Chapter 37

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Chapter 37

Title: Friends or Enemies?

…

Blackbeard spent a couple more days in Max's castle, and ever since the beginning, there were no guards, nor any restraint on him. The Pirate could move about and leave whenever he wanted.

Still, though, this made Blackbeard feel even more uncomfortable. There was something about Max that made even him feel strange like the kid knew more than he should. It was an instinct that kept buzzing on the back of his head.

"Ah, I don't like you at all." Said Blackbeard as soon as he saw Max walking about.

Max on the other hand only smirked. "I understand, I don't like you either."

'Why did he save me then?' Wondered Blackbeard.

"Well, I saved you because you seemed useful. Also, you dying here would be a shame, you had a lot of potential." Max said as if reading Blackbeard's mind. "So go and do your own thing, you don't owe me. But we will be working together from now on, in case you wanna do something huge, give me a heads up so I could turn it in my favor."

"You could at least pretend like you wanna join my crew," Blackbeard complained. "But instead you make it seem like you are in for the benefits."

"Yeah… because I am in it for the benefits." Said Max as he walked off, Blackbeard's face looked like he had swallowed a lemon.

He never expected to meet someone like Max, but there were all kinds of people in the world. Plus the way Max talked made it seem like he already knew everything and could take care of Blackbeard whenever he wanted. That pissed off the pirate, yet he couldn't do anything at the moment.

Something was strange, he could feel it. No one even seemed to look at him with fear. Not even the guards here were acting normal, they didn't treat Blackbeard like a pirate at all. Instead, they just looked at him with indifference.

This place felt so sickening, like everything here was fake. Both the people and place itself seemed so hollow, this was a feeling Blackbeard had never felt before. Though he could sense it, every time he turned his back, the people who were indifferent when in front of him… would look at him intently a soon as he turned his back.

Max on the other hand always had a nonchalant feel about him. As if the world around him was just a guitar that he could pull the strings of and it would dance to its tunes. 

Blackbeard didn't know what Max's intentions in saving him were. But one thing was for sure, this place was creepy as hell.

…

-Max POV-

Strange… that should be the word that Blackbeard should be thinking of the most right now. Having everyone act weird around him should also raise his mental awareness that not everything was as it should be here. Psychological manipulation can only start after convincing him that we are on the same side, at least that was what he needed to believe.

Still, though, I do genuinely want to build up a good relationship with the man. He was a winner at the end of the day and a future Yonko. His morality didn't matter, neither did it matter if Luffy killed Blackbeard later on. But what truly mattered in the current situation was how useful this reckless pirate could be to me.

I won't join the man in his crew, but that didn't mean that we couldn't be secret allies. Helping each other in a time of need, while at the same time keeping our distance so no one would associate us as being allies.

Of course, I couldn't say that at the moment. But I am shifting his mind towards that direction. Controlling someone like him is dangerous, after all, if he found out then I would be a goner. Everything that I had tried to build for so long would disappear. Still, though, I had to take this risk, because the World Government won't let someone like me who came out of nowhere just take over a country.

As far as I knew, there were no records of me. It seemed like this body just came out of nowhere, still, though, that's also something that I will look into later. But for now, it would be useless since I don't know where to even start with zero clues. Also, there were more important things to handle.

I walked along the castle and went into the basement, where Kureha greeted me with a casual wave as she sat down in a chair. She was guarding a door with steel reinforcements and chains binding it. The almost 140-year-old grandma (or was she older?) smirked once she saw me. "The young girl can't seem to wake up. Whatever she is doing, I don't think an ounce of human thought is left on her."

That was… regrettable, still though I opened the door, getting rid of all the chains and locks. Once inside, a monstrous bird-like figure laid on the ground, sleeping. Its heavy breath felt like a heavy wind blowing around the room, pushing my hair backward.

"Raynare…" I looked at her regretfully. It had been an overlook on my part. This was my fault, she had been unable to turn back to normal after entering her Awakened form. 

Well, though it's my fault. It doesn't mean that I regretted my decision. She would have died if I hadn't thought of a countermeasure in case Raynare was in a hard battle against an opponent she can't beat.

Still, though, Raynare was too important of an asset to be lost like this. I mean she was the only semi-trustworthy person that I had in this world. Negan was already dead, losing her would equate to me always looking at my back. Especially since I have Blueno and Kaku still on this island. Should I kill them both under the excuse that Blackbeard did it?

I can do so easily, though killing Blueno first would be the best move since he was the one with the Door Door Fruit. Even I can't stop him from escaping if he wanted to.

Suddenly as I was thinking that Raynare opened her eyes and looked at me. Her crow head held nothing familiar about her except her purple eyes, that was the only connection he could see with the previous Raynare. But the animalistic madness in them and the big body made it hard to discern her.

It truly was irritating, she was a physical representation of my failure. I don't like having something being out of the plan, still though, during these last days, I have thought of a couple of ways to turn Raynare back to normal.

"Amazing isn't it?" Kureha added as she offered me to drink from her sake bottle. This was her way of offering me condolences. "She might look like this, but her muscle power and body composition are crazy. Even when Chopper turned into a similar state, he wasn't this strong. Maybe he was too innocent to become a monster like her… no offense was meant in calling her a monster."

"None taken," I reassured her. "Yet, maybe your theory isn't wrong. But we can't act on something without proof."

"Sheesh, stop acting so coldly you brat. No one's gonna act on anything. I can't think of surgery or medicine that could turn this monster back to that cute Ray girl." Kureha frowned. Though she acted tough, I knew that her heart would bleed out for people like this. Raynare also was innocent too, though maybe her hatred for certain people was too strong.

*ROAR* Raynare roared at us. For that split second, while looking at her eyes, annoyance boiled over a little. Even though I was calm on the outside, inwardly I was fuming.

"Raynare… calm down…" 

Immediately, as soon as I said that, I noticed Raynare look at me fearfully and back away. For some reason, she seemed to feel something strange, and then… her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she was knocked out.

Huh?... did I just use Conqueror's Haki?

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