Chapter 15: The True World's Strongest!
"W-What?!" Bullet, who had just quickly flipped back to his feet, heard garp's words. His whole body instinctively froze there, and his pupils trembled.
"Betrayed by adults in childhood, betrayed by friends when you grew up, and now even Roger, the first to truly accept you, the first to defeat you, is gone. You who have lost your fighting goal, you who have lost your direction in life..." "You must be very lonely and lost."
garp didn't make any move to pursue him, but stood there pitying this child who was walking down a path of no return. Bullet, who once yearned for honor, valued his comrades, and even found a life goal after meeting Roger, had been relentlessly ravaged by reality time and time again, forcing him to become who he is now. A man who only believes in himself, lives only for himself, and is only willing to face everything alone. The current Bullet is just a bewildered monster!
"Cough cough, y-you..." Bullet trembled all over, completely stunned, even neglecting to wipe away the bloodstains from his mouth. He felt that every word garp spoke was crueler, heavier, and more painful than that punch just now, almost like each sentence was hitting his heart hard. It was a feeling like something buried deep inside was being brutally dug out and exposed to the sun.
"Shut up!!!" Bullet roared hysterically at garp. At the same time, he went berserk again, all the Power in his body surging like a tsunami, desperately charging forward.
"You know, child, this old man truly hopes that you can meet someone who can accept you again." "But right now, you need to calm down first!" Along with garp's heartfelt words. One large and one small, but equally dark and hard fists, each carrying Haki and Power compressed to the extreme, collided head-on in mid-air.
[Boom——————] Blue-black Air Wave and pure black Air Wave squeezed against each other in the field, but when the pure black Air Wave overwhelmed the other side like a mountain, a dazzling light exploded instantly. This time, the Earth beneath their feet could no longer hold on. The entire Ground was completely lifted up like waves under the intense pressure. Buildings and corpses alike. Even Tree Root were uprooted in the storm and heavily plunged into the distant Grand Line.
Two days later. The sound of a Telephone Bug rang in the Moon Chamber, deep within Pangea Castle in Mary Geoise.
"Lord Imu, Douglas Barrett has been personally defeated by garp and imprisoned in 'Infinite Hell' of Impel Down Prison."
Imu listened and, without any surprise, calmly replied, "Good, then do as previously instructed."
"Yes, Your Imperial Will!" He placed the Microphone back on the Telephone Bug's back.
Imu had the Visual Den Den Mushi on the other side connect to Impel Down Prison's Monitoring System. Soon, a high-definition virtual image appeared in the void before him. The scene inside was Bullet, with his hands and feet locked, lying on his back on the cold Ground. At this time, he was wearing a black and white Prison Uniform, but his face was bruised and swollen, without any semblance of his former self.
"This guy is a good seed." Imu's Eyes were also full of appreciation for Talent. But he also knew that the other party's Personality was too extreme, and if he didn't train him properly, it would be really difficult to use him well. One careless move and he could hurt himself. Fortunately, he was a Transmigrator and understood what Bullet was thinking. In addition, his own Strength and power were strong enough, so it wouldn't hurt to try using this peerless double-edged sword. Just like 'Golden Lion' Shiki, he definitely couldn't use him directly right now. He would have to lock him up for at least two years to temper his Personality. No matter how good a sword is, it has to be obedient.
Just then, Bullet in the high-definition projection suddenly spoke. "Who's there?" Although lying on the Ground, he couldn't see the person outside the Cell. But the existence of Observation Haki still allowed him to sense the other party's aura. And it was very strong.
"I represent the Celestial Dragons and the World Government, as for my name, you don't need to know it."
"Hmph, Celestial Dragons? Are you a lackey of that trash, what a pathetic guy." Bullet sneered as he looked at the dark Ceiling. But the shadow outside the Cell showed no intention of refuting or scolding him, which surprised him a bit.
"The Big Shot above asked me to come and ask you, are you willing to accept this?"
Bullet frowned, didn't speak, and dealt with the other party with silence. The shadow didn't mind his Attitude and continued to speak. "You were defeated by Roger, Roger is dead, and there is no longer any possibility of surpassing him. This time you were defeated by garp, but he is still alive. Are you willing to waste your time in this dark depths of the Grand Line, wasting your Talent every moment?"
Rage appeared on Bullet's face, how could he be willing, how could he be willing!
"What, from what you're saying, the Celestial Dragons want to release me and then have me be their dog?"
"Do you still remember your Ambition?" the shadow asked. World's Strongest! These four big characters appeared in Bullet's heart immediately.
"The World Government is the controller of the highest Power on this Planet." "Here, you have the best training Resource, the most top experts. Don't you want to personally challenge a Navy Admiral, or fight garp again in the Future?" "Here can even give you the biggest wars, so you will never lack battles, and most importantly, these are all legal." "For you, isn't this the best Shortcut to becoming the World's Strongest?"
Every word spoken by the shadow echoed continuously in the Cell, and Bullet's pupils subconsciously flickered. Because he felt that it sounded quite reasonable. It's just that he, who had developed a habit of no longer trusting anyone and only willing to fight alone, found it difficult to convince himself to join the World Government and obey the Celestial Dragons' Order.
"You are hesitating." "And the point you are struggling with is having to obey the Celestial Dragons you despise, right?" Bullet continued to remain silent, or rather, he was tacitly agreeing.
"Then what if I tell you, you only need to obey one person, an Order from a man who can be called the truly World's Strongest in the true sense, how about that?"
"What, the true World's Strongest!" Bullet was shocked.
"Don't joke around, how could the World Government have such a person? Since Roger's death, the only man in the Grand Line who is qualified to compete for the title of World's Strongest is only that Whitebeard with monstrous Strength!"
"Hehe, then let me tell you, whether it's Whitebeard in your mouth, or garp who just defeated you, or even Roger before, none of them are a match for that great man, and they are far inferior. How about it, are you interested in seeing for yourself?" The shadow laughed.
"That's impossible!" Bullet lying on the Ground said through gritted Teeth.
"Whether it's possible or not, you can see for yourself, but the prerequisite is that you have to get out of here."
"Okay!" "I promise, release me, if there really is such a person, I am willing to join the World Government!"
"That's very good, but, you still can't come out yet, because you don't understand the preciousness of Freedom now, and you won't cherish all of this. Enjoy the feeling of time dragging on like years, I'll come again in about a year or two..."
Silence returned to the Cell again, but Bullet's heavy breathing continued for a long time, and a pair of bloodshot Eyes were full of unwillingness and Rage.
Outside, as the shadow turned around, a staff member in a black suit walked over and respectfully lowered his head to ask. "Sir, is it okay to remove the 'Soundproof Domain'?"
"Mm." He looked around. He saw a faint purple Aura in the air covering Bullet's Cell and the Space a few meters outside the door.
(End of Chapter)