It didn't take Ren long to make peace with reality.
When it came to freakish geniuses like Xu Nian, there was no point comparing himself to them. For an ordinary person like him, the smartest move was to rely on the system and improve steadily.
Right now, Ren's arsenal looked pretty decent on paper. He had enhanced physical strength, several sword and blade techniques, boxing skills, a few of the Six Powers, Observation Haki, and his own Devil Fruit ability.
It sounded impressive.
But the truth was, not a single one of those abilities could be called top-tier yet.
And the biggest flaw was still obvious—
he still didn't know Armament Haki.
Observation Haki made him much harder to hit, sure, but without Armament Haki, there were still enemies he could only endure attacks from instead of properly fighting back against.
So Ren's current priority was simple.
He wanted to learn Armament Haki first.
Once he had it, he wouldn't just be able to deal with Devil Fruit users more effectively—his defense would also rise significantly.
The problem was that no one could teach him.
So for now, all he could do was keep fumbling around on his own.
Still, he remembered hearing something once before.
Some people had said that Iron Body was a prerequisite for Armament Haki, or at least something that made it easier to learn.
So Ren decided that for the time being, he would focus heavily on practicing Iron Body and see whether that would help him force his way into Armament Haki.
…
"You're a pretty noisy sleeper, Captain."
Ren, still deep in a drunken sleep, was vaguely aware of a wet sensation on his face.
Half-asleep, he reached up and rubbed at it—only to feel something furry.
The next second, he snapped awake.
Right in front of him was the husky, happily licking his face over and over again.
Ren shoved the dog aside, sat up, and looked out the window.
The sun was already well up.
No wonder.
Last night, the Red-Haired Pirates had been far too enthusiastic.
They had forced so much alcohol down his throat that even with the improved body the Strengthening Body Pill had given him, he'd still been completely knocked out.
After washing his face and brushing his teeth, Ren found that the Red-Haired Pirates had also all woken up.
Naturally, they'd been awakened by the same method—
the husky had gone around licking them one by one.
Seeing Shanks still looking half-asleep, Ren walked over and said, "Shanks, I have a request. I'm not sure if you'll agree."
Shanks patted his chest and grinned.
"We're friends now. If there's something I can help with, just say it."
Ren smiled.
"I want to learn Armament Haki."
Shanks blinked.
"With your current strength, you're already a rare force in the first half of the Grand Line. And if I'm not mistaken, you didn't even go all out yesterday."
"You're right," Ren admitted. "But I still want to learn Armament Haki. The sea is always more dangerous than people expect. And besides… who would ever complain about becoming stronger?"
Shanks nodded.
"That's fair. If I guessed right, you're a Devil Fruit user too, aren't you?"
Ren froze.
He hadn't used his ability at all during yesterday's fight.
So he immediately asked, "How did you figure that out?"
Shanks grinned.
"If you weren't an ability user, then why couldn't Gryphon cut through your flip-flops?"
That made Ren pause.
Then a thought flashed through his mind.
All this time, he had avoided showing off too many of the strange items he drew from the system because they were far too abnormal. And because his own Devil Fruit had been obtained through killing a Celestial Dragon, he had always been careful about openly using his real ability.
So why not make up a fake one?
A public ability.
A safe explanation.
Ren replied, "That's right. I am a Devil Fruit user. My ability lets me randomly give certain objects bizarre properties."
He raised one of the flip-flops.
"For example, this thing. The special property I gave it is indestructibility."
Shanks raised a brow.
"Really? Truly indestructible?"
There was genuine surprise in his voice now.
"Do you understand how ridiculous that concept is? Even with Gryphon, I can't guarantee it'll never be damaged."
Ren shrugged.
"At the very least, I've used it for a long time. I've beaten people with it, smacked lasers apart, blocked bullets, and so far it hasn't shown even the slightest sign of damage."
At that point, Beckman spoke up.
"Then that bag you used yesterday to store food—that was also because of your ability?"
Naturally, Beckman was talking about Ren's storage bag.
Ren nodded.
"Yes. That bag has a huge internal space. It can store a large amount of items."
Beckman's eyes sharpened.
"Do you have any more things like that?"
