58 [58] Preparing For Battle
[2800 Words]
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The Grand Line, Paradise.
In an unknown sea.
Standing on the deck of his ship, he gazed at the distant horizon, the waves gently lapping around the vessel, and the air caressing his face with each breeze.
He leisurely smoked his cigarette, contemplating the beauty of the moment and the serenity of the surrounding sea, With each puff, the clear sky painted the colors of dawn, and the light scattered on his face with a glow reflecting his inner calm in this enchanting scene.
[The image here]
What made his mood even better were the rewards he received for what he had done.
He looked at the notifications of the new system with a fierce grin.
[-Eternal Clothes: A set of renewable clothes that can be destroyed and burned but repair themselves instantly, Additionally, they possess defensive capabilities.]
[-Seimei kikan: Also known as "Life Return", it's a technique that grants the user complete control over all parts and functions of the body. Every part of the body can be controlled, such as hair, which can be turned into a weapon to strangle enemies, The user can also control involuntary bodily functions like digestion, and even control their muscle mass, As the host develops this technique, they gain greater abilities.]
Ren was pleased with this technique, the best of the Six Powers and the hardest to learn, Life Return.
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[A/N: Seimei kikan will be translated to " Life Return" from now on, Let me know if you want the rest of the Six Powers named in their English or Japanese names.]
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He also looked at the Eternal Clothes; these things were useful. He took out the Eternal Clothes set from the infinity space.
As he was about to put them on, the voice of the system came to stop him.
[Host, in fact, these clothes are worn automatically; you just need to imagine yourself wearing them.]
Ren was a little surprised by the sudden voice of Miss System in his mind, but he quickly nodded and did as she said.
The clothes shimmered with a blue light, and in parts of a second, Ren's original clothes disappeared as if they were never there, He wasn't left naked; he was wearing the Eternal Clothes.
It was a magical way, but he wasn't surprised, as after all, this was one of the tools of the system, a system that could bring the dead back to life.
Looking at his clothes, they consisted of long blue pants, black leather shoes, and gray gloves, On the upper part of his body, he wore a long-sleeved shirt, and over it, there was a white leather jacket striped with black.
With his short blue hair and blue eyes, he embodied masculine beauty.
[The image here]
"It's comfortable..."Ren could only comment as he felt the comfort as soon as he wore them; they were much better than regular clothes, giving a silky and comfortable warmth.
He decided it was time to test the defense of these clothes, so he took out a pistol from the infinity space and filled it with bullets.
*Cling~*
*Bang!*
Ren pointed the gun at his stomach and pulled the trigger; the bullet didn't penetrate the clothes, but stopped at the outer layer of the jacket.
The bullet fell off harmlessly as if it had hit an iron wall, while a blue light shimmered where the scratch was, and the jacket was repaired and quickly returned to its original state within seconds.
"Fantastic." Ren could only praise his gain this time; thus, the problem of having to change clothes after every battle was solved.
"Miss System, tell me about the other advantages of the Eternal Clothes."
[Host, how did you know there are still advantages?]
"Just a feeling."
[Your feeling is correct; these clothes can grow with you, clean themselves from blood or dirt, and you can take them off at any time the same way you put them on.]
"Oh, wonderful, Should I thank you for the gift, Miss System?" Ren smiled lightly.
[Hmph, I don't need your thanks~] she said with a soft, teasing voice.
"Then I won't thank you."
[Y-you! You-You petty!]
And with that, Miss System was offline.
Ren ignored her and took out the scroll of Life Return; this scroll was his best gain.
Without further ado, he consumed it, and a lot of information entered his mind as he adapted to the new skill and tried some of its abilities.
First, he would try to lengthen his hair; after focusing a little and remembering the instructions from the roll, he felt familiar with this skill and managed to lengthen his hair to shoulder length.
His blue hair reached his shoulders, but he wasn't satisfied yet; he wanted to test his limits. He focused more and succeeded in reaching a length of two meters.
Second, he would try to attack with his hair; he took out a wooden barrel from the infinity space.
The barrel was randomly picked up on one of his plundering days.
Anyway, he controlled his two-meter-long hair, finding it difficult at first, but as minutes passed, the process became easier.
And after twenty minutes, he could move his hair more freely, heading towards the wooden barrel and wrapping his hair around it.
He tried to apply more force to his hair.
With enough focus, he managed to break the barrel using the pressure generated by his hair.
"I'd like to try this skill on people's necks next time" he was sure the wooden barrel was tougher than an ordinary person's neck, but he preferred to test it in battle. He would find some members of the Baroque organization later to do so.
Ren's next plan was to try controlling his other body parts, He was still far from being able to control bodily functions.
