I Never Asked for Your Trust

Its dark, bright eyes widened in panic. Flame Flower tried to move away, but its feet seemed nailed to the small boat, unable to move an inch.

What is meant to be will be; what is meant to be will be.

After all these years, Flame Flower, who had long since come to understand many of life's lessons, took a deep breath, turned around, and teased...

"Aged? I don't see it at all. Your appearance, voice, and smile are exactly the same as when we first met thirty-eight years ago."

"I'm the only old woman who's getting old. What you said back then was true after all. The God Tree that can bring eternal life and great power, that's your real strength, Four Emperors."

Now over fifty, with her physical functions declining, Flame Flower knew that even at her peak, she wouldn't be a match for Uchiha Huayue a single move.

Moreover, with his aging body and mind, he was completely incapable of fighting to the death with his opponent.

"Why be so reserved? We're old friends who've spent time together, why be so afraid?"

Island Cloud slowly lowered the cloud ladder. Her familiar smile and the pure white haori fluttering in the wind made Flame Flower extremely wary.

"How do I know that you didn't come here to offer Amazon Lily as a sacrifice to the God Tree?"

"Amazon Lily is Pirate Kingdom. Even if it disappears from the world without a sound, it won't attract the attention of the World Government World Government or its non-member countries."

"There's no better target than here, is there? Uchiha Huayue ..."

Flame Flower's stern questioning made him chuckle, and spiritual particles gathered behind him as he gracefully sat on the throne.

"No, except for the initial stage of planting the God Tree, when it needs the genes of flesh and blood to build the gene pool, the God Tree is not interested in flesh and blood and life at other times."

What the God Tree is interested in is only the life essence of this planet, that is, the special power unique to this planet.

"Then why did you come to Amazon Lily? What is your purpose? If you don't answer honestly, I'll risk my life to never let you get any closer!"

Faced with Flame Flower's death wish, the corners of her mouth turned up even higher, and Huayue mocked mercilessly.

"If risking one's life were useful, then it should be Rocks standing here right now. It's better to calm down. Flame Flower, I'm just here to do something, not to sacrifice Amazon Lily."

During the conversation, an empty syringe was thrown over. Seeing that Flame Flower looked confused, Huayue then began to explain.

"I just need your blood, or more precisely, your Lineage Factor. This should be easy for you; you won't refuse, will you?"

Forced by the unpredictable madman before her, Flame Flower pondered for a moment, then decisively pulled out a vial of Lineage Factor and threw the syringe back.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Time cannot withstand the erosion of youth. No matter how beautiful your youth is, it will eventually fade away. If you saw your current appearance twenty years ago, you probably wouldn't be able to accept it."

Upon hearing this, Flame Flower reacted like a cat with its fur standing on end, and couldn't help but roar angrily.

"You bastard! Do you think everyone is an immortal monster like you?! Get out of the Calm Belt right now and never show your face in front of me again!"

Sure enough, mentioning age in front of women always pierces their fragile and helpless self-esteem.

"This is how you treat old friends you meet again. It's disheartening. Oh well, I hope that twenty years from now you'll still be as lively and energetic as you are now."

His casual, sarcastic remarks were filled with a sense of melancholy about the passage of time.

Her once striking features and radiant beauty have faded into the past.

"Wait! Uchiha Huayue, have you seen three little girls? One of them has black hair..."

Flame Flower, clinging to her last hope, asked, only to be met with a slight shake of her head, as if she knew nothing about it.

"You really haven't seen them?"

"You suspect me of lying? What good would it do me to deceive you? Besides, deceiving the weak is a worthless thing."

The pleasure of being strong lies in informing the weak of all the information and then taking the opportunity to enjoy their struggles.

Deception is itself a struggle of the powerless, although the consequences of such struggle can sometimes be quite astonishing, especially when the other party chooses to believe it and their actions are laughable.

The most typical example is a Foolish Lord who was completely swindled out of the entire country.

"Hey, where did those kids go? Hey, you accept my stuff, but on the way, do me a favor: finding the Boa Sisters is my responsibility."

"A dignified Four Emperors who roams this vast sea, surely he can't even manage something as simple as finding a few people!"

Flame Flower's face was filled with inexplicable mockery, while Huayue smiled and shook her head slightly.

"A clumsy attempt at provocation, but considering that there are fewer and fewer old friends on this sea, I can keep an eye out for them for you."

Farewell, and I hope that twenty years from now you will still be as energetic as you are now.

As the Island Cloud drifted by, two sneaky little heads peeked out from the white clouds. After noticing the Flame Flower below, they grinned wickedly.

"Yamato, what do you think is the relationship between that aunt downstairs and Brother Huayue?"

"Wife? Mistress? Geisha? Who knows! These things are all the same, my bastard bull-headed Gorilla Pops was the same!"

Bang bang bang...

After a sharp reprimand, several large bumps appeared on the heads of both Yamato and Hiyori. Huayue, expressionless, began to reprimand them.

"Don't get too close to Citrus. What's the Observation Haki? Have you even cultivated your first strand of chakra?"

"Ugh! Big brother is so mean. The guy whose secret was exposed is so lame."

Yamato, couldn't help but complain, Hiyori nodded in agreement.

"If our eldest brother continues to act so irresponsibly, he'll lose our trust, our trust..."

"But I have never told you that I want you to trust me, have I?"

Yamato and Hiyori, who had been screaming and clutching their heads, stopped and looked at the person they had been calling their older brother. They felt a sense of bewilderment they had never experienced before.

"Trust and reliance are the same thing, which is the behavior of the weak. You don't need it."

"I only told you to come with me, I never asked you to trust me. By the way, you can completely put your trust in me back, and maybe you can give me some surprises."

The two looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

"That's so profound, I don't understand!"

"You don't need to understand what I'm saying, just keep it in mind. Follow me, we're about to set off."

The aimless clouds drifted across the azure sea, unaware of where they would land next, seemingly adrift in the world.