He understood perfectly well how valuable something like that was.
Any faction that got their hands on storage equipment would gain enormous advantages.
If the Red-Haired Pirates had it, they could carry huge amounts of supplies while sailing. No one on the sea ever thought they had too many provisions, because no one knew when they might get stranded in some disaster. More food and more fresh water were always good things.
And if the Marines got something like that…
Then a spy could carry absurd amounts of explosives aboard an enemy ship and blow it sky-high from the inside.
Ren said, "I don't have another storage bag like that, but I do have other storage-type items."
Then he took out a ring.
"This is a storage ring with one cubic meter of space."
He handed it directly to Beckman.
Beckman stared at the plain-looking ring in Ren's hand.
He knew exactly what this thing was worth.
He looked up and asked, "You're giving this to us?"
Ren nodded.
"I'm asking Shanks to teach me Haki. Consider this my payment."
At once, Shanks shouted, "Hey, hey! Since when did I agree to teach you Haki?"
Bang!
Beckman slammed the butt of his gun into Shanks's head.
"What's the big deal about teaching him Haki? If you won't do it, I will. But if I teach him instead, then don't even think about using this ring in the future."
The truth was, Shanks had already been eyeing the ring greedily.
He just hadn't had the nerve to say it outright.
But now that Beckman looked ready to keep it for himself, there was no way he'd accept that.
"Fine, fine! I'll teach him!"
At that moment, Xu Nian stepped over and asked, "Can I learn too?"
Shanks thought about it for half a second.
One student or two, it didn't make much difference.
So he didn't object.
Ren, however, immediately said to Xu Nian, "Don't worry. Once I learn it, you'll naturally know it too."
After all, Ren had deliberately saved three Skill Upgrade Cards, planning to use them the instant he grasped Armament Haki. Once he got it, he intended to boost it straight from entry-level to advanced.
Xu Nian gave him a sidelong look.
"You don't even know Armament Haki yet. Why can't I hear the explanation first and figure it out on my own?"
Ren opened his mouth, then shut it again.
Fair point.
Shanks straightened his clothes and began speaking seriously.
"Haki is a power that exists in all people. Armament Haki is a force that can be used both offensively and defensively…"
Both Ren and Xu Nian listened intently.
Even though Ren had heard a lot of this before through the anime, he still paid extremely close attention.
"Alright," Shanks said after finishing the theory. "That's enough talk. I'll show you directly."
He took out a pistol and pointed it at his own palm.
Just before firing, his hand turned black.
Bang!
The bullet struck his palm—and failed to pierce it. Instead, the bullet itself deformed.
Looking at the flattened round in his hand, Ren closed his eyes and began replaying everything Shanks had just explained in his head.
But before he could fully sink into it, Xu Nian suddenly said, "I think I've learned Armament Haki."
The entire Red-Haired Pirates fell silent.
So did Ren.
Everyone turned to stare at her.
Shanks had only just finished explaining it.
Xu Nian raised her right hand and struck a nearby rock.
Slap!
A crisp handprint appeared in the stone.
Ren's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
He knew Xu Nian's physical condition better than anyone. She was a sniper. Her body was only a little stronger than that of an ordinary person.
There was no way she could have left a handprint in solid rock through brute force alone.
Which meant only one thing—
she had really learned Armament Haki.
Was this what genius looked like?
Ren almost wanted to cry.
He had watched so much One Piece, memorized so much theory, and even had a body vastly superior to Xu Nian's. He had received the same teaching at the same time.
So why was the difference this huge?
…
Bang! Bang! Bang!
On a stretch of beach, Ren was hammering his fists into a massive boulder over and over again.
He was training Armament Haki.
It had already been a week since his encounter with the Red-Haired Pirates.
Three days ago, after endless effort, Ren had finally managed to grasp Armament Haki.
But to be honest, it didn't even count as proper entry-level yet.
Because he couldn't bring it out reliably.
Sometimes it worked.
Sometimes it didn't.
So in order to train it properly, Ren had decided not to use his Skill Upgrade Cards yet.
At the very least, he wanted to be able to control Armament Haki naturally before he used the cards to push it higher.
Ren understood this much very clearly—
trying to go too fast would only make things worse.