He looked at his nails and activated the skill, Suddenly, his nails became longer, reaching about 20 centimeters in length.
Looking at his nails, he wanted to make sure of their strength and found another wooden barrel in the Infinity Space.
*Bam!*
With the sound of wood breaking, the barrel was cut in half by Ren's sharp nails.
He nodded satisfactorily as he returned his nails to their normal size.
"Only Shigan scroll is left..."Ren looked at Shigan scroll in the Infinity Space and made his decision.
"Miss System, I'd like to consume Shigan scroll on crew memberThe "Tashigi."
[Shigan scroll has been consumed on crew member "Tashigi."]
There was no soft feminine voice response; instead, it was a cold, mechanical one.
'Is she really angry with me? How old is she...' Ren kept his thoughts to himself and sighed.
As for the matter of Shigan scroll, he chose to give it to Tashigi because of her hard work. The woman's loyalty was increasing day by day, and it had already reached 83%.
Also, she needed strength to climb the ranks in the navy, and this could be a boost for her.
After finishing everything, Ren returned to his room to sleep, leaving behind the enchanting sunrise scene as the sun rose proudly, announcing the start of a new day.
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The Grand Line, Paradise.
In an unknown sea, aboard a certain naval ship.
In one of the few cramped rooms on the ship, a girl with dark blue hair stared in awe at the tattoo on her hand.
"Shigan...One of the Six Powers!" Tashigi murmured to herself as she absorbed the information she had obtained.
"This is the captain's gift to me..." she said with warmth in her heart. She had felt a change in the tattoo on her hand a while ago, and a warm feeling spread through her entire body, making her sigh, and then she received a set of information. This made her conclude that all of this was because of Ren—the person who tattooed her.
"Alright! I shouldn't disappoint the captain, We'll reach Alabasta in a few days, By then, I should be able to adapt to this skill!" Tashigi said to herself softly, getting out of her bed, revealing her naked body, Her skin was slightly tan, with short dark blue hair that could be considered black. She looked into the mirror and stared at her developed physique constantly.
"He likes it when I eat better to impress him..."
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[After 7 hours]
Ren woke up a while ago and found that the girls had woken up before him, There was a commotion when they learned about the resurrection of Kaya's Mother.
While Ren didn't mind revealing his secret, as everyone here was part of the crew, except for Lorena, who already knew.
Mikita was almost incredulous, but the evidence was in front of her, The captain could truly resurrect the dead! Although Kaya kept saying he only brought back her mother's soul, it was still impressive and miraculous.
"The captain is a god!"
Mikita shouted like crazy since she learned about Ren's ability, but she quickly returned to her senses.
The awe and worship in her eyes didn't disappear when she looked at Ren; instead, it became stronger.
"Who is this person, really..." Vivi muttered when she learned about what happened, Bringing people back to life...She had never heard of such a thing before.
Superhuman abilities and Devil Fruits were acceptable and could be passed off, but something like forcing a soul to return from the underworld, as Ren explained to them, was a miracle and a strange power.
What shocked Mikita and Vivi even more was when they learned that he did the same thing with Nami and Nojiko"s Mother, where Bell-Mère came out of the ring and talked to Naya, who did the same thing.
The two women quickly bonded and started talking about East Blue, considering it their birthplace.
"The captain requests your presence in the meeting hall" Nami came and informed the girls of Ren's words. They quickly left the deck and stopped what they were doing, then headed inside.
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The meeting hall wasn't as impressive as you imagined when Nami said it, It was just a room slightly larger than the bedrooms, with simple furniture consisting of a chair for each girl, with Ren's chair in the middle, and a long table dividing the chairs into two sides.
"We have 2 days left until we reach Alabasta" Ren spoke in a deep voice when he saw that everyone was seated, Vivi tensed up, and excitement burned in her eyes for returning to her homeland.
"Let's discuss our plan thoroughly..."
When he spoke again, everything was silent, and the girls awaited his to speak.
"We'll split into two groups, each with its role in the grand plan" he made sure everyone was listening before continuing.
"First, Me, Nojiko, and Mikita will form the first group, and our goal is Rainbase city, where Crocodile resides."
After finishing his speech, he watched the expressions of the crew members, Nami was momentarily sad, but she quickly regained her composure. Surely Ren had a role for her to play? If he needed her, she wouldn't ruin his plans out of selfishness.
On the other hand, Mikita and Nojiko were happy to accompany the captain, especially Nojiko, She looked at Nami with amusement, as if to say:"See?, I beat you."
