"Your servant thanks Saint Rosse."
Hearing this appointment that stunned everyone present, Aizen calmly stepped forward.
He bent slightly at the waist. Behind his glasses, his eyes carried a trace of respect as he looked at Rosse.
Rosse had fulfilled the promise he made to him in this forceful way.
Since his lord had already built the grandest stage, then it was now his turn, Aizen's turn, to show the people of these two worlds the ability and skill worthy of the crown of Vice King.
If, after Rosse had given him such status, he still could not handle the position of first beneath the throne, then he might as well find a block of tofu and smash his head into it instead of continuing down the path of evolution.
On the throne, Rosse merely nodded slightly, his expression unchanged.
He then began calmly announcing the arrangements for the others from the Bleach world.
With a few casual words from him, most of the Soul Reapers were assigned to the Heavenly Court and the Hell Cycle, maintaining the world's basic cycle of life and death, or simply becoming foundations for him to use.
Only a few technical specialists such as Kirinji Tenjiro, Ishida Ryuken, Hikifune Kirio, and Kurotsuchi Mayuri were specially approved to enter the World Government's Science Department.
Rosse was not worried that these science fanatics would lose control or create some disaster that destroyed the world.
Because the person in charge of the Science Department was Sora.
After eating the Brain-Brain Fruit and spending over ten years developing it, along with Rosse's complete support and favoritism, the current Sora's intelligence and management ability were absolutely no weaker than those geniuses of Soul Society who had accumulated knowledge for hundreds of years.
It was not that Mayuri and the others developed too slowly.
It was simply a basic truth of the world.
Learning and mastering something would always be easier than creating something from nothing.
For Rosse, Sora did not need to possess unbelievable creative talent.
She only needed to rely on the Brain-Brain Fruit's abilities to understand and closely monitor the progress of these geniuses' research.
As long as she prevented them from blowing up the world, she would be carrying out her duties perfectly.
With the level her brain had reached, this kind of management and supervision work suited her perfectly and was extremely easy.
Since the people of the two worlds did not interfere with each other very much, this first royal meeting after the fusion of the two worlds lasted less than half an hour before ending cleanly.
After the meeting ended, Rosse waved his hand and dismissed everyone in the hall.
This time, even the newly appointed Aizen was not kept behind.
After all, he had finally completed another evolution.
The time that followed belonged to his enjoyment.
For Rosse, the only reason to climb with great effort to a higher level was to crush others more thoroughly and enjoy himself more freely.
The most basic and pure joy of humanity was often built upon an absolute gap above others.
His pursuit of evolution and strength was only to preserve that difference forever and destroy every potential threat before it could grow.
That way, someday in the future, no arrogant newbie would be able to force the same humiliation upon him.
Rosse had never claimed to be a good person.
In this cruel world, the strong devouring the weak was the only truth.
He never believed that good deeds would be rewarded. He only followed his own desires.
If he wanted something, he simply took it.
He had long understood one thing.
If he lost and his enemy happened to be a compassionate saint, then even if he were an unforgivable tyrant, the worst outcome would be death.
But if his enemy were a ruthless villain, then regardless of whether he had spent his life doing good or evil, his ending would likely be miserable.
Since there was always a risk of being judged one day, why should he pretend to be a hypocrite bound by morality?
Something as vague as fate was nothing more than a cover for the weak.
After all, he, a complete villain, had already won twice.
Rosse sighed softly to himself.
He lowered his eyes slightly and gently laid down the unconscious Senjumaru from his arms. Then he curled a finger toward Rouge, who was standing nearby.
Rouge immediately understood. Wearing a gentle and obedient smile, she moved closer.
At the same time, Stella stepped forward with perfect timing, carefully moving Senjumaru away and placing her onto the enormous couch nearby.
When Senjumaru's small body landed on it, the couch shook slightly, setting off a large wave of pale flesh.
Among those close to him, some were simply treasures Rosse liked.
Toward that group, his own desires always came first, and he did whatever he wanted.
He had personally tried every method imaginable.
Likewise, among those around him, there were some he especially favored.
Toward those people, he always showed great patience and tolerance.
What was strange, however, was that those who received this special treatment were usually the ones most tolerant of Rosse.
Compared to the others who required some degree of coercion, they were often more proactive than he was, and the things they enjoyed were sometimes beyond even his expectations.
Rouge and Senjumaru were two completely opposite examples.
Even though Rouge had reached S-rank strength under Rosse's training, she lasted even less time than Senjumaru.
Rosse gently pinched Rouge's sleeping cheek and then carefully placed her among the defeated group as well.
Afterward, he turned around and walked directly toward the beauty sitting not far away, fully dressed.
Inside the enormous bedchamber, aside from Stella, who was helping clean up the aftermath, only Rosse and Gion remained awake.
When he reached her, Rosse smiled and naturally extended his hand.
Gion lifted her eyes and shot him an annoyed glance. There was a trace of complaint in her gaze, but her body was completely honest.
She obediently reached out her hand and allowed the irresistible force to pull her around and into that familiar broad embrace.
"Compared to how stiff you were when we first met, you've become much more experienced now," Rosse smiled as he teased her. His slender fingers found the hairpin atop her head and gently pulled it free with a click.
In an instant, her long black hair spilled down like a waterfall, falling over her fair back and making the curve of her waist and hips stand out even more.
"How could I not be?", Gion sighed softly.
She nestled quietly in Rosse's arms, resting her cheek against his solid chest. A trace of nostalgia filled her voice.
