Chapter 162 - Chapter 164

Amell and Ginrummy had been inside the office for a couple of hours at this point and discussed the future. Mostly the hours were filled with her expressing her worries in forms of hundreds of question spewed at machine-gun speed that Amell tried his best to answer. She had yet to even show interest in trying her new devil fruit, she was most worried about how she was gonna take over for one of the most powerful pirates in the world. And during this time Amell had been nothing but respectful and kind so she started acting a lot less shy and drawn back when talking to him, she even started addressing him as Amell without staggering in her speech.

"Amell, about Wano, I do not seek to rule as a tyrant. I would very much like a small compact crew instead of a whole country. A crew fits me a lot more."

"Much like red-haired than? You want a few good loyal men instead of taking over the empire Kaido created." Amell was drinking whiskey and smoking a cigar, much like a regular crime boss.

"Yes, exactly. You can do with Wano as you see fit, I am not interested in that place at all."

"Not to worry about that. My third commander has been in your country for a couple of weeks now cleaning up all of Kaido's men. And about Wano, I will not be taking it. They have suffered enough, and there are plenty of decent samurais that can still lead that country in the right direction. After the Gotei has cleaned out the major corruption, we're pretty much leaving that place alone, unless something major happens that will force us to step in again."

Ginrummy did not doubt his words anymore. She did not trust him completely, which was understandable, but he had shown that he was fully capable of keeping to his word. He had shown her more decent leadership in two hours than Kaido had done in years. This feeling she had that this man could do anything is what made her accept his offer.

"I am impressed, Amell. You have great personal power, and your empire can rival both the Marines and the World Government, and yet, I see less corruption in you than a standard Marine foot-soldier. Why is this?" Ginrummy tiled her head to the side and stared into his eyes. She was no longer afraid to meet the gaze of this man directly.

"Your eyes show you the truths that are lying only at the surface level. You have to look deeper. There is corruption in everything, no one is an exception to that rule. The only difference between me and the Marines, for example, is that I control my corruption. I know what it looks like, and what it seeks, they don't. They allowed corruption to shape them a very long time ago, and now that has become their identity, so on some level, I feel sorry for them."

Ginrummy showed a disturbed expression and she started thinking back on her life as a Headliner for Kaido. She thought for a second that she had finally found a place where she could be free from deep-rooted corruption, but as Amell said, corruption would be present evermore and it is something everyone has to learn to live with eventually. "Say, about Whitebeard, what is the deal there? Why is he doing what he is doing? He is going all out for you and I do not understand why."

"Who knows," Amell shrugged his shoulders, "I believe he is trying to stop another annihilation war between two emperors. No matter how long he stands in the way of Big mom, she will never go after him like I did Kaido, and both of them understand that. Both Whitebeard and Big Mom understand that two emperors can not disappear right after another. The New World would go up in flames if such a thing happened. The changes I have in mind for the New World needs the emperors to stabilise it a little longer by themselves."

"What war is he stopping? Isn't a war brewing between them already?" Ginrummy couldn't see the benefits in Whitebeard's actions. After all, if Amell wasn't sure, then it would be even less likely that she will understand the reason behind one of the oldest and most pirates in the world.

"I think Whitebeard came to the conclusion that I was coming for everything Kaido owned, and he didn't want me to go annihilate Big Mom as well should she interfere in that. As I said, the New World can not lose two emperors back to back. It would take a very long time to settle the chaos that would come from losing two emperors in about four or five days. Whitebeard doesn't want that chaos in his sea, or at least that is my guess of his reasons."

"Pretty good guess, I think. I have a lot to learn if I want to survive as an emperor."

Amell smiled and nodded before saying, "At least you have one of the most powerful devil fruits in the world. With some proper Gotei beatdown training, you will rival Big Mom in no time."

"Ginrummy pouted her lips cutely, "So, not Whitebeard or Shanks than? Will I ever catch up to them?" Her pouting became stronger when she Amell's teasing smile.

