"You're insulting me."
Rayleigh looked at Makima and said coldly.
He was already part of Roger's crew. How could he work for the government again?
Even though Makima had saved his life, he wouldn't accept such terms!
Even if The Black Order didn't fight pirates, it was still part of the World Government. Joining it as an Admiral would mean betrayal. And on the seas, the worst crime was betraying your crew!
No matter what you do, even if it risks your crew, joining another group in secret is the same as betrayal.
"I see, that's how you see it." Makima leaned back a bit, let out a light laugh.
"But this rejection was expected. You know that to save you, Roger's crew will go after Aatrox. And you should know what happens when they fight him."
!
!
In an instant, images of blood-soaked ground flashed in Rayleigh's mind. His eyes widened in shock.
Aatrox seemed to appear right in front of him, using power that could destroy the world to easily beat them. If Makima hadn't been there, he would surely be dead by now.
"You're underestimating Roger." Rayleigh said in a low voice. "He'll succeed. And even if I'm in your hands, he'll still face Aatrox."
That's right, Roger was that kind of man.
Rayleigh had been by Roger's side the whole time. No one knew him better.
Even with the huge gap in strength against Aatrox, he'd go after him again. It had nothing to do with whether Rayleigh was in The Black Order's hands or not.
"What a man of principle you pirates are." Makima said with admiration. But her next words made Rayleigh feel like he was falling into a deep pit.
She reached one hand into the desk, then leaned forward a bit, resting her chin on her hand. She looked at Rayleigh with a strange gaze and said softly,
"But what if I told you I have a way to seal Aatrox?"
!
Rayleigh was shocked. "What do you mean?"
"I've found Aatrox's weakness. Sending him back to hell is tough, but not impossible."
As she said that, she changed the topic.
"But pirates who do a lot of evil make great hosts for demons. Their wickedness draws demon souls without them even knowing, letting demons freed from the Shikon Jewel come back to the world."
"If I want to wipe out those demons, shouldn't I let Aatrox kill all the big pirates in the New World first?"
"You're crazy?! The New World isn't just pirates!" Rayleigh shouted in anger.
The New World had more than pirates. There were tons of countries, even some that were allies of the World Government!
For the World Government, non-allies weren't under their control, but allies were part of it. And every country had lots of ordinary people!
"But what if I think those pirates need to be wiped out more? If they're gone, demons lose a bunch of good hosts, and the chance of demon lords returning drops a lot."
Makima kept smiling, as if she didn't care at all what happened to the New World.
Rayleigh was suddenly at a loss for words. He realized his views were completely different from Makima's.
In the past six months, he'd learned her true identity. She was a demon hunter from thousands of years ago. To her, her time was long gone. She had no feelings for the current world.
She fought demons now just because of the natural clash between them, not out of duty like before. Whether countries in this world fell or not, what did it matter to her, a ghost from thousands of years back?
Rayleigh finally got it. For demon hunters who lost everything from their past, they had nothing to care about. They...
Were no different from demons!
"But if you become my subordinate, I'll tell you how to seal Aatrox." Makima went on.
"You know the terms. Don't reveal your identity. Follow my orders when needed. In the pirate world, check if other pirates are possessed by demons."
"Of course, don't worry. My orders won't make you break your principles. As long as Roger's crew isn't invaded by demons, you'll still be Roger's first mate. Nothing changes."
After that, Makima stood up. She didn't wait for Rayleigh's answer and turned to walk out.
But the contract stayed on the desk.
"Think it over yourself. I'll give you more time."
Makima said in a tone that sounded like she didn't really care.
Then, she opened the door. The outside world came into Rayleigh's view again. It was just another building, but for someone locked up six months, it stirred something in him.
Then the door closed again. In the empty room, only Rayleigh was left.
He looked at the parchment on the desk. His face stayed serious as he fell into thought.
......
Meanwhile, after Makima took Sengoku to the Pandora Room, while he trained his mental power for three hours, Genichi finally started checking his gains from now.
Aatrox had brought huge power and pressure, but since he'd just used up all his stored energy then, Genichi hadn't paid much attention to the immediate rewards.
Now, six months later, it was time to plan the next steps.
In these six months, Aatrox had been causing chaos in the New World. Without a good host like Barrett, he had to keep killing pirates to keep his body going. His killing wouldn't stop unless the world had no life left.
But in these six months, he hadn't run into Roger again. From what the nameless one said, Roger was in very tough training. He'd tried to contact The Black Order recently, but Makima hadn't replied yet.
Roger getting stronger was good news for Genichi. The stronger, the better.
"Positive Emotion Value:"
"Negative Emotion Value:"
Tch, as expected, negative emotions were shooting up like always, while positive ones crept along slowly.
Before, he had a good few hundred thousand positive points. In six months, they'd only about doubled. And most of that came from the World Government and the Five Elders.
----
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