[69] Recruitment

[2200 Words]

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The Grand Line, Paradise.

In Alabasta, inside Ace's cell.

"Why did you come here? Just to mock me or what?", Ace looked at Ren with an angry and weary expression.

He was in a pitiful state, blood clotting from the stump of his severed hand, his body filthy and his severed hand a horrifying sight.

He was bound by his feet and remaining hand with chains, the sea stone shackles securely fastened; he couldn't do anything, not even eat without the help of the cell's guards.

"No, I just wanted to take a look around and make sure everything is fine." Ren sat near Ace, then glanced at the enraged Luffy who had been screaming and cursing since he arrived here.

"You scoundrel!! Get us out of here now! I won't forgive you for what you did to Ace! and I'm hungry..." Luffy randomly shouted and cursed at Ren, anger evident in his voice.

Luffy wanted to get out of here immediately and kick the person who severed Ace's hand to avenge his brother!

Luffy was foolish; aside from battles, he didn't consider that he had been defeated by Ren twice already, or that his powerful brother had been easily defeated. He just wanted to kick Ren!

"You're as lively as ever." Ren smiled and ignored Luffy's shouting, keeping his gaze on Ace.

'The son of the Pirate King...'Ren thought in his mind, He had wanted to find something special in Ace, but no matter how hard he tried, he found that the Pirate King's son was...ordinary.

He wasn't weak, as his Devil Fruit power allowed him to easily dominate the first half of the Grand Line, and with his mastery of the Fire-Fire Fruit, he managed to make his way into a strong pirate crew like the Whitebeard Pirates and even become the commonder 2nd division of the whitebeard pirates.

But...that was it.

Where was the strong Haki? Where was the Conqueror's Haki? Was it reasonable that the Pirate King's son didn't possess Conqueror's Haki? It was unbelievable.

And to say that he hadn't awakened it yet...Ace was older than Luffy, yet Luffy managed to awaken his Conqueror's Haki and master all types of Haki at an advanced level, all while being younger than the age Ace died.

There was only one description for Ace...useless!

He not only caused the death of Whitebeard and thousands of his allies due to his stubbornness and insistence on pursuing Teach and punishing him, which never happened, but he was also punished by Teach and handed over to the Marines to bury Whitebeard, and that's what happened.

Ren always wondered why Ace hated Roger, His father was a great pirate who discovered the secrets of this world and surpassed legends like Whitebeard and Shiki.

Perhaps it was just the childish resentment of not having paternal love that made him like this? Or the mockery of rogues about his father? And why bother about the hellish rights of some whores in bars? If those people saw Roger in front of them, they would wet themselves in fear.

Luffy was like Ace, lived without knowing familial love and didn't care about Dragon, but he didn't possess this provocative personality that Ace had, which ultimately made him revere his father's rival, Whitebeard.

Ren sighed and stopped thinking about it. It was impossible to fully understand someone's way of thinking. Perhaps if he tried Ace's experience, he would understand why he formed this opinion about his father.

Ren was an orphan, but he was adopted by a family consisting of a mother and a little girl whom he considered his sister. He considered that family his real family, and losing them was hard. After coming to this world, day by day, he began to realize that returning was almost impossible even with the help of the system, which didn't know its purpose, It was unlikely to allow him to return.

Slowly, he accepted this reality, although it left a sadness, but it began to fade over time. However, meeting Lorena and that mysterious mission related to the second half reignited hope in his heart once again.

It may seem that he didn't care about Lorena and neglected her, but he always watched her without anyone's knowledge, trying to confirm his guess. When he looked at her and her actions, he found her matching that girl...

He hoped to get the memory key to unlock the seal as a reward for defeating Crocodile, but his hope was dashed...

"Enjoy your last days," Ren's face was cold as he looked at Ace, whose expression turned ugly, smiling in defeat at Ren's words.

"What did you say, you scoundrel?! Get me and Ace out of here now! Release my crew! Don't you dare harm them!"

Luffy shouted with all his might in anger, his yelling starting to bother Ren, prompting the latter to take action.

"Sleep for a while."

*Snap!*

He snapped his fingers, then used the hypnotic magnetism skill on Luffy, who quickly fell asleep.

"Luffy...!" Ace looked at his brother who suddenly fell unconscious, afraid that Ren had harmed him.

"What did you do to Luffy, you scoundrel?!" Ace gathered his remaining strength and shouted angrily at Ren.

"Don't worry, I didn't kill him, I wouldn't dare to do that currently...cause I don't want to be chased by some monsters."

Ren smirked mockingly and calmly left Ace's cell, but the intent to kill was evident in his eyes.

"Ren-sama!"

The cell guard greeted him respectfully, then closed the door and remained guarding the cell expressionlessly.

"Good job, If you hear any noise coming from the other cells, there's no need to worry, alright?" The guard looked confused at Ren's words, but nodded respectfully.

.

After that, Ren went in front of Mikita and held her waist.

The girl who had been chatting with the sullen Zala was embarrassed, but she didn't object to his touch and let him feel her body.

"Are you done chatting with your "friend", Mikita?" Ren's small smile hung on his face as he emphasized the word 'friend.'

"Yes~ She's a bit annoyed with me, kyahahaha." Mikita laughed as she watched Zala's sullen expression.

"That's very bad, Mikita. Look at the girl; she seems completely angry at you." Ren looked at Zala's beautiful face with amusement.

"So, what should I do to make her annoyance disappear, Captain~?" Without waiting for Ren's answer, Mikita continued speaking:

"Maybe... I should kill her?" Unlike her cheerful voice a moment ago, her voice this time was cold, and she seemed ready to take this woman's life at any time.

Zala trembled when she heard Mikita's words. No, she wasn't the only one who felt a shiver down her spine; all the Baroque works clients who were captured in this cell were afraid and trembling.

