While making arrangements for Paul's spiritual regression, another Vahn waited patiently for his next appointment. Fortunately, his next appointee had arrived well in advance and was waiting to meet him, leading to only a few minutes passing between Paul's departure and the door to his study opening to reveal a tall, tattoo-faced man with spiky black hair.
"Dragon God Vahn Mason...we meet again..." stated the man, Monkey D. Dragon, his expression fixed in a perpetual scowl as he crossed the room and accepted Vahn's handshake.
"You've been a busy bee these past few months," remarked Vahn, smiling as he gestured for Dragon to sit down before doing the same and noting, "I was both surprised and not to hear you were planning to hold elections. Aren't you still dealing with the remnants of Cipher Pol and Imu's forces?"
"Your concern is appreciated, but we're more than capable of dealing with both..." asserted Dragon, his eyes sharpening as he revealed, "The reason I'm here concerns the Pavilion's association with Amazon Lily, Wano, and the phantom nation of Zou. You previously stated that you would leave us to govern our world autonomously. Does this not contradict that claim and place the aforementioned nations in a privileged position?"
"Mmn...I understand your concerns, but you're thinking about your world and situation too broadly," stated Vahn, preempting Dragon's response by raising his hand and explaining, "People are free to worship whoever they please, and the arrangements I've made with Amazon Lily, Wano, and Zou are to ensure their autonomy. Their affiliation with us affords them certain advantages—that can't be denied. But it also prevents them from doing as they please, particularly in the case of the Kuja Tribe. Since becoming one of our affiliates, they haven't abducted anyone or conducted a single raid. Or have you heard differently?"
"I haven't..." confirmed Dragon, his expression hardening as he asserted, "But that isn't the issue. If the government we're forming now is to unite the world, we can't have major nations like Wano continuing to sequester themselves or serving as safe havens for criminals like Kaido. Then there are the pirates you've allowed to become Ascendees. How do you expect us to achieve and maintain peace within our world when you permit those with self-serving ideals to obtain non-standard power?"
"Is that supposed to be your attempt at humor...?" asked Vahn, leaning back in his chair and raising his right brow.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" asked Dragon, his gaze piercing enough to bore through stone.
Unamused by Dragon's response, Vahn's expression flattened as he stated, "There will always be those who seek power to further their aims and advance their agendas, but the action of seeking power in itself is not a fault. More to the point, it isn't within the Pavilion's purview to regulate how Ascendees live and shape their worlds. So long as they adhere to the rules and restrictions imposed on them by the Tower, they are within their right to live and act as they please."
"So, as long as they follow the Tower's and Pavilion's rules when they're inside them, they're free to violate the laws of the worlds they originate? You're being unbelievably short-sighted..." asserted Dragon, the muscles in his jaw flexing.
Shaking his head, Vahn's Will of the Emperor activated of its own accord, his expression and tone gaining an overtone of finality as he stated, "You believe the path you've chosen is the correct one, so any course that runs counter to that is perceived as a hindrance. You should know well that the more you try to control and inhibit people, the greater they will resist. The best you can do is pass along your views to the next generation and guide them as best you can. You will never be able to force those who hunger to live freely into lockstep with your ideals..."
"Can you not relocate those who affiliate themselves with the Pavilion to this or other worlds?" asked Dragon, asserting, "If they refuse to live and work alongside those who share their world, it makes little sense for them to remain..."
"It's not impossible," affirmed Vahn, raising his hand to preempt Dragon's response before appending, "But you've been apprised of the existence of karma and the danger of accruing a karmic deficit. Reality exists in a state of flux. You might be able to weigh the scales in your favor for a time, but the longer the period of peace, the greater the chaos and destruction that will be wrought when it comes to an end."
"That doesn't mean we shouldn't aim for peace and do everything in our power to uphold it..." asserted Dragon, his obsidian-black eyes gaining a silvery-white glow as his Conqueror's Haki endeavored to compete with Vahn's domain. This caused bright green lightning with a dark green core to spread through the study, crawl across its furniture, and along its walls, but it had absolutely no effect on Vahn.
"Your convictions are real—I'll give you that..." conceded Vahn, resting his cheek on the knuckles of his right hand. In all honesty, he wasn't a big fan of the man seated across from him. Lucky for Dragon, he could appreciate the desire to fight against fate and perceived injustice, no matter the odds or improbability of success. It was that mentality that had allowed Dragon to become the leader of the Revolutionary Army and inspire millions to his cause, so even if the man's actions ultimately set his world on the path to destruction, Vahn was curious to see how far his determination could take him...
"Mmn...very well..." said Vahn, raising his left hand and making a closing gesture that caused Dragon to slam face-first into his desk and crumple to the floor as he conceded, "I will speak with the leaders of the nations in question and see about relocating them. But the next time you appear before me, you would do well to frame your words as a request. I will not abide being threatened in my own home..."
