Conversation With A Shichbukai

The next chapter is out. This chapter features quite a bit of revelations along with a bit of LuffyxNami and LuffyxRobin moments from the two women so you should enjoy it. The revelations can be a bit complicated to understand so I've added a lot of notes at the end of the chapter to explain most of them. It is highly recommended that you read the end of chapter notes to understand this chapter better. Enjoy and I hope to see plenty of reviews.

"Wakey, wakey my little intruders," said a sarcastic mocking voice.

Seven figures who by no means were asleep glared at the voice in response. It was obvious that they were not asleep and that the person was just asking them to "wakey, wakey" to mock them. The seven figures were none other than the captured members of the Straw Hats along with the two members of Kaien Kingdom. All seven of them wanted to do something however they were all in sea stone chains so they were helpless at the moment.

"Bastard," cursed out Sanji to the mocking figure infront of him.

"Oh is that anyway to speak to the person who has captured you all?" replied Doflamingo.

The figure revealed to have been Doflamingo continued to give them that big annoying psychotic grin of his. All seven of them during their brief time in the base began to absolutely loathe that grin. For it was the grin that belonged to not only the man who enslaved the island of one of their friends, but also the one who captured them all.

Nami glared at the man but decided to try her luck.

"Let us out of here now," demanded the orange haired navigator.

Doflamingo didn't answer for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter.

"Hahahahaha, your one interesting girl. Demanding that I do something like that considering the situation you're all in. And doing it in such a bold way. What an interesting woman," remarked Doflamingo.

"You better pray that I don't get out of here because I'll beat that annoying smirk off your face," shouted an angry Franky.

"Ohhhh I'm so scared. But if you get out of here I'll just put you back in. You couldn't do anything to me before and you certainly can't do anything to me now," replied Doflamingo.

Franky gritted his teeth in anger knowing that he was right. Like it or not, the man was a powerful member of the Shichbukai who overpowered him, Robin and Chopper with ease despite all of them being strong. Even worse he defeated Sanji who was a monster and from the looks of him, he defeated Sanji without sustaining any injuries. The man was a monster. But that didn't mean that he would just sit by and let the bastard mock him and his crew.

"Bastard just wait till I get out and then you wouldn't be smiling anymore," shouted Franky angrily.

Maxie and Robin had neutral looks on their faces while Sanji and Nami both had angry looks. Chopper however had a worried look due to the situation that they were in. Pellinopee however was glaring angrily at the man in charge of the revolutionary base that was currently on her island, the one used to keep it under Blackbeard's control and the one who turned her island into a slave base. Doflamingo saw her angry gaze and turned to her.

"What? You look like you have something to say" said Doflamingo.

"You, you're a monster," shouted Pellinopee.

Doflamingo just looked at her with his ever present grin.

"You're the one responsible for all this. You're the one who made my kingdom into a slave camp," said Pellinopee angrily.

"Well, you're partially correct. This kingdom does belong to Blackbeard so you could say that is was really him. I'm only just in charge of it," replied Doflamingo.

"It doesn't matter. You're the one that made everyone here into slaves. You're the one that ruined their lives," said Pellinopee.

"What are you getting so upset about? It's not like any of the slaves are citizens from you're kingdom…" replied Doflamingo before being cut off by Pellinopee.

"They're still slaves. And you're using my kingdom to keep them like that," said Pellinopee.

"My kingdom, you're using my kingdom to engage in something as vile as slavery. How on earth do you expect me to accept that?" said Pellinopee.

"All the slaves are pirates. The same blood thirsty pirates who like to wreck lives without a second thought. What's so wrong about making them slaves?" asked Doflamingo.

"They're human beings. And no one deserves to be treated like that. To be a slave to another," replied Pellinopee.

"Oh please you're just a foolish little girl," replied Doflamingo.

"You wouldn't get away with this you," said Pellinopee.

"Hahahaha, you really are a foolish girl. And just how do you expect to stop me?" asked Doflamingo.

"I'll stop you somehow. Just you wait," said Pellinopee defiantly.

"Oh, how poetic. The brave young princess trying so desperately to save her home. It almost brings tears to my eyes," said Doflamingo sarcastically.

"Like you have any tears at all bastard," replied Pellinopee angrily.

"Hahahaha how right you are. And that's some language you have there for a princess," said Doflamingo.

"But it's actually amusing. A weak little princess trying so desperately to save her homeland. It's so laughable," mocked Doflamingo.

All the Straw Hats had darkened looks on their faces as they listened to Doflamingo mock their friend. It was bad enough that he took over their friend's homeland but to mock and taunt her when she was trying so hard to save it was absolutely unforgivable. Yet despite all the rage they had, it paled compared to what Pellinopee felt at the moment.

Pellinopee faces had multiple expressions on it. She looked like she wanted to cry and break down at Doflamingo's taunting words at her weakness. At the same time she also had a silently angry look whereby she was enraged yet could do nothing about it. There was also despair, despair that her homeland would never be free of its dark rule.

Doflamingo seeing the look on her face smiled sadistically and decided to taunt and mock her even further for his own amusement.

"How does it feel little princess, how does it feel?" asked Doflamingo.

Pellinopee focused her attention back to Doflamingo upon hearing his question.

"How does it feel knowing that no matter what you do, your kingdom would forever be under our control?" Doflamingo questioned.

Pellinopee's response to the question was to look down at the floor.

"How does it feel knowing that your kingdom would be the setting where many would become slaves under us?" asked Doflamingo

Pellinopee began gritting her teeth and tears began forming in her eyes.