"Sigh...Mikita, you're a bad friend. How can you talk about killing your friend with such a cold face?" Ren patted her head, and her previous cold expression turned into that of a girl being scolded.

"Sorry, Captain...Give me advice please~" She said, looking at Ren.

"First, you should give this potion to your friend, Can't you see she's injured?" Ren handed her a low-level healing potion.

'It's the same potion I drank that time!'

Mikita thought to herself, remembering the first time she boarded Ren's ship, when she hated and feared him. What embarrassing memories...

Thinking about her first encounter with Ren, an involuntary smile formed on her beautiful face. It was a very beautiful smile, and Ren couldn't help but create some thoughts to push Mikita onto his bed when he saw it.

As for the low-level healing potion, he bought it for 50 million 𝕭 from the system store.

He wanted to add Zala to his crew, and to succeed in that, he had to show his goodwill to her. So, he gave her something that would heal her injury and enhance her beautiful appearance, thus earning her gratitude.

Speaking of money, Ren received millions of berries after defeating many pirates.

The total he received was: 445 million 𝕭.

First, Ace's Fire Fist, he managed to capture him and received 250 million 𝕭.

Secondly, Luffy's Straw Hat, he managed to capture him and received 50 million 𝕭.

Thirdly, Warlord Crocodile, he managed to capture him and received 40 million 𝕭.

Fourthly, Mr. 1 or as he's called Daz Bonez, he managed to capture him and received 37.5 million 𝕭.

Fifthly, Miss Doublefinger or Zala, he managed to capture her and received 17.5 million 𝕭.

Sixthly, Mr. 2, whose real name is Bentham, he managed to capture him and received 16 million 𝕭.

Seventhly, Miss Golden Week or Marian, he managed to capture her and received 14.5 million 𝕭.

Eighthly, Mr. 3, Galdino, he managed to capture him and received 12 million 𝕭.

And if the rest of the clients were added, the total would be 445 million 𝕭.

[A/N: Some clients' bounties weren't mentioned, so I had to guess based on their strength.]

Originally, Ren had 500 million 𝕭 left, and with the addition of another 445 million, he was close to 1 billion 𝕭.

So, buying a low-level healing potion to recruit another crew member wasn't a problem.

"Drink it, kyahahaha." Zala was hesitant, so Mikita helped her drink the potion.

*Gulp.*

After swallowing the delicious liquid, which tasted like the finest wine, she began to feel changes in her body.

"My wound... disappeared!" She exclaimed in horror as she saw the wound on her shoulder vanish.

"You'd better thank Captain Ren."

Mikita said, but Zala was in awe now because she felt more significant changes aside from healing her injury.

"Does my body look a little different??" She looked at Mikita with a puzzled expression, forgetting that this girl was the one who trampled on her and defeated her, she asked for explanations.

"That's also a feature of this potion when women drink it, they become more beautiful." Ren's voice entered Zala's ears, and she looked at her body with surprise.

"The same thing happened to me~"

Mikita laughed as she watched her depressed expression. When Mikita drank the potion, she didn't notice the changes she got until later because she was angry and upset about her loss at the time, but when she calmed down, she discovered that she had become more beautiful.

Zala took a deep breath of the stale prison air, then said fearfully to Ren,

"W-why did you treat me and give me this magical potion? It must have been expensive, right?"

Ren smiled inwardly, the plan was going smoothly, he didn't think much about what he would say and then opened his mouth, "Of course, I have my reasons, Since your former leader was defeated like a dog under my hands, what do you think about joining me?"

"Wow...She was offered to join...!"

"She's extremely lucky! I wish I were in her place."

*Tears* Tears* I don't want to die, I wish I were in her place."

"Tsk, why are you crying like a little child? This is our fate as the weak."

"My candle is melting...just like my life..."

"Let's become friends, Ren-chan!"

"My old bones can't bear the hard prison floor."

Chatter spread among the imprisoned clients upon hearing Ren's words, there was jealousy, fear, frustration, anger, and all kinds of emotions among the clients, but some of them envied Zala.

"Quiet!!"

"...."

The surrounding area became completely silent after Mikita shouted loudly, no one dared to speak, even Mr. 1 remained silent and settled for snoring to express his annoyance.

"Joining your crew.." Zala was surprised by Ren's sudden offer, and when she saw the expressions of envy and jealousy from the other clients, all she could do was get excited.

She felt she could get out of this predicament! She just had to accept.

Excitement rose in her heart, then she said, "I accept! I'll be under your command, Captain!"

¶[Ding! Congratulations host, for completing the hidden mission "Recruit Zala to the crew"and obtaining:the skill "Photographic Memory."]

¶[Photographic Memory: A skill that enables you to remember all the events and details you've read in One Piece manga, no matter how small, they are all stored in a specific part of your memory, as long as you want to remember them, you will easily recall them with the help of this skill.]

'Very good...This will make my plans more solid and without loopholes,' Ren thought in his mind while reading the skill explanation.

"Remove her shackles."

He looked at Mikita and handed her the Sea Stone shackle keys, and soon Zala became free.

"Welcome to the crew~"

Mikita smiled at the woman who had mocked her just a few minutes ago.

"Thank you, Miss...No, Mikita." Zala replied with a smile, seeming to have forgotten all the previous grievances between them.

Ren looked at the rest of the clients, then activated his Observation Haki and saw Zoro, Usopp, Marron, Chopper, and Sanji in their own cells. He smiled when he saw the angry expressions of the Straw Hat crew, then he said loudly to everyone:

"And now...decide here and now, join my fleet or die!"

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Author's gossiping.

800 PS= Bonus chapter.

Yeah~ we reached 8K collection.

If we reached 10K I'll update 3 Bonus Chapter