'That woman looking for me? Because of the Celestial Dragon matter?'
Crocodile's words surprised Cyrus, but he quickly understood—this was quite consistent with that woman's extreme behavior.
"Boa Hancock wants to join the Hunter Guild, along with the entirety of Amazon Island. Oh, and the Dark King Rayleigh and Shakky have also agreed to your invitation to temporarily reside on Sky Island."
"Rayleigh agreed?" Cyrus was genuinely surprised.
Back when things started at the Sabaody Archipelago, he had only extended the invitation casually, not holding much hope at the time.
After all, who knew what these older generation figures were planning to do with their retirement.
"Perhaps it's because of what you accomplished during the Mary Geoise incident that made him change his mind," Crocodile offered his speculation.
"That must be the only possibility. Since he agreed, you handle the logistics. As for Nine Snake Island..." Cyrus stroked his chin in thought.
In his initial discussions with Robin about the Hunter Guild, they had considered having the guild teach Swordsmanship and Haki as benefits for licensed hunters.
To put it simply, it would be similar to how in Hunter x Hunter, after becoming hunters, people would seek help to open their aura nodes and master Nen.
However, in this world, many people would also master the Two Colors of Haki before officially becoming hunters.
"President?"
Cyrus suddenly fell silent, and Crocodile's puzzled voice came through the snail.
"I'll handle the Amazon Island arrangements later."
On Amazon Lily, almost all their warriors had mastered Haki.
This would definitely be very useful, however, the specific training methods might also be a closely guarded secret to Amazon lily.
They must have some unique, systematic Haki training methods.
Previously, he had considered searching for the island's location to learn advanced Haki applications from them, but because his own strength improved so rapidly, coupled with his faster data-based comprehension of Haki compared to Swordsmanship, he had set this matter aside.
"Understood. What about Boa Hancock then?" Crocodile inquired again.
That woman wasn't someone easy to deal with.
Of course, they could always just eliminate her; Crocodile felt this wouldn't be difficult for Cyrus, but such a thing was unlikely to happen.
Moreover, Hancock clearly had some relationship with Rayleigh and Shakky.
Though he didn't know the specifics, there was definitely a connection, and not a shallow one at that.
"Have her come with Enel," Cyrus said.
"Anything else?" he asked, preparing to end the communication.
"Regarding the Revolutionary Army, they've expressed willingness to help us establish Hunter Guild branches in some unaligned areas, but they want joint management rights."
"You agreed?" Cyrus said, his tone calm, giving no indication of his views on the matter.
"If we're to follow your ambitious plan of establishing so many Hunter Guilds simultaneously in a short time, I don't have enough personnel on my end. That's why I agreed—the Revolutionary Army's administrative forces aren't weak."
"Hmm," Cyrus nodded lightly. "As for how these specific branches will develop in the future, we can make adjustments and reorganize after they've reached a certain scale."
"Good! Proceed with that plan. You've done well."
After Cyrus expressed his approval, Crocodile indicated he had nothing further to report for now, and the connection ended.
"Empress Boa Hancock!" Robin said with a meaningful smile. "That woman, when she was in her teens, was sold along with her two sisters to become slaves of the Celestial Dragons. Later, Fisher Tiger, captain of the Sun Pirates, broke into Mary Geoise and freed many slaves, including them."
"That traumatic experience made her personality somewhat peculiar—both deeply proud and fiercely insecure, and filled with absolute hatred toward the Celestial Dragons," Cyrus explained.
"So that's why she treats you specially, since you killed Celestial Dragons, and even took the initiative to seek you out?"
With Cyrus's explanation, Robin understood Hancock's situation.
'Though, why did Cyrus know about this so clearly?'
"Another Warlord. Are you planning to recruit all the Warlords?" Robin remarked.
"How could that be? Didn't I choose not to recruit Gecko Moria?" Cyrus shook his head.
"What about Doflamingo now?" Robin asked with a smile.
"Him? We'll see if he can survive and accomplish what I asked him to do."
'Whether Doflamingo could truly meet his demands?'
That was hard to say.
Moreover, this guy might even switch sides, setting aside his hatred for the Celestial Dragons to turn against him instead.
If this were before his attack on Mary Geoise, the Holy Land might not have cared much about Doflamingo, but now, with a Warlord-level figure wanting to pledge allegiance again as an assassin, Mary Geoise probably wouldn't refuse him.
As for what choice the string user would ultimately make, Cyrus himself couldn't predict. But one Doflamingo wouldn't make much difference to the future situation.
After all, in Cyrus's eyes now, the only ones who could truly contend with him were the Celestial Dragons, the World Government, and the Marines combined.
"Though it's a pity about Hawkeye," Cyrus spoke of the swordsman with genuine regret.
If only he had thought of a way to get that guy into the Hunter Guild first.
With his strength and reputation, he would have been a massive help in establishing the branches. But he hadn't anticipated being so short-handed now.
It seemed he needed to pay more attention to recruiting top-tier talent going forward.
"Hawkeye hasn't been heard from since he left the Sabaody Archipelago," Robin noted curiously.
"Probably went home to train."
Hawkeye's absolute devotion to swordsmanship went without saying.
That single strike Cyrus made at Mary Geoise would definitely make Hawkeye question his life's work, and then he would hole up to try to see if he could achieve such a strike himself.
But this way, the guy might come looking for him on his own when he realized he could never reach that level no matter what he did.
"Let's go, take a walk outside, and wait for Enel while we're at it."
...
At Punk Hazard.
After Cyrus left, peace had returned to the research facility. Then, Caesar and the others witnessed everything Cyrus had done in Dressrosa via the monitors.
Of course, what they saw first was the World Government's faked version, followed shortly by the true version from the World Economy News Paper.
Shortly after, Enel and Boa Hancock arrived at the island.
"Tch, sending me to find Cyrus?" Enel stepped off the ship with a thoroughly displeased expression.
He knew perfectly well that he wouldn't dare breathe too heavily around Cyrus, but around Crocodile, he dared to talk back.
This was the feeling of freedom.
But refuse? It wasn't a discussion—Crocodile's words were clearly a notification, obviously functioning as Cyrus's direct order.
"You seem somewhat disloyal to Lord Cyrus?"
Hearing Enel's tone, Hancock, who had disembarked with her snake, glared at him angrily.
Her words left Enel completely speechless.
'What's it to you?'
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