Chapter 15: New Partner

"Ren, is this the Island you are talking about?"

At this time, A majestic Qilin flies through the sky with a beautiful figure sitting on its back with wide-open eyes while looking down at the island shaped like a crown below.

Along the way, Ren had introduced to her the secrets and truth of this island.

Naturally, she is clear that the other party is here for the legendary gilded horns.

"Well, that's almost it!" Ren nodded.

Just half a day ago.

After the battle with Vice-Admiral Stainless, Ren directly sent an invitation to Carina, who has excellent sailing skills.

Surprisingly, this girl, who was known as the Phantom Thief, did not refuse but simply accepted his invitation.

She officially became his new companion and also served as a navigator.

Therefore, he directly asked Carina to abandon the slow sailing boat and hop on his back together with the treasure she had stolen from the pirates.

Then, he continues his travel without stopping and passes through several sea areas with unpredictable climates before finally arriving here.

"My past experiences really feel like yesterday..."

Looking at the island below, memories of the days he traveled the sea with the Straw Hat Pirates flashed through his eyes.

Although, sometimes, he always feels that he is incompatible with the carefreeness of the Straw Hat Pirates and cannot truly harmonize with them.

But he has to say that those thrilling adventures are indeed very nostalgic.

"It seems that they have competed for a new Animal king, and the pair of gilded horns have most likely been eaten!" Ren said calmly with a calm expression.

The past is gone, after all, and he wants to look to the future.

"Brush..." The next moment, his vast Observation Haki covered the entire island in an instant.

He first noticed an aura that was far superior to other beasts and not too weak.

It is confirmed that this island's beasts have competed for a new king.

Of course, that's just not too weak.

Even before he became a devil fruit user, it was not his opponent at all.

Let alone now.

"Is that so?"

Carina raised her eyebrow.

She blinked her eyes and said to Ren with some doubt: "But I'm really curious. Are those gilded horns really as magical as you said, Ren?"

He has gone out to sea alone since he was a child and has survived alone to this day.

Carina is naturally not the kind of naive and ignorant girl who doesn't understand the world.

She had just turned eighteen and had broken into the Grand Line from East Blue not long ago. Over the past few days, she had become deeply aware of how dangerous this sea was.

Witnessing Ren's strength with her own eyes, she was deeply shocked.

Far from being as sly and cunning as the original trajectory two years later, At this moment, she's very confident and believes that she can survive alone on the sea.

But humans are, after all, social creatures.

Deep in her heart, she still longs to find a like-minded companion who can protect each other from wind and rain.

Therefore, after receiving Ren's invitation, she did not refuse it directly.

Instead, she readily agreed.

Of course, she is a sleek, sophisticated, and experienced person; she would not naively trust a man whom she had just met without reservation.

Even if it is, the other person is very strong, and his personality is not as bad as the rumors say, making it not difficult for her to communicate with him.

But is it really a big tree that can really protect her from the wind and rain?

It still needs to be examined.

"Brush…"

Without any hesitation, he locked in that strong aura.

The huge Qilin stepped through the air and ran wildly down before coming to a mountain range.

"Roar..." A lion with a head that looked like a tree branch, a golden horn, and a length of no less than five or six meters jumped out immediately.

It stared warily at the behemoth that fell from the sky and was much larger than it.

The violent aura that was as extremely powerful made it unable to help but shudder.

But the dignity of being the Animal King still made it bite the bullet and growl demonstratively at the Qilin in front of it.

Then, it crunches down to a posture that is easy to pounce at any time.

"brush!"

Ren returned to human form and fell to the ground with Carina.

"Are these the pair of gilded horns?"

Carina blinked her eyes.

She curiously looked at the Kirin Lion in front of her, or rather at the pair of gilded horns on top of its head.

"Roar..."

The Kirin Lion obviously has a lot of wisdom.

When it heard the other party say this, its eyes became extremely fierce. They were probably eyeing the pair of gilded horns it inherited from the previous animal kings.

At this moment, its eyes were filled with murderous intent, and it roared at the two humans in front of it.

The next moment, the gilded horns shine brightly, and astonishing light waves strike Ren and Carina like lightning.

"Boom…"

There was a loud bang.

The ground was directly blasted to the point of collapsing.

"Woohoo..." The Shock wave rolled, and a large amount of gravel splashed away.

Ren has already disappeared there together with Carina the very moment that the Kirin Lion initiates a sneak attack, avoiding its sudden attack in a split second.

"This is..."

Carina was shocked.

She looked at this Kirin Lion in disbelief and its gilded horns.

Having witnessed Ren's strength with her own eyes, she would naturally not be frightened by such a small scene.

But it was still inevitable and felt a little surprising.

Because this Kirin Lion is not a Devil Fruit user.

It can launch such an amazing attack by relying on the power of that pair of gilded horns.

"Well, this is the power of the gilded horns..."

Ren nodded.

"Shave (Soru)..."

He let go of Carina's waist, and then, in an instant, he appeared in front of the Kirin Lion, who was about to continue attacking them.

Before it could react, he kicked it out.

"boom!!"

"Roar..."

The huge body of the Kirin Lion flew straight out like a cannonball.

Along with a large amount of gravel as it hit the cliff behind it.

The difference between the two is obvious.

"Chi——"

Without waiting for the Kirin Lion to recover, the Bonebreaker sword was unsheathed at lightning-fast speed.

Ren's eyes narrowed, and his momentum became extremely fierce as he firmly held an extremely sharp sword.

"One sword Style: Flowing Water!"

A blazing Flying Slash shot out and passed it through diagonally without any mercy.

"Roar--"

"Rumble..."

The ground shook, accompanied by shrill wails.

Under Carina's dull eyes, the cliff tens of meters high was cut into two pieces.

The cuts are extremely smooth if you look at them closely.

"Gulu!"

Carina couldn't help but swallow her saliva.

Is this man so powerful even without using his devil fruit ability?

She couldn't help but secretly thought that it looked like Ren was really not bragging about his previous adventures.

Fortunately, she did not stupidly want to sneak away with the other person's things after he put his luggage on her sailboat and ran to fight those Marines.

Ren came directly to the body of the Kirin Lion, which was cut into two pieces, then his right foot stepped on his head, which had wide eyes open but had lost its sign of life.

"Tear..." He grabbed the pair of gilded horns and pulled hard.

Without ceremony, they were plucked from its head. Making the scenes appear somewhat bloody.