Right Here

After chatting with Gion for nearly half an hour, Ross had a fairly clear picture of her situation, and at the same time, he had fully put her at ease.

Reading files and hearing it from the person herself were always somewhat different.

Right now, Gion's strength was roughly comparable to a pirate with a bounty of 100-200 million. Her mastery of Marine Rokushiki was decent, her Observation Haki and Armament Haki were both in the early stages of awakening, and as a swordsman, she had just grasped the Flying Slash.

Gion was only twenty years old now. Overall, she had a promising future.

If she could get sufficient resources, she had a chance of reaching A-Class strength within one to two years. If she got a powerful Devil Fruit, that pace could be even faster.

Beyond that, it was no longer a realm reachable through talent and hard work alone. Without some kind of cheat, every step forward would require life-or-death battles against top-tier strong fighters just to have a hope of advancing further.

"How's your relationship with Kake?" Ross suddenly asked.

"Mediocre. Even though he was my only rival at the Training Camp, I don't think anyone would like a pervert who sexually harasses people every day."

When she mentioned Kake, Gion's face showed undisguised disgust.

From the very first time she met Kake, he had been pestering her relentlessly. Before Ross came out of the command room earlier, Kake had proposed to her yet again.

This kind of shameless behavior from someone she barely had a relationship with—Gion was thoroughly sick of it.

"Gion."

Hearing Ross suddenly call her name, Gion's previously relaxed body instinctively tensed up.

Here it comes!

She didn't know why Ross was willing to chat with her, but after talking for so long, it was time to get to the point.

The fact that Ross was willing to talk to her, keeping her from being as nervous as she was at the start, had already left her with a good impression of him.

If there were no excessive demands, Gion felt she probably wouldn't refuse.

"I'll give you three choices."

"Go ahead."

Gion's pretty face tightened slightly as she straightened her posture.

Knowing she still had options, Gion subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

"First, you stay a Marine. I recall Marine Headquarters assigned you to Vice Admiral Tsuru's ship to train and gain experience under her. If you choose this path, after this Buster Call, her warship will encounter an accident. Barring any surprises, only Vice Admiral Tsuru will survive."

After Ross finished speaking in a flat tone, Gion's face instantly turned pale.

These words made it clear: she couldn't be a Marine anymore in the future.

If she stayed a Marine, not only would she die at sea, but all of Vice Admiral Tsuru's subordinates would have to be buried with her.

She hadn't even reported to Vice Admiral Tsuru yet, so she had little emotional attachment, but she would never do something that dragged others to their deaths along with her own.

Celestial Dragons after all...

At this moment, Gion had no illusions left. Just hearing the first choice, she knew the remaining ones would be just as rough.

"Second." Ross's voice remained unhurried. "Become my exclusive CP0 agent. Your growth will follow the standard CP0 criteria."

"But this choice comes with a risk, and I'll tell you straight up. I'll give Kake three choices as well. If he picks the first two, then you and he will have no conflict."

"However, at the same time, I'll offer you both a third choice. Your third choice: become my woman. His third choice: bow to me and serve at my command."

"If he chooses the third, and you choose the second, then I'm sorry, but his priority will be above yours. If he makes certain requests, I won't offer you protection. Some things you don't want to happen might become reality."

"I choose the third!"

Gion bit her lip but spoke resolutely.

Ross had laid the threat out in the open, and it was one she couldn't refuse.

If she chose the first, it was a straight path to death.

If she chose the second and became CP0, that wasn't something unacceptable, but if Kake chose the third, then Ross might let her fall into Kake's hands.

Just imagining that scene made Gion shudder.

Compared to that, she would rather accept Ross.

After all, whether in status, demeanor, or appearance, Ross was far better than the short, fat, and perverted Kake.

If Ross hadn't given her so many choices, she would never have accepted the third one.

But when several worse possibilities were laid before her, Gion instead felt that becoming Ross's woman wasn't as bad as she initially thought.

At least Ross wasn't like the Celestial Dragons she had imagined, and no matter how she looked at it, she was the one reaching above her station—no loss there.

Gion comforted herself inwardly, her long legs slightly pressed together, radiating nervousness.

"Since you've made your choice, then let me see your sincerity." Ross smiled at the corner of his mouth, his gaze roving without restraint over Gion's conflicted expression.

He wasn't in a hurry. Since Gion had agreed, he believed she would follow through—it was just a matter of waiting a little.

Rather than using force to coerce, he preferred to use power to pressure, making people agree willingly.

Just half an hour of conversation was enough for Ross to know how to land Gion.

From Gion's speech, he could tell she was a very simple person—her daily life revolved solely around training to get stronger and honing her swordsmanship.

The only romantic experience she'd ever had was being relentlessly pursued by Kake, which was hardly a normal experience.

Facing a Gion with only that background, Ross didn't actually need to do much. All he had to do was use the conversation to break down Gion's inner prejudice against the Celestial Dragons, then lay out the current situation for her and let her choose from the options he gave. She would inevitably lean toward the outcome Ross wanted.

The key to this lay in the three choices Ross offered.

On the surface, he gave her three options, but what he really wanted was only the last one.

If he'd only given Gion the last option, she would inevitably develop a rebellious mentality, and things might fall apart.

But if he gave her three choices, Gion's experience as a Marine would make her subconsciously pick from among the three, rather than stepping outside them to negotiate terms.

In that case, Gion would almost certainly choose the last one.

If, under these circumstances, Gion still picked the second option, it would either prove she trusted Kake's character, or that in her heart, Ross was even worse than Kake.

Either way, Ross wouldn't show mercy. After forcibly tasting the freshness, he would send Gion to hell.

Two future Admiral Candidates were valuable, but there were too many future powerhouses who hadn't yet risen. Ross really didn't lack one or two.

"Right here?"

Gion said hesitantly, but her hand, which had been pinching her clothes, unconsciously relaxed.

From the moment she agreed to the third option, she already knew what would happen.

She had only ever focused on getting stronger, but that didn't mean she was clueless about matters between men and women at twenty years old.

She had also fantasized about what her future partner might be like.

But she never imagined it would be a Celestial Dragon...

"Right here. Is that not okay?"

Ross asked in confusion, as if he didn't understand what Gion was worried about.

"But..."

Gion bit her lip, her gaze unconsciously drifting toward Stella and the female CP0 agent. Who did something like this with other people around?

"Is there a problem?"

Ross frowned and asked, as if he completely didn't grasp Gion's meaning.

He was willing to trust Gion, but not enough to gamble with his life.

At the very least, with Zany present, even if Gion suddenly attacked and killed someone, she could be quickly subdued. That was his own safeguard.

"Fine..."

Gion opened her mouth, but in the end, she said nothing.

This was her first time too, and she had never imagined such a scene before.

Maybe for a Celestial Dragon, this kind of scene was normal?