"How does it feel knowing that you can do absolutely nothing about it?" asked Doflamingo.

At this point Pellinopee was now openly crying at Doflamingo questions which struck her soul. She knew the answers to those questions and the answers made her heart ache in pain, made her eyes tear and her soul cry. Her grieving was however interrupted by a loud banging. She and Doflamingo both turned her attention to the source of the banging to see Sanji kicking the cell. However it was no use as the particular prison cell that they were in was made of seastone.

"You bastard. You made Pellinopee-chan cry. I swear that when I get out of here I'm going to kick the shit out of you for making a lady cry," said Sanji angrily.

"And how are you going to do that? Last I checked you tried that already and look at where you are now," rebutted Doflamingo.

Sanji gritted his teeth in frustration knowing that he was right. He wanted to beat him up the first time he met him because he was the one in charge of this camp, however he was quickly subdued. But that didn't change the fact that he wanted to kick him for making tears form in Pellinopee's eyes. Weather he was defeated or not, whether the man infront of him was a Shichbukai, weather he was insanely strong, all that didn't matter. For him, anyone who causes tears to form in the eyes of a lady would not get away from his wrath. However right now, he couldn't break out of the cage that they were all trapped in.

"Dammit this cage is really tough," remarked Sanji.

"It's probably made of sea stone. Meant for stronger prisoners or those with devil fruit abilities," noted Robin.

"Good deduction Nico Robin, as expected of you," said Doflamingo.

Robin then looked at Doflamingo with a calculating gaze.

"You sound as if you know me," said Robin.

"Of course I know you. The entire world knows you after the Ohara incident," said Doflamingo.

Robin's eyes darkened at the mention of her destroyed homeland. The mere mention of it always brought back terrible memories. However Doflamingo's next words brought her out of her reminiscing.

"However you are well known in the revolutionary army," said Doflamingo.

"The revolutionary army," said Robin.

"Of course, Robin was a part of the revolutionary army for two years. So of course they would know her," said Chopper.

"Well that's true, but that's not what I meant," said Doflamingo.

"So what do you mean?" asked Franky.

"Well you see the revolutionary army originally wanted to recruit Nico Robin here," said Doflamingo.

"What!" said Ussop in shock.

"No way," said Sanji in equal shock.

"The revolutionary army wanted to recruit Robin, but why?" asked Nami in shock.

"Well the revolutionary army is always looking for new recruits and Nico Robin here was actually the perfect candidate for the army," said Doflamingo.

"In fact had she been successfully recruited when she was much younger, she would have been much stronger," said Doflamingo.

"I would even go as far as to say she would have been a revolutionary commander by now," said Doflamingo.

All the Straw Hats along with Pellinopee and Maxie had surprised looks on their faces.

"Oh come on. Don't give me that look, it's not so hard when you think about it. Had she joined the army at a young age, she would have spent a long time on the front lines. Her power would have grown and she probably would have certainly made commander, both due to her strength as well as loyalty to the army and to Dragon-sama," said Doflamingo.

Each of the Straw Hats had to admit to themselves that what Doflamingo said did make some sense. Robin was certainly a strong fighter due to her devil fruit abilities. Had she joined the army, she would have gotten much stronger and become a commander as Doflamingo had said.

"Tell me Doflamingo, that can't be the only reason that Dragon wanted to recruit me," asked Robin.

"Oh but what do you mean?" asked Doflamingo.

"What I mean is that just because Dragon wanted new recruits couldn't have been the only reason for wanting me to join the army? So tell me what was Dragon's real reason," asked Robin.

Doflamingo looked at her for a few seconds before deciding to answer.

"Well you're certinaly right Nico Robin. It's due to your Devil Fruit powers," said Doflamingo.

"My devil fruit powers, what does Dragon want them for?" asked Robin.

"Do you really have to ask? You have a very formidable devil fruit. The ability to create any body part anywhere. That is certainly a strong and handy ability. After all you could quickly disable a large force with that ability as well as provide excellent means of spying," explained Doflamingo.

Robin and all the Straw Hats understood what Doflamingo was talking about. Robin has used her devil fruit powers to easily break the spines of multiple enemies at once. Also she could create eyes and ears in less conspicuous locations where she could spy on people. She never really thought about it until Doflamingo brought it to her attention, but her devil fruit was an extremely useful one. Robin though didn't show it felt a lot of pride due to her abilities.

"In fact your unique devil fruit could actually overcome other devil fruit users except for logias. Using your powers you could easily restrain a paramecia or zoan fruit user. The same could be said for none devil fruit users. Of course if the person has sufficient strength, they could easily break out of your hold," explained Doflamingo.

All of them once again knew what he was talking about. It did make sense when they thought about it. It could restrain anyone, ability user or not provided the person didn't have enough strength to break out. For a brief second, Robin remembered a brief battle that she and Chopper fought on Thriller Bark against a zombie containing Zoro's shadow. It did show that sufficient strength and raw power could overpower her own abilities.

"Had you joined the army, the battles you would experience would have made you much stronger and that power of yours would have been much greater. You would have been much stronger and capable of using that unique ability of yours to hold down even physically strong enemies. You would have even been able to use haki to not only increase the power of your devil fruit, but to restrain logia users as well," explained Doflamingo.

"Of course even if you couldn't get stronger, your other skills would have still made you an valuable asset to the revolutionary army," said Doflamingo.

