If Toki had never encountered a point in time where she wanted to stop, then why did she stop at this particular point?
Most likely, Toki had been jumping non-stop from more than 830 years ago. Around 830 years ago, the Great Kingdom had probably already plunged into war, and Wano itself had not yet truly been founded as a nation.
Whatever happened 830 years ago was absolutely some unknown secret. Her appearance here should not be as simple as just wanting to reach the Wano where her parents lived, a place she had never managed to go back to.
It seemed that Toki's time travel, to a greater extent, came from personal desires, not some lofty, righteous purpose.
Once he roughly figured that out, Doflamingo knew how he ought to operate.
If Toki were the type like Luffy, someone who charges forward without fear for so-called dreams and so-called "justice," then even if Doflamingo wanted to obtain the power of the Toki Toki no Mi (Time-Time Fruit), he would have to consider whether he needed to kill Toki afterward.
People whose heads are filled with dreams, childish naivety, and that kind of hypocritical "saintly" mindset are absolutely impossible to influence or change in their way of thinking.
Fortunately, judging from Toki's reactions, she did not seem like that sort of person. So the question was, how was he going to "take" Toki down?
Doflamingo felt that prophecy was not as reliable as direct action. Since Toki already had a favorable impression of him, he might as well go along with the misunderstanding.
As long as he kept his mouth shut and "protected" Toki in disguise (imprisoned her), who would ever know?
Even so, just in case, Doflamingo still decided to confirm it.
"How did you determine that I am the one you are looking for? I do not know you. You should have the wrong person."
Toki nodded firmly.
"There is no mistake. The prophecy told me that I would meet in Wano a powerful samurai who carries two swords and saves my life.
And also, and also…"
Doflamingo was intrigued that the reason was something like this. It really was pure coincidence that he had dressed this way today.
As for the words Toki had not finished saying, Doflamingo was just as curious and asked:
"And also what?"
Toki's cute little face flushed slightly with embarrassment, but when she thought about the guidance of fate, she simply said it out loud:
"And also, this samurai will accompany me for my entire life, the companion I miss most across a thousand years of travel."
"Oh? In other words, I am your…"
Doflamingo was genuinely curious how Toki's mind worked.
She believed all of that?
Still, the outcome seemed very favorable to him. He did not even need to persuade her to win her over.
"Yes, you are my husband. Please take care of me from now on."
Toki was bold as well. After saying it, she made a very proper, formal bow of an ancient lady.
"Fufufufufu, then I truly am blessed, to meet such a cute and beautiful wife."
Doflamingo was not the type to be shy. He had already intended to make use of Toki's ability; now that she was throwing herself into his arms, how could he possibly turn her away?
Toki quickly picked up the sword she had dropped and hung it again at her waist. Only then did Doflamingo notice that Toki's blade was actually a famed sword, no wonder it had caught his eye earlier.
After she tidied up her kimono a bit, Toki took the initiative to hook her arm around Doflamingo's, clinging to him like a truly gentle, affectionate wife.
Doflamingo was more than happy with this. Feeling the softness pressing against his arm, his heart could not help but stir, and certain parts of his body began to swell with heat.
He saw no reason to keep suppressing himself any longer.
Unlike on Earth, in this world of the seas he already stood over three meters tall. His physique was fully developed, and there was nothing he needed to be cautious about.
After a bit more simple conversation with Toki, Doflamingo learned that if he had not appeared, Toki would have used her power again to jump one year further. Then she would have met a true Wano samurai, Oden, and he would have been the one to save her. In that sense, Doflamingo had intercepted Oden's "chance encounter" head-on.
From Toki's words, Doflamingo learned that she was 25 this year and had started traveling at 19. During those years of time jumps, life had been extremely miserable. She essentially never had enough to eat.
Because the time she traveled to did not control the place she traveled to, there were occasional coordinate errors.
That meant, every time she jumped, she had to find Wano's position in that era and repeatedly correct her trajectory, until only this time did she finally land accurately in Wano.
According to Toki, if she were to jump again this time, the next landing point might no longer be Wano.
It might be somewhere in the surrounding seas of Wano, or somewhere even farther away. That was also one of the uncontrollable aspects of the Toki Toki no Mi (Time-Time Fruit).
However, the closer the time she jumped to was to the present, the closer the landing point would be to her original location.
And it was not only herself that could travel. Toki could send or bring others with her as well, but each time at most five people.
With limits like that, Doflamingo could easily imagine that if such a broken ability had no restrictions, that would be what was truly strange.
Even though they had just met, Toki felt a strange trust toward Doflamingo.
She even told him the greatest secret of the Toki Toki no Mi (Time-Time Fruit), the so-called semi-developed ultimate form.
In other words, once fully awakened, it could reverse her own life or another person's life, achieving a twisted form of immortality.
Unfortunately, Toki had searched the Great Kingdom's records, and there were almost no entries about the Toki Toki no Mi (Time-Time Fruit).
Or more accurately, there were essentially no records at all. Because each time the user activated the fruit, they would leap forward in time, so the recorders had no idea what was going on.
Even if the user wanted to leave traces, those traces would be wiped clean by the flow of time.
As for Toki's honesty, Doflamingo felt no guilt whatsoever. Compared to that idiot Oden, was he not far more suitable to be Toki's husband?
Because Toki was clinging very close, Doflamingo inadvertently caught a glimpse of several patches sewn onto her kimono. It really did match what she had said, that she had almost never eaten her fill.
Of course. If she could not even eat properly, how could she be dressed well?
He had originally wanted to take Toki, who was holding tightly onto his arm, to the Flower Capital to buy her a proper set of clothes. Unfortunately, there were always people who insisted on causing trouble.
Ushimaru, current daimyo of Ringo in Wano,
wore his long purple hair in a samurai topknot, with a stalk of grass between his teeth, and had the typical build of the Shimotsuki family. He looked seventy percent similar to Zoro's appearance in the later stages of the original story, both in manner and in face.
Unlike the other daimyos, Ushimaru raised a fox. That fox had accidentally eaten a Hito Hito no Mi, Genjūshu, Daidara-bocchi form (Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Beast type, Daidara-bocchi form) Devil Fruit.
It could transform into a monk-soldier of Wano and was one of the few truly reliable subordinates Ushimaru had. Because the fox worshiped a certain powerful figure of Wano, it took the name "Gyukimaru."
After receiving the report from Return Harbor that there was an intruder, Ushimaru did not bring any retainers, only Gyukimaru, and charged toward the harbor in a flurry.
At the very moment when Doflamingo was about to take Toki and fly away, Ushimaru swung his blade at them.
"Oni Giri (Demon Slash)!"
Even from more than twenty meters away, the invisible sword aura sliced toward the two of them.
Toki covered her small mouth with her hand. She had not expected a samurai to be this rude, attacking without even asking a question. Were all people of Wano like this?
Aside from complaining, Toki was not actually worried. The strength of someone who was destined by fate would not be a lie. He was definitely a hero of Wano-class caliber.
(End of Chapter)
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