"Whitebeard is not impossible to surpass, especially if you train with my commanders. But still, that boy holds world-destroying powers and the climb to surpass him will not be easy for you. About Shanks, forget it for now. Considering Shanks is my personal disciple, don't try to set him as a goal, for now, girl." Amell's smile turned into a burst of hearty laughter.

Ginrummy's hands came slamming down on his desk with incredible ferocity. "WHAT! Red-haired Shanks is your disciple!?" her body stood erect while she stared un-blinkingly at him.

"Oh, yes. A very long time ago when Shanks was still an immature kid I saw great potential brewing in him, so I appeared before him and offered to train him, and him only."

"What did he say? Was he an emperor back then?" Ginrummy's mouth had the greatest "O" shape he had ever seen in his long life.

"He refused immediately!" Amell's laughter continued. "So, I started beating him black and blue until he accepted. It took seventeen days of beating him close to death then healing him and rinse and repeat before he accepted my offer. Shanks will power is far from human and except for me, no one can kill him. Only Alucard, my strongest commander can win over him. Shanks can easily fight to a draw with my second strongest commander."

Ginrummy's brain went on a holiday and it took her several minutes to recover. Suddenly she slammed her hands down on the table again, "Then why is he laying so low? If he is stronger then Whitebeard and Kaido and the rest, why is he letting them take titles as strongest human and such? Shouldn't his territory be massive if his power is so impressive?"

"Shanks cares nothing for titles. I trained him over a decade ago when you were just a little kid. Back then Shanks and I put a plan into motion that will change the world, and ever since those days he has been doing his part in this plan. Shanks is a true friend to freedom for this world, and in time you will see what powers he wield." Amell's tone was calm and collected, but Ginrummy's emotions were going through a rollercoaster.

"W-Why are you telling me this? How can you already trust me with this information?" She asked quietly. Her mind was spinning and she had to sit down to not faint.

"I can read minds," Amell leaned forward, 'Like this," his voice appeared inside her mind suddenly. She jumped up on her feet in total panic and on her way up her knee hit the desk and completely destroyed the part she collided with. S-Sorry!" She got out before falling down on her chair again.

"No worries," Amell said and removed a piece of wood out of his hair, "You gained immense strength when eating that fruit, so this was expected to some degree." he started efficiently removing the rest of the pieces of wood from his hair.

"B-B-But, mind reading, how is that possible? And what can you see!?" Her tone was panicky as if she had great secrets inside her mind she didn't want to let out.

"How this is possible stays in my family. Plus, only people with my blood in their veins will ever be able to learn this." He said casually.

"A-About, ehm, what I t-think of you, j-just ignore that please..."

"Ah, about that. I am flattered, I am. You are quite beautiful, but I am married and loyalty is something that means a great deal to me. But, you have my word that anything related to your feelings I saw inside your mind will never escape my mouth. I stake my marriage upon that promise."

"Thank you. S-So mind reading is how you know if someone is loyal to you?" She asked, slightly disturbed about the idea that her mind wasn't her own.

"Among other things. But I never read the mind of an Ally unless I suspect something is wrong. I respect your privacy, but disloyalty is something I have absolutely zero patience for, so if I suspect betrayal, you should know I will always find out." His tone went deadly and Ginrummy got a chill that travelled up her back.

"I-I understand!" She said with a head lowered in both embarrassment and fear. "I can't believe how perfectly it fits you!" She said after several minutes of contemplation.

"What?" '

"Your title. The one who named you the Enigmatic Emperor is a true genius!" Her words caused Amell to lose his seriousness and start laughing out loud instead. "You think so, do you?" He smiled sweetly at her. "Well, you have nothing to fear from this emperor as long as you stay loyal to the Gotei.

"Yes, Sir!" Ginrummy said loudly and proudly now that her mood had bettered, and she had somewhat managed to swallow the fact that Amell was a monster on a whole other level.

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End