"I guessing you mean the skills that I have gained while on the run from the world government. The skills of being able to escape any situation and maneuver through any obstacle to achieve a goal. I'm guessing you referring to those skills, am I right Doflamingo?" said Robin.

"That's right. Those skills would have made you an extremely valuable asset to the army. I'm sure you could understand why," said Doflamingo.

Robin and the rest of the group didn't answer but they knew that those abilities would be extremely useful to absolutely any group or organization. And for the revolutionary army which was a worldwide organization, information was critical. And Robin was an expert at collecting information.

"Of course you wouldn't have made commander in that case since your strength would have been in espionage, not battle," said Doflamingo.

"You know it's interesting actually. Had we recruited you when you at a young age, you would have been a much stronger fighter. But since we didn't you instead gained incredible information gathering abilities," said Doflamingo.

"However both are extremely coveted abilities, so regardless of whichever you had, or whatever the time of your recruitment, you would have still been a valuable individual to the army," said Doflamingo.

"But despite all the skills and abilities you have that is not the main reason why Dragon-sama wanted you," said Doflamingo.

"Then why did Dragon want me?" asked Robin.

"It was because of your past," said Doflamingo.

"My past," repeated Robin with a bead of sweat coming down her side.

"You mean Dragon wanted my ability to read the poneglyphs," asked Robin.

"Oh no that's not it. While the prospect of having the ancient weapons is great and all it is not the reason Dragon-sama wanted you," said Doflamingo.

"Then what is it that Dragon wanted from me?" asked Robin again.

"Like I said before it's your past. You see your homeland was completely destroyed by the world government when they unleashed the Buster Call upon it. So it's natural that you would hold great hatred for the world government. And since the revolutionary army's goal was to overthrow the world government, then it would make sense that you would join us," said Doflamingo.

"So the revolutionary army wanted Robin to join because of her hatred for the world government," stated Zoro.

"You bastards were going to use Robin-chan's past for your own cause," said Sanji angrily.

"Use her, oh no, that's not it. You see because she hated the world government, she naturally help us of her own free will," said Doflamingo.

"The revolutionary army would have welcomed anyone who has had a past like hers with open arms. Regardless of any skills or powers she possessed, she would have certainly been devoted to us. And for the army that is the most important thing, loyalty. You see even if you possessed all the power and skills in the world, it would have been pointless if you abandoned or betrayed the army. However because of Robin's past she would have been absolutely loyal to us," explained Doflamingo.

Robin and the crew were silent as they tried to take all what Doflamingo said in. However it did not really bother them. What Doflamingo said did make sense and his explanations as to why the army wanted Robin made complete sense so it did not bother them at all. And besides the fact that the army wanted to recruit Robin, the Shichbukai didn't say anything that they already didn't know. What Doflamingo said, they already knew, it was simply that they never really thought about it until now.

"So since you knew that Dragon wanted me to join the revolutionary army, then that must mean that you're a revolutionary also," concluded Robin.

"That's right, specifically I'm a revolutionary commander," said Doflamingo.

"That Shichbukai is a revolutionary commander. That explains why he is in charge of all these revolutionaries," said Franky.

"He's just like that other Shichbukai Bartholomew Kuma," said Chopper.

Each of the Straw Hats thoughts went back to the conversation they had with Franky during their descent to Fishman Island.

Flashback

Kuma appeared infront of Rayliegh during his sword duel with Admiral Kizaru.

"I work for the revolutionary army," whispered Kuma to the former first mate of the Roger Pirates.

Rayliegh narrowed his eyes his attention being diverted from Kizaru to Kuma.

"Since I have a connection to them, I want to let them get away from here," revealed Kuma.

End Flashback

"Oh well me and Kuma are different. While it's true that both of us are revolutionary commanders who joined the ranks of the Shichbukai, we are still very much different," said Doflamingo.

"Tell me then revolutionary Doflamingo, why did the revolutionary army take over this island?" asked Pellinopee.

"Well we just needed to build a base on this island, that's all," was Doflamingo's island.

"That's it, a base, that's it. That's why you took over my island. That's why you enslaved all those pirates," shouted Pellinopee.

"What, they're just pirates. Besides it's not like we took any of the citizens of Kaien and made them slaves," replied Doflamingo.

"That still doesn't excuse what you people did," shouted Pellinopee back.

"We do need some labor to construct the base. And pirates make the best form of labor. After all it's easy to collect them, they're cheap, they always available and best of people, people don't like them," said Doflamingo.

The Straw Hats all had hardened gazed at the Shichbukai now revealed as revolutionary commander. What he just said was an excuse to justify slavery. It doesn't matter in what shape or form, slavery was something they would never ever accept.

"Since the revolutionary army are the new rulers of the world, then naturally we have to keep the people safe by removing pirates. We are removing them and putting them to better use," said Doflamingo.

The Straw Hats didn't think it was possible for them to hate this man anymore than they already do, however they found they did. They hated people who did things for the "greater good." It was always terrible and only benefitted themselves. They hated people like that. The fact that the man was using slavery as an excuse for the greater good angered them greatly and their hatred for the grinning Shichbukai revolutionary increased.

"You guys are no better than the Tenryuubito," snarled Nami.

"Oh please, don't lump us in the same catergory as them. They do it just for fun, we do it with purpose," countered Doflamingo.

Nami wanted to argue but knew it was pointless. Arguing with a man like him was pointless, they would never listen to anything other than the greater good. So she kept her mouth shut.

"I have one more question," said Robin.

