Chapter 113: My Version of Truth

A/N: Chapters in advance in Patreòn

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Chapter 113: My Version of Truth

***

Two weeks passed after my discussion with Big Mom and it didn't take too long for everything between me and her to be set up. The wedding will be in two weeks and quite a lot of people have been invited, especially those from the underworld and a couple of CP-0 agents.

On my part, I only invited my close crew and the marines who work under me. I laid back in my chair and looked at the ceiling of my office and thought about what was coming to be. I sensed Gion right outside my door but didn't call her in, if she wanted to come then she would. 

*knock* *knock*

"Come in," I said, intending to let her in. After all, I had already let her wait outside if we both knew that I could sense her outside my door. This was more of a power play than anything else, just subconsciously showing people, I was in charge now and then. These things need to be reminded now and then. Or people start treating their captain like Luffy's crew treats him. Sanji, Usopp, and Robin betrayed him, that is like 30% of the crew, and they mostly did so because they thought he was incompetent.

Sure they had worded it differently, but that was essentially it. The Strawhat Crew didn't have confidence in Luffy to make the right decision, which was the bare basics a leader should be trusted to do.

As Gion opened the door I immediately noticed that she was troubled by something. I could guess what it was, she already knew I was marrying Pudding, an Admiral marrying a Yonko's daughter? That sounded crazy and it was. Akainu had been calling me on my transponder snail but I have been ignoring it. 

I didn't intend to keep this a secret, even if I wanted to I can't. My subordinates numbered in the thousands, I wasn't naive enough to not know that there were some spies amongst them. Though I didn't know who all the spies were, that doesn't matter that much now.

I didn't trust anyone else, to begin with. Even Raynare and Negan, who I trusted the most wouldn't be able to out swindle me. I kept a cautious eye on them too.

"Sir…" Gion addressed me respectfully, which meant that she had something important to say. "Do you really want to marry a Yonko's daughter? If you do so your reputation will be in the mud."

*sigh* "Gion, do you know why Aokiji died?" It was time to drop some truth bombs on her now. I will shock her system a little and see what she will choose and I will decide after that if I should kill her. But for now, she must not feel even the slight trace of killing or malicious intent for me.

"I don't know what happened, but I am sure you didn't kill him," she muttered. I noticed her suspicions starting to resurface again when I had mentioned Aokiji. 

"Well, your suspicions have been right. I did kill him." 

Her body shook as soon as I said those words and her eyes widened. It seemed like she wanted to say something but her mouth closed and opened without saying a word. 

I looked her straight in the eye and continued explaining. "He wanted to kill me when I was injured in the Marineford War. Can you guess who gave the order?"

"I -I don't know," she answered absentmindedly, Gion was too shocked to think straight.

"Oh, I am sure you do," I smirked knowingly at her. She was smart enough to figure these things out herself. But I won't let her go and dig too much as she might see what really happened that day and how I had sneakily attacked Aokiji behind his back. "The World Government doesn't like me too much due to some things that don't benefit them. Of course, I would have to look out for myself, so this is a threat to them. If they do something, now I have a connection with one of the Yonko and I will join them."

That was a lie, I wouldn't join the Big Mom Pirates unless I became their leader, which would never happen. 

But Gion didn't know that or anything else about me that much. She didn't know my end goal either. As long as people don't know what I want, they will have a hard time predicting what I will do in the future.

I didn't let Gion speak, because if she did I knew she would say only rebuttals. So instead I said once again. "I am not the bad guy here. I will still work for the Marines as I still believe in justice and doing what is right. But I am not stupid enough to have a death wish either. You make your own choice with the information you have."

"So-"

"Don't worry, I won't harm you in any way even if you want to leave. My path won't be an easy one." I interrupted her. 

I had said a lot of lies in the conversation, but this had all been pre-planned. For the time she had been with me I hadn't harmed one civilian and helped as many people as I could. I hadn't reinstalled King Riku back on the throne. 

But people already know of Doffy's bad side as after I killed Sugar, every puppet transformed from her Devil Fruit turned back to normal. I was now just reinstalling the order and letting my merchants from the other islands settle themselves here too. I didn't steal any money from the Royal Treasure either, which contained all of Doflamingo's riches. Instead, I was looking at playing the long game here.

"I need to think about this a little." Gion left, confused. But not realizing that during the conversation she had barely even said anything. Because of what most people don't know, most of the time the loudest person is perceived as the one on the right.

By talking all the time I used a tactic a lot of salesmen used. They talk so much that at the end of the day you buy whatever they are selling as they also give you a sense of urgency in the matter.

Gion was strong, but she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and with no one around to refute what I had said. Her decision was guided towards one that would benefit me. Though she can still choose to get away from me, nothing is guaranteed in this world. But… I will kill her if she does that. I gave her the illusion of choice here, but in reality, she doesn't have much to choose from, either join me or she will be killed.

Of course, I worded it differently, so she will never see it that way. After all, threatening people to join me would only create backstabbers. I would have to be dumb or very arrogantly stupid to do that. Big Mom did something similar to Capone Bege, and look where that ended up in the main story. That mistake almost cost her her life. 

I had learned from Big Mom and Oden just how doing stupid things costs you in the world.

***

Two weeks passed and by now I had arrived on Wholecake island and unlike last time, Perospero was there to give us a grand welcome. Creating big statues and staircases with his Devil Fruit. Trees sang and animals swirled around me and my close crew. It felt like I was in a Disney movie.

"Perorin~ welcome to Wholecake island," Perospero bowed towards us as a performer would to his audience.

Well, not it was time for my performance to begin.

***********

A/N: I wanted to show things more from Max's perspective and want he thinks during times when he manipulates people. Because I noticed that sometimes some of the readers took what he said at face value… don't do that, we saw that the way he talked to Gion, over 90% of what he said were lies. Convincing lies with a heavy basis on truth that makes them believable and true to anyone but himself, but they are still lies.

P.S: Also by what I mean by lies heavy basis on truth is that everyone believes Max killed Aokiji by battling him. Because they base that on what they know. When in reality Aokiji was willing to let Max go and was instead backstabbed by Max. So only due to the details only Max knows does the truth become visible.