"Welcome..."
The Black Order headquarters. Sengoku, who had rushed over from Marine headquarters, entered the Fleet Admiral's office and saw Makima looking over some documents.
Makima heard the voice, lifted her head, and smiled at Sengoku.
"It's not been long since my last visit, but now when we meet again, I've become your subordinate." Sengoku said with some emotion.
"But since I've joined The Black Order, I'll hold myself to the standards of The Black Order's Admiral!"
"That's a good attitude." Makima praised, then stood up from her seat. She originally wanted to pat his shoulder, but the height difference was clear.
So she walked behind Sengoku and softly said, "Follow me."
Sengoku followed Makima outside the building, which looked like a huge church. The surrounding areas had been changed a lot through constant renovations during this time, taking on a strong religious feel. Makima kept walking and said,
"Without the Big Buddha fruit, are you finding it a bit hard to adjust?"
"It's unavoidable to feel unadjusted, but just surviving is already more than enough for me." Sengoku sighed. "As for the lost fighting power, I'll keep training my Haki during this time."
They walked to the edge of the island. Many people were building something there, and not far off was a small island.
The Black Order headquarters was originally just a bit larger than Marine headquarters, both being small islands. The one ahead was even smaller, about the size of a village.
But there were many people on it, all workers sent by the government.
Because that was Pandora Island...
The government's next main base for studying devils.
After hearing Sengoku's answer, Makima chuckled lightly and said, "So, are you interested in making use of its power?"
It...?
"You mean the Pandora's Box?" Sengoku said in a low voice.
As a former Marine Admiral, he had plenty of information. Before coming, he had already gotten some conversation details from Fleet Admiral about their talks with the Five Elders.
So he knew that was Pandora Island, built around that Pandora's Box.
"That's right. To use the power of Pandora's Box, you need extremely strong mental strength and unbreakable will. I think no one is more suitable than you right now." Makima said with her hands behind her back, looking at the people working quickly ahead.
"It might bring you great power, but if your mental will isn't strong enough, you could be controlled by the devil's will. The choice is yours; I'm just making a suggestion."
A suggestion...
Sengoku knew this was just a suggestion. Even though she was now his direct superior, she couldn't force him into this, since the World Government was still above them.
But after she made this suggestion, how could he refuse?
Sengoku was clear that if he relied only on his own power, he would never be a match for Aatrox in his lifetime.
And if he wanted "revenge," he had to do like Roger and use some other ways to boost his strength!
Roger had gained huge power from devil cells, devil fruits, and Shikon Jewel fragments. Though he still couldn't compare to Aatrox, the power he burst out with during that time was enough to fight him to some degree.
For Sengoku to reach that level, normal methods wouldn't work.
So when Makima made this suggestion, he had no reason to refuse!
"I... accept this suggestion!"
Sengoku said in a low voice.
Makima smiled.
Though he didn't have it now, Sengoku had once eaten the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan type, Big Buddha form—the ultimate person. In other words, a top expert in mind, body, and skills.
Since it involved mind, body, and skills, Sengoku, whose mind had reached the peak, might adapt to the superpower training box's power and even have great talent for it.
The superpower training box trained powers based on the user's talent. If they had the matching talent, as long as it didn't exceed the world's limits, they could reach it.
Even without considering Aatrox's near-world-limit strength, reaching a normal peak—like one of the later Four Emperors—would be impressive.
This world was vast; there might be people perfectly suited for the superpowers in the training box.
For now, Sengoku agreed to the training, which was within Genichi's expectations.
The only trouble was that gaining superpowers from the box required thinking about telekinesis while facing it for three hours a day, repeating for three years without missing a day.
That was also why Makima wanted the superpower training box on Pandora Island, far from her. As half the person in charge of Pandora Island, she could easily control the people there.
At that time, she could just alter their memories during training. After all, if they realized it was just a simple superpower training box, it would be a problem.
How could a devil's Pandora's Box grant power just by thinking about telekinesis? It didn't match what Makima had told the World Government, but as long as she controlled that part of the memory, it was fine.
Makima's ability actually let her control others as long as she saw herself as higher than them. But of course, it wasn't that unbeatable or overpowered, since in the pirate world, Haki could weaken or nullify abilities.
So for those with strong Haki, especially Conqueror's Haki, Makima couldn't control them freely.
But if the other person also saw Makima as higher class, then in front of her, they were weakened. Even with strong Haki, they could be controlled by Makima.
This was also a key reason for her cooperation with the World Government...
And clearly, even though Sengoku had Conqueror's Haki, as long as he was still part of the World Government and The Black Order, he would see himself as lower rank than Makima. Once that thought took hold, it was hard to resist her control.
"Then, wait patiently. Once Pandora Island is built, go to the devil's world and take their power. This is the first step for a devil hunter."
Makima said softly at last.
By then, the Five Elders would probably send someone to observe Sengoku's state too. During this time, the World Government had been looking for people with strong mental will. Once Pandora Island was ready, there would be plenty of them to use as test subjects.
To deal with the Five Elders then, she'd have to make a few go mad to act as examples of people influenced and controlled by devils.
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