Doflamingo then turned his attention to Robin.

"What is it?" asked Doflamingo.

"What is the connection between the revolutionary army and Blackbeard of the four emperors?" asked Robin.

The Straw Hats had their undivided attention to Doflamingo while he himself was no longer smiling as if in thought.

After a few moments of contemplating, Doflamingo finally answered.

"Alright, I'll tell you since it wouldn't make a difference," Doflamingo finally answered.

All the Straw Hats were focused on what Doflamingo had to say as this was undoubtedly important information. Pellinopee and Maxie were also equally as focused on the Shichbukai revolutionary.

"The fact is that the Blackbeard is actually in an alliance with the revolutionary army," said Doflamingo dropping the bombshell.

Of course that was only the half truth. The actual truth was that Blackbeard was a revolutionary himself. One of the elite revolutionaries, one of the Knights of D. Of course Doflamingo wouldn't reveal that to the Straw Hats as that would be too much. Besides there was no need to reveal too much, saying that Blackbeard and Dragon were allied was enough to satisfy all the Straw Hats curiosity about all the events that have happened so far. No need to give them the whole truth, especially to someone like Robin who could turn any bit of information against them.

"T – tha – that's," stuttered Franky.

"Any alliance between those two," gasped Nami.

"Blackbeard and Dragon, working together," said Chopper flabbergasted.

Sanji, Pellinopee and Maxie also had deeply concerned expressions at this big news. Even Robin, who is known to hide her emotions very well could not do anything but gasp in absolute shock and horror at what Doflamingo just said. And no one could blame her or anyone reacting the way they did. The two most powerful men in the world, in an alliance. Blackbeard, one of the four great emperors of the sea, and Dragon the powerful leader of the revolutionary army. For the two of them to form an alliance, that could very well spell the end of the world.

"So that's it, that's why revolutionaries are occupying one of Blackbeard's islands," said Robin grimly.

"Right you are Nico Robin," said Doflamingo.

"So what do each of them gain from this alliance?" asked Robin trying to gain some insight as to the purpose of this unholy alliance.

"It's simple. Blackbeard allows the revolutionary army to construct bases on his territories as well as allow them unrestricted access into his territories along with an unlimited supply of pirate slaves for the army to use. In exchange Dragon will help Blackbeard become the king of the pirates," said Doflamingo.

Robin was silent thinking about what she just heard.

"I see, so that explains it," said Robin.

"You know during my time with the revolutionary army I noticed something was off about Dragon. Like he didn't seem like the ideal crusader, like there were fleeting moments when he seemed darker, almost evil. However I did make anything out of them. But for all purposes, I absolutely never saw this coming," said Robin.

Then Robin's gaze hardened.

"It seems that Dragon has really been keeping a lot of secrets from me," said Robin with her gaze hardened.

"You seriously didn't expect Dragon-sama to just go revealing all his secrets do you. Especially to someone who was not even part of the army, never mind the fact that you are the nakama of his son," said Doflamingo.

"So why did Dragon ask me to join then when he did? I understand why he would have wanted to have me before I joined Luffy's crew. But why after I became one of the Straw Hats. Surely he must have known that I would never leave Luffy and my nakama," asked Robin.

"Well that was because Dragon-sama originally wanted Luffy himself to join. However he was too committed to his nakama. So he instead wanted to go with the next best thing, an alliance," said Doflamingo.

"An alliance," said Robin curiously.

"That's right. If he couldn't get Luffy to join, then an alliance was the next best thing. Dragon-sama knew that Luffy was destined for greatness so it would be in his best interest to have an alliance with him. And as to how he would get the alliance with his son, that's where you came in Nico Robin," explained Dragon.

Robin was silent as she listened to what Doflamingo was saying. The rest of the group also paid attention to all this.

"You see it was Dragon-sama's hope that when you temporarily joined, that he would gain your trust. When you eventually returned to your crew, you would spread a good word about him to Luffy. In fact he was hoping that you would even convince him to have an alliance when the time was right. The whole you being the light of the revolution thing was simply to appeal to you to join," explained Doflamingo.

Robin remembered her being called the Light of the Revolution. She however couldn't believe that the title was simply a stepping stone for Dragon to get to her captain.

"Of course, Dragon-sama never anticipated Luffy joining on his own. Now instead of simply an alliance, Luffy actually became an elite revolutionary. So having you join was a waste of time," said Doflamingo.

Sanji silently listened to everything Doflamingo was saying and with each word his anger grew. He believed women should be treated like queens, not used and manipulated like pawns like what the army had done to Robin. It filled with anger to hear that the army was going to use Robin for their own purposes, first as a soldier and then to get to Luffy. He restrained himself from lashing out because he knew that it was pointless because of the sea stone cell and chains surrounding him.

"Bastards, that's what all of you are bastards," said Sanji with quiet anger as his eyes were shadowed.

Doflamingo turned his attention from Robin to Sanji.

"How dare you attempt to use Robin-chan like that. You guys are no different from the world government," shouted Sanji unleashing his fury.

"That's right, you guys are just manipulative assholes who don't care who they hurt as long as they get what they want," shouted Chopper also in fury at hearing how they wanted to use Robin.

"You claim to be liberators, but your just conquerors," said Nami.

"Yeah," agreed Franky.

