Nothing happened that night.
The next day, York took the initiative to invite Vegapunk and the others to meet.
But the location was no longer yesterday's tavern, and was instead changed to the natural dock where both sides had moored their ships.
York sat cross-legged on the ground.
Although he was only two meters tall, he naturally carried an aura of authority without anger.
After all, having been the king of Sky Island for a year, he had inevitably cultivated the presence of someone in power.
Coupled with the powerful confidence brought by his own strength, the current York already had a bit of the bearing Rocks once had.
The four-man group led by Vegapunk, now fully sober, felt a chill in their hearts when they saw York like this, realizing they had underestimated him yesterday.
"Sit. It's just grass, but I assume you won't mind."
York raised a hand.
The four scientists hesitated slightly, but in the end they still sat down.
It was not that they lacked resolve.
As the world's top scientists, each of them naturally had their own pride.
But compared to pride, they understood even more clearly what York's bounty meant.
He really did have the ability to kill them.
And most likely they would not even have a chance to escape.
Fortunately, yesterday Stussy had already explained York's ideals to them, and he was not some chaotic evil pirate.
"I'll ask the same question as yesterday. Are you willing to join under my command?"
York was still that direct, and he could not be bothered with empty formalities.
Vegapunk probed carefully, "My dream is to use the power of science and technology to achieve world peace. Can you help me do that?"
"I can't create permanent peace."
York shook his head frankly.
"Desire in the human heart has no end. As long as humans exist, conflict will exist forever. If the peace you want is a peace with no conflict at all, then the best method is to wipe out all humans."
"I can't do that, and I don't want to wipe out all humanity either."
"What I want, and what I believe I can accomplish, is to become the king of the world."
"Using force to suppress wars that may erupt across the world, and to keep conflict within a framework of rules so that at the very least, human tragedies won't happen so casually."
"Of course, that kind of suppression can't last forever, but at least while I'm alive, I can maintain that kind of surface-level peace."
"A hundred years, or maybe only a few decades of peace. Can you accept that kind of peace?"
Vegapunk opened his mouth, then fell silent, and also sank into thought.
To the side, seeing Vegapunk lower his flag, Judge was the second to speak.
"I want to revive Germa 66. Can you help me?"
"Hahahaha!"
York threw his head back and laughed.
"I'm the man who's going to rule the whole world. The North Blue will naturally fall under my rule as well."
"However, if you're willing to serve under me as the Governor of the North Blue, then handing you the authority to govern the North Blue is not out of the question."
Judge tilted his head and looked at York.
"You're that confident? Even Rocks, the so-called legend of an era, failed. Do you think you're even stronger than him?"
"If I remember correctly, he was your captain."
"Heh."
York smiled faintly.
"So what if he was my captain?"
"I was just born later than him. That doesn't mean my ability is inferior to his."
"Besides, it's precisely because he failed that I'm even more confident I can succeed."
"Isn't it the same with your scientific experiments? Who can guarantee the first experiment will succeed one hundred percent?"
"It's because you fail so many times and summarize enough lessons that you can obtain the most perfect experimental results."
"Isn't ambition to conquer the world the same?"
Judge frowned slightly, clearly because York's words hit home for him.
So after Vegapunk, he became the second to fall into silence and contemplation.
As for Queen, no, at this time he had not changed his name yet, so he should be called Sain.
Sain looked at the first two, who had both been persuaded, and suddenly realized that what he wanted to say had already been said by them.
Even questions he had not asked out loud could be answered indirectly from York's earlier explanation.
So after thinking for a moment, he asked York the one thing he cared about most right now.
"If we submit under you, will you restrict our freedom?"
"As long as you don't betray me and don't hand important research results to others, you can go wherever you want and do whatever you want."
York raised one finger.
"I only have one requirement of you: no betrayal."
Sain got the answer he wanted, shut his mouth, and elbowed Caesar next to him.
Caesar was the youngest of the four, but he asked a question the other three did not dare to voice.
"If we refuse your invitation, will you kill us?"
"Of course."
York grinned, showing a gentle smile that was also filled with killing intent.
"You four are the four strongest scientists in the world today."
"If you don't submit under me, then no matter whose banner you join, you will ultimately become an obstacle to my unification of the world."
"I don't believe that if one key person is killed, there will still be tens of thousands of key people rising up."
"A key person is key precisely because they are irreplaceable."
"So if you are unwilling to accept my invitation, I will one hundred percent kill you and strangle future risks in the cradle."
York's words were cold and blunt, but at the same time, they dispelled some of the four's concerns.
After all, someone who only talks about everyone being happy together could never accomplish the ambition York spoke of.
At that, York paused briefly and continued, "My patience is limited. You only have today to think."
After saying that, York stopped speaking, and the four scientists collectively fell silent as well.
Time passed second by second.
During that period, only Stussy and Ivankov brought over some drinks and food, and there was no communication between the two sides.
Finally, Vegapunk seemed to have figured it out.
He was the first to nod at York.
"I can try trusting you once."
Next was Judge.
"I still have to revive Germa. I can't die by your hand."
Sain calmly tossed snacks into his mouth and nodded.
"I actually wanted to join a long time ago. It's just that nobody spoke first."
Caesar gave Sain a disdainful sideways glance.
"I don't want to die either, so I'll work under you for a while, for now."
Having received their complete answers, York bared his teeth in a grin.
"Very good. Here's to a happy cooperation from here on out."
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