Charlotte Linlin's compromise was a bit beyond his expectation. He had thought Charlotte Linlin would resist to the very end.
He had even been prepared to destroy Charlotte Linlin from the start, otherwise, he wouldn't have sent Urouge and others to stop Kaido and the others.
The purpose was to avoid interference.
After all, if Kaido and the Marines were to join in, things would become complicated, and whether he could destroy Charlotte Linlin or not would be another matter.
If things went wrong, the three parties could even team up, which would be extremely disadvantageous for Domination.
However, Charlotte Linlin's compromise brought benefits that were more cost-effective than destroying her.
Eight Devil Fruits a year, that's 80 in ten years.
Twenty years would be 160.
This was equivalent to people coming to deliver money while he sat idly; why wouldn't he do it?
Moreover, destroying Charlotte Linlin wouldn't necessarily bring such good treatment.
At the very least, he didn't yet control the forces of the Four Emperors' territories.
Although Domination's strength was formidable, he still had too few people. And while Doflamingo played both sides, he couldn't swallow an entire Four Emperors' territory.
It was still unrealistic.
Moreover, Ye Chen had no intention of pushing Doflamingo to the position of a Four Emperor.
Because there was no need.
No matter what, Doflamingo was not yet his subordinate. There was no need to force him into such a high position.
Giving him an Eight Kings position was already enough.
And even if he were promoted, Doflamingo might not be able to handle it.
At this moment, Ye Chen looked at the luxuriously decorated room around him, his brows furrowed.
Although the room was magnificent, he felt that something was ultimately missing.
"What could it be?" Ye Chen sat on the chair, murmuring to himself.
At this moment, Esdeath and Hashirama Senju walked in. After seeing Ye Chen, their eyes lit up, and they quickened their pace.
Soon, the two came before Ye Chen.
"Sit." Ye Chen smiled at the two.
The two heard this and sat down.
"Is there something you need me for?" Ye Chen looked at the two, asking hesitantly.
Hashirama Senju and Esdeath exchanged glances.
After a moment, Esdeath looked at Ye Chen and said, "Lord Ye Chen, should we establish a large base, like a pirate ship for pirates?"
Ye Chen was stunned when he heard this. A flicker of light flashed in his mind. He seemed to remember something.
"Ah, yes, a base for himself." Ye Chen murmured to himself.
At this moment, he understood what he lacked. They lacked a stable base.
Just like pirates, they needed a pirate ship.
Because he had always been tied up with things before, he hadn't considered it.
But things were almost over, and what was missing was a stable residence.
To put it bluntly, it was a home.
It was like no matter how tired one was from causing trouble outside, one would feel incomparably comfortable upon returning home.
Of course, they naturally didn't need such a thing.
But it was only natural for him to have his own base.
After much deliberation, Ye Chen smiled, looking at Esdeath and Hashirama Senju. "I'll leave this matter to me. I'll think it over. For now, this place will serve as a base, and if it's not enough, I'll use Kuja Island as another base."
"Okay."
...
...
He already had some ideas regarding the problem of a foothold.
He had several options in mind.
One of them was, for example, the Underworld King, one of the three ancient weapons.
Legend had it that the Underworld King was a colossal warship, possessing dozens of times more firepower than the current Marine warships, and capable of airborne travel.
It could be said to be the most perfect warship in the entire world.
Moreover, he also knew where the blueprints for the Underworld King were; he just needed to go and retrieve them later.
Just as Ye Chen was deep in thought, the door opened.
He saw Urouge and Doflamingo slowly walk in.
"Lord Ye Chen, Doflamingo has arrived." Urouge said expressionlessly.
"Hmm, I know. You go down first." Ye Chen said.
Urouge heard this, immediately turned around, and left.
"Lord Ye Chen, why didn't you destroy Charlotte Linlin?" After Urouge left, Doflamingo said.
Charlotte Linlin came with a formidable presence. He had thought Domination would definitely destroy Charlotte Linlin.
But he didn't expect that in the end, Charlotte Linlin actually retreated, and it was Domination who let her go.
Charlotte Linlin's compromise was only known to Ye Chen and those under Charlotte Linlin.
The Four Emperors compromising was not a good thing to hear for a Four Emperor, so naturally, Charlotte Linlin would not say it out loud.
And Ye Chen didn't say it either, so Doflamingo also didn't know.
That's why he asked this question.
"They gave a generous payment for their lives, so I considered it and let them leave." Ye Chen smiled.
"...A payment for their lives!!!!!"
Doflamingo's pupils instantly constricted upon hearing this.
At first, he thought it was two defeats from the battle between Domination and Charlotte Linlin, and neither could do anything to the other, which was why Charlotte Linlin retreated.
But he didn't expect that Charlotte Linlin actually paid a price.
This indicated that.
Domination possessed the power to completely crush Charlotte Linlin.
At the same time, he also understood that the "payment for their lives" in Ye Chen's words was definitely not small.
Otherwise, Ye Chen wouldn't let Charlotte Linlin go.
And regarding the truthfulness of Ye Chen's words, Doflamingo also doubted the authenticity of the matter.
Because Domination, or rather, Ye Chen, had no need to lie.
"Oh right, Charlotte Linlin will hand over all her territory later. When that time comes, you can take it over. And should we accelerate the collection of Devil Fruits?"
Ye Chen glanced at Doflamingo, then slowly said.
He wasn't very concerned about territory, but he was very (quite) concerned about the progress of Devil Fruit collection.
He still had many places where he needed Devil Fruits.
"All the territory has been handed over." Doflamingo was slightly startled when he heard this.
At this moment, he understood that the price Charlotte Linlin paid probably exceeded his imagination.
"We've been accelerating the progress of Devil Fruits, but because the World Government has also been collecting Devil Fruits recently, our progress has slowed down a lot recently."
Doflamingo replied hesitantly.
"The World Government is also collecting them?"
Ye Chen speculated that it might be to pay for his ten Devil Fruits.
"You don't need to worry about the World Government. Just focus on collecting with all your might." Ye Chen nodded. "If there's nothing else, you can leave."
"There's one more thing." Doflamingo said.
Ye Chen heard this, raised an eyebrow slightly, and looked at Doflamingo with a calm expression.
"I want to join Domination."
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