Robin could not believe that she was manipulated so easily. Usually she was the one doing the manipulating, however because Dragon was Luffy's father, she thought that he could be trusted. How wrong she was. Robin then paused for a few moments to think about her time in the army. Specifically the time with Dragon. For all intent he always seemed to have good intentions. And even though she was not an expert in reading people the way Luffy could, she still has some skills in it due to her years on the run from the world government. So even she could tell that Dragon was not the pure hearted individual like his son.

Thinking about Luffy made her heart ache. She absolutely missed the handsome young man who freed her from her past. She missed him so badly that she wanted to cry at times. Even though all her nakama were precious to her, Luffy was different. He was her most precious person and he gave her happiness. It was hard to believe that such an angel like Luffy was related to a devil like Dragon. She also could not believe that he would join such a person. Immediately thinking about that there was one more question she had to ask.

"Does Luffy know about all this?" asked Robin.

Nami, Sanji, Franky and Chopper heard the question and once again had their undivided attention at the Shichbukai. This was what it came to, perhaps the reason they agreed to this in the first place, to get information on their captain. And that question that Robin asked, had all the answers they wanted. They wanted, no they needed to hear the answer. All of them wanted to know the answer though Nami more so than Sanji, Franky and Chopper. She like Robin wanted Luffy back the most. She wanted her savior, hero and friend back so that she could apologize and express how sorry she was for snapping at him like that. But before something like that she needed to hear the answer to Robin's question. The question itself was did Luffy know about all that was going on. All of them wanted to know.

Even though all of them wanted to know, they all already knew. The answer to it was no. Luffy would never approve of taking slaves even pirate ones. He would never team up with someone who was connected to the man who started the War of the Best two years ago when he defeated and captured Luffy's brother, Fire Fist Ace. There was no way that Luffy would join. Which meant that Dragon tricked him into doing all this.

Meanwhile Doflamingo decided to answer the question carefully because he knew that Luffy was the single most valuable person in the entire army so he need to handle the answer carefully.

"Who knows," was Doflamingo's answer.

"Don't lie to us. We know Dragon tricked him. He would never approve of slavery. And he'd never join a group allied to Blackbeard," said Nami angrily.

"That's right. We don't know what lies you told him but we'll get him back," said Chopper.

"This is all the proof that we need to get him back," said Franky.

Doflamingo was silent. Then he started laughing softly. All of a sudden his laughter turned into full blown hysterics. It was as if what Nami, Chopper and Franky said was the funniest thing he ever heard.

"What's so damn funny?" asked Franky.

"Hahahahaha, I'm sorry. It's just that what you said was so funny. Get him back. Hahahaha," laughed Doflamingo.

"And what's so funny about that?" asked Robin who inside was angry at Doflamingo mocking her nakama about getting their captain back.

"You assume that he wants to come back," said Doflamingo with an evil grin,

"W – w – what do you mean," stuttered Nami.

She was so focused on getting him back, that the thought of him not wanting to return never crossed her mind, not since they found out about him being in the army in the first place.

"You assume that he wants to come back. But why should he. With the army, he became stronger than ever before. With the army he was able to avenge his brother's death. With the army he can become something more than just something petty as the Pirate King," said Doflamingo.

Nami's face was fill of anger. If there was one thing she didn't like, it was mocking someone's dreams. And that especially applied to her nakama. Even more so, in the case of her beloved captain. She was not the only angry, Robin was also angry for the same reasons as Nami. She didn't like anyone mocking the dreams of her nakama, but Luffy was a special person to her as well. Sanji, Franky and Chopper also were angry at the insulting of their captain's dream. Maxie and Pellinopee didn't really know what was going on but even they never approved of something like mocking someone's dream.

"Pirate King. Please that is just some title the world gave to a highly successful pirate. Even though he is the king of the pirates, a pirate is still a pirate. Luffy being part of the army could become something more than that. Something where his name will live on forever, something where he could right the wrongs of the world, something where he could make the world a better place. He can become an emperor," said Doflamingo.

"Emperor, what do you mean? Obviously becoming Pirate King, is better than being an Emperor?" asked Franky.

"I wasn't referring to Emperor of the sea. I was referring to something else entirely. However for Luffy it would also mean putting his past behind him," said Doflamingo.

"His past," said Nami curiously.

"That's right. Luffy has a dark past. A past that none of you are aware of and that haunts him to this very day. By joining us he can finally conquer it," said Doflamingo.

"Whatever happened to him in his past doesn't matter, we can help him face it. He's our nakama. You just tricked him into joining for your own purposes," said Nami defiantly.

"You see you just said it. It doesn't matter. It shows that you don't care about your captain's past so you don't care about him," said Doflamingo grinning.

"We care about him. He helped us face each of our pasts. And we would help him overcome his," shouted Chopper.

Sanji and Franky didn't say anything however they didn't need to. It was obvious they agreed and angry at the Shichbukai not only mocking their captain, but insulting their bonds with him.

"We've all had difficult pasts. But if there is one thing he showed us, is that nakama can overcome anything. No matter how horrible your past is, your nakama will always overcome it," said Robin wisely.

She could personally attest to that face. She had the entire world wanting her dead. However the crew, a small handful of people were willing to fight the world for her. She owed them everything. She owed him everything.

"Keep telling yourself that. But compared to the might of the revolutionary army, your just a couple of insects waiting to be squashed. Your power is nothing compared to theirs," said Doflamingo.

The Straw Hats were silent. However they were by no means intimidated by Doflamingo's description of the revolutionary army. They have been overcoming the odds ever since they joined Luffy and they would certainly overcome the army to save him.

