"However you look at it, the two of them have made their intentions pretty clear."
"After everything you went through together back then, you really don't feel even a little tempted?"
Ochoku glanced at Miss Bakkin. "Heh. You think they care about old times?"
"They want to win me over now because they're fighting everyone else for supremacy."
"These old bones of mine can't take much more of that."
"The reason I chose to live in seclusion back then instead of putting to sea again like they did..."
"Was that I never wanted to get caught in that kind of struggle again."
The fall of the Rocks Pirates had left a deep impression on Ochoku.
From that moment on, he had wanted no part in any more fighting.
If the Chris Pirates had not attacked the Pudora Kingdom, and if Ochoku had not remembered how well the kingdom had treated him,
he would never have stepped in.
Ochoku narrowed his eyes slightly and continued, "Following either of them would be dangerous."
"To them, I'd be nothing more than a useful tool."
"If another war that shakes the world breaks out, I don't want to live through it again!"
Miss Bakkin fell silent for a few seconds, then let out a long breath. "I understand."
"If the Chris Pirates hadn't come to attack the Pudora Kingdom, I think you would have stayed in seclusion forever."
"I believe you could have gone on living this quiet life."
"If Linlin and Kaido knew how you felt, I'm sure they'd understand too."
"Why don't you... tell them yourself?"
Ochoku immediately waved a hand. "I don't want anything more to do with them."
"Let them do as they please!"
Ochoku's position could not have been clearer. He had no intention of getting dragged into