Chapter 171: Cooperation

“Fuffuffuffuffu…you grabbed something from me again, Ron.”

Doflamingo’s voice was so vivid, talking through the Den Den Mushi.

Ron picked up the microphone and said casually: “Stop claiming ownership over everything? It is the same case as last time, it’s just a bonus obtained by destroying a group of pirates.”

Doflamingo kept his usual smile. He didn’t seem to be angry, then said: “The same, yeah. I didn’t pay much attention to you before, but now I do Ron… That devil fruit is indeed useful to me. You need money to develop your power now, right? How about a Billion Berries in exchange for that devil fruit?”

Ron was a little surprised.

It was not the price of one billion that shocked him, even if Doflamingo offered 10 billion, he wouldn’t be able to give it back, because he already swallowed the power of that Devil fruit. He was a little surprised that Doflamingo, his attitude seemed a little weaker.

“1 Billion Berries? You don’t seem like your usual self. Your attitude is different and buying it back with money doesn’t fit your style.”

“Fufurfuru…attitude? Of course, my attitude changes depending on who am talking to, Ron.”

Doflamingo smiled, then added: “It’s like you were provoked by an ant. You don’t mind stepping on it to death. But in case of a human-like you, at least some thoughts will flash in your mind.”

“It is the reality of this world. Without strength, you cannot gain a foothold in our world. Now you are fully qualified to be heard, to be recognized in this sea. Plus, you are also very ambitious, I bet the Shichibukai position isn’t your final goal…”

Ron couldn’t help but chuckle when he heard Doflamingo’s words, and said: “Should I feel flattered? So, since I gained considerable strength, you want to negotiate to solve the problem. Is it?”

“Yes.”

Doflamingo smiled on the other side and said: “If there is a war between us, both sides will suffer severely… Also, it’s a bit annoying to deal with you in the first half of the grand line, and you won’t come here to the new world, since you will have bigger troubles than me.”

“Simply put, you want to make peace?”

Ron said lightly: “It won’t be that easy, right? You are willing to make temporary peace to get the devil fruit back, but this won’t change the fact that you are after my life. “

Doflamingo smiled and said: “Of course, it’s me, it will be the same as usual. Still, I am willing to pay 1 billion Berries to buy back the devil fruit… Besides, if you are willing to accept the proposal, I can also provide you with a lot of weapons.”

“What proposal?”

“A cooperation.”

Doflamingo said: “Although I don’t know what your ultimate goal is, dominating the world for instance? But at least at this stage, it would be better if we join forces. It is the most beneficial thing for both parties. I can give you enough weapons and intel, and even give you enough funds to let you develop your power faster…”

“Unfortunately, I don’t really need those.”

Ron faintly said: “I don’t need your weapons, and I can also develop my powers without your help. Also, if I annihilate you, take over your power, everything you have will be mine.”

” Fuffuffuffuffu…still so arrogant.”

Doflamingo was not angry, grinned, and said: “Does your confidence come from the special forces you have arranged on the sky island? The one called “magical force”?”

Hearing Doflamingo’s words, Ron’s eyes flickered, and Robin’s complexion next to him changed…

Doflamingo actually knew about Skypiea!

Doflamingo said with a hint of evil in his tone and said: “Don’t be so surprised. Although my troops couldn’t get into the island you occupy, I still have a lot of agents in the nearby islands, nothing escapes my intelligence channel! Fuffuffuffuffu! “

“There is no absolutely sealed area in this world, even if it is the fisherman island, even if it is the Wano country, it is the same… Oh, maybe Laugh Tale could be considered as the ultimate island.”

Ron suddenly laughed. He got up and said: “This is interesting. Your intelligence channels are indeed stronger than I thought. Not only you got Vergo in the marines (E/N: That’s cheating!), but you even have ears and eyes in the sky island. It really surprised me.”

“?!”

Doflamingo fell into silence again.

After a few seconds, Doflamingo chuckled: “As expected of you, it seems that you weren’t just screwing around when you were with the marines. You found out the true identity of Vergo, it is a shame that you didn’t stay longer in the marines, Fuffuffuffuffu!”

“So Vergo was planning to kill me the other time.”

Doflamingo said: “It is simple…the weak doesn’t have the right to survive. This world is made for strong people only. At that time, you did not prove that you have the power to be called strong. Getting yourself killed was just a matter of time back then. It is how this world rolls.”

“Still things changed slightly now, and we have a mutual interest, and we can put our hatred aside. Tesoro once snatched one of my devil fruits and caused chaos during one of my trades, but we still became collaborators. His financial strength played a major role in the current status of the Don Quixote family”

At this point, Doflamingo said faintly: “If there is a war between you and me, not to mention the consequences and the losses… Even if you somehow managed to destroy me, it will be impossible for you to take over my powers. This huge organization will immediately fall apart, especially if you lose your cooperation with Tesoro and Kaido, you will not be able to maintain such a huge organization.”

“In contrast, if we cooperate, I can give you everything you need to develop…For example, kairoseki, it seems you need it very much.”

Ron pondered.

Doflamingo was convincing, he had a point, and handling such a huge organization will be a bit troublesome. After destroying Doflamingo, Ron can’t occupy Dressrosa, thus he wouldn’t be able to maintain the stronghold of the Don Quixote family in the New World.

“Sooner or later, there will be a winner and a loser. After all, the king’s position can only be seated by one person, but you are right. At this time, cooperation seems more beneficial than conflict.”

Ron said lightly: “But…we need to set rules for this cooperation to work because if it doesn’t benefit me that much, it would be troublesome for me to kill you.”

Doflamingo smiled and said: “How about twenty tons of kairoseki? As the first deal of our cooperation. In addition to one billion Berries, it should be a great offer to buy the devil fruit, and since am feeling generous, you will also have 2 billion berries to help you with the sky island base. Besides the devil fruit, you just need to stop interfering and restricting the Don Quixote family’s transactions. This should be Good as ground rules.”

“Hum, there is one problem. The devil fruit is gone, it was eaten by one of my subordinates.”

“…”