"And before you go thinking that you have overcome many strong forces in the past, here is something to think about. Back then you had your captain's power on your side. Now you no longer have his power," said Doflamingo.

Doflamingo's statement did have an effect on the Straw Hats. He was right. When they fought against the entire Baroque Works lead by a Shichbukai, they had Luffy on their side. When Skypia was about to be destroyed by the insane god Enel, Luffy was there. When they faced off against Ennies Lobby, against CP9 and the Buster Call, they had Luffy. When they were about to be condemned to spending the rest of their lives in the shadows on Thriller Bark, Luffy was present. All those times when the odds seemed impossible, seemed hopeless, when death seemed imminent, they were able to keep on going because of their captain's strength. It was that unshakable determination that kept them going during all the times of crises. Now he wasn't here anymore to give them guidance.

Seeing the doubt begin to show itself on the faces of the Straw Hats, Doflamingo felt he was winning and decided to press the issue further.

"And that same power is now serving us. How could you guys hope to defeat someone whom has overcome so much in the past?" asked Doflamingo sadistically.

This made the Straw Hats think even more. Without his strength they may not have what it took to handle the might of the revolutionary army. In fact now they may actually have to face Luffy. The same Luffy who they consider nigh invincible, how could they hope to defeat someone like him? But then they remembered, he wasn't with them because of the army. They took him away from them. They took their nakama away from them. And no matter what, no matter how strong the enemy was or how weak they were, they would never abandon their nakama. They would not abandon Luffy. They may have been weakened from Luffy's defection while the army may have increased in strength but they would not leave him. They would get him back.

"Doflamingo, you can say whatever you want. But you don't know us," said Nami.

Doflamingo lost his smile when he heard Nami.

"No matter what, we wouldn't let you guys have Luffy. We will save him both from Dragon and from himself," said Nami with her eyes shadowed by her hair.

She then showed her face, her eyes not full of despair but of determination.

"We will save Luffy," said Nami determinedly.

The rest of the Straw Hats all had determined faces like Nami showing that they have not lost hope, that they would not leave Luffy behind.

"We don't expect you people to understand. All you understand is using others for your own purposes, for the greater good. You know nothing, of all the hardships we have overcome, all that we've been through. And you don't know anything about the bonds we share, about the bonds we have with Luffy," said Robin.

She looked at Doflamingo dead in the eye and with determination she said.

"Know this. Luffy is our nakama, and we will help him," said Robin.

Doflamingo was no longer smiling. In fact he now had an angry expression. This was unusual for him since he was pretty much always smiling. However seeing the strength of the Straw Hats angers him. He had never come across such strength in a crew. For the first time, he didn't feel amusement, he felt anger.

Gritting his teeth in frustration he saw that he had lost this battle.

"If you'll excuse me, there are a couple of rats that I need to trap," said Doflamingo referring to Zoro, Ussop and Brooke the three Straw Hats that had yet to be captured.

Doflamingo then walked away determined to capture the three remaining Straw Hats and show them that their so called bonds were weak compared to the might of the army.

Ah the bonds of the Straw Hats are really shown. Despite all of Doflamingo's taunting. Despite Doflamingo bringing up the issue that they might have to face Luffy, whom they consider unbeatable. The bonds of the Straw Hats are truly strong.

Previously the pace was fairly slow but now after this chapter, the pace is going to pick up now so it should be more fun from now on.

A review mentioned when Luffy will turn back good. Well for now he's not going to appear for a while. If he does appear, it wouldn't be a major role. There will be numerous references to him. He will then appear a few times during which he will have confrontations with his former nakama. This will lead to his final battle with them. After he is defeated by them in this final battle, he will realize Dragon's true nature and turn against him. He may not necessarily rejoin the crew, but he will turn against Dragon.

Another person mentioned that the revolutionary army couldn't wait another four years because the Straw Hats would be too strong. They argued that the Knights would train for four years. Well my counter arguments is that first the world government is not at full strength after the War of the Best. They lost Aokiji and Garp. In four years time they would be back to full strength. In fact they might be stronger. For all we know they may have ten admirals and a hundred vice admirals, that's an exaggeration but you get my point. Furthermore they will have a much bigger army of Pacifistas which although the Knights can handle, the army masses will have a very hard time with.

Secondly the invasion must happen at Reverie for the army to showcase their power. Also it must happen at Reverie and no other time because in the story, it's the only time Shirahoshi and Vivi would actually reunite with Luffy and see his dark changes. So it must be at Reverie from a story stand point.

Finally the Knights are already at their prime. All the Knights are at their strongest so even if they train for four years, it wouldn't really make them stronger, it will only prevent them from becoming weaker. The only two exceptions are Luffy and Ren since both are very young, Luffy being a teenager and Ren being only a few years older. Although Ren has unlocked most of his power and potential and is the strongest of the Knights, he is still young and can become stronger. Likewise the Straw Hats, particularly Zoro and Sanji are very young and can become much stronger. Right now, the Straw Hats have to work together to take on a single Knight. But in four years, Zoro and Sanji might be strong enough to take on a Knight single handedly.

The revolutionary army wanted to recruit Robin. It makes sense when you think about it. Robin lost her homeland to the world government so it's natural that she would harbor great hate for them. As a result, the revolutionary army would be the perfect place for her since they want to overthrow the world government. Furthermore because of her past, she would be extremely loyal to the revolutionary army and extremely committed to the overthrow of the world government. In fact she would be more loyal than most of the revolutionaries including the commanders due to her hate of the world government.

