Chapter 228: Boarding the Ship
Hearing with his own ears that Eric knew a way to achieve immortality, all the crew members, except for the summoned anime characters, stood frozen in place, stunned.
"Nana Nana Nana..." Perona opened her mouth wide, seemingly wanting to shout something, but was quickly silenced by an ice block created by Esdeath.
"Ugh!"
The small side scene ended.
"I don't understand," Law still had an icy expression, "If you already know other ways to achieve immortality, why would you recruit me to your ship?"
"I told you, I have confidence in you," Eric squinted his eyes, his domineering attitude showing, "When you see something you want, you take it. Isn't that what pirates do?"
"Click." Law twisted the blade of his sword, ready to draw and fight at any moment. His gaze, hidden beneath his hat, flickered as he wondered if he could escape the grasp of the Four Emperors.
"However, I have no intention of forcing you onto my ship," Eric relaxed his expression, opened his slightly squinted eyes, and didn't seem to care about Law's movements, "Your strength is too weak. You can neither defeat Doflamingo's pursuers nor kill the Celestial Dragons' CP0."
"Join my crew, and when your strength is mature, you can leave anytime. What do you think?"
"Heh." Law sneered, "Do you really think I'd be allowed to leave? Besides, you can find my position at any time. What difference does it make whether you let me go or not?"
"Sigh..." Eric was really bothered by Law's attitude.
"Alright then, how about I help you take care of Doflamingo?" Eric offered.
"I can take care of Doflamingo myself," Law said in a low voice, "And it won't take long."
"Even after ten years, you still won't be able to defeat him," Eric knew the details of the Dressrosa incident, "His identity is far more complicated than you think, and he can rely on the World Government's external forces. As for you? Do you have the time to strengthen your own power and expand your influence?"
"Or do you plan to wait until he's nearly dead to take his life?"
Law's gaze tightened. This was the first time he'd heard about Doflamingo having another identity. "Besides being a Warlord and the King of Dressrosa, what other identity does he have?"
Eric looked up at the sky, "Am I the only one spilling all the info? Do you think I'm that stupid?"
"..." Law fell silent. He had even planned how to take revenge on Doflamingo, breaking it down into steps, leaving the details for later.
But now, all those plans had been rendered useless by a fact he didn't know but that clearly existed.
And if he agreed to board "Emperor" Eric 's ship, this Dawn Pirate Crew was clearly stronger and more troublesome than the Donquixote family.
"Forget it, exchanging something like this doesn't really suit me." Eric stared into Law's eyes, "I still want you to join the ship willingly."
"Ugh~ Captain, using the same tactics for picking up girls on a man now?"
"Shut up Porche!!" Eric roared.
Another ice block made by Esdeath was shoved into Porche's mouth.
Law: "…"
"Whoo~ Whoo~" Eric panted a bit after his outburst, "Sorry, my crew is a bit unruly."
"Doflamingo's other identity is that of a Celestial Dragon."
Law was shocked, "What did you say? Doflamingo can't possibly be a Celestial Dragon?!"
"Donquixote is one of the twenty families. Otherwise, how could he overthrow a kingdom and become the King of Dressrosa?"
"…!" Law gritted his teeth, "Why didn't he stay in Mary Geoise?"
"To explain that, we have to go back over twenty years, to when Donquixote..." Eric thought for a moment but still couldn't remember the name of Doflamingo's father, "Doflamingo's father left Mary Geoise with his whole family and started living on the surface."
"Later, their identity was discovered, and the oppressed people of the Celestial Dragons stormed into their house, tying up the family and trying to burn the three of them alive. Oh, and that also included your beloved Corazon."
"Doflamingo then awakened his Conqueror's Haki, narrowly surviving. Afterward, he personally shot and killed his father, taking his head back to Mary Geoise, but was rejected by the other Celestial Dragons."
"To kill his own father with his own hands, what a scumbag." Everyone listening to Eric 's story gritted their teeth in anger at Doflamingo.
"He then went on to personally kill his own younger brother." Eric added, causing Law's blood pressure to spike.
Eric sighed, "Sigh, there are only two Celestial Dragons left with any conscience, but…"
Law continued to question, "The other Celestial Dragons should want him dead, so why did he become the King of Dressrosa?"
"That's because he holds secrets that only Celestial Dragons know, and they have to be wary of him," Eric explained, "He can even use the threat of exposing those secrets to have CP0, the Celestial Dragons' direct agents, clean up his mess."
"…" Law was silent.
Eric dusted off his pants, stood up, and prepared to leave, "That's all I know."
"Where are you going?" Law called after Eric .
"I'm taking my crew to the hot springs. I remember you told Da Vinci that there's a hot spring that would be good for Kurome's body recovery."
"…That was to deceive you." Law pulled his hat lower, "To give us more time to escape, I specifically pointed out a far-off hot spring."
Eric 's gaze turned cold, "…So, do you think the other advice you gave was made up?"
"No, I'm a doctor. I wouldn't harm a patient." Law didn't even seem to notice the cold look in Eric 's eyes, "I'll join you, Captain Eric ."
Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi voiced their agreement, "Captain..."
"Hmm?" Eric glanced at Law, "If this is for repaying the information or to kill Doflamingo, then there's no need for that. I'll deal with Doflamingo sooner or later."
"If Corazon finds out you've sacrificed your life for revenge, he'll be angry. I want to recruit my subordinates with my own charisma."
Law shook his head, "You really care about your crew, even bowing down to others for them and treating them as family. That alone is enough."
Eric asked with concern, "Is this your decision? Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"
Law coldly stared at him, "Do you… or do you not want me on your ship?"
"Of course, I do!" Eric threw his arm around Law's neck, "Let's go, we're heading to the hot springs!"
"I already told you, that was a lie…"
"Still, we're going!" Eric interrupted without hesitation, "You three, hurry up and follow."
"Hi!" The other three members of the Heart Pirates hurried to catch up.
"And Porche, Perona, how long are you two going to keep those ice blocks in your mouths?"
"Ugh!"
"It looks like their mouths are frozen shut with ice blocks…"
(END CHAPTER)
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