Right Here

After talking with Gion for nearly half an hour, Ross had gained a rough understanding of her situation and completely put her at ease.

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

Gion's current strength was roughly comparable to pirates with bounties of 100 to 200 million. She had mastered the Marine Rokushiki quite well, while her Observation Haki and Armament Haki had only just awakened. As a swordswoman, she had also only recently grasped the Flying Slash.

Gion had only just turned twenty. All in all, her future looked promising.

With sufficient resources, she had a chance of reaching A-Class strength within one or two years. If she obtained a powerful Devil Fruit, that speed could be even faster.

Beyond that was no longer a realm attainable through talent and hard work alone. Without some kind of cheat, every improvement would require a life-and-death battle against top-tier experts before there was any hope of advancing further.

"How is your relationship with Kake?" Ross suddenly asked.

"Average. Although he's my only rival at the Training Camp, I don't think anyone would like a lecherous creep who sexually harasses them every day."

At the mention of Kake, Gion's face showed undisguised disgust.

Ever since she had first met Kake, he had relentlessly pestered her. Before Ross emerged from the command room earlier, Kake had once again proposed to her.

Gion was thoroughly sick of that shameless behavior from someone she barely had any relationship with.

"Gion."

Hearing Ross suddenly say her name, Gion's relaxed body instinctively tensed.

Here it comes!

Although she did not know why Ross had been willing to chat with her, after talking for so long, it was time to get to the point.

Ross's willingness to talk to her had kept her from being as nervous as she had been at the beginning, and it had already left her with a good impression of him.

If his demands were not excessive, Gion felt that she probably would not refuse.

"I'll give you three choices."

"Please, go ahead."

Gion's pretty face tightened slightly as she sat up straighter.

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

"First, you continue being a Marine. If I remember correctly, Marine Headquarters assigned you to serve aboard Vice Admiral Tsuru's ship, learning and gaining experience under her. If you choose this path, after this Buster Call, her warship will likely suffer an accident. Without any surprises, only Vice Admiral Tsuru will survive."

As soon as Ross finished speaking in that calm tone, Gion's face turned deathly pale.

His words had made it clear—she would not be able to remain a Marine in the future.

If she continued being a Marine, not only would she be buried at sea, but Vice Admiral Tsuru's subordinates would also all be dragged down with her.

She had yet to report to Vice Admiral Tsuru, so she did not have much emotional attachment to them. Still, she would never do something that was certain to get them killed alongside her.

A Celestial Dragon, after all...

At that moment, Gion no longer held any hope of luck. Just from hearing the first choice, she knew the choices that followed would be difficult as well.

"The second." Ross's voice remained unhurried. "Become my personal CP0. Your growth will follow the standards of a normal CP0."

"However, this choice carries risks, and I can tell you directly. I'll also give Kake three choices. If he chooses either of the first two, you and he will live without interfering with each other."

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

"If he chooses the third, while you choose the second, then I'm sorry. His priority will be above yours. If he makes certain requests, I will not offer you protection, and some things you do not wish to happen may become reality."

"I choose the third!"

Gion pressed her lips together, but she still spoke with absolute resolve.

Ross had laid the threat out in the open, and it was a threat she had no way to refuse.

Choosing the first option meant a direct path to death.

If she chose the second, becoming CP0 was not entirely unacceptable. But if Kake chose the third option, then Ross might hand her over to Kake.

Just imagining that scene made Gion shudder with revulsion.

Compared to that, she would rather accept Ross.

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After all, whether it was status, manner of speaking, or appearance, Ross was far better than the short, fat, lecherous Kake.

If Ross had not given her so many choices, she could never have accepted the third one.

But when several worse possibilities were placed before her, Gion instead felt that becoming Ross's woman was not as bad as she had initially thought.

At the very least, Ross was different from the Celestial Dragons she had imagined. And no matter how she looked at it, she was the one reaching above her station. She was not losing out.

Gion comforted herself internally, her long legs drawing slightly together as she grew incomparably nervous.

"Since you've made your choice, let me see your sincerity." Ross smiled at the corners of his mouth, his gaze openly roaming over the struggling Gion.

He was not in a hurry. Since Gion had agreed, he believed she would do as promised. It was merely a matter of waiting a little longer.

Compared to forcing someone with violence, he preferred using power and influence to pressure them into agreeing willingly.

Just half an hour of conversation had let Ross understand how to win Gion over.

From Gion's manner of speaking, he could tell that she was a very simple person. Her daily life consisted only of training to grow stronger and practicing swordsmanship.

The only romantic experience she had ever encountered was Kake's obsessive pursuit of her, and that absolutely could not be considered normal.

When facing a Gion with only those experiences, Ross did not actually need to do much. He only needed to use conversation to break down her prejudice against Celestial Dragons, then make her current situation clear and let her choose from the options he offered. She would inevitably fall toward the ending Ross wanted.

The key lay in the three choices Ross had provided.

It seemed as though he had given her three choices, but in truth, he only wanted the last one.

If he had given Gion only the final choice, she would inevitably develop a rebellious mindset, and the negotiation might even collapse.

But by giving her three choices, her Marine background would make her subconsciously choose among them rather than step outside the choices and negotiate terms.

That way, Gion would almost certainly choose the last option.

If she still chose the second option under those circumstances, then either it meant she trusted Kake's character, or it meant that, in her heart, Ross was inferior even to Kake.

No matter which it was, Ross would show no mercy. After forcefully tasting her freshness, he would send Gion to hell.

Two future Admiral Candidates were valuable, but there were far too many future powerhouses who had yet to rise. Ross did not lack one or two of them.

"Right here?"

Gion hesitated as she spoke, but the hand clutching the corner of her clothes unconsciously loosened.

From the moment she agreed to the third choice, she had known what would happen.

She only cared about growing stronger, but that did not mean that, at twenty years old, she knew nothing about relations between men and women.

She had also imagined what her future other half might be like.

But she had never imagined that he would be a Celestial Dragon...

"Right here. Is there a problem?"

Ross asked in confusion, as though he did not know what Gion was worried about.

"But..."

Gion pressed her lips together, her gaze unconsciously drifting toward Stella and the female CP0. Who did this sort of thing when there were other people around?

"What's the problem?"

Ross frowned as he asked, seemingly completely unable to understand what Gion meant.

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

At the very least, with Zany present, even if Gion suddenly tried to kill him, Zany could quickly suppress her. That was also Ross's safeguard for himself.

"Alright..."

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

This was her first time too. She had never imagined a scene like this before.

Perhaps, to Celestial Dragons, this kind of scene was normal?

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