"This... is the Lord Enma the Shinigami spoke of?"
Looking at the man sitting on the pile of rubble, a complex mixture of surprise and fear welled up deep in the hearts of the pirates.
They had been subjected to the aura of the red-eyed Shinigami twice before, pressed down so they couldn't even get up, completely powerless to resist.
After experiencing this pressure that struck directly at their souls, the group had clearly become much more sensible.
At the very least, they wouldn't openly show their dissatisfaction, and they certainly wouldn't speak ill of that Lord Enma in front of the Shinigami.
In the face of a powerhouse, it was natural to show some respect.
At the same time, a trace of curiosity arose in their hearts. This Shinigami was already so powerful, so how terrifying must the master behind him be!
At the very least, he had to be an ogre who ate ten children at a time.
But seeing him in person, the group felt a little disappointed.
His appearance, far from being ferocious and terrifying, was no different from an ordinary person's.
He wasn't even a tenth as scary as they had imagined.
Even a random bounty hunter on the seas with a reward of ten million looked far more vicious than this Enma.
But then, the group saw the Shinigami who had terrified them being utterly respectful in front of this Lord Enma, with the demeanor of a servant, completely devoid of the terrifying aura from before.
He was as docile as a house dog.
Only then did the group believe that this seemingly ordinary Lord Enma was a truly great figure.
Whitebeard took a step forward, looking up at the solemn-faced Enma, his own aura unconsciously diminishing.
"You are King Enma?"
"For someone of your esteemed status to go to such lengths to appear in person, your purpose must not be simple. What do you require of us dead?"
Hearing Whitebeard's form of address, Kenma was taken aback.
He knew the pronunciation of his name was indeed very similar to the word "Enma."
He also knew what the so-called "King Enma" meant in the hearts of the living.
The ruler of the afterlife, of the underworld, of hell, and so on. Wasn't that how it was in "Dragon Ball"?
Upon hearing Whitebeard's title, Kenma immediately realized the misunderstanding.
In the spirit of honesty and trustworthiness, Kenma explained, "Whitebeard, I think you've misunderstood."
"I am not the King Enma you think I am, nor am I the ruler of the afterlife. It's just that the pronunciation of my name is very similar, that's all."
After he brought this group of people to the Soul Society, they would sooner or later realize this misunderstanding caused by the similar-sounding names.
It was better to admit it frankly now and show his attitude.
"Not King Enma?"
Seeing him deny it so decisively, and seeing his serious face, which didn't look like someone who would lie, Whitebeard was already mostly convinced.
But even if he wasn't King Enma, the power the Shinigami had just displayed was enough to make this group of lonely souls take him seriously.
"Then what did that Shinigami mean by 'live again in another world'? Are you taking us to be reincarnated?"
"And, what is this contract you speak of?"
Whitebeard didn't hold back, directly throwing out the most crucial questions at hand.
Faced with Whitebeard's doubts, Kenma didn't lie, but instead told him his origins and the purpose of his trip, truthfully.
"It is not reincarnation, just taking your soul to the world I'm from."
"Well... it's just as it sounds. I am not a native of this world, but from a world of souls called the Soul Society, and I am a professional Shinigami in the Soul Society."
"I happened to come to this world and encountered this war, so I came to collect some souls that interest me."
"Whitebeard, in honor of your magnificent final curtain call, I now give you two choices."
"One is to form a contract with me and become my subordinate, and I will take you to the Soul Society to live again. You can live in the Soul Society in your soul state, and even eating, sleeping, marrying, and having children will not be a problem."
"The other choice is to refuse my good intentions, and your soul will be scattered here and now."
Whitebeard's brow furrowed. "You mean, if we don't agree, you will destroy our souls?"
Kenma shook his head slightly.
"I'm not that overbearing. If you don't agree, I will abandon your soul. In this world, the final fate of a soul is not very good!"
"As for the afterlife here, heh..."
A contemptuous snort revealed Kenma's opinion.
Whitebeard's heart jumped, and he sensed a hint of something bad from Kenma's tone.
"What's wrong with the afterlife here?"
"Who knows... I don't know either."
Kenma's answer immediately made the bad feeling in Whitebeard's heart surge.
But because he knew nothing about the underworld, he had no way of guessing.
However, judging by the other's attitude, it clearly wasn't very good.
Seeing Whitebeard's face gradually darken, Kenma sighed inwardly.
He was telling the truth about the underworld here.
He really didn't know.
He had thought about going to the underworld here to investigate before, but he hadn't found a way in.
In his words to Whitebeard, there was no falsehood, nor had he concealed anything.
It was just that his tone carried a little of his own subjectivity.
If Whitebeard misunderstood because of this, then it had nothing to do with him.
Whitebeard considered the conditions Kenma had given him, then looked at the sons surrounding him. His expression suddenly froze, and then he realized.
"Wait, Enma, it seems you only mentioned me in your words just now? What about these sons of mine?"
"Naturally, they will be left to fend for themselves."
Kenma's face was a matter of course.
"I've already said, I only collect souls that interest me. Your soul, Whitebeard, and Fire Fist Ace's, as well as that giant's soul. Right now, I am only interested in you three."
"As for this group of pirates under your command, and even this group of marines, they have no recyclable value to me."
Kenma's words clearly reached the ears of Whitebeard and the others.
Whitebeard's face instantly changed, becoming incredibly ugly.
And the pirates around him, as well as the marines, immediately broke out in an uproar.
"What! How dare you look down on us like that?"
"Even a Shinigami and King Enma dare to be so smug in front of us!"
"Never mind these pirates, what's wrong with us marines!"
Just as the voices of the souls were getting louder and louder, bursts of spiritual pressure erupted on the field, accurately pressing down on every soul's body, forcing them all to the ground.
The entire field fell silent in an instant!
Fugaku, standing below the pile of rubble, had his Mangekyo activated, flashing with an eerie crimson light as he scanned the souls in front of Whitebeard.
"In the presence of my master, you mere souls, watch your words!"
His words were filled with a bone-chilling cold.
But what was even more heart-stopping than his words was his merciless gaze, as if he were looking at dead people.
No, these people were already dead.
Fugaku was speechless. 'Are the people of this world so stupid?'
'Why can't any of them learn their lesson!'
"It's fine, withdraw your spiritual pressure."
Kenma said softly to Fugaku. Fugaku waved his hand at the crowd.
The Uchiha, who were scattered among the many souls, also withdrew their spiritual pressure in unison.
All the souls immediately felt a lightness, the pressure on them instantly dissipating. The sound of heavy panting echoed across the square.
They had once again experienced this pressure that seemed to crush their souls, but this time it was much stronger than the previous two.
If it hadn't stopped in time, everyone felt that their souls would have been crushed on the spot.
A sense of desperate powerlessness rose in their hearts. Their faces were pale, filled with an unspeakable terror.
They looked at Kenma with averted gazes, then immediately looked away, not daring to look directly at him.
It was as if before them was the king of beasts, ready to devour them at any moment.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]