On Drum Island.
After restocking their food supplies, Ren's crew departed from the snow-covered island. One morning, a News Coo flew over their ship and dropped a newspaper.
Law, who was in the middle of training, paused to pick it up. After scanning the headlines, he casually handed it to Ren.
"Captain, you're famous again."
Ren took the paper, and as he read the news, he was left speechless.
"Your fight with Blackbeard was actually photographed? How did they pull that off?" Hill looked at the report, her face full of shock.
Blue leaned in, and upon seeing the new bounty poster, his eyes widened as he let out a loud yelp. "Whoa! Captain! Your bounty has jumped to 500 million Berries!!"
"But the rest of our bounties haven't changed. I guess since we didn't do much, we were just ignored."
"Another day without a bounty... so sad..."
While the others had mixed reactions, Ren looked at his new bounty and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Only 500 million? The Navy is really looking down on me~" Ren smirked. This was only his first real battle since entering the Grand Line, and his bounty had already hit the 500 million mark. His peers who entered the Grand Line alongside him were likely still sitting at tens of millions, creating a gap that was becoming impossible to close!
A few days later, guided by the Log Pose, Ren's group arrived at an island called Gugujia Island. Unlike the frozen Drum Island, this place enjoyed eternal spring. Even from a distance, the scent of various flowers drifted toward them.
Achoo—!!
In the middle of the group, Blue's eyes were bloodshot. He was wearing a mask and had to aggressively clear his nose every few seconds, drawing stares from the locals.
Ren and the others gave Blue a wide berth, pretending they didn't know him. Klin whispered, "Does Blue have hay fever? I never saw him act like this in the spring back home."
"Never noticed it either. But wait, doesn't that kid grow flowers back on the ship? Why would he be allergic?"
"The flower he grows has never actually bloomed. He probably never realized it until now."
While they were whispering, Law looked thoughtful. "I'll give Blue a check-up when we get back to the ship."
In a spot completely unnoticed by the group, a Marine soldier slammed his fist against a windowsill. Watching the crew act so nonchalantly, he hissed in frustration, "How did only one person get infected?! That was Super-Allergen Pollen! Combined with the natural pollen of this Spring Kingdom, even a Great Pirate shouldn't be able to ignore it!"
He was just a low-level recruit who had recently joined the Navy. Seeing Ren's crew enter the island earlier, his head had been filled with dreams of promotions and riches. After a "brilliant" covert operation, he realized his trick was almost entirely useless.
Well, not entirely. The simple-looking kid had been hit, but he was just sneezing—a standard allergic reaction. The soldier's plan had been to paralyze their combat capability entirely!
"Strange... what's going on?"
Confused, he manipulated the surrounding pollen to be inhaled by a passing civilian. The next second, the civilian was struck by total paralysis and collapsed onto the ground.
Seeing this, the soldier's frown deepened. "The pollen is fine, so why...?"
"Room."
A low voice sounded behind his ear. A blue light swept through his body. Law drew his blade and swung in one swift motion—the Marine's head was instantly severed!
However, thanks to the Op-Op Fruit's power, the decapitated soldier didn't die. His head floated in the air, staring at his own headless body, and let out a terrified scream.
"Aaaahhh! Pirates are killing Marines!"
The pig-like squealing made Ren and the others frown. Klin looked at him with disdain. "You attacked first, and now you're playing the victim... I suppose that's expected of a dog of the World Government."
A flash of killing intent crossed Klin's eyes. Just as he was about to finish the job, Ren suddenly spoke up.
"Law, can you attach his head to his rear end? And I don't mean a simple swap—I want his mouth to perform the functions of his 'exit'."
"..." Klin fell silent. When it came to being a devil, the Captain truly held the crown.
Law hadn't expected Ren to give him such a specific task. However, looking at the crowd of civilians who had already fled the area, he felt his surgical fingers itching.
"I've never tried that. It's worth a shot!"
After spending time with Ren, Law's mindset had undergone a slight "shift." Faced with such a bizarre idea, his first thought was actually... this sounds like a real challenge!
Swapping the Marine over with a pebble, Law rubbed his chin, pondering how to perform this particular surgery.
Meanwhile, the Marine, named Crew, was so terrified he had lost control of his bladder. Tears and snot streamed down his face as he wailed, "Lord! Have mercy! I have an eighty-year-old mother! An infant child! A paralyzed wife! If I'm gone, they won't survive!"
Ignoring him, Ren clapped his hands together. "Earth Style: One-Room Earth Hut!"
Rumble—
Four earth walls rose from the ground, sealing Law and the soldier inside.
"Good luck, Law! I believe in you!" Ren cheered from the other side of the wall.
As the group waited and joked around, a young man with a bare chest and shorts slowly walked toward them from the distance. Hill nudged Ren, gesturing toward the newcomer.
"Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, 'Fire Fist' Ace. I didn't expect to run into a big shot like that here," Gray said, his expression turning serious. But remembering Ren's own exaggerated strength, his heart remained steady.
As Ace drew closer, Klin and the others tensed, ready for battle!
"Hey there. Are you the one who took down Blackbeard?" Ace looked up at Ren, a friendly smile appearing on his face. "I'm Ace. Thanks for taking out the trash for our Whitebeard Pirates!"
Ren chuckled. "It was nothing. The guy was overconfident and tried to use my head to buy a Warlord title. I just turned the tables on him."
Ace's expression turned to shock. "A Warlord? That bastard Teach actually wanted to be a Warlord?!"
Shock was quickly followed by burning anger.
"That scum! Killing a nakama just to become a dog for the Navy?!" Ace fumed.
(Blackbeard: No, brother! Who wants to be a dog? My goal was always to be an Emperor, maybe even more! Don't listen to this kid's slander!)
Unfortunately, Blackbeard was dead. He could no longer speak of his grand ambitions. From now on, whenever people mentioned Blackbeard, he would only be remembered as a treacherous coward who betrayed his family just for a seat at the Navy's table.
The impact of the news was heavy. Ace took a deep breath to steady himself.