No matter the situation, it was always like this.
As if that pair of glasses had grown straight out of Doflamingo's eye sockets.
"To be precise, if the enemy is someone like me, then unless he's killed, there's no way those glasses could be taken off him, right? If you still aren't sure, you can confirm it later through the World Economic Journal."
Ren shrugged.
"And by the way, your father reappeared alive as well.
"The people who were turned into toys in the past by the Toy-Toy Fruit's power were freed after Sugar fainted.
"And thanks to that, the truth behind that great fire in Dressrosa was made public too."
"...Is that so?"
Violet collapsed weakly into her seat, looking half-lost, the faint light flickering in her light brown pupils.
No one could understand how she felt at this moment.
To suffer that kind of catastrophe in the prime of her youth, then in front of the murderer who had destroyed both her nation and her family, choose to betray herself in exchange for her father's life—
To let herself be used by the very culprit.
And after that, to spend nearly ten years living under the command of her enemies, rejected, despised, and constantly watched with suspicion.
That kind of pain was like sinking into an abyss ten thousand meters below the sea, drowning on the ocean floor forever with no chance of escape, no way to avoid it.
Every second, every minute, was pain.
Feeling her heart rot away bit by bit.
Yet she could not resist.
She had no choice but to keep enduring it.
Until today.
A day that, at first glance, looked no different from any other in the past.
An ordinary day, where all she had to do was deal with an enemy and kill that enemy.
But from the very beginning, events had taken an unbelievable turn.
The Devil Child who appeared before her—
A member of the Demon Pirates who had never appeared in the intelligence reports.
Then came the crushing situation of being seen through completely and pinned down from all sides.
At the moment she stood on the edge of falling completely, Violet had still thought she had a chance. She had witnessed Doflamingo's strength too many times.
But the Demon Pirates had only ever been a name to her. She had never truly seen what they could do.
So she chose to lie flat and give up.
Even when Robin brought up clues about her father's whereabouts, even when Robin clearly seemed to know far more than she should—
Violet still didn't dare place her hopes in someone else.
She had been disappointed far too many times.
Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, she could only feel lucky that she had not dared take that step of betrayal.
Otherwise, like wave after wave of challengers before her, she would have fallen into the abyss of death right alongside them—
And her father with her.
Until that burst of lightning erupted.
From that moment on, everything began racing in a direction so unbelievable it felt like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins.
As the user of the Glare-Glare Fruit, as long as she wasn't restrained by Seastone, how could Violet not know what had really happened?
It was only that, even now, she still did not dare believe it.
It all felt like a dream.
As though once she woke up, she would be forced to face that hopeless reality again.
But no matter how hard her fingers dug into her own arm, the pain she felt still could not "wake" her.
Because this was reality.
The overbearing Donquixote Family.
The terrifyingly powerful officers.
The seemingly invincible Doflamingo.
All of the fixed impressions in her mind had been shattered to pieces today.
She had watched one officer after another be crushed, killed, and wiped out by that pink dragon.
And as she watched those lives vanish, she did not feel even the slightest trace of pity.
If she had not been tied up, she would have wanted to set off fireworks on the spot.
But even then, she had still feared Doflamingo's supposed invincibility.
An awakened Devil Fruit user had already gone far beyond the limits of her understanding.
At the time, she had even been terrified of the reckoning that would await her if Doflamingo won.
And yet everything that happened afterward—
It filled her with an almost uncontrollable ecstasy.
She had "watched" Doflamingo fail again and again.
From his arrogant self-assurance, to his fury when King appeared and he wanted to settle everything—
Then to his disbelief at sunset—
Until in the end, all that was left was a pair of red-rimmed glasses.
At that moment, Violet had truly wanted to rush over and stab Doflamingo a few more times herself.
But Robin had not wanted any accidents to happen, so she had still restrained her.
But that was fine.
As long as Doflamingo was dead.
As long as he was dead.
Violet trembled, tears spilling uncontrollably from her eyes.
Ren said nothing and quietly let Violet adjust her emotions.
To a certain extent, because of her beauty, she looked especially pitiful in this moment.
And Violet truly was a beauty.
Something like this:
Her figure was also incredibly hot—so much so that it was hard for any man to ignore a pair of breasts like footballs.
Even Ren was no exception, looking with open appreciation.
But it was not for Violet's beauty that Ren had asked Robin to bring her here.
There was only one reason.
The power of the Glare-Glare Fruit.
If one roughly broke down the abilities of this Paramecia, it could be divided into three directions.
The combat-oriented tears.
Their power was roughly on the level of a pirate worth several tens of millions in bounty.
Not especially strong, but combat power wasn't important for her in the first place.
The intelligence-oriented mind-reading within her field of vision.
She could tell whether someone was lying and read what the target was thinking.
And the reconnaissance-oriented ultra-long-distance visual observation.
Its radius was four thousand kilometers.
That's right.
Four thousand kilometers.
A range so absurd it almost sounded made up.
