There was a very good example.
In the original story, there was that Celestial Dragon who was shipwrecked and washed up on Fish-Man Island—Saint Mjosgard.
After he suffered that shipwreck, it was through the strength of the Fish-Men that he was able to return to Mary Geoise.
And during that period, he was influenced by Queen Otohime. After returning to Mary Geoise, he even carried out certain activities to help Fish-Man Island join the World Government.
At the same time, in the latest plot developments, this Mjosgard also had his own role.
Because of the change in his thinking, he chose to help Sai, Leo, and the others escape after they beat up Saint Charlos. In the end, he was executed by the God Knights, who had the authority to judge Celestial Dragons.
In summary—
Unless it was an extremely special kind of Celestial Dragon,
Ren did not think he would encounter some unimaginable situation, such as CP agents showing up right after he captured them.
He would be detected the moment he used some method, and on top of that, he also had the BUG item, the Limited Wishing Machine, to check for any omissions and fill in the gaps.
Even so, the place Kuma had chosen was an uninhabited island.
Ren activated Combat Dispatch and headed there.
When he arrived, the two Celestial Dragons had remained in a drug-induced coma the entire time.
"Are we doing this?"
Kuma seemed somewhat uneasy. "They are Celestial Dragons."
"Kuma, no one in this world is noble from birth. Forget descendants of the Creator. Even if they were gods, they would still have to answer to the judgment of weapons."
Ren indifferently unfolded the domain of the Space-Time: The Creator card.
For this, he had to give special thanks to Monet's cooperation, as well as her outstanding function as a test subject.
Ren had more or less grasped some techniques related to cognitive alteration.
Although he had no way to be as absurd as some hypnosis prop from a doujin, instantly changing someone's thoughts and personality with one click, he could at least preset certain conditions, making these two Celestial Dragons take a specific action.
As mentioned before, Ren's ideals stood in opposition to this world. If he wanted to win, he had to gradually expand his advantage.
The Marineford War was one method he had chosen to weaken the Marines.
But… he believed it should not stop there. Perhaps it would be even better if an aggressive and proactive Fleet Admiral like Akainu were replaced by someone else.
Of course, before the plan was truly completed, all of this only counted as "extra" moves on the board.
Even with the Limited Wishing Machine, Ren could not guarantee that he would definitely succeed.
Buzz—!
A golden domain unfolded, enveloping Saint Shalria and Saint Charlos within.
Cognitive Alteration!
Subconscious Hidden Thread!
Ren began his operation.
It did not need to last very long. It only needed to be triggered during the stage after the Marineford War.
After ending everything, Ren left behind a small contingency.
Then he tossed the two Celestial Dragons onto the deserted island. All he needed to do was ensure their basic survival conditions while they remained unconscious.
After that, he had something extremely important to handle.
—Whitebeard!
The man who stood at the summit of the One Piece world. A Yonko who was like a candle guttering in the wind, yet had once stood at the very peak as the strongest!
In the original story, BIG MOM once lost her composure and mentioned the other Yonko while talking about armies.
The order of the names she mentioned was quite interesting.
First herself, then Kaido, then Red-Hair, and only at the very end, Whitebeard. Judging from her tone and wording, it could be considered a ranking of strength in her own mind.
And from the established setting, Whitebeard's status as the World's Strongest could also be confirmed. Even Mihawk did not have absolute confidence that he could defeat him.
In Sengoku's words, Whitebeard possessed the power to destroy the world.
When he made his move during the Marineford War, he raised seaquakes that affected hundreds of kilometers of ocean.
Furthermore, from the scenes of his younger days, he himself was also a mighty warrior who had gone very far down the path of Haki and mastered Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
In terms of abilities, he was a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
He could trigger vibrations at any time and control the range of their effect.
By striking space itself, he could shatter the atmosphere, split the sea, shake the sky, and unleash massive tsunamis.
Its power was strong enough to overturn an island with the flick of a finger.
What required the most attention was that Paramecia-type Devil Fruits also had a level known as Awakening.
As the strongest, Whitebeard had inevitably awakened his Devil Fruit ability. In other words, from a certain perspective, Edward Newgate could be regarded as a walking natural disaster.
If he wished, there was no place in this world that he could not destroy.
Of course, Whitebeard was not without weaknesses. His greatest weakness was that he was close to death.
Old wounds were nothing more than medals that boasted of one's battle achievements when one was young. But in old age, they would become sickles that reaped one's life.
And Whitebeard in this period was different from the one at Marine Headquarters.
A Yonko only had two choices: keep winning, or be killed. There was no room for such a ridiculous option as retirement.
This was also why Ren dared to send out the invitation letter.
But…
"He is the World's Strongest, after all. To avoid arriving upright and leaving sideways, I should draw prizes, improve myself, grow stronger, and do everything I possibly can.
"Although I still have the Totem of Undying on hand, if I can avoid dying, it's better not to die."
This was what he considered necessary before meeting Whitebeard.
Coincidentally, there were other things he absolutely had to handle as well.
Ren returned to Punk Hazard Island. By this time, Nojiko had finished the matters she was responsible for.
