"Still too naive," Seeing the utterly lost look in Toki's eyes, Rosse's smile only grew wider.
The entire Land of Wano would be destroyed.
That was already a predetermined fact.
Not just Toki, even Kozuki Oden and Kaido probably could sense what he meant.
But knowing such a thing, and actually participating in the process to push it forward, were two completely different concepts.
Toki's thinking was too idealistic.
She believed that as long as the Land of Wano was united from top to bottom, even if they couldn't withstand the World Government, they could at least bite off a big piece of flesh, or at the very least resist for a while.
And the most direct and most efficient way to unite Wano, whose people all currently had different thoughts, was to use sacrifice as the price.
If everyone felt the threat of death, then they would naturally come together.
But raising such an idea wasn't just something you could blurt out on a whim.
Real people would die.
If this time Rosse had come to Ringo without bringing Toki, then even after he finished the slaughter, Toki could still deceive herself, comforting herself with the thought that Wano had already united.
But this time he had brought Toki with him, and his intention was made very clear.
In this massacre, Toki was also one of the executioners.
Personally participating in a massacre, and designing one, were two completely different things.
"I should have taken a blade and slit my own throat the day I first met you," Toki clenched her teeth, finally speaking out the words in her heart.
She should never have let herself imagine all kinds of useless things. In the end, all it did was break her down, without having any effect on Rosse at all.
The most despairing part wasn't that Rosse wanted her to be an executioner.
It was that even if she became one, even if Wano united together, they still couldn't cause Rosse much harm.
Perhaps that was the very reason Rosse indulged her like this.
"Why not slit your throat right now then?", Rosse asked with amused interest.
"Would slitting my throat even work?", Toki sneered, and suddenly her right hand forcefully pulled out the dagger stuck in her own thigh, then, using all her strength, thrust it straight at her heart.
Swoosh!
When the dagger was only a centimeter away from her chest, it was stopped dead by a curtain of water. No matter how hard Toki struggled, it would not advance another fraction of an inch.
"Tsk tsk, you could try using your Devil Fruit power," Rosse chuckled lightly.
"You control the seawater with seastone particles in it, I can't use my fruit powers at all," Toki glared at him. Whether she could use her ability or not, it was all up to Rosse.
"What's the point?", Rosse kept a faint smile at the corner of his lips. He waved his hand lightly, and the seawater barrier vanished.
"I don't actually like threatening people. I always felt we could cooperate for mutual benefit."
"Mutual benefit?", Toki looked at Rosse speechlessly, not expecting him to say something so shameless.
"If Wano joins the World Government, and you leave Wano, that would be mutual benefit."
"It truly would. But could you convince Kozuki Oden and Kaido?", Rosse chuckled.
"No," Toki answered bluntly.
"Then can you convince the people of Wano?", Rosse asked again.
"No," Toki calmly answered once more, "Then what mutual benefit are you talking about?"
Rosse laughed in disbelief, "Remember this: the weak have no right to negotiate. Mutual benefit between you and me has always been simple from beginning to end."
"What?", Toki didn't believe him at all, but that didn't stop her from wanting to hear what twisted logic he would say.
"You give yourself to me, and I will make Jaygarcia Hiyori the queen of the new nation on this land," Rosse said with a smile.
"Impossible!", Toki slapped his hand away, fury burning in her dark green eyes, "Hiyori is only four years old!"
"What are you thinking in that head of yours?", Rosse raised an eyebrow, looking strangely at her.
"Hiyori can't possibly be with you. Please, I beg you, don't lay a hand on her. Do whatever you want to me."
Toki's heart sank. She thought maybe she was overthinking things, but to ensure Hiyori's safety, she still begged Rosse.
Changing one's surname in Wano carried a special meaning.
Especially if it was a girl taking the man's family name.
"I only plan to adopt her as my foster daughter. Why such a big reaction?", Rosse chuckled softly, finding Toki's agitation quite amusing.
Right now, he really had no interest in Hiyori.
A four-year-old brat. What thoughts could she possibly have?
As for the future, he'd leave that for time to decide.
"You truly are a demon," Toki pressed her lips tight, despair flickering deep in her eyes.
Even if it was only as a foster daughter, even if Rosse didn't lay a hand on Hiyori, her heart was still filled with darkness.
And she knew very well. That although Rosse seemed not to threaten her, in reality, this was the greatest threat of all.
If she didn't die, perhaps Rosse wouldn't bother with many things, and she could even have some small influence over Hiyori's upbringing.
But if she died, what Hiyori's future would become, only heaven would know.
Still, at least if she and Kozuki Oden both died at Rosse's hands, then as long as Hiyori knew these things, there was a high chance she would hold resentment toward Rosse.
"Are you thinking that if Wano is destroyed, and Kozuki Oden dies, then Hiyori will hate me?", Rosse asked with a chuckle.
"You can even see that?", Toki's heart was already numb. She felt that being with Rosse was truly exhausting.
Beside Kozuki Oden, she never had to think to know what he was thinking.
Beside Rosse, no matter how much she thought, he always knew what was in her mind.
They weren't even on the same level.
"You've written your will to die all over your face. How could I not see it?", Rosse shook his head in amusement.
"As for this matter, you don't need to worry at all."
A smile hung on Rosse's lips, "You should believe in my ability to educate. I'll raise Hiyori very well."
"How will you raise her?", Toki asked instinctively.
Hiyori was her daughter, the one she cared for and worried about most now.
"I'll tell her everything about you two clearly from the start, then repeat again and again just how foolish you were," Rosse said with a light smile.
"You're not afraid she'll seek revenge on you?", Toki asked oddly.
"Revenge? What revenge? Have her parents treated her well? Isn't it true that Kozuki Oden and you abandoned her?", Rosse asked, puzzled.
"Ah?", Toki opened her mouth, wanting to refute, but no matter how she thought about it, she suddenly realized, what Rosse said actually made sense.
Why was it that Hiyori was taken away by Rosse? Wasn't it precisely with Kozuki Oden's tacit approval?
No matter what she herself did, Rosse could always push the blame onto Kozuki Oden, and from there lead Hiyori into hating the entire Land of Wano.
Then suddenly, Toki thought of something, and she abruptly raised her head to look at Rosse, "You want Hiyori to deal with Momonosuke?"
"Take a guess," Rosse smiled meaningfully, "By the way, let me say this in advance. Even if you take part in this, you probably can't change the outcome. So I won't use Hiyori to threaten you. Once Wano's matter is finished, your value won't be that high anymore."
"Then if I want to change the script, what price must I pay?", Toki understood his meaning. Her gaze was filled with the urge to kill Rosse, but right now she could only be forced to accept this arrangement.
She could let go of herself and of Kozuki Oden, but she could never let go of those two children.
"That depends on what kind of value you can show. Hiyori's role, there's no reason you couldn't play it instead," Rosse gently brushed her cheek, and under her dim, lifeless gaze, he burst out laughing freely, then turned and left without hesitation.
At this point, it was enough.
As for what Toki would choose, and what kind of brilliance she would display, that would depend on her.
Since she was willing for Wano and the Kozuki family to abandon themselves, then for something more important, Wano and the Kozuki family could naturally also serve as sacrifices.
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