Chapter 588: Pressure, Vegapunk Submits!
After hearing Ryuunosuke's words, Vegapunk fell silent.
He understood.
If he escaped now, he would be found soon anyway.
Lilith's mark was inside his body. The Guardians existed because of that mark. Tracking him through it would be effortless.
And yet, from the very bottom of his heart, Vegapunk did not want to have any contact with Ryuunosuke.
This young captain was terrifying.
Not just in strength, but in mind as well.
None of it felt like something a normal young man should possess.
Worse, the powerful figures who had appeared out of nowhere, along with the crew members Ryuunosuke had clearly recruited for specific purposes, made everything feel pre arranged from the beginning.
That sort of thinking was not the thinking of a friendly business partner.
It was the thinking of a hunter.
"It seems you're still struggling to make a decision, Mr. Vegapunk."
"Fine."
"Let me help you."
"If you don't respond within ten seconds, my people will go all out against you."
"Even if you manage to escape, you'll be badly wounded."
"And when you face the Guardians again…"
"That's going to be a real headache, isn't it?"
Ryuunosuke's voice carried a smile, calm and casual, like he was discussing the weather.
"10."
"9."
Vegapunk's expression tightened.
"Ryuunosuke, don't push your luck."
"If you force me too far, I'm capable of anything!"
"There are still plenty of places in this world where I've hidden Aragami."
"When the time comes, I'll make the people in those places pay with their lives!"
Panic crept into his voice.
The more Ryuunosuke acted like this, the less Vegapunk wanted to cooperate.
"8."
"7."
Vegapunk roared, desperation rising.
"Are you really going to ignore their lives?!"
"Some of those places are on your territory!"
"Your fighting force isn't stationed everywhere at once."
"I can wipe them out in a short time!"
Yet Ryuunosuke kept counting, as if he had not heard a single word.
"6."
"5."
"4."
The countdown did not pause.
It did not even slow.
"There are only three numbers left."
"Let me remind you of something."
"You haven't forgotten who I am… have you?"
A strange smile curved on Ryuunosuke's face.
Just seeing it made Vegapunk uneasy.
Right.
The man in front of him was not a Marine.
Not a Revolutionary.
He was a pirate.
And a pirate did not have to be the kind of person Vegapunk had tried to paint him as.
Everything before this, the loyalty, the righteousness, the hot blood, it could have all been a mask.
A deliberate misdirection.
A way to make people believe Ryuunosuke could be threatened with innocent lives.
So they would try, just like Vegapunk was trying now.
And the result would always be the same.
It would do nothing.
It would only waste time.
And once you realized you were dealing with someone like this, the helplessness hit like a wave.
Vegapunk's throat tightened.
What exactly do you want to do?
"How do you know I'm trying to create a god?"
Vegapunk demanded.
Ryuunosuke's reply was cold in its simplicity.
"You only have one answer to give me now."
"Are you coming over?"
"3."
"2."
"I'm coming!"
Vegapunk spat the words out just before the count could reach one.
He had no choice.
If he refused, the Fourth Division would attack.
He had not seen all of them fight with his own eyes, but Escanor's actions alone had already made the message clear.
If Vegapunk pushed further, escaping might not even be possible.
And Escanor was not alone.
Meliodas, the man Escanor called commander, had others with him.
None of them were simple.
"I'll be waiting."
Ryuunosuke's voice was calm.
Then the connection through the Dragon Hunting Token cut off.
Meliodas looked at Vegapunk and spoke in an even tone.
"The captain says you can go now."
"I think these things will be useful to you, so take them with you."
"As for the rest…"
"We'll keep it for now."
After saying that, Meliodas turned and left with his people.
The others also returned to their ships one after another.
In that instant, Vegapunk realized something.
He might have been tricked.
If Ryuunosuke truly were not that kind of person, these terrifying figures would never follow him so wholeheartedly.
So Ryuunosuke really was that kind of man.
But the words had already been spoken.
And Vegapunk did not dare gamble.
Even if he saw the problem, he could only swallow it.
In the next moment, Vegapunk vanished from the scene along with the Aragami.
Ban walked over, rubbing his head, clearly unhappy.
"Captain, I didn't even get my fill."
"Why let them leave already?"
The fight had just reached its most intense point, and then someone simply walked away.
Meliodas did not even look back.
"The captain's orders."
"If you want to fight, go pick a fight with the captain later."
Ban's face stiffened.
He immediately waved a hand.
"No thanks."
"The captain's punches hurt way too much."
He had thought about challenging Ryuunosuke before. A battle maniac like Ban could not resist the urge.
But after one fight, he quit.
Ryuunosuke's beatings were not normal pain.
It was not even pain in the flesh.
It was pain that stabbed straight into the root of your existence.
Even Ban could not take that kind of damage.
And worse, Ryuunosuke held abilities similar to most of them, sometimes even stronger versions.
Fighting him was not a duel.
It was volunteering for a lesson.
Meliodas turned toward the sea.
"Let's go back to the captain."
"Tell the other division these Aragami won't cause any more trouble."
He headed straight to the ship.
The others followed, and soon they were gone.
After everyone disappeared, a group of pirates slowly crawled out from Devil's Island.
They had witnessed the entire battle.
And it left them feeling sick.
Not because the fighting had struck them directly.
But because what they had seen was beyond their understanding of what battle even meant.
That single encounter crushed their desire to become pirates.
The thought of meeting opponents like that on the open sea someday made their blood run cold.
That was not adventure.
That was suicide.
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