Lucci and Kaku reacted very differently to Pain's blunt recruitment offer.
Kaku responded to Pain's offer with action.
"What a joke…"
"What do you take CP0 for?"
"Do you think we are beings you can easily erase!?"
"Die…"
"Razor!"
Kaku was enraged by Pain's words and roared, attacking without hesitation, but an unexpected event occurred before Kaku could even get close to Animal Path.
Lucci easily struck Kaku, sending him flying and stopping Kaku's attack.
"Lucci…"
"You!…"
Kaku struggled to his feet, looking at Lucci with an incredulous expression.
"Kaku, don't be impulsive."
"Pain, we will seriously consider your proposal…"
"Can you give us some time?"
Now that Lucci had lost his hatred, he became very rational; Lucci was well aware of the disparity between their sides, and stopping Kaku was to prevent Kaku from sacrificing himself in vain.
"My patience is limited…"
"I'll give you half an hour…"
"If I don't receive your reply after half an hour…"
"You understand the consequences…"
"Don't try any tricks; you can't keep me here…"
"But I can find you anytime…"
"Unless you have disappeared from this world."
"Just call my name once you've thought it through."
Pain's words were very direct, making Lucci understand that seeking help from the World Government would be useless; it would only make Pain lose any pity he had for them.
Once Lucci and the others chose to play tricks, even if they escaped today, they would not escape the subsequent pursuit by the Akatsuki Organization.
Pain had considered the problem of Lucci and the others feigning loyalty and becoming spies if he recruited them, but in the face of Pain's absolute power, he didn't care if they did so.
As long as Lucci dared to do so, Pain could easily erase him, leaving him no way to escape.
After his battle with Hawkeye, Pain already understood what level his own strength was in this world.
Pain felt that his own strength in this world was definitely at the Emperor level, but he had not yet fought other Emperor-level figures, so he was unsure of the difference between Emperor levels.
Pain used to not understand why the Admirals of this world were only "King" level strength, but after fighting Hawkeye, Pain realized that it was his previous misjudgment due to his lack of understanding of this world.
The reason the World Government could lord over all other forces and claim to be "Justice" was because of its absolute strength.
And this strength meant that the Admiral-level figures of the World Government actually all possessed Emperor-level strength, not the King-level strength Pain had judged them to be when he was unfamiliar with this world.
After Animal Path conveyed Pain's message, it disappeared, becoming invisible under Pain's control.
Lucci and Kaku exchanged glances after confirming Pain had left.
"Lucci…"
"Are we really going to betray the World Government and join them?"
Kaku had now regained his composure and knew that Lucci's previous actions were to save him, so he did not blame Lucci's behavior.
"Go call Nero over…"
Lucci did not directly answer Kaku's question, instead telling Kaku to find Nero.
Lucci's heart was also very conflicted now; if it were just him alone, his life or death wouldn't matter, as Lucci was not afraid of death.
But the current problem concerned the lives of Kaku and Nero; although the World Government was powerful, it might not care about their small lives.
The World Government would certainly not send people to protect them just because the Akatsuki Organization had targeted Nero; in the eyes of the World Government's high-ranking officials, CP0 was now insignificant, and it would be a joke if CP0 members needed protection.
Lucci had always concealed Nero's Devil Fruit ability, and Lucci was unsure what the World Government's high-ranking officials would do once they knew about Nero's Devil Fruit ability.
After all, Lucci knew too much about the darkness of the World Government's high-ranking officials; at that time, Nero might end up like the former Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma.
He would either be used by the World Government for research contributions or have his Devil Fruit ability taken and transferred to someone the World Government deemed more valuable.
Five minutes quickly passed in Lucci's contemplation, and Nero also entered the room under Kaku's guidance.
"Lucci…"
"Is there something urgent you need me for?"
Along the way, Kaku had not revealed any information to Nero, only saying that Kaku had an urgent matter for him.
"Nero, the Akatsuki Organization leader Pain just visited."
"Their target is you…"
Lucci informed Nero of the Akatsuki Organization's intentions in simple and clear terms, and also explained what the World Government's high-ranking officials might do once they knew about Nero's Devil Fruit ability; the next step was for everyone to make a choice.
