One Piece: Mandala Swordsman

Chapter 259 Malice often hides beneath goodwill, and deception often hides beneath sincerity.

In order to find out when Shanks would arrive, Roman activated his Observation Haki.

However, her Observation Haki suddenly sensed a domineering power.

It's Conqueror's Haki.

It was so intense that it made her very uncomfortable.

Shanks's Haki was still clearly visible to her, even from a distance, thanks to her keen Observation Haki.

This means he's almost done.

Because of such domineering aura, the enemy probably wouldn't even have the will to resist.

Conqueror's Haki, especially Shanks' Conqueror's Haki, is definitely the strongest after Luffy.

Without the two clashing against each other, one person alone can cause physical destruction with their domineering aura.

If I were to absorb that domineering aura, I would become even stronger.

Strength is the best thing to rely on in this world.

Roman looked at Adam and said softly, "Listen to me..."

……

"Listen to me..."

After Shanks had resolved the matter, he found Makino but before he could speak, Makino spoke up.

"What's wrong?" Shanks asked with some concern.

"I am a neutral party, a neutral prophet."

"Uh, so..." Shanks was a little confused as to why he suddenly brought this up.

"In other words, I have no stance, I have no inclinations, I will only tell others what I see truthfully, and similarly, I will almost never tell them about events I have seen but they have not asked about. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Uh, I think I understand."

Shanks thought about it carefully for a while and roughly understood what Makino wanted to express.

It means she won't help anyone; she treats everyone equally.

But why would she say something like that at this time?

Why don't you just ask her directly?

But Shanks hadn't spoken yet.

“This has always been my guiding principle, but I am only human after all, and it is really hard for me to ignore kindness.” After saying that, Makino looked at Shanks.

That look in his eyes was both gentle and firm.

This made Shanks slightly lost in thought.

“So listen to me, the very fact that you met me was a trap.” Makino’s words surprised Shanks greatly.

"You said meeting you was a trap, what does that mean?"

Under Shanks' watchful gaze, Makino slowly began to reveal the "truth."

For a long time, because she kept a low profile and there were many swindlers who pretended to know things, having precognitive abilities was not a big deal for Makino herself.

Moreover, she was in poor health and did not value fame, fortune, or money, so she had no demands on the visitor and simply told him everything she had seen.

In reality, not many people believe it.

After all, she is not omniscient and omnipotent, and may not be able to see what people expect to see.

However, just before Shanks arrived, she received an unexpected guest.

The guest came over and got straight to the point: "I've heard of you, but I'm not interested in my future. What I want to know is what this man might be interested in about the future." Then, she took out Shanks's bounty poster.

"You want to tell this person's fortune? I can tell you directly that in the future I see, he is indeed the king of the sea."

"No, I'm not interested in his future. I just want to set a trap to catch him, but he and his crew are very difficult to deal with. To really catch him, I need some bait."

"But……"

“I know your principles. You don’t need to lie. Just stay silent and don’t answer questions they haven’t asked. That doesn’t violate your principles.”

“A prophet is just an observer, a silent observer…” After saying this, the person smiled and made a “shh” gesture.

……

"That's the whole story."

"This..." Shanks, who had never expected to fall into a trap, was momentarily stunned.

"That person..."

“You’ve already seen her, Svetra, that’s her.”

That little girl?

So she learned what she wanted from Makino, and used that to lure herself to find Makino.

"So her purpose is..."

"We'll separate you and wipe you all out in one fell swoop."

"What about Beckman and the others..."

"You're lucky. According to the normal plan, you should all be trapped by now, but these pirates disrupted Svetra's plans and caused everything to fall apart, so you and your companions are safe and sound."

Shanks was shocked to find that a chill ran from his feet to his head.

They had unwittingly walked down a path that had been manipulated.

"Wait, if she believed your prophecy, why would she scheme against us?" Shanks suddenly realized a blind spot.

What do you mean?

"I don't quite understand. Since you saw things about us in the future, it means that even if she took action, it should have failed. So why did she do it in the first place?"

This is the part that Shanks finds most incomprehensible.

Since she relied on Makino's prophecy, it means she believed it.

If that's the case, why do something contrary to it?

"Shanks, do you believe in fate?"

Fate is a heavy word, but it is also a word full of hope.

Shanks has always believed that one day, the Nika Fruit will appear and bring new hope.

"I believe."

"That's what makes you different from her."

What's the difference?

“Although she believes in my prophecy, she will not revere it, but will exploit it.”

use?

"She believes that some things have a fixed trajectory of development, but she doesn't believe that these things won't change, so she also intends to conduct experiments."

"You mean we've become her test subjects to see if the future will change?" Shanks' expression was very unpleasant.

It's difficult for anyone to remain calm when they know they've been used as a guinea pig.

"But she failed now, didn't she?" The fact that he was standing here unharmed meant that Svetra's plan had failed and the experiment had ended in failure.

"But Shanks, I held back in what I saw of her because she stopped me from saying what I was about to say. So, do you want to hear it? Or are you willing to hear it?"

"what is that?"

Makino gently raised her hand and pointed at Shanks: "You will be defeated by her, right here on this island."

After saying this, Adam ignored Shanks's somber expression and began to recall Roman's instructions.

"A mix of lies and truth, good intentions and malice, are the most effective ways to deceive and mislead others. The trick doesn't have to be sophisticated; what matters is that it's appropriate and that the other party accepts it."

I don't understand madmen, nor do I understand those who believe in prophecies and think the world is the way it is, all because of fate.

However, all of these can be utilized.

Since they are so obsessed with fate and prophecy, would they still be so confident if they were told that something was false?

Adam, I think it's worth a try, what do you think?