"It's all your fault! You want to harm me, you want to get all of us killed!", Pagaya's face was collapsing, and he continuously accused Conia with his mouth, "I said it a long time ago! You shouldn't have stepped out! If it weren't for you, this idiot insisting on being a traitor, how would there be so much trouble?!m"
"Conia, you traitor!"
"Not only do you want to betray Skypiea, you also want to drag me down to betray together, how can you be so vicious! How can you do something so devoid of conscience?"
Pagaya's accusations were like a barrage of cannon fire, each word more malicious, each sentence sharper than the last.
At the same time, Conia's complexion became more and more pale.
The accusations from her childhood friend were like a poisoned blade, stabbing her heart again and again, with blood dripping.
She had never thought.
'It is just leading the way into the Holy Ground, just searching for the god.'
Such a small matter, which she took for granted, was actually elevated by Pagaya to the level of betraying Skypiea.
'Why?'
'What did I do wrong?'
'Could it be that he really thinks Sir Rosse and the others are a group of good-for-nothing villains?'
'Do you all really think that as long as you shrink your necks and play dead, you can escape this disaster, truly avoid the misfortune?'
Conia turned her head in despair, her gaze drifting like a lost soul, slowly sweeping past each familiar yet unfamiliar face around her.
The scene that entered her eyes made her heart feel even colder.
Faced with her gaze, those once friendly faces now looked like stiff masks, eyes dodging, each silently lowering their heads, avoiding her line of sight.
Their silence, their evasion.
It was as if they were all silently confirming Pagaya's accusations, as if they were all tacitly admitting.
She was the real culprit.
She was the jinx who brought disaster.
Daring not to blame the true perpetrator, yet pouring all the anger and resentment onto her, the only tribeswoman who stood up and tried to take responsibility.
'These people... how can they do so mething so despicable, so chilling?'
In Conia's heart, waves of powerlessness and despair surged.
But when she saw Rosse still standing interestedly on the side, watching this farce coldly, she still forced herself to gather her spirit.
"Pagaya, calm down! I beg you, calm down!", Conia used a trembling voice, desperately trying to persuade Pagaya, hoping he would put down the gun.
As long as Pagaya put down the gun, everything would be fine.
"Milord promised me...", Conia wanted to speak of that wager, wanted to use her last hope to save the situation.
However, just as her lips parted slightly, an invisible pressure suddenly descended upon her, clamping tightly around her throat, instantly robbing her of the ability to speak.
All her voice was blocked deep in her throat, unable to come out again.
["Not allowed, you know. If you speak of the wager, it becomes meaningless,"] Rosse's gentle voice rang directly in her mind, incomparably clear, like a whisper in her ear.
Conia was startled. She was sure the voice was very loud, yet the people around them seemed deaf to it, with no reaction on their faces.
'What kind of power is this?'
Conia didn't know what method this was.
But she clearly knew that someone who could use such a terrifying technique was someone Skypiea could not resist.
After taking a few breaths, Conia realized that the shackles on her body were gone, and she just wanted to speak again to persuade Pagaya.
"Pagaya…"
Unfortunately, she was a little too late.
"CONIA, YOU ARE THE SINNER OF SKYPIEA!", Pagaya roared hoarsely.
He had already shaped himself into a victim, standing on the moral high ground.
Now that he was going to kill Conia, it wasn't killing a tribeswoman, nor was it being coerced by Rosse, it was dealing with a traitor.
He was a righteous Skypiean.
"GO TO HELL, TRAITOR!", Pagaya raised the platinum pistol in his hand, aimed the muzzle at Conia's heart, and without hesitation, pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The deafening gunshot tore through the deathly silence of the plaza.
At the moment the gunshot rang out, Conia felt everything around her seemed to have been pressed with a pause button.
Time froze, the world stood still.
She saw with extreme clarity, after Pagaya pulled the trigger, the distorted expression of relief that instantly surfaced on his face. That expression held no guilt, only release and gladness.
She saw the brass-colored bullet shooting out of the dark muzzle, drawing a cold arc in the air, carrying the breath of death, speeding directly toward her heart.
She saw how after the gunshot, those "fellow" Skypieans around her, their first reaction was not exclamation, nor stopping, but even faster, even more thoroughly, lowering their heads and curling up their bodies.
As if doing so could completely isolate themselves from this tragedy, so they could continue maintaining their cold indifferent posture.
'This Skypiea, is it really my homeland I have stayed in for 24 years?'
'What a group of incurable filths...'
At this moment, facing the high-speed incoming bullet, Conia was unusually calm.
Instead, her heart rose with a strange sense of release.
As long as she died, there would be no more need to consider anything.
No need to face this suffocating despair, no need to think about this hopeless future, no need to worry for these hopeless tribespeople.
Unfortunately, even this humble wish of hers still could not be realized.
Ding!
That bullet, which should have pierced through Conia's heart, when it was less than 10 centimeters from her chest, suddenly lost all kinetic energy as if a freezing spell had been cast, abruptly suspended in mid-air, completely still.
Rosse calmly stretched out his hand and easily grasped the bullet he had restrained in his palm.
From the beginning, everything had been under his control.
The moment the bullet left the chamber, it had already been wrapped by seawater under his control.
The originally 1-second path had been forcibly stretched to 10 seconds.
Otherwise, how could it have given Conia so much time, letting her think all these various thoughts at the brink of death?
Even to the extent, in this life-and-death moment, she awakened Observation Haki.
The slight changes in Conia's expression just now were all clearly seen by Rosse.
Conia's ability to clearly recognize the Skypieans was the result of Rosse guiding her step by step.
Pagaya's choice was not surprising.
In critical moments, never expect an ordinary man to stand up. If he could stand up, then he certainly wasn't an ordinary man.
Unfortunately, Pagaya was nothing but a thorough ordinary man.
If Pagaya could have made a different choice, after being emotionally driven to stand up for the first time, he would not have knelt back down.
Of course, Rosse very much looked forward to being mistaken.
If Pagaya could reveal extraordinary talent, then Rosse would look at him with different eyes.
He would also be willing to train such a Pagaya.
Rosse had always believed one thing.
Though ability and talent are innate elements, they can be changed later; it's never too late.
But once character is formed, it is unchangeable. Perhaps experiencing great upheaval can bring change. But how many great upheavals are there in life?
What's more, even in the midst of great change, if you still don't have the courage to stand up....
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