"Technology for making artificial Devil Fruits?"
At this moment, Law raised both hands high, having mastered the essence of French etiquette so skillfully that Robin had no idea what he actually meant.
"That's right. Sorry to take a few minutes of your time, but just hear me out. There's no downside to this for you."
Law had many plans, but in the end, they all had one goal: to get rid of Doflamingo.
Given the current situation, the initial plan had already failed, so naturally he would adjust his strategy accordingly.
He never truly intended to clash with the Beasts Pirates. Originally, he planned to placate them through other means afterward, but now, his plan had changed to undermine Doflamingo's very significance.
Artificial Devil Fruits were a monopoly technology in his hands. Now that Caesar had been captured by him and Dressrosa was beyond saving, it was a shame the Beasts Pirates still didn't seem ready to throw Doflamingo away.
But Law didn't want Doflamingo to hold as much weight as before. That stuff was originally made by Caesar, and Law wasn't sure if Doflamingo might have other sources for the formula.
The best way to reduce the value of a formula is to break its monopoly, to make it no longer unique.
Obviously, this kind of thing wasn't worthy of either equal trade or as a threat, so Law chose to give it away for free.
At this point, he didn't have the energy or place to turn Caesar's formula into actual products. He might as well just hand over the formula. What the Beasts Pirates did with it after getting it was their own business.
As he spoke, Law slowly raised one hand, and after activating his ability, pulled out a file from inside his own body. This was where he'd truly kept that file.
By using the power of the Op-Op Fruit to store it within himself, Law ensured that even when Doflamingo had gotten a file from him earlier, it was the fake he had prepared.
But just in case Doflamingo possessed the real deal, he took this extra precaution.
"It's genuine. I'm sure you have ways to verify this."
With his other hand still held in a French military salute, Law used one hand to show Robin the file. He could have just teleported the file directly to Robin using Chambres, but he didn't. [TN: It's a French-themed joke on the Chinese internet about the infamous French military salute. You can search more if you want. 法式军礼]
Bringing her to this place with no-one was to facilitate the conversation. If he kept using his powers, Law worried it might cause unnecessary misunderstandings.
As a row of arms appeared neatly on the ground, the file in Law's hand was passed over to Robin.
Although Robin couldn't understand the details in the file, she still put it away. There would naturally be others to verify the authenticity of the documents.
"What do you want?"
"Shichibukai-level strength doesn't really count for much in your eyes, and Doflamingo is just one of your brokers."
"Doflamingo officially entered the New World only ten years ago. As far as I know, he got his position by getting rid of the former broker. Am I wrong?"
"That's about right. He eliminated or absorbed the other competitors, and that's how he got there."
The underworld is just that ruthless. In this gray zone, there's always the risk of being replaced by an enemy.
"Then there shouldn't be a problem. This is a gift, with no strings attached. But I hope you can pass a message to your Governor-General for me: give me a chance to try.
Besides these artificial fruits, Doflamingo's biggest value is his network. When I have the power to replace him, why not use someone more useful? After all, he was never your vassal from the start.
At the very least, at that time, let us compete one-on-one."
It's not like Law had done nothing over these years. He'd also studied how Doflamingo rose to power. Currying favor with another force was all it took; it wasn't like he couldn't do that himself.
Judging from the current situation, once Doflamingo was taken away, he'd undoubtedly fall under a bigger umbrella, one Law, with his current strength, would have no way to break through.
Law could only keep chipping away at Doflamingo's significance in this way in order to gradually achieve his own goals.
At the very least, Doflamingo had never flown the Beasts Pirates' flag. He wasn't a subordinate crew of the Beasts Pirates, let alone a direct member.
The two sides were just in an allied relationship; Doflamingo brought profits to the Beasts Pirates, but he wasn't a philanthropist. He made a fortune for himself in the process as well.
As for how important Doflamingo was to the Beasts Pirates, in the original timeline, even Kaido never truly cared about him, otherwise, it wouldn't have been Jack sent to the rescue.
Back then, Kaido was busy playing his "island jumping" game on a Sky Island. If he felt Doflamingo was extremely important, he would have taken time to make the trip himself.
Not to mention that in the current situation, the artificial Devil Fruits were somewhat useless, Charlotte Linlin's tea parties provided other opportunities for interaction, and Tesoro's side was practically one of their own.
"Why do you think I'm able to do this?" Robin asked on hearing Law's proposal.
"If you're able to speak with your young miss, and are always by her side, you wouldn't claim you're just a nanny, right?"
"Well, I guess that's not too far off. Anyway, I can't give you an answer, but I can pass on the message for you. As for what Governor-General Kaido will think, I don't know."
The current leader of the Beasts Pirates was still Kaido. Although he spends most of his time either fighting or drinking, he was still the real Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates; at least nominally, nothing has changed.
Yamato hasn't taken over the Beasts Pirates as the second-generation leader yet. Even if she had already taken charge, Robin wouldn't bypass Yamato to make decisions directly.
The purpose of an external brain is to offer advice and convey opinions when needed.
When an external brain has too many of its own ideas, or even makes decisions directly for others, then the existence of this external brain becomes redundant.
Yamato herself probably didn't realize this, but Robin wouldn't cross that line.
"Thanks. Also, please tell Sister Misu that I was wrong, but I don't regret it."
"Misu. Dressrosa… I see. So that time the nun went to see you?" Robin's mind kept track of many things, and between recent events and Law's reaction, it was now clear what Misu's real purpose had been during that visit.
"Looks like you and Doflamingo really do have a deep conflict."
"It's a long story. You probably don't want to hear it now. I've said all I needed to, I'm going to teleport us back."
"Alright."
Robin made a gesture of agreement. She really didn't plan to listen to Law's long story right now. If she was truly curious, she'd rather go back and ask Misu what was going on.
She didn't know what Law meant when he said he was wrong, but from his words, Robin could glean another piece of information: Law and Misu knew each other, and it seemed he was also a survivor of Flevance.
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