"You're in the Donquixote Family's territory here. I'm the guest. Why are you so nervous?"
Crossing one leg over the other, Orin swirled the wine glass in his hand as he watched the women playing in the pool.
"These women… are they part of the entertainment, too?"
Hearing Orin's question, Rosinante nodded.
"Yes. This was Doffy's arrangement, but I called them over here in advance."
"Interesting."
Unlike the blatant, seductive atmosphere in the red-light district, these swimsuit-clad beauties were laughing, splashing, and teasing each other, creating a sense of vacation and relaxation.
In Doflamingo's palace, there were plenty of beautiful women he kept around.
They didn't have to do much on a daily basis—just being pleasing to the eye was their only job.
Law, still young at the time, showed no interest in beautiful women at all. He sat silently on the sofa, hugging his knees, the shadow of his hat hiding his eyes as they occasionally flicked toward Corazon and Orin.
"So… have you gotten used to life here, Rosinante?"
"Eh???"
Ding—
Ssshhh…
Lighting himself a cigarette, Orin exhaled a thin stream of smoke before suddenly dropping a string of seemingly meaningless numbers:
"You don't understand what I'm saying? 01746."
"Eh?!"
Rosinante froze for a second, pupils shrinking sharply, and his first instinct was to grab Law's head.
"Hey!!! What are you doing?!"
Corazon held Law's head tightly, and in that instant, an invisible domain formed around them.
"Clam!!!"
In the blink of an eye, Law could no longer hear any sound at all. He could only see Orin and Corazon's mouths moving.
He tried to shout, but no sound came out.
Watching him struggle, Orin shook his head, lightly tapping the armrest of his chair with one finger.
Law instantly fell into a deep sleep.
"Orin-sama… as expected, I couldn't hide it from you…"
The moment he heard Orin utter his Marine codename, Rosinante knew there was no point trying to lie anymore.
"Relax. I'm not interested in exposing you, and I'm even less interested in killing you. Sengoku and I already talked about this."
Orin slowly exhaled another cloud of smoke, his expression casual and indifferent, his gaze hidden behind the haze.
"After all, I'm not a babysitter for my subordinates. If the Marines were fooled, it just means they didn't have the brains to see through it."
"But you, Rosinante… your thoughts intrigue me. I know, you used to be a Celestial Dragon, right?"
At the mention of that, Rosinante seemed to recall some unpleasant memories, his expression growing distant.
"Ah… that was a long time ago."
"And later, you joined the Marines and went undercover at Doffy's side. What was your goal?"
"To kill Doffy?"
Orin's tone carried no accusation, as though Doflamingo's life was just some trivial topic for casual conversation.
"I…"
"Even though we just met, I can tell… you're the kind of person who wouldn't pull the trigger on Doffy, even with the gun in your hand."
"…"
"I really don't know what Sengoku was thinking. Your Devil Fruit has no combat value, you can't bring yourself to harm your own people, and you can't even relay critical intelligence effectively. Sending you here was practically useless."
Orin said exactly what was on his mind, utterly unfiltered.
Each word landed like an arrow, piercing straight into Rosinante's chest, leaving him clutching at his heart, unable to respond.
"Well… whether from the perspective of the World Government and Marines, the underground world, or simply my own opinion… I'd rather not see you and Doffy kill each other."
After all, Corazon was pure kindness.
And Doffy… was sheer ambition.
Orin had already "tasted the knife" once, and he wasn't keen on sampling it again.
"Both your lives belong to me. Losing either one would be my loss."
...
"Ahhh… this is the life…"
Lying lazily on a floating board in the pool, Orin enjoyed the massage of over a dozen swimsuit beauties.
Pick any one of them at random, and her looks and figure would rival even Nami or Robin.
After all, in the One Piece world, aside from the truly bizarre-looking ones, ugly young women were a rare sight.
Some of the more ambitious women deliberately exaggerated their movements during the massage, even arching their backs and leaning forward suggestively, but Orin was long immune to such tricks.
After Corazon and Law left, Orin sank deeper into this gentle paradise, fully indulging himself.
Among the women, one girl in particular caught Orin's attention—a black-haired girl, clearly younger than the rest, barely more than a kid, and yet mingling among these seductive women.
She wanted to approach Orin and serve him but hesitated nervously, unsure of herself.
Orin noticed her. In fact, he had already guessed her identity, but he couldn't be bothered to intervene.
The strong rise. The weak fall.
The downfall of the Riku royal family came down to one thing—weakness.
Since she hesitated, he had no intention of playing the kindhearted savior.
In truth, Viola wanted to build a connection with Orin.
From the newspapers, she knew that whether Dressrosa could escape Doflamingo's dark rule—a matter of national importance and deep-seated hatred to Orin, this entire issue could be resolved with just a single word.
But she didn't dare ask for his help directly.
Whether Orin had the time or willingness to help was one thing, but more importantly, almost all the women here belonged to Doflamingo.
If any of them reported her, she'd be finished—her father, King Riku, too…
So, she decided to stay put for now, choosing instead to first observe Orin's intentions, and then decide whether to act, either appealing to his interests or adjusting her approach accordingly.
Seeing Orin not looking her way, Viola formed a shape with her thumbs and forefingers, mimicking glasses around her eyes, and a violet glow rippled outward.
"Let me see… what's on your mind, Black Emperor Orin!"
Through Orin's head, Viola's vision dove straight into his inner world, revealing a vast ocean of human knowledge and countless anime characters… entirely unclothed.
Disturbing, twisted, indecent…
None of these words were enough to describe it.
For a young girl like Viola, this was her first time experiencing a direct, multidimensional mental shock.
She froze on the spot, face gradually turning bright crimson, until it resembled a steaming boiler.
"Ahhhh!!!"
"How shameless!!!"
Her sudden scream startled the swimsuit beauties around them, causing several to cling nervously to Orin's body.
But the man in question only curled his lips into an evil smirk.
You like peeking, don't you?
Fine. I'll give you something to peek at.
Since this was the world of anime, he might as well give her the anime special zone.
From the moment Viola formed the gesture, Orin had sensed her intent using Observation Haki and already understood the ability she was trying to use.
This power was comparable to Redfield's innate ability to eavesdrop on thoughts—a rare, special kind of Observation Haki.
So…
For this little girl trying to pry into his mind,
Orin gave her something she'd never forget.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo