Chapter 53

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Chapter 53

Title: Discussion and Conviction...

…

*sigh* "There is no need to sugarcoat things," said Reiju. "We both know you aren't worried about my feelings."

"As an authority on myself, I would disagree with that statement. I actually do care what you think about me and what your feelings might be about any situation." Max smirked. "After all, I plan to make you my subordinate, and it's very important to keep you satisfied."

"I thought you were smart? But it seems I was mistaken," Reiju chuckled amusingly. "Keeping someone like me with a poison ability close to you? That's the height of stupidity."

"Well, who knows, it might be kinda stupid." Max shrugged before his relaxed posture turned into a sharp one. This instinctively made Reiju on guard, and by his smirk, he knew that. "But we have different perspectives on things. I will do something even more stupid and allow you to poison me one time and I promise to not harm you in any way."

Reiju thought about this for a second, tasting the soup that Max had brought her. "Just when I think you can't be more stupid. You blew all of my expectations, and I do not mean that in a good way either."

"Well, there is a small catch on this deal though," Max informed her while making a tiny sign with his thumb and pointing finger. "If you fail the assassination attempt, then you will have to agree to make a carry my child within you. Judge might have not been the wisest man out there, but his work on genetics was nothing short of a miracle."

*cough* This caught her by surprise and made her spill out a mouthful of soup on the sheets. "You know there are better ways to get a girl. Actually, now that I am your prisoner, you could just force me to-"

"Do I seem like an animal to you?" He interrupted her, a serious look adorned his face. "I am not a good guy. I kill and massacre for my goals. Hell, I even kill women without even blinking or losing a night of sleep if they get on my way. Yet rape? I will never do something like that. I was raised better."

Reiju was surprised at his quick refusal and for the first time since meeting him, she smirked for real. "Raised better? I wonder what kind of parents were needed to raise someone like you?"

"Definitely not the kind you are thinking," Max smirked back and sat down on a chair, making himself more comfortable. "My parents were good people, religious too, though not too much to force it down my throat. While my family was rich in love, we were poor in money."

As Max was saying that, he looked at Reiju with an honest look. "Why were bad people rich, but my parents poor? Those kinds of thoughts would plague my mind, even though I never said them out loud as a kid. My parents used to say that if you do good deeds, then God would return it twice."

She was intrigued by his story, after all, Max had all she had ever wanted. A good and helpful family, yet he wanted what she always had, wealth.

"I acted as a good person and did all I could, my only wish was for my family to live a happy life and have everything they wanted. I wanted my siblings to get the chance to go to a good college and be given the chance to chase their dreams." As Max kept talking his hand clenched. "Yet even though we were all good things, why weren't good things happening to us? Well, long story short, one day I got fed up and you know what I did? I swore at God."

He leaned back on the chair and his previous smirk was back. "Can you guess what happened after that?... Nothing… there was no divine punishment, nor did the devil come to offer me under his servitude. Absolutely nothing, my life didn't get worse, nor did it get better. Why didn't God or the Devil do anything? That simple question led me to a realization. Why should I pray to God or the Devil? If I didn't like something, there was no divine power that would magically come to help. Instead, I took matters into my own hands."

"So this is where you came from? It is… unexpected." Reiju was baffled by him, but at the same time could understand his decisions.

"If I don't like something I change it, and if someone gets in my way, I destroy them," Max concluded. "Pretty boring right? There is no tale of revenge, no kingdom fell in my wake, my parents didn't have some kind of hidden heritage. Nothing was special about me."

"But it's different now isn't it?" She asked. "It is invertible, meaning you are special now."

He didn't say anything and only smirked before getting up. "I will let you come to your decision. If you attempt to poison me, then that will be your acceptance to carrying my child."

As Max walked away, Reiju was left with more questions than answers. He was way more complex than she had expected, before to her there was only bad or good. Her family was evil, so was Max, that was there was all to it. But this now showed her a new perspective on things. Was it his fault for the world turning him into who he was? 

Things for the people he killed would have turned better if Max didn't exist or he had made different choices before turning into the ruthless man she knew now. Should he have chosen to live a painful life? A life of poverty? Would someone let the family he loved suffer? 

....

As Max went outside, Raynare was waiting for him outside of Reiju's room. He saw her and smiled. "Did you hear everything?"

"Yes, and I don't care what you are or were in the past." She nodded in understanding, then her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "But what did you say to her about children? Are you already cheating on me? It hasn't even been a week since we got together."

"Hahahahah!" Max laughed as they walked alongside each other. "Reiju is replaceable, and you are not. Remember that Raynare. Also, who knows how things with her will develop, but I want my children to have the chance to become the strongest in the world if they wanted. Though I can't hold their hands through life, the least I can do is help them on the journey."

"You are already thinking about kids?" Raynare chuckled. "Don't tell me you want to be an eighteen-year-old father?"

"What? No way! I wanna have a free life for a while longer. These are all things that won't happen for at least a decade." Max refuted her. 

She nodded and they walked in silence, he was thinking about his next moves while she thought about how her children with Max would look. She would like them to have her purple eyes. 

…

In Marineford, Sengoku was in his office as he read some documents and frowned. The three Admirals and Garp were sitting on the couches.

Kizaru was trimming his nails, while Aokiji had his eye mask on and leaning back seeming to be asleep. Akainu was as serious as always and Garp had a bag of donuts in his hands and kept munching down on them. 

"You seemed stressed, Sengoku?" Asked Garp nonchalantly.

"Yeah, and your grandson is half the cause of that," Sengoku replied snidely. "Taking down a Warlord of the Sea? That's bound to create a lot of chaos all especially if we had been even a little late in the cover-up."

"Bahahahaha!! I knew Luffy had it in him." The old man wasn't bothered and just kept eating donuts. "Also it isn't like any of us would care if some second-rate scum was wiped off the face of the earth."

*sigh* "That isn't the problem, our reputation is on the line here." Sengoku shook his head. "Also this kingdom take over that Bear D. Max is doing. He is still one of our own on paper, and while he has a good reputation. The higher-ups feel uncomfortable with him doing what he has been doing lately."

"Ugh! Don't remind me," Garp made an unpleasant face. "Max, that bastard. I had him on my ship for a whole week and even then I couldn't understand what kind of guy he was. But one thing is for sure, he learns fast as hell, and even while I beat and almost killed him multiple times doing training… I wanted to beat the bad outta him, but… well…"

"What?" asked Sengoku, feeling like his old friend was hiding something. 

Garp opened his mouth wanting something, but he closed it again. "Nothing…"

This made the Fleet Admiral even more nervous. Since when did Garp keep secrets? Even Dragon being his son is a secret in nothing but name, most high-ranking officials knew this already. 

Pigs would start flying before Garp was able to keep a secret for long.

…