"Lucci, what do you plan to do?"
Nero also understood the seriousness of the situation from Lucci's words; the path before them was clear: either betray the World Government and pledge allegiance to the enemy organization, which might lead to new opportunities for development.
Or remain loyal to the World Government and be erased by Pain as worthless.
As for seeking help or feigning loyalty, Kaku had brought it up but Lucci directly rejected it, stating there was no need.
The World Government would not grant them more honor or rewards for their loyalty, and the Akatsuki Organization leader was not so easily deceived.
Seeing the two hesitate and lack conviction, Lucci directly expressed his stance, which was to pledge allegiance to the Akatsuki Organization in exchange for new opportunities for development.
The reason was simple: because the Akatsuki Organization leader appreciated brotherly affection and chose to show mercy, it meant that the Akatsuki Organization leader was at least a person who valued sentiment and righteousness, unlike the cold and ruthless high-ranking officials of the World Government.
With such a figure, who had repeatedly thwarted the CP0 members, Lucci was completely convinced and had long lost his previous arrogance of looking down on everything.
Coupled with Kaku and Nero's lives being threatened by death, Lucci believed that the current decision was the wisest one.
Lucci explained all the reasons for pledging allegiance to the two, who remained silent, and finally both nodded, tacitly agreeing to Lucci's choice.
"Pain, we have made our decision…"
Lucci shouted into the air in the room, and Animal Path appeared out of thin air.
In fact, Lucci knew that Pain's Puppet had been in the room all along and had not left, but Lucci chose to pretend not to know and never exposed it.
Lucci's decision to pledge allegiance was also sincere, not driven by any other motives, because Lucci understood that any cunning was useless in the face of absolute power.
After Animal Path went invisible, it indeed did not leave, but remained invisible in the corner of the room, watching their discussion; if it detected any other motives, it would immediately act, as the Space Fruit ability could not be compromised.
Now, being able to resolve the problem without bloodshed and gain three members, Pain was also glad that he did not resort to killing to solve the problem.
Through this successful recruitment, Pain also realized that his methods of handling things in his previous life were indeed too extreme, no wonder the Six Paths Sage disliked them.
"Since you have decided…"
"Then come with me…"
"Do you want to leave openly, or anonymously?"
Pain's question meant that if they chose to leave openly, they would follow Pain in front of everyone on Judicial Island.
If they chose to leave anonymously, then Pain would take the blame by using a Super Chibaku Tensei to directly destroy Enies Lobby, Judicial Island, giving the World Government a serious warning.
"Anonymously, then…"
"If the World Government doesn't know about our betrayal…"
"We can still cause some trouble for the World Government in the future…"
After some consideration, Lucci chose to leave anonymously; the advantage of doing so was that the World Government would be unaware of their defection, and they could still serve as a surprise force later on.
Pain used Animal Path's ability to make Lucci and the others invisible and brought them onto the Ark Maxim; Pain controlled the Ark to ascend to a certain height, then descended from the sky, rapidly forming hand seals.
"Super Chibaku Tensei…!"
With Pain's soft shout, a Chakra sphere condensed from Chakra rapidly ascended, and gravity slowly but steadily emanated from within it, increasing in intensity.
As the suction grew stronger, the entire Judicial Island began to shake violently; with Enies Lobby, Judicial Island as the center, buildings continuously cracked into fragments and flew into the sky, and the island's ground also cracked into pieces, soaring towards the high sky.
The Marines at Enies Lobby, Judicial Island screamed in terror, fleeing in fear, but as soon as they left the buildings, they were pulled by the suction towards the giant sphere that was continuously condensing in the sky.
The sphere grew larger as it attracted more fragments, eventually condensing into a colossal earthen sphere floating in mid-air.
Looking at the ground, Enies Lobby on Judicial Island had already vanished, and even the architectural ruins of Enies Lobby were sucked into the sky, leaving a massive void filled with churning sea water.
Lucci and the others watched everything that happened at Enies Lobby with shocked eyes; at this moment… Lucci and the others finally understood how wise their decision had been.
Lucci and the others now realized that the Chibaku Tensei that had defeated them earlier was just child's play; compared to what was before their eyes, it was like comparing a small witch to a great one… To be continued…
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