"Oh?"
Stussy was a little surprised, though it was hardly unexpected.
If they hadn't come to cause her trouble, they had probably come to invite her.
What she hadn't expected was that this young stranger would be the leader of a powerful faction.
She had hidden in the first half of the Grand Line for years without being discovered. Anyone who could find her Island commanded considerable resources.
What puzzled her even more was how she had been found.
It would have been understandable if the two on the other Island had been discovered. But someone had found her and gone straight to her Headquarters. She had no idea where she had slipped up.
With her surveillance of both Islands and her years of experience, she was certain she would have noticed any intelligence agents.
Yet nothing of the sort had happened.
That was the most frightening part.
There had been no warning at all.
"Looks like I can't refuse."
Stussy could tell that the man before her was gentle on the surface but ruthlessly domineering underneath.
He wanted her to join him, even though he already had Doctor Ian, who possessed the same technology she did.
Vegapunk was dead. Stussy knew that if she refused, there was only one outcome: death.
So she had no reason to refuse.
Stussy knew when to yield. She wasn't about to make trouble for herself, nor did she ask any questions.
She was nearly fifty, after all, and her son had yet to grow up.
As a mother, some compromises were necessary.
Besides, this might not be a bad thing.
She couldn't stay on this little island forever.
Even if she could, her son couldn't.
Suddenly, a figure burst in.
Seeing a stranger standing across from his mother, he thought the man was