As the summoned figure slowly came into focus, the first thing Ren saw was a pair of metal boots that stopped just below the knees.
Then came the tight black bodysuit, the metal armor at the waist and shoulders, and the cloak that fell past the hips.
Long, silky blonde hair.
A face so exquisite it looked almost doll-like.
A faint smile that always rested at the corners of her lips.
And on her back, a massive greatsword.
"Congratulations, Host. You have summoned Teresa from Claymore."
Ren's eyes nearly lit up.
Teresa.
From Claymore.
Whether in the manga or the anime, Teresa was unquestionably one of the absolute strongest. If the story hadn't needed her gone for the plot to move forward, killing her would've been nearly impossible.
After all, even without releasing her Yoki, she could casually overwhelm the warriors ranked second through fifth.
A real goddess.
Ren instantly threw himself forward.
Then—
Bang!
Before he could even get close, Teresa casually smacked him away with the flat of her greatsword.
He flew backward like a cannonball and crashed straight through the cabin wall.
Teresa didn't say a word. She calmly sorted through the information that had just been placed into her mind about the world of One Piece.
Then she sheathed her sword, sat down to one side, crossed her legs, and quietly watched Ren crawl out of the wrecked cabin.
Rubbing his chest, Ren silently thanked the heavens that he'd used Armament Haki just now. Otherwise, that hit would've at least left him seriously injured.
He dusted himself off, walked over, and extended a hand.
"Captain of this pirate crew, Kurogane Ren."
Teresa didn't shake it.
Instead, she asked, "I heard you're strong."
Ren was caught off guard.
He hadn't expected her first question to be about his strength.
"I'm... not bad, I guess."
"In that case," Teresa said with complete calm, "let's fight."
Ren's eyes widened.
Seeing her already draw her sword, he hurriedly raised both hands.
"Wait!"
There was no way he was fighting Teresa on the ship.
With her combat power, she could probably tear The Lucky in half in a matter of minutes.
"This isn't the right place for it. Once we find a small island, we can spar properly."
Teresa glanced at The Lucky, then nodded.
"Fine."
…
"Hahaha!"
"Captain, look! Martha and Xu Nian got bounties!"
On the deck of the Red Force, the members of the Red-Haired Pirates were excitedly showing the bounty posters for Martha and Xu Nian to Shanks.
Shanks skimmed through them, then asked, "Where's Ren's new poster?"
The crew looked at one another, then all shook their heads.
"Didn't find one."
Shanks frowned.
"How is that possible?"
Beckman took a drag of his cigarette and said, "Either the Marines still haven't decided what bounty to give him, or they don't want Ren drawing too much attention."
"Why?"
Beckman raised his right hand.
On one finger was a ring.
Shanks instantly understood.
At that moment, the Red-Haired Pirates' navigator asked, "Captain, where are we going next?"
Shanks said, "We repair the ship first. Then we head to East Blue."
Beckman glanced at him.
"You really mean to go to East Blue?"
"Yes."
"Why? Just because of what Ren said?"
Shanks didn't answer right away.
After a moment, he said, "His words are definitely part of it. But... I don't know. I feel like something in East Blue is calling to me."
Beckman exhaled slowly.
"Fine. If you're going, I'm going. You are the captain, after all."
Shanks immediately brightened.
"Beckman, let's throw a feast!"
"Get lost. You're just eyeing the alcohol Ren left with me. Forget it. The Red Force is too damaged, and we need money for repairs. No feasts for a while."
"No way, Beckman!"
…
Marineford.
"I refuse. Last time we set his bounty at fifty thousand. This time you want to increase it by five thousand times in one jump? Where does that leave the Navy's dignity?"
"But the problem is that his strength absolutely matches that level of bounty."
"No matter what, I won't agree."
At Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Kong and Sengoku were in the middle of a heated argument.
And the reason was Ren's new bounty.
Because of the failed operation, Ren's strength had already started drawing attention from many people across the seas.
After all, escaping without injury from three Vice Admirals—including Sakazuki, who was already considered one of the Navy's three monsters—and nine warships meant the Myriad Worlds Pirates were far stronger than their original reputation suggested.
And as captain, Ren himself had just been confirmed by the Navy to be a Devil Fruit user.
So naturally, the Navy wanted to raise his bounty.
The problem was how high.
Kong believed increasing it to the tens of millions would be enough.
Sengoku disagreed.
In his eyes, Ren's ability was simply too dangerous. He had to be captured as quickly as possible.
So Sengoku wanted to push the bounty much higher—high enough to draw in bounty hunters, greedy pirates, independent agents, and informants. Even if they couldn't capture Ren themselves, they might feed the Navy more information, making future capture attempts easier.
His proposed number was 250 million beli.
Kong, however, had a different concern.
A bounty that high would make Ren impossible to ignore.
And once that happened, his abilities would inevitably attract the attention of other major forces.
Pirates weren't all idiots. There were plenty of smart ones among them.
And Ren's ability would tempt pirates even more than it would tempt the Marines.
That was why Kong didn't want Ren entering the field of vision of the great pirate crews—especially the monsters in the New World.
Sengoku pressed on.
"Fleet Admiral Kong, I understand your concern. But in the first half of the Grand Line, our power still exceeds that of the pirates."
"So I believe we need to resolve Ren now. If he manages to enter the New World, then any move we make against him will inevitably attract the attention of the pirates there."
"Rather than fight the New World over him later, it's better to capture him now, while he's still in the first half."
Kong fell silent for a while.
Then he nodded.
"Sengoku... you're right."
…
Somewhere in the first half of the Grand Line, on an uninhabited island—
Ren was currently sparring with Teresa.
Even though Ren was no weakling by this point, he was still being completely dominated.
Teresa relied on nothing more than speed and raw power, yet that alone was enough to keep him on the defensive from start to finish.
If not for Observation Haki letting him predict her attacks and Armament Haki giving him enough protection to survive them, he would've been beaten a long time ago.
Even so, Ren looked miserable.
His clothes had been torn to shreds, and his body was covered in red marks where Teresa's sword had struck him.
The lush island they had landed on had become a complete wreck.
Every tree had been cut down. The ground was crisscrossed with sword marks.
What scared Ren the most, though, was Teresa's eyes.
They were still silver.
He knew exactly what that meant.
As a half-human, half-Yoma warrior, a Claymore could release her Yoki to gain a qualitative leap in power.
But Teresa hadn't even released ten percent yet.
Not enough to turn her eyes gold.
Bang!
Ren barely dodged another brutal downward slash. Looking at Teresa, who still looked completely calm and relaxed, he raised both hands.
"That's enough. I surrender."
If he kept going, he was genuinely worried he'd exhaust himself, lose control of his Armament Haki, and get cut down for real. That would be an absolutely stupid way to die.
Teresa lowered her sword and asked, "That ability you have—the one that lets you sense my attacks, and the one that strengthens your body. Can I learn them?"
Ren naturally understood she meant Haki.
And he also understood something else.
In Claymore, Teresa's greatest talent had always been her perception of Yoki. By sensing the energy of her opponents, she could read their next move and strike first.
Against ordinary humans who had no Yoki at all, that made her virtually unbeatable.
So Ren used his Bestowal skill and granted her both Observation Haki and Armament Haki.
The moment Teresa received Observation Haki, she paused, then said,
"It's a little similar to Yoki perception. Give me some time, and I should be able to use it skillfully."