She brought back 70 billion in funds plus a Devil Fruit. Ren spent a short while being affectionate with Nojiko, then had her go prepare the preliminary stage of the next phase of the plan.
The Marineford War was not the end. It was merely the beginning of the chess players exerting their strength.
For example, the angels that had already been born on Kuja Island still needed some time to grow, and they would become the main force in the great war to come.
Of course, because the place where they had been born was Kuja, some issues would inevitably arise.
For example, mutual unfamiliarity between them and the citizens of Kuja, and so on.
Fortunately, because there was enough deterrence, and because all the newly born angels had female characteristics, no irreconcilable conflicts had emerged.
Even if Hancock had objections, things would unfold like this.
"Objections? What objections? They don't enter the inner city, and you people don't really move around much in the wild areas of Kuja Island either."
At that time, Ren had propped up his chin and was looking down at Hancock, whose face was full of grievance. He wiggled the foot he had placed on her thigh.
"I think the most urgent thing for you right now is to do your job properly. This time, give me a foot massage.
"Of course, as I've said before, you can refuse—if you can bear the consequences.
"Also, don't try to secretly increase your strength and do something. That's meaningless."
"…I shall kill you sooner or later!"
Hancock gnashed her teeth… then hesitated, before slowly placing her delicate jade-like fingers onto the man's foot.
She was not very good at this technique. Unfortunately, if she did not learn it, Ren would teach her personally, hand over hand.
A filthy man!
Coming close and teaching her hand over hand!
She could even feel that humiliating and furious scene of a long spear pressing against her hips.
And the teaching materials were those Kuja warriors who all wore strange expressions but did not dare say a word.
She no longer knew just how much of her imperial dignity had been lost during this period!
"You've said that sentence at least ten times already. Mm, yes, that's it. You've already grasped the basic technique of foot massage."
Ren lay comfortably on the giant snake, making no effort to hide his appreciation of Hancock's daily outfit.
Cool and fiery, making one very much want to do something—this was his only evaluation.
If there was anything bad about it, it was probably that Hancock was still trying to understand the reason he was immune to petrification.
It was very hard to say what kind of state she was currently in.
In any case, if any problems arose among the new generation of angels, the people below would report them to the Empress.
The Empress would report them to him, and then Ren would patiently make Hancock persuade him while massaging his legs.
Mm.
The kind where if she did not agree, she would continue massaging his legs. If that really did not work, he would call the Kuja warriors over to watch.
The main focus was mental torture.
With Granny Nyon acting as the lubricant between them, this method of deterrence was relatively effective.
At least, that was how things were when Ren left Kuja.
"I can't leave that side alone for too long either. I'd better hurry and deal with everything."
Ren went to see Law.
After this man had been packed and delivered to Punk Hazard Island by Kuma,
he had joyfully received one prison uniform, one pair of Seastone handcuffs, and one single-person cell. He was even the only guest in Punk Hazard's prison.
At present, because of the events at the Sabaody Archipelago, he had fallen into a state of deep reflection.
He was probably thinking about exactly what he had done wrong.
"If you want to achieve some goal, just say it directly."
Seeing Ren appear again, Law calmly raised his handcuffed hands. "A big shot like you wouldn't capture me for no reason, would you?"
"Of course. You are very valuable, Law. Whether it's the Ope-Ope Fruit's Immortality Surgery, your Shambles, or your medical ability."
Ren shrugged. "However, I think it will only be after another person comes here that you will truly understand what kind of situation you're in now."
"You're going to use my crew to threaten me?"
Law's expression turned very cold. "How naive. We're pirates! When we set out to sea, we already understood such cruelty!"
"Mm, very good. But I think if I really used them to threaten you, you would definitely yield for the sake of your crew's lives.
"But—the person coming today is not one of your crewmates. They are in a very safe place."
Creak.
The prison door opened, and the cold-looking Monet walked in.
Today, she was wearing a rather conservative green top with loose jeans. The glasses perched on her forehead had not the slightest sense of fashion.
She was even wearing an ugly green hat, dragging her aura down to an extremely old-fashioned level.
Yet if one looked closely a few more times, one would still discover that she was a beauty.
It was roughly like this:
Her gaze first fell on Ren, then she glanced at Law. After frowning slightly, she came closer.
"It's you! You people—no! The Dressrosa incident was a false front!?"
Upon seeing the newcomer, Law's expression changed at once, as if he had understood something.
"Mm, not bad imagination. It almost makes me want to laugh.
"But I think you are underestimating the man known as Demon Ren too much. Doflamingo is indeed very powerful. Perhaps he is the nightmare of your entire life."
Ren raised his hand, and Monet lightly bit her lower lip before moving closer. Then he wrapped an arm around her waist.
"However, to me, he is the Joker in a deck of cards—but only the Joker. That big oni, Kaido, is my opponent."
As he spoke, Ren's hand slipped beneath the hem of her clothes, as if deliberately displaying it, yet also as if declaring something different.
The shape of the back of his hand bulged under the fabric all the way upward. Then he gripped the full future and molded it into the shape he desired.
The only shortcoming was that—
the future was far too grand, and there was no way to truly grasp it with a single hand.
(End of Chapter)