If Violet stood at the center of the Alabasta continent, she could see what was happening at the ports on its outermost edges.
She could even adjust the scale of what she saw, from the broadest view to the most microscopic details, and track scenes within a designated area.
Although she could not hear sound, she could judge what people were saying by reading their lips.
This was an extremely important support-type ability.
At present, Ren's reconnaissance methods mainly relied on Shikigami—units capable of going through sky and earth alike.
But the Shikigami also had major flaws.
First, ordinary people could see them with the naked eye.
After using them many times before, he could already confirm that the appearance of Shikigami would become a sign that the Demon Pirates were about to appear.
Much like how intelligence reports had begun specifically noting that their appearance was often accompanied by thunderstorm weather.
Second, their low intelligence made communication extremely troublesome.
He often had to explain things repeatedly, correct them again and again, or even split his focus to control them personally before they could carry out a designated action.
Third, they could not move too far away from him.
After all, the activities of the Shikigami consumed energy.
Of course, all of those shortcomings could be solved through the roulette.
There was no trash in prize pools worth hundreds of millions or billions.
But... if there was something ready-made, why spend money?
Wasn't freeloading better?
Ren, who excelled at squeezing every last bit of value out of a single fish, had long since made his preparations.
At this moment, while Violet was still trembling all over and trying to steady herself, Robin suddenly broke the silence.
"Miss Violet, if you keep immersing yourself in the past, it will only hurt more.
"The best way is to shift your attention elsewhere, so you won't have the energy to keep thinking about it.
"And our captain is already here now, so... those matters must be made clear.
"That agreement between you and me—even if it was only my one-sided declaration—I know you won't refuse it.
"Now, it's time to fulfill your promise."
The black-bellied Devil Child calmly laid out reality.
It was a contract Robin had unilaterally imposed.
And now that this nest of villains had been completely destroyed, Robin was beginning to settle accounts and claim the benefit she wanted.
"..."
The dazed Violet came back to herself and once again recognized the situation she was in.
She did not know whether she should laugh bitterly.
But this ending did not seem all that bad.
At least, she did not dislike the benefactor before her—the one who had freed both her and her country.
Rather, if all she had to pay was herself in exchange for her father's life and the rebirth of the entire nation,
then she had nothing to complain about.
After secretly glancing at the man who still looked so calm,
Violet took a deep breath and said firmly,
"I have no objections.
"I will offer up everything I have—my future, my life, even my feelings and everything else—to repay this kindness."
"..."
Ren said nothing. He only turned to look at Robin with a slight frown.
Wasn't this supposed to be a ten-year contract worker?
That was what his gaze said.
Robin revealed a somewhat black-bellied smile. Everything seemed self-explanatory.
Very good.
He could now confirm that this had been Robin's own idea.
When the boss said one, she handed back ten.
It was not merely success—it had to be a great victory.
After all, she had once hovered at the edge of the team. Now that she had received benefits, if she did not work to the fullest, she probably would never feel at ease.
...Ren grasped the truth in an instant.
After thinking it over, he decided not to expose Robin on the spot.
She had already worked very hard.
He stood up and reached out his hand, shaking Violet's with a relatively calm attitude.
"I'm very happy to have a powerful ability user like you join us. Don't worry—I won't let you live a hard life.
"What you need to do is work with Robin on intelligence gathering.
"As for normal combat, the other members will handle that."
With that formal statement, the conversation came to an end.
Ren left the sitting room area and made a call.
Buru~ Buru~
After a brief delay, the other side picked up.
"The measures have already been put in place. Do you need me for anything important?"
Kuma's gentle voice came through the Den Den Mushi.
"If there is, I'll help you resolve it as quickly as possible.
"But in another half month, I have to go to that place and undergo the modification procedure."
"Kuma, you handled the last matter very well. I already got what I wanted.
"Whether it was the Devil Fruit or Caesar, both matched my expectations perfectly."
Ren chuckled softly before continuing,
"So, I've also done something for you."
"...What?"
A surprised voice came through the receiver.
"There's no need for you to keep cooperating anymore, Kuma. Prepare to leave that damned place."
"You're serious?"
This time, Kuma's voice turned low—
Or rather, it sounded as if he was suppressing himself.
"The World Government might deceive you, but I won't."
Ren walked onto the deck and looked at Sugar, who was tied up tightly as he said this.
That's right.
The other key element needed to free Kuma—
Was Sugar.
First, use the Toy-Toy Fruit's ability to erase memories related to Kuma.
Then use that to maximize the power gained in exchange for the Destruction Hourglass.
Completely erase all traces of him from reality and from memory.
After that, the Warlords of the Sea would lose yet another member.
Though in theory, the best possible timing for maximizing its effect would be when making a move on Egghead Island, Ren knew very well that opportunity would only come after the Marineford War.
Compared with the profit and benefits of his own plans,
he would rather see Kuma break free from that terrible situation.
A good person should not meet that kind of ending.