Ethan sat across from the five elders and spoke coldly and did not show them respect, "Speak, what do you want from me?"
They don't seem to be bothered by Ethan's actions.
"Okay, let's get to the point." One of the five elders spoke softly. he has a scar on the left side of his face, wears a hat over gray dreadlocks, and holds a walking cane.
"We want the Mercenaries Guild to be affiliated with the World Government." This elder who spoke is bald, with glasses and a white gi. He also holds a samurai sword with him. He is the only one of the five to not wear a black suit or tie, and the only one without facial hair.
Ethan expected something like this, since the Mercenaries Guild quickly gained influence in the world within a short period of time, the Five Elders wanted to quickly seize control of it before it got out of hand. "I refuse, the Mercenary Guild is an independent organization that will never be affiliated with anyone."
"Do not rush to refuse." The person speaking this time is the youngest looking of the Five Elders; he sports blond hair, a beard of the same color, and has a scar on his chest. He also wears his suit with the shirt buttons open, and without a tie. "Isn't the Mercenaries Guild an organization that cares more about money than anything? We will give you many advantages and freedom of action and even give you full rewards for the pirates you capture or kill, unlike the Marines who will not get anything from capturing pirates."
Although Ethan would refuse anyway, he asked earnestly, "What advantage do you have to offer and what are your demands for all of this?"
While they were talking, two maids came in and started serving tea to the five elders and Ethan.
Ethan looked at the tea in his hand and his expression did not change, but he noticed that there was a thick death energy in this tea, which means that inside the tea was poison, and it seemed to be a strong poison.
Ethan drank the tea and acted as if he hadn't noticed the poison in the tea.
'Foolish!' All five elders thought the same thing upon seeing Ethan drinking poison.
They did not expect Ethan to drink what they offered him because people would often be wary of what strangers offered them, especially someone who could not be considered an ally. No, some people will be wary even of what the allies offer them in terms of drink or food.
However, the world government was feeling threatened by the mercenary guild due to their rapid growth and even the guild leader was able to kill Cyrus and Kairi who are considered the strongest of this era. They know that no matter how many advantages they give to Ethan, he will refuse to be subservient to anyone.
"We will allow you to buy or exchange Devil Fruits that the World Government collects as well as powerful weapons, although this is not a huge advantage but your organization will be considered something official and approved by the World Government." This elder is standing and he is a tall and thin bearded man with long white hair without eyebrows.
"In return, we want some members of your guild to provide protection to the Celestial Dragons. Also, your organization must follow and implement our orders, and especially you have to confront the enemies of the World Government if we command you to do so." This elder is bald and has large nevus flammeus spots on his forehead and a large white mustache.
"I refuse. Whatever you are trying to offer I can get myself." Ethan said coldly and was a little annoyed, "I can get Devil Fruits and weapons from the black market or anywhere else or I can get them from capturing pirates and extracting their fortunes."
"I feel like I wasted my time by coming to meet scum like you." Ethan snorted coldly and started walking outside.
After Ethan left, the fleet's admiral looked at the five elders who were quiet even after Ethan called them scum. "He has insulted you. Is it okay to keep quiet about this? He will grow more arrogant and think the world is in his hands if we don't say anything."
"He's a dead man, you don't have to worry about him anymore." The five elders were confident in the poison that was given to Ethan and that Ethan's death was certain.
...
The five elders put poison in Ethan's tea, and although he knew about the poison, he drank it. 'System, can you tell me information about this poison?'
[Slow Death Poison:
When this poison enters the body of a person, its effect will not appear directly, but it will appear gradually in the form of a disease and gradually damage the internal organs. A person who drank this poison would suffer horrible pain for years and then die tragically.]
[There is no cure for this poison in the world of One Piece.]
[The poison will take effect three days from now.]
[Dear host, would you like the system to remove the poison from your body.]
Ethan thought for a moment and then asked, 'System, can you remove the poison at any time?'
[Yes, I can remove it at any time even if the poison inside the body aggravates.]
'So don't remove the poison now. I want to use this poison to refine my internal organs.' Ethan refused to help the system.
[Are you sure you don't want to remove the poison?]
'This is a good opportunity to strengthen my internal organs and gain immunity to some poison, I also remember that in the system store there is a cultivation method that uses toxins to strengthen the body and internal organs so buy that for me.' This cultivation method would allow Ethan to be in his best condition even if his body was poisoned so there would be no worries about facing a strong opponent while he was weak due to the poison.
'If I strengthen my body and internal organs sufficiently, I feel like I will be able to awaken my Devil Fruit.' Ethan walked over to the Marine ship while thinking about making himself stronger.
Although Ethan was sure that by using only his Haki he could be considered the strongest in this science except for Emma, but he still wanted to constantly increase his power.
Ethan also thought of a way to make all his talents rise to the Divine talents but was waiting for the right opportunity to do so.
Only he with the Semi-Divine talent of Armament Haki and Conqueror Haki possessed great strength and his strength increased so fast imagine when all his talents related to fighting would become Divine talents.
Ethan returned to the Marine ship, and after waiting a while, the Fleet Admiral returned as well, and they sailed back to Marineford.
The reason for Ethan's return to Marineford with them is because he promised Tsuru and the marine girls to spend one day with them. He also wants to teach them Haki and Rokushiki techniques.
After they returned to Marineford, Ethan spent two hours shopping with the ten girls and four hours with them in bed and then went to training without delay.
....
....
Two days after Ethan met the five elders.
Paradise.
There were two ships sailing next to each other.
One of these ships belonged to the Kuja pirates and the ship was full of women as expected, while the other ship belonged to another group of pirates.
The Kuja Pirates attacked this pirate ship in order to rob them as they usually do but this time their opponent was unexpectedly very strong.
The present empress of the Kuja held a sword in her hand and tried to stab her opponent with all her might.
However, her sword collided with her opponent's body and no scratch occurred on his body even though she had used Armament Haki.
"Jehahahaha~ I'm the Diamond Body Paran, you won't scratch my body no matter how hard you try." This pirate wasn't famous and he wasn't particularly strong, but a week ago he found a devil fruit allowing his body to turn into diamonds.
"You're the Kuja pirates, aren't you? I heard that the island you live on is only women" Paran licked his lip lustfully as he looked at the empress of the Kuja in front of him, "How about you take me to your island for some fun time?"
"Shut up you scum!" Her eyes were burning with anger as she swung her sword towards his neck.
Unfortunately, his skin was made of diamonds, so her sword did not pierce his neck.
"You are a fierce woman and you need me to teach you a good lesson." Paran showed a fierce smile and then quickly moved towards her and used his diamond shoulder to smash into her stomach.
Stomach acid and blood came out of her mouth and she was thrown out of the ship into the sea.
She didn't eat a devil fruit so she wasn't worried about falling into the sea and she also has her own snake that can take her out of the sea.
But before she fell into the sea, she was caught by a man wearing black clothes and a black mask covering half of his face.
She was surprised that this person was flying, so she looked at the masked man and started asking several questions, "Who are you? How did you appear out of nowhere? How can you fly?"
I was planning to make this fanfic on another website but since Webnovel can be read on PC again I don't think there is a need for that.