Oguro waved his hand. "You can relax about that. Unless the World Government is ready to drag everything down with them, they won't lay a hand on my territory."
If they truly intended to erase the Holy Spirit Empire…
Well, forget everything else—just the Marine Admirals alone would need to mobilize all three at once.
But if they did that… what about the New World?
Do they really think the Four Emperors are pushovers?
At this point, without revealing his hidden cards, the World Government had already missed its chance to wipe out the Holy Spirit Empire.
Three Captain-class Shinigami—that was Oguro's biggest confidence.
Rayleigh looked at Oguro, clearly sensing the man's confidence and sincerity.
After thinking for a moment, he still chose to refuse.
"I'm already old. I don't have that fire you young people have anymore. Just let me enjoy my retirement."
He said the word retirement, but Oguro understood perfectly—Rayleigh was the same as Shanks. Both had placed their hopes for the future on Luffy.
That straw hat symbolizing Pirate King Roger wasn't something just anyone could wear.
Not to mention the prophesied Devil Fruit…
Mythical Zoan: Human-Human Fruit, Model—Nika.
Honestly, people in this world seemed to really like prophecies and legends.
In Wano's arc, they even elevated that to the level of "world destiny."
Oguro could only think: If it makes you happy, go for it.
As for him—he certainly didn't believe in that nonsense.
The real future was something one carved out with their own hands.
Still, Oguro knew Rayleigh would never agree.
The world hadn't gone berserk yet, so this old man had no reason to step in.
"In that case, let me change my request."
Oguro wasn't planning to let Rayleigh slip away that easily.
"I'll be sending some people over to learn Haki and combat techniques from you. Payment will be per person—thirty million Berries a year."
Oguro had many powerful subordinates, but none who truly mastered Haki at Rayleigh's level.
Even Lucci and the others mostly relied on self-taught experience.
Now that a ready-made master was right here, of course Oguro wouldn't waste the opportunity.
Who knows—maybe he could even build an elite training program for the Holy Spirit Empire through Rayleigh.
Rayleigh's eyes lit up instantly.
The payment was much lower than a salary, sure—but the job was also far easier.
He wanted to refuse, but the offer was simply too good.
"…Fine. Just send them over."
Rayleigh agreed on the spot.
Oguro nodded and immediately contacted Lucci to pick out a batch of promising recruits.
After finalizing the deal, Shakky handed over the slave-trader intel she gathered.
"There are plenty of auction houses involved in human trafficking, but only five or six large-scale ones."
"Two of them recently announced they're no longer dealing in that line of business."
Shakky even gave a friendly explanation.
Oguro flipped through the intel—and sure enough, the owners of those two were both Doflamingo.
"Hah. That flamingo reacts pretty fast." Oguro rolled his eyes.
Since the man knew how to read the room, Oguro didn't mind sparing him this once.
That meant the remaining auction houses were now the targets.
"You're not planning to act right away, are you?" Rayleigh asked curiously.
Oguro shook his head. "Too early. I'll wait for their slave-hunting teams to return, then take them all down at once."
Destroying a single auction house wouldn't solve anything. Their hunters could still sell people elsewhere.
Only by wiping them all out in a single sweep could he make real impact.
Rayleigh took a slow sip of alcohol. "But are you sure about this? Even if you destroy them, a new batch will appear eventually."
"As long as buyers exist, these bastards will never disappear."
Oguro's answer was calm yet firm.
"Even so, saving more people is worth it. If we kill enough of them, fewer will dare to be slave hunters."
"And some things… only hold hope after you take action."
Only after taking action would there be hope?
Rayleigh mulled over the words and couldn't help feeling somewhat emotional.
Was this what Roger thought when he turned himself in to ignite the Great Pirate Era?
For the next two days, Oguro took the girls around the Sabaody Archipelago for a proper vacation.
The various bubble attractions were unexpectedly entertaining.
Then, one morning, Oguro sat on his bed and pulled out the Magnet-Magnet Fruit he had kept for days.
Today, his achievement points finally broke the 100,000 mark.
Without hesitation, he spent all 100,000 points and gained temporary Spirit King Authority.
In an instant, Oguro's eyes turned a crystalline silver-white.
He could see Reishi drifting throughout the world.
He could even see the souls of passing pedestrians, each with a unique shape.
Ordinary people had white souls. Shinigami had red ones.
Finally, his gaze settled on the Devil Fruit in his hand.
The "devil" inside had a black soul threaded with streaks of other colors.
With the Spirit King's vision, he could see strands of spiritual threads extending from the devil's soul into endless void.
Perhaps that was the origin of the Devil Fruits' "curse of the sea."
With the system's guidance, Oguro began reconstructing the devil soul.
Well—"he" reconstructed it mostly in name. The system did nearly everything.
Countless particles of Reishi gathered, pouring into the devil soul, breaking it down layer by layer and reorganizing it.
As time passed, the devil soul's colors faded, gradually turning into a translucent white spirit.
The threads wrapped around it snapped one after another.
A moment later, Oguro's vision returned to normal. The overwhelming sense of control faded like receding tide.
The devil soul's reconstruction was complete—so the temporary Spirit King Authority naturally disappeared.
Oguro felt a sense of loss wash over him, but quickly refocused on the Magnet-Magnet Fruit.
The outside looked unchanged—but he knew it was now entirely different.
He bit into the fruit—and immediately went pale.
Dammit!
Even after reconstructing the soul, the taste didn't change at all!
For a moment he thought he was about to die on the spot.
After forcing down two large bites of the fruit, Oguro chugged two big cups of water before finally feeling alive again.
Honestly…
People say eating two Devil Fruits will kill you, but isn't the truth that you'd just die from how disgusting they are?
After recovering, Oguro noticed something else—
He could "feel" the magnetic fields around him.
Not through power forcing control—but as if it was simply instinct.
As if he was the magnetic field.
He raised his left hand, and the utensils on the table floated up, spinning lightly in the air.
After the small test, Oguro released his power outward.
The magnetic field across the street rippled violently.
People walking outside suddenly stumbled forward one after another.
They couldn't control their sense of balance at all.
The magnetic disturbance directly interfered with their neural network.