Robin joining the revolutionary earlier. Had she joined the revolutionary army at an earlier age, she would have spent more time on the front lines. Right now she spent most of her life running from the world government and gaining information to escape them. As a result she never really learned how to fight since she was too busy running. However if she had joined the revolutionary army as a child or teenager, rather than run from the world government, she would have fought instead. She would have spent much more time fighting them and become much stronger and gained more battle experience. She probably would have even become a commander and even learned how to use haki making her a really formidable fighter.

Robin's devil fruit is one of the reasons why she was wanted. Her devil fruit is one of the most useful ones. She can easily cripple a large force or spy anywhere. Furthermore her devil fruit is capable of restraining other devil fruit users. Using her ability she can easily restrain a zoan and perhaps a paramecia. She cannot handle a logia however. But if she joined the army earlier, she would have learnt how to use haki and hence she could handle even a logia. Of course a person can break out if they are sufficiently strong enough but if she joined earlier then she would have become strong enough to handle stronger enemies and logias.

Robin's information gathering abilities are very valuable. That was another reason they wanted her to join. Because she could gather information easily and escape from tight situations. Since the revolutionary army is a world wide organization, information is vital. And Robin is a master at gaining information. She could use her abilities that she gained on the run from the world government against them. Instead of gaining information and using it to escape, she would use it to benefit the revolutionary army. Of course she wouldn't have been a commander since a commander must be very strong but she would still be an important member.

There was a tradeoff between Robin's power and information gathering abilities. Had she joined the army much earlier, she would have learnt to fight and become stronger. But then she would never have gained the intelligence or cunningness that she gained while on the run from the world government. Likewise while on the run, she gained the ability to gain information, escape any situation etc. However because she was running instead of fighting, she did not gain much fighting abilities. The latter is what actually happened. Either way, Robin would have still been a valuable member of the revolutionary army with useful abilities. Most importantly her loyalty to the army because of her terrible past would have really made her valuable to the army.

It must be emphasized that the main reason the army wanted Robin is not her devil fruit abilities, or her information gathering skills or even her ability to read the poneglyphs (Dragon being a true D can already read them). The main reason they wanted her was because of her past. Her past would have meant that she would have really hated the world government. That in turn meant that she would have been extremely loyal to the revolutionary army since they want to overthrow the organization that made her suffer so much in her life.

However regardless of what skills and abilities Robin has, it no longer matters because the most important thing was loyalty. And since Robin joined the Straw Hats, her loyalty is solely with them. It doesn't matter what the revolutionary army does, Robin will always be loyal to the Straw Hats. Hence they don't really want her anymore.

What do the revolutionary army need slaves for. They need slaves mostly for labor and hard work. It would be expensive to have to pay people to work on the construction of the revolutionary bases, the building of ships, the manufacture of weapons etc. However by capturing pirates and making them slaves, they can get all that done at low cost. Futhermore there are always going to be pirates available so whenever, they need more slaves they can simply just grab a few pirates.

How does the world react. Remember pirates are the bad guys. People don't like pirates. They hate them. They would have no problem with pirates being enslaved since they are the scum of the world. In fact they would be happy if they are doing hard labor and doing beneficial things like building bases, ships, weapons etc. So the revolutionary army by capturing pirates and making them slaves are actually purging the world of its filth. They are removing the pirates hence keeping the civilians safe. So the people see them as heroes and liberators. Furthermore the fact that they are more ruthless to pirates than the world government means that they are doing a faster job of cleansing the world of piracy than the world government. This makes the people happier and more accepting of the revolutionary army as the new world government.

The revolutionary army would never take civilians as slaves. They could make a civilian town or kingdom a slave camp but they would never make a civilian a slave. Only pirates are slaves. If they start taking civilians as slaves, then people would start rebelling against them. But by focusing on only pirates while sparing civilians, they are getting forced labor with the pirate slaves while making the people of the world happy with the fact that there are less pirates free out there.

Dragon is a master manipulator. Only he could think of plans so grand and large scale and make it work for him. For example the plan of making pirates slaves and not touching the civilians is a brilliant strategic move as explained earlier. He carefully manipulated the War of the Best to make Blackbeard one of his most powerful and valued subordinates. He is a world class manipulator with no equal.

An explanation as to what the alliance between Dragon and Blackbeard is provided. Blackbeard would allow the revolutionary army to construct many bases on his territories. In addition Blackbeard would allow the revolutionary army unlimited access into his territories where they can gain valuable resources. Also he provides them an unlimited supply of slaves since all the pirates in his territories are potential slaves. In exchange he would gain Dragon's help in becoming the King of the Pirates. As strong as Blackbeard is, becoming King of the Pirates is still a hard thing. However an alliance with the revolutionary leader would certainly make him becoming Pirate King possible since he would have an extremely powerful ally on his side. The Pirate King needs some powerful allies and Dragon, the current ruler of the world is by far the greatest.

Of course Doflamingo didn't tell them the whole truth. Blackbeard isn't just an ally of Dragon, he is one of Dragon's most valuable subordinates, a Knight of D. What Doflamingo said about Blackbeard allowing the revolutionary army to construct bases on his territories, providing them resources to further strengthen the army, unlimited access into his territories and and unlimited supply of slaves is certainly true. Blackbeard becoming the King of the Pirates is true but his allegiance would be to Dragon since his is a Knight of D. Blackbeard being the pirate king would be a puppet ruler of the pirates. The true ruler would be Dragon himself. Of course Doflamingo wouldn't tell them that. Dragon having the King of the Pirates as a subordinate would certainly make the army stronger. But the explanation that Doflamingo gave to the Straw Hats is more than enough to answer any questions they had and they probably won't divulge any further since what he said explains practically everything on the island. We the readers know the whole truth but the Straw Hats know enough to explain everything that has been happening and that is enough for them.