"We first met in the year 1500 of the Sea Circle Calendar. Today is already 1520... Twenty years have passed. Without realizing it, I went from a young girl to an old woman."
Thinking back to their first meeting twenty years ago felt like another lifetime.
Back then, Rosse had seemed to her like nothing more than an arrogant Celestial Dragon relying on his family's influence.
And the outcome of their relationship turned out exactly as she had feared.
At their first real meeting, her wings had been broken. She was forced to take off the Marine officer's cloak that represented justice and became Rosse's captive.
She had thought about resisting.
She had thought about dragging both of them down together.
But in the face of absolute power and authority, she eventually lowered her head and gave up the idea of ending her own life.
For Gion at that time, yielding to Rosse was a gamble made with her entire life.
In a world where the strong devoured the weak, it was extremely difficult for a woman to reach the top ranks of power.
Especially for an ordinary human like her, who had not been born with a monstrous body like Big Mom.
Countless times in the middle of the night, she imagined a bleak future where Rosse grew tired of her and discarded her.
But she never expected that she would remain by his side for twenty years.
She watched this man rise from what appeared to be an ordinary Celestial Dragon, climbing step by step through mountains of corpses and seas of blood until he reached the peak of power within the World Government.
Later, he even reached into another world and placed all of its people beneath his feet.
People were born admiring the strong.
It was instinct.
And she was no exception.
Gion silently admitted it to herself.
She did not know when she had begun accepting Rosse, when she had hopelessly fallen in love with him, and started seeing him as something greater than her ideals.
Perhaps it began when he obtained the Vampire Fruit for her.
Perhaps it was because of his personal charm.
Or perhaps it was because she felt his favor.
She did not know.
But when it started no longer mattered.
What mattered was that she was happy now, and willing to give everything to the person who filled the emptiness within her.
"If you're an old woman, then what does that make Charlotte Linlin? A prehistoric beast?"
Rosse laughed and reached out to pinch her soft left cheek.
The touch beneath his fingers was smooth and delicate. Her face remained firm without the slightest sign of sagging.
Judging by appearance alone, no one would connect the stunning beauty before him with a middle-aged woman in her forties.
People would believe she was only twenty-five.
That was naturally thanks to her Vampire Fruit and her terrifying SS-rank strength.
Of course, the fruit alone was enough to grant the eternal youth countless women dreamed of.
Rosse knew very well that if he had never found a way to travel to other worlds and continue evolving, he might have ended up relying on Gion's ability for immortality in the future.
The fact that he had given her the Vampire Fruit in the first place represented his complete trust in her.
Even today, among everyone under his command, the subordinate he admired most might be Aizen.
But the person he trusted most was actually the woman in his arms, the one he had once forced into submission.
"If I'm really as young and beautiful as you say, then I don't see you spending all your time with me," Gion rolled her eyes beautifully.
She moved onto a rocking chair nearby and sat across it. As the chair swayed gently, her waist moved with it.
"For men like you who hold great power, novelty is still more important, isn't it? Their figures really are nice, and they look small and cute," As she spoke, she glanced not far away.
Harribel and Rangiku Matsumoto were lying there unconscious.
Honestly, judging by height and build, neither Harribel nor Rangiku could be considered small.
But that was only compared to Senjumaru.
In front of Gion, who stood three meters tall, Harribel and Rangiku really did look somewhat small and cute.
This time Rosse had completely used his true body, which was why those women had been defeated so quickly.
"Changing tastes once in a while just adds variety to life. But your meaning to me is different in the end," Rosse chuckled softly.
His hand slowly and gently brushed through her hair along her back.
He was telling the truth.
To him, Gion's position truly could not be replaced.
After arriving in this world, Gion was not the first woman he had.
The female pirate he met first was shot dead by him that very day without mercy.
Gion was not the first woman to give him her most precious thing either.
That place belonged to Stella.
That was why he had always held a unique affection and tenderness toward Stella.
But Gion was the first woman he had truly pulled away from the righteous path with his own hands, gradually worn down, and finally taken completely, both body and heart.
In a sense, she was his first and most perfect trophy.
No matter how large his territory became in the future, there would always be a special place beside him reserved for Gion.
———
[Three Days Later]
On the large bed, Rosse gently laid down the exhausted Gion.
He stood up, casually picked up the Garment of the Hollow King, and carefully draped it over her smooth shoulders covered in red marks, shielding her from the cool air.
When this garment had first been created, not even its maker, Senjumaru, had received such gentle treatment from Rosse.
After settling Gion down, Rosse nodded lightly toward Stella, signaling her to clean up the aftermath.
Then, accompanied by Sora and Otohime, who had already awakened, he left the Heavenly Court.
In truth, there had not been many people willing to accept his evil side back then.
Sora was one of them.
Otohime was not.
Sora accepted him completely because she had found true salvation through him and regarded him as everything in her life.
By comparison, Otohime had come to understand the true nature of the world under Rosse's guidance and only then boarded his ship.
Even now, Rosse had never allowed Otohime to see too much of his darker side.
But there were some things he did not need to say.
As someone who shared his bed, Otohime already knew.
After all, Otohime's mind-reading ability could now easily read even S-rank experts.
In that regard, Rosse felt he owed thanks to one person.
Without that person, he and Otohime would likely have had some conflicts.
But because of that person's existence, Otohime had completely submitted to him and even accepted everything about him.
And that person was also the first person Rosse intended to meet after bringing the two women back to Mary Geoise.