Ren noticed that Vivi wanted to say something, and indeed, her voice came: "But Crocodile is viewed as a hero by the people of Alabasta, especially the residents of Rainbase. The conditions of that city are better than the rest of the country's cities, and this is due to Crocodile. So, he hasn't allowed it to suffer from drought."
"I understand your point, but what's the problem with that? What if the people of Alabasta see Crocodile as a hero?" Ren laughed; he knew the reason for her question.
She was afraid that if the people of Rainbase saw Crocodile being attacked, they would stand with him and fight against Ren, which could result in their deaths.
He needed to reassure her, so he opened his mouth and said:"No need to worry. I know these people are being deceived, and I have a way to expose Crocodile to everyone."
His tone was full of confidence and strength, as if he had already planned everything.
"Really?!" Vivi exclaimed excitedly, then realized she had just broken the calm atmosphere. She coughed awkwardly and returned to her seat.
"I have a spy very close to Crocodile, a spy who has all the information about the Baroque Works organization and its activities, including evidence of Crocodile's attempt to overthrow the country. I'll also use a more impactful piece of evidence, making one of the agents confess."
Vivi widened her eyes upon hearing his words, Who was this spy he was referring to?
"Do I know this person?" She pointed to the spy, Ren laughed and told her, "It's Miss All Sunday, I've made a deal with her, That woman doesn't want to see civilian casualties in Alabasta. She herself allowed you to know Mr. 0's identity."
Vivi was shocked again, She didn't know where he got this information from, but she believed him without a doubt.
"But why? Wasn't she his partner?" she asked puzzled.
She didn't think that Crocodile's evil partner would be a good person who didn't want to see a country fall under the control of pirates.
"Maybe because she's a good person? Rhahaha" Ren laughed, then continued to explain his plan.
"While I'm in Rainbase with Nojiko and Mikita, the rest of you will head to Nanohana to convince the rebel army to stop, You'll explain the situation to them."
"Were you in Alabasta before, Captain?" Nami was the one who asked this question, cause he knew several city names and his plan was definitive, He knew where the rebel army would be, and he knew the location of Crocodile.
In fact, Vivi and the other girls were also curious about the reason for Ren's extensive knowledge of almost everything, Vivi wanted to know if he had visited Alabasta in the past and waited for his answer.
"Well...you can say that" he scratched his head and answered in a strange tone.
He had followed Luffy and the others' journey in the Canon with all its details, so could it be considered that he had visited the country?
Ren dismissed unnecessary thoughts and looked at the puzzled expressions of the girls after hearing his answer.
Vivi didn't pursue the matter further and seemed to remember something, She said:,"But if the rebels don't listen to us, what will we do?"
She was worried that the rebel army wouldn't believe them even if they explained the truth, Crocodile was cunning and had cemented his status as a hero in the minds of all Alabasta's inhabitants.
"That's why I put Nami in your group" Ren smiled and nodded towards the orange-haired girl with a cold expression.
"Do you want me to kill them if they refuse to comply?" she said coldly, like an iceberg.
Kaya's face paled upon hearing Nami's words, This girl was fierce and cold, unlike her mature appearance!
"Rhahaha, don't be silly, Nami, Killing them will make my next plan after getting rid of Crocodile pointless."
Ren laughed and expected Nami to say something like that, Her personality was interesting and wonderful.
He paused for a moment, then continued:"You just need to hit them a little and delay them while I deal with Crocodile."
"Understood, Captain!" she nodded.
"Kaya and Lorena will go with Nami's group, The meeting with the rebels may be a bit dangerous, but I can't move with a large group of people to avoid attracting the attention of the Marines who will be there."
The girls remembered the issue of the Marine trap and their expressions became disturbed.
"No need to worry, Although the Vice Admiral who will be there will be stronger than Crocodile, I'm confident in my ability to sweep the ground with him."
He smiled ferociously and tightened his gloved hand into a fist.
"The final part of our plan after defeating Crocodile is for Vivi to return to the royal palace, to her father, while the rest of us will come to support me in the clash with the Marines. Is that understood?"
he said in a deep voice, making sure everyone heard him.
"Aye, Captain!"
"You can count on us!"
"We'll kick Marine butt!" Mikita said with a smile.
"Good luck, Captain!" Vivi clasped her hands and assumed a prayer position.
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Ren stood on the deck of the ship with Nojiko, looking at his beloved and said: "Do you want to eat a Devil Fruit?"
"Oh? Do you have one suitable for me, Captain?" she hugged his arm and whispered teasingly.
"Yes" he simply replied.
"As long as the captain has chosen it for me, then I'll eat it~" she said playfully.
"Good girl."
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Author's gossiping.
Well Well Well, I have nothing to say.
