Chapter 162 - Chapter 164 (1/2)
Amell and Ginrummy had been inside the office for a couple of hours at this point and discussed the future. Mostly the hours were filled with her expressing her worries in forms of hundreds of question spewed at machine-gun speed that Amell tried his best to answer. She had yet to even show interest in trying her new devil fruit, she was most worried about how she was gonna take over for one of the most powerful pirates in the world. And during this time Amell had been nothing but respectful and kind so she started acting a lot less shy and drawn back when talking to him, she even started addressing him as Amell without staggering in her speech.
”Amell, about Wano, I do not seek to rule as a tyrant. I would very much like a small compact crew instead of a whole country. A crew fits me a lot more.”
”Much like red-haired than? You want a few good loyal men instead of taking over the empire Kaido created.” Amell was drinking whiskey and smoking a cigar, much like a regular crime boss.
”Yes, exactly. You can do with Wano as you see fit, I am not interested in that place at all.”
”Not to worry about that. My third commander has been in your country for a couple of weeks now cleaning up all of Kaido's men. And about Wano, I will not be taking it. They have suffered enough, and there are plenty of decent samurais that can still lead that country in the right direction. After the Gotei has cleaned out the major corruption, we're pretty much leaving that place alone, unless something major happens that will force us to step in again.”
Ginrummy did not doubt his words anymore. She did not trust him completely, which was understandable, but he had shown that he was fully capable of keeping to his word. He had shown her more decent leadership in two hours than Kaido had done in years. This feeling she had that this man could do anything is what made her accept his offer.
”I am impressed, Amell. You have great personal power, and your empire can rival both the Marines and the World Government, and yet, I see less corruption in you than a standard Marine foot-soldier. Why is this?” Ginrummy tiled her head to the side and stared into his eyes. She was no longer afraid to meet the gaze of this man directly.
”Your eyes show you the truths that are lying only at the surface level. You have to look deeper. There is corruption in everything, no one is an exception to that rule. The only difference between me and the Marines, for example, is that I control my corruption. I know what it looks like, and what it seeks, they don't. They allowed corruption to shape them a very long time ago, and now that has become their identity, so on some level, I feel sorry for them.”
Ginrummy showed a disturbed expression and she started thinking back on her life as a Headliner for Kaido. She thought for a second that she had finally found a place where she could be free from deep-rooted corruption, but as Amell said, corruption would be present evermore and it is something everyone has to learn to live with eventually. ”Say, about Whitebeard, what is the deal there? Why is he doing what he is doing? He is going all out for you and I do not understand why.”
”Who knows,” Amell shrugged his shoulders, ”I believe he is trying to stop another annihilation war between two emperors. No matter how long he stands in the way of Big mom, she will never go after him like I did Kaido, and both of them understand that. Both Whitebeard and Big Mom understand that two emperors can not disappear right after another. The New World would go up in flames if such a thing happened. The changes I have in mind for the New World needs the emperors to stabilise it a little longer by themselves.”
”What war is he stopping? Isn't a war brewing between them already?” Ginrummy couldn't see the benefits in Whitebeard's actions. After all, if Amell wasn't sure, then it would be even less likely that she will understand the reason behind one of the oldest and most pirates in the world.
”I think Whitebeard came to the conclusion that I was coming for everything Kaido owned, and he didn't want me to go annihilate Big Mom as well should she interfere in that. As I said, the New World can not lose two emperors back to back. It would take a very long time to settle the chaos that would come from losing two emperors in about four or five days. Whitebeard doesn't want that chaos in his sea, or at least that is my guess of his reasons.”
”Pretty good guess, I think. I have a lot to learn if I want to survive as an emperor.”
Amell smiled and nodded before saying, ”At least you have one of the most powerful devil fruits in the world. With some proper Gotei beatdown training, you will rival Big Mom in no time.”
”Ginrummy pouted her lips cutely, ”So, not Whitebeard or Shanks than? Will I ever catch up to them?” Her pouting became stronger when she Amell's teasing smile.
”Whitebeard is not impossible to surpass, especially if you train with my commanders. But still, that boy holds world-destroying powers and the climb to surpass him will not be easy for you. About Shanks, forget it for now. Considering Shanks is my personal disciple, don't try to set him as a goal, for now, girl.” Amell's smile turned into a burst of hearty laughter.
Ginrummy's hands came slamming down on his desk with incredible ferocity. ”WHAT! Red-haired Shanks is your disciple!?” her body stood erect while she stared un-blinkingly at him.
”Oh, yes. A very long time ago when Shanks was still an immature kid I saw great potential brewing in him, so I appeared before him and offered to train him, and him only.”
”What did he say? Was he an emperor back then?” Ginrummy's mouth had the greatest ”O” shape he had ever seen in his long life.