[ perhaps surprisingly, there's not even a hint of anger or anything of the sort in his expression when marines are mentioned — he's accepted cora's indentity a long time ago.

for a moment, he thinks of dressrosa and the former fleet admiral, and he knows he needs to talk about that, but. not now. cora-san has cried enough for one day. ]

... good, [ he mutters eventually, because it really is. even if he's somewhat worried about cora's general competence with taking care of himself, this he'd never worry about. of course he's created the most suitable explanation and kept everything else from being found out. it makes sense, and it's smart. ]

I won't tell them anything you haven't told them. [ he sighs. ] I could lie about being just a doctor, but... if Pudding-ya is who I think she is, she'll recognize me. If others come here, if they're from the same time as I am, they'll recognize me too.

[ the downsides of being a former warlord. ] It doesn't really matter. If people distrust me because I'm a pirate... it just shows they're not stupid. Besides, my reputation can't be worse here. [ and he's not exactly looking to make friends. (when is he ever?) ]