absolutely immeasurable."

"Princess Viola must be the same!"

"Fear, anger, tears... I really don't know how they survived these ten years."

Despite it being none of their fault, they were falsely accused, ultimately making the Riku royal family a despised existence throughout the entire country.

Under such circumstances, he really couldn't imagine what those two were feeling as they lived on.

Then, Kyros continued, "And those soldiers who, like King Riku, were manipulated by Doflamingo that night and harmed their people, they must have been in just as much pain because they were powerless to do so."

I wonder if, in the past ten years, anyone has chosen to commit suicide out of excessive self-blame.

If that's the case... then the loss would be enormous.

Therefore, he hoped that the other party could endure the pain and survive, so that they would have the opportunity to witness their defeat of Doflamingo.

"Wait a moment."

Usopp said, "Weren't King Riku's royal army all killed that night?"

"Some were indeed killed, while others chose to join Doflamingo and become his bodyguards," Cyrus said.

"What?!"

Franky immediately bristled, yelling, "These guys actually dared to betray us?!"

Despite being a member of the King's Army, they chose to become the lackey of Doflamingo, the usurper... What is this if not betrayal?

Those bastards!

"I believe they must have made this choice under extremely painful circumstances," Cyrus said. "Given the opportunity, they would have turned against Doflamingo."

Joining Doflamingo's ranks doesn't necessarily mean betrayal.

Maybe they're looking for an opportunity to deliver the final blow to Doflamingo!

After all... only by surviving can one have a chance to kill Doflamingo, right?

"If that's really the case, then it's truly heartbreaking!" Franky covered his face and cried, "It's all a tragedy, you guys are so pitiful."

Looking at Franky rolling around on the ground, Usopp gave him a somewhat helpless look, then thought to himself: It's really hard to imagine how painful it must be for those who endure humiliation and hardship.

Even though their enemies were right in front of them, they had no choice but to become their lackeys and obediently do their bidding.

If one's mind isn't strong enough, they'd probably go crazy.

"No, that's not all."

Cyrus said, "The number of soldiers killed and those who surrendered combined does not even equal the total number of the King's army!"

"What do you mean?"

"It's a toy, isn't it?" Zoro said.

Now that they've figured out what's going on with the toys in this country, he concludes that the soldiers were probably turned into toys by the little girl named Sugar.

This also explains why everyone has forgotten about that part of the royal army.

It has to be said, that ability is truly terrifying.

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