Though he did his best to resist the power of Vahn's Domain, Dragon's Conqueror's Haki invariably gave out along with his consciousness. Even knocked out, his eyes remained open and his expression fixed in a scowl, but that wasn't out of the ordinary for denizens of the world of One Piece. It was endearing from the perspective of a fan, but as he had to deal with some extraordinarily stubborn people from said world, Vahn couldn't help but exhale a sigh as he called in Dragon's escort to remove the man from his study...
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"Hey...I get that it might be a little late for this, but do you mind if I ask you for a favor...?" asked Paul, wearing a long, white, gold-trimmed tunic as he sat on the edge of a luminous table with a crystalline lid waiting to come down and preserve his body in its current state.
"I'm guessing it concerns your son...?" asked Vahn, standing behind a console with Lilith, wearing a dark purple, gold-trimmed jacket over a white, swimsuit-like one-piece, setting everything up to preserve Paul's body and memories in their present state. There was a good chance the latter would come to regret his decision in a few years' time, so, without informing Paul himself, Vahn was having Lilith prepare a backup his soul could revert to.
"You're going to take care of him, right...?" asked Paul, his brows furrowed and his expression both severe and conflicted.
"I will see to it that he has the best education and all the opportunities the Pavilion can provide," affirmed Vahn, nodding. At present, Paul's son, Rudeus, was only fifteen months old. Based on his reported behavior and Zenith's testimony, it was obvious that Rudeus was a reincarnator. But, so long as he didn't cause too much mischief, Vahn had no plans of exposing or restricting him.
"Would it be possible for the two of us to meet once he becomes a proper man?" asked Paul, preempting Vahn's response by stating, "I'm not asking to be allowed to become an Ascendee or anything. I just...I need to know my decision didn't ruin his life..."
"That can be arranged," affirmed Vahn, clarifying, "Specifically, I will wait until he asks about you or requests to meet you himself. Then, presuming you're still willing to meet him, I will handle the arrangements."
"Thanks, man...I really appreciate it..." expressed Paul, forcing a wry smile before lying down atop the warm, luminous table. It crossed his mind that he was basically about to die, but with how tremendously he had screwed up, he already felt dead inside. He also wanted to believe that Zenith and Ghislaine would turn against Vahn if they learned he had simply killed him off, so as the capsule closed on him and his body filled with warmth, Paul closed his eyes and resolved to be a much better person his second time around...
As orange-white light filled Paul's capsule and solidified, the man's body was effectively suspended in time. At the same time, Lilith, bent over with her butt sticking out, bumped Vahn with her hip and stated, "I don't get it. Why are you going to such lengths for this asshole? Aren't you practically the God of reminding people that actions have consequences?"
"Everything has its exceptions, and I don't mind making concessions for those I care about and those who have pledged their lives to me..." stated Vahn, positioning himself behind Lilith with his hands naturally gravitating to her hips. In response, she began to actively grind against him, a broad, impish grin developing across her face as she teased, "So even the great Dragon God isn't exempt from nepotism..."
"You should know. You've benefitted from it a great deal..." noted Vahn, resting his right hand on Lilith's lower back, casually thumbing the white, monkey-like tail she had grown after he provided her a sample of Goku's blood. Her Great King's Piece allowed her to splice the DNA of others with her own to adapt their characteristics. She had failed to adapt Vahn's, but with the DNA of Pureblooded Devils, Angels, Fallen, Dragons, Devilukians, and Saiyans mixed within her body, alongside many others, the only thing stopping her from becoming a fearsome S-Rank was her research and the fact that she didn't have the patience to train.
"Isn't it about time for you to give me another child~?" questioned Lilith, her red eyes narrowing as she bit her bottom lip with a smile and pressed her pussy firmly against Vahn's bulge.
"Didn't we agree to wait until Morrigan entered the Academy...?" asked Vahn, slipping aside the fabric covering Lilith's pussy and unhesitantly sinking his cock into her veritable pressure furnace. In response to his intrusion, she had enkindled the Ki within her body, causing a luminous white aura to envelop her and her pussy to tighten with a force that felt like it could crush diamonds. That was an exaggeration, but if he weren't functionally invulnerable, Vahn's not-so-little brother might very well have been separated from his body as her entrance tightened around the base of his shaft with tremendous force...
"But I kind of miss being doted on by a certain someone..." hummed Lilith, staring back at Vahn and brushing her white-furred, monkey-like tail along his chest and the underside of his chin.
"You miss having me nearby to assist with your experiments..." countered Vahn, his expression and tone flat as he began a slow but forceful piston that sent prominent ripples through Lilith's ass and body.
"Well, you're not wrong~" conceded Lilith, bending her legs and hooking her feet behind Vahn's butt and lower back. Then, rising from her back, a second version of herself that was just her naked torso wrapped its arms around Vahn's neck and shoulders before kissing him passionately. She may have failed to incorporate Vahn's unique genes and Source Energy, but with the experience she had gained alongside the other Vegapunks on the Seraphim Project, she was able to integrate the lineage factors of Robin and several other Devil Fruit users into her extraordinarily adaptive body. She was still working to assimilate the powers of Logias, but it was only a matter of time...
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