Doflamingo also made sure to not tell the Straw Hats that Dragon was actually the mastermind behind the War of the Best and all of Blackbeard's deeds up to now. It's obvious that if that information got out, it could ruin the revolutionary army and even turn Luffy against it.

Since the other three emperors are dead, the revolutionary army could annex their territories and make it all their own. They could build bases on them, use their resources, have their men move into them etc. The problem is, there is no one to really govern and control it. With Blackbeard's territories, Dragon has Blackbeard around to control them. He doesn't have anyone to really control the territories of the other three deceased emperors. Furthermore because it has been a while since Blackbeard conquered them, the revolutionary army already has several bases on them and solid control over them. The territories of the other three emperors only just became available since the three emperors only died recently. Of course since the revolutionary army are the rulers of the world, all the territories of the three emperors now belong to the revolutionary army. It's just that they need time to develop them and someone to control them.

Luffy does not know about Blackbeard. He is very loyal to his father along with his new nakama, the Knights of D. But even he still holds great hate for Blackbeard. If he ever found about that Blackbeard is one of Dragon's men, he will not take it nicely. Regardless of how loyal he is to his father or how much he admires him, he hates Blackbeard. However Dragon has an explanation should Luffy ever find out, a plausible one that Luffy will accept. Furthermore if Luffy ever rebels, Dragon is prepared to kill him. He would prefer not too because of how valuable Luffy is, but if he rebels then he'll have to be killed.

Why did Dragon ask Robin to stay with the army for two years. I explained it already but I'll do it again anyway. Dragon had Robin joined to get an alliance with Luffy. Dragon realized that Luffy was too committed to his nakama and becoming Pirate King to join the revolutionary army. So he decided to settle with the next best thing, a possible alliance. Robin would stay with the revolutionary army for two years during which Dragon would make Robin believe that he was the idealistic liberator and crusader dedicated to freedom and liberation. Then when Robin returned to the crew she would spread a good word about him to Luffy. When the time was right, Dragon was ask for an alliance and Robin would support Luffy and the alliance since she would believe that Dragon was a good person. He naturally made sure to keep the darker nature of the army secret from Robin.

Dragon and the revolutionary army only called Robin the Light of the Revolution to gain her trust. That way she would be more accepting of the army and more supportive of an alliance between Luffy and Dragon. However, it no longer matters since Luffy actually joined the army on his own. Since Luffy joined the revolutionary army of his own free will, rescuing Robin was pointless.

Interestingly the army wanted both Robin and Luffy to join the army. However both of them were too committed to their causes. Luffy was too committed to becoming Pirate King and his nakama and Robin was too committed to her nakama and the people who accepted her. So neither was going to join Dragon initially. However fate was smiling on the revolutionary army that allowed them to rescue Robin. Furthermore the heavens itself blessed the army when Luffy joined.

It's interesting that somone like Dragon could give birth to someone like Luffy. Luffy was practically an angel with his purity while Dragon was a true Devil. Dragon corrupted Luffy into a fallen angel.

Doflamingo's words about Luffy becoming an emperor. Doflamingo is not referring to emperor as in Yonkou. He means emperor of the world. A king rules over a kingdom, several kingdoms come together to become an empire and the empire is ruled by an emperor. Alabasta Kingdom, Ryuuga Kingdom and many other cities and kingdoms would merge together to form the empire of Imperion. And Luffy being a descendant of both a D and a Tenryuubito would by right be the true heir of empire, the emperor of Imperion, the emperor of the world. Being an emperor will allow Luffy to have undisputed power in the world. Luffy was always someone who wanted to help people. He did so many times on his journey, Vivi, Hancock, Shirahoshi. As a emperor he can help more people than ever before, he can right the wrongs of the world government, end slavery etc. Of course he'll just be a puppet ruler. The real ruler of the world would be Dragon himself since he controls Luffy. Luffy's good heart is being manipulated by Dragon for him to have world domination.

Luffy is no longer the same person that he was. He isn't the meat eating fun loving idiot that he was. His priorities have changed. Things that the old Luffy would never think about, the current Luffy would. The old Luffy only really cares about fun, adventure, being Pirate King, his nakama etc. The new Luffy cares about power, making the world a better place, much deeper stuff. By heart he is a revolutionary. This is mainly due to his past which will be revealed later. Also he view the Knights as his nakama and they too suffered terribly. Dragon however his twisting Luffy's new ideals for his own purposes and manipulating him to ascend to power.

One thing to consider is the fact that they no longer have Luffy on their side. One of the main reasons the crew was able to overcome so many odds was because they had Luffy on their side. Luffy's unshakable resolve and his determination allowed to crew to overcome impossible obstacles. He is their glue, their pillar of strength. Now because he is gone, they don't really have that strength. In fact it's worse now. That same strength is being used against them. They all consider Luffy to be invincible. So now that they are up against the revolutionary army, they are up against someone they always thought of as invincible, someone who has never lost. They now have to fight the most determined and strongest individual they ever knew. Doflamingo attempted to use that against the crew, but the crew's bonds and love for Luffy allowed them to overcome the fear of facing him.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hope to see plenty of reviews.