Two sailors were left on the Oro Jackson from the Oden's ship.
Roger didn't have much objection to this. The Jackson wasn't particularly large, but adding two more people wouldn't affect the space. Roger seemed a bit disappointed that these sailors hadn't come to invite them to watch the battle between Ren and the Golden Lion.
Although he didn't like to dominate, sometimes he would get itchy and want to have a good fight with strong people.
He had no objections to these two sailors' requests. On one hand, after Oden came aboard, Roger would get a share of the treasures they found, and how to manage them was his own business.
On the other hand, there were almost no ability users on Roger's ship. They weren't particularly interested in Devil Fruits, so it wouldn't matter if he gave them all away.
With Oden now on board, Roger was also considering changing their course. Right now, he only knew that the final island was related to the Poneglyphs, but he hadn't yet discovered that it was the four red Poneglyphs that truly pointed to the final island.
The view shifts back to Ren's side.
"That despicable old lion, actually setting the battlefield on another island," Yuki said angrily. The Golden Lion, wanting to maintain the initiative, hadn't planned to set the battlefield on an isolated island that was obviously a trap.
After all, among the five islands, thunderstorms surrounded four of them, so the remaining one had to be problematic.
"If we don't go, that guy will keep targeting our shipping vessels," Sakitamaru said with a frown. This was their biggest headache. Just like Ren had proactively gone out of his way to provoke him last time, the Golden Lion planned to do the same.
But this time, he was targeting Ryukyua's merchandise. If they didn't completely eliminate him, they wouldn't be able to do any weapons business in the future.
"It seems he's calmed down a bit," Ren said. The Golden Lion was a great pirate, so naturally he wasn't an idiot; he was just very impulsive.
Now that Shiki had calmed down, things had become more troublesome.
But Ren wasn't afraid. He never thought he could eliminate the Golden Lion in one go—that wasn't realistic. His main purpose was to promote his products and let the Golden Lion know he wasn't just a piece of fat waiting to be slaughtered.
"Ren-dono, should we look for external support?" Yuki asked cautiously. They certainly couldn't ask the World Government, those types who made outrageous demands, but other great pirates were different. As long as Ren agreed to give a little profit in future weapon transactions, most of them probably wouldn't mind coming to see their old friend.
But Ren shook his head and said, "The Golden Lion and them used to be like close family and sworn brothers on the same ship. The World Government makes outrageous demands, but those guys aren't any better."
"More importantly, if we can't show our own strength, then even if we join forces with others to defeat the Golden Lion, other people will target us in the future."
Ren's eyes flashed.
Although he had become famous twice by stepping on the heads of great pirates, in the end he was still a pirate intern with only two and a half years of experience, and his reputation wasn't enough.
He planned to use this battle with the Golden Lion to showcase his strength!
"Right, contact Kuri. Have them send another five, no, ten Ruin Heavy Machines over, and transport all the Ruin Guardians as well," Ren said.
"So many?" Yuki and Miyoshi's expressions changed.
"Are there still so many of those things?" Sakitamaru asked in return. He had been at sea for too long and didn't know the current research progress in Kuri.
"When we left Kuri, there were already two hundred Ruin Guardians," Miyoshi said, her voice trembling. It was hard to imagine the scene of two hundred Ruin Guardians using the Great Spin at the same time.
Perhaps there was no other word to describe it besides a meat grinder.
At that time, as long as Ren held back the Golden Lion, his subordinates would have to face two hundred Ruin Guardians and eleven Ruin Heavy Machines. Even if the Golden Lion's subordinates had a few skilled fighters, Ren's side had also recruited many pirates. It would be truly difficult for the Golden Lion to win.
"Understood, I'll contact Ayame," Yuki said.
In reality, the person in charge at the daimyo's mansion now was Yuriko, but for matters related to politics, Ayame, who temporarily served as the head of the Tenryubito magistrate, was more suitable.
Ayame was full of martial virtue and acted much more decisively than Miyoshi. The position of Tenryubito magistrate suited her perfectly. Originally, Sakitamaru was the head of the Tenryubito, but when he held that position, he was suppressed by Yuki and felt very frustrated. Besides being reckless, he didn't have many other ideas.
Later, Ren thought about it and decided to let Ayame take charge for now. By the way, Ayame and her daughter Ibuki had also been granted the surname Kujou by Ren.
When Yuki's call came through, Ayame was sitting in her office drinking tea with Yuriko. Yuriko was holding Ibuki in her arms, and not far away, a golden-haired child with very long earlobes and a blue-haired child with a red nose were wrestling together.
Enel was a year older than Buggy and was now over two years old. He completely overwhelmed Buggy in every aspect. The two little brats couldn't even walk steadily yet but were already fighting.
Enel's mother, Desicana, was also here watching the two children's constant fighting, but she felt a bit restrained because she usually lived in Inoshima Town, where Yuki had arranged a house for her.
However, as more children appeared in the daimyo's mansion, Yuriko would sometimes invite her to bring Enel over to play.
Neither of these children had reached the age for training and study yet, but Ibuki's age had. Ayame wanted her to practice swordsmanship, or at least martial arts, so that when she grew older, Ibuki could continue to help Ren.
"Buruburu, buruburu... baa ja!"
"Moshi moshi, is that Ayame?" the Den Den Mushi transformed into Yuki's shape.
"It's me, Ayame. Yuki-dono, what's the matter?" Ayame said quickly. Enel and Buggy heard the commotion over here and curiously poked their heads out. It seemed that a talking snail was more interesting to them than the person on the other end.
But Desicana grabbed them first, lifting both of them up.
"Ayame, how many Ruin Guardians and Ruin Heavy Machines are there at the laboratory in Apaidado right now?" Yuki asked.
"As for Ruin Guardians, there are two hundred and thirty in total, and fifteen Ruin Heavy Machines," Ayame answered without even looking at a document. "Also, the first prototype Ruin Hunter has been completed, although it hasn't been tested yet."
"A Ruin Hunter..." the Yuki-shaped Den Den Mushi lowered its eyebrows as if in thought. In reality, Yuki was asking Ren whether to transport the Ruin Hunter over as well.
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