At that moment, Teresa was still swinging the greatsword Martha had just forged for her.
Because Martha had designed the weapon using knowledge of human anatomy, force distribution, and structural balance, the new blade was slightly different from the one Teresa had used before.
So she was still in the middle of adjusting to it.
To get used to her new weapon, Teresa began using it at full force, and the result was sword energy flying all over the harbor, leaving the ground riddled with pits and gashes.
Still, the pirates in the harbor had the sense to stay very, very far away, and none of them dared complain.
What exactly could they say?
Once strength reached a certain level, the rules made by the weak only mattered if the strong felt like following them.
Teresa was merely using the ground to test her sword. The fact that she wasn't using them to test it was already a blessing.
At that moment, the envoy from the Tresia Pirates, Abner, had already been pacing outside the harbor for quite some time.
Because Teresa was still testing her sword, no pirate dared enter, and he was so anxious he could barely stand still.
And he had every reason to be anxious.
Not long ago, he had seen people from both the Sherlock Pirates and the Blood Spear Pirates.
And they had one thing in common with him.
They were all carrying gifts.
He knew exactly what that meant.
The other pirate crews wanted to invite them too.
Although the island's five major pirate crews were the ones who made the rules here, and although they would present a united front if outside forces appeared, the truth was that they were constantly scheming against each other behind the scenes.
Every one of those crews wanted to wipe out the other four and dominate the island alone.
After all, it was far better for one pirate crew to take all the money than for five crews to split it.
The only reason no one had done it yet was simple.
None of them had the power.
But Teresa's appearance had given those crews hope.
They had all seen the same possibility—
using her strength to crush the others.
That was why so many pirate crews had rushed to the harbor. They all wanted to see whether they could win Teresa over.
Thinking of that, Abner gritted his teeth, took the gift box from one of his attendants, and bravely stepped into the harbor.
The people from the other pirate crews watched him go in and immediately grew hesitant.
But after looking at the harbor, where loud blasts and sword pressure kept erupting from time to time, they stopped themselves.
"How is it?"
Ren asked Teresa how the new sword felt in her hands.
Although Martha had designed the weapon according to perfect anatomy and mechanics, for a swordsman, a weapon didn't necessarily have to be flawless.
It just had to suit them.
Teresa casually spun the sword once and said, "Very good. It felt a little unfamiliar at first, but after using it for a while, it's much better than my old blade."
"Thanks, Martha."
Martha only gave a polite reply.
"You're welcome."
"At your service—Abner, newly appointed first mate of the Tresia Pirates, requests an audience."
Ren looked at the man in front of him.
He was wearing a suit that clearly didn't fit properly. At a glance, it was obvious he had thrown it on in a hurry.
And judging by the way he wore it, he clearly wasn't someone used to dressing formally.
He had even tied his necktie backward.
Ren asked, "What do you want?"
Abner bowed slightly and said, "Captain Tresia has specially prepared a banquet to make up for the inconvenience our former crew members caused you. He sincerely hopes that the honored members of the Myriad Worlds Pirates will grace us with your presence tonight."
As he spoke, he handed over a box.
When it was opened, inside were dozens of gleaming gold bars.
"This is a gift from our captain. We hope you won't find it lacking."
As the saying went, you don't slap a smiling man.
Since they had shown up carrying dozens of gold bars, Ren couldn't exactly refuse to even let them speak.
Of course, he knew who Tresia was.
He had already asked around.
Tresia was the captain of the Tresia Pirates, one of the five major pirate crews on the island. He was also said to be an extremely skilled swordsman.
And more importantly, the ones who had attacked Martha earlier had belonged to his crew.
If this invitation had come before, Ren might have had to think twice.
But now?
Now that he had personally seen just how terrifying Teresa's strength was, he was no longer nearly as worried.
After all, with a monster like Teresa backing him up, what did he have to be afraid of?
Sure, relying on Teresa did make it feel like he was living off soft support.
But Ren didn't mind at all.
His teeth weren't exactly great, and he happened to love soft meals.
So he turned to look at Teresa.
After all, the real reason they were being invited was because of her.
Naturally, Teresa understood that too.
But she simply said, "Captain, you decide."
Since she left the decision to him, Ren picked up the box of gold and said to Abner, "Please inform Captain Tresia that we will attend tonight."
The moment Abner heard that, his face lit up.
"Thank you all for granting us this honor. Then I shall take my leave for now. Tonight, I will return personally to escort you to the banquet."
As he finished speaking, Abner bowed deeply and respectfully toward Ren and the others.
Then he quickly withdrew.
In truth, after Teresa had stopped testing her sword, members of the other pirate crews had also entered the harbor.
But when they saw Abner already speaking with Ren, none of them stepped forward.
Interrupting a conversation between powerful people was a rude and dangerous thing to do.
And once they saw Ren accept Abner's invitation, they immediately understood there was no point in trying to invite him themselves.
So they all rushed back to their own crews to report the news to their captains as quickly as possible.
At the same time, far away in Marineford, Kong received an urgent intelligence report.
As one of the most infamous lawless regions in the first half of the Grand Line, the Marines might not actively launch a campaign to wipe the island out, but that didn't mean they would ignore it completely.
Of course they had planted people there to keep track of the pirate activity.
So the battle between Teresa and Mihawk was soon reported back to Marine Headquarters.
It had taken some time, though, because the content of that report was simply too shocking.
The Marine intelligence division had verified it again and again before daring to submit it to Kong.
Now, looking at the report on Teresa, Kong felt like his head was splitting in two.
A female swordsman whose strength was no less than Dracule Mihawk's had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Before this, the Marines had not possessed a single scrap of intelligence on her.
And the worst part was that she had joined the Myriad Worlds Pirates.
The Marines had only just started preparing a plan to deal with Ren's crew—
and now, all at once, the enemy had gained a terrifying new combatant.
This completely destroyed the plans they had already put in place.
Now every strategy regarding the Myriad Worlds Pirates would have to be scrapped and redesigned from the ground up.
Originally, Marine Headquarters had intended to dispatch several Vice Admirals to capture Ren.
But now, it was obvious that Vice Admirals alone were no longer enough.
Should they send an Admiral instead?
But recently, the New World had become increasingly chaotic.
The Whitebeard Pirates were expanding aggressively.
Two of the three Admirals had already been sent to monitor Whitebeard.
At the moment, only Sengoku remained at Marineford, and even he had to be ready to head to the New World at any moment.
After all, this opponent was Whitebeard—the man known as the strongest in the world.
As for Garp, he had gone back to East Blue again.
The more Kong thought about it, the more his head ached.
He let out a long sigh.
For a moment, he seriously began to wonder whether he should retire early and hand the position of Fleet Admiral over to Sengoku.
Then again, maybe not yet.
He should probably remain Fleet Admiral for a few more years, let Sengoku gain more experience, and while he still had the authority and face to do it, clear out the CP presence inside the Navy and leave Sengoku with a better environment.
"Someone!"
"Summon Sakazuki, Kuzan, and Borsalino. I have a task for them."
Since the Admirals couldn't move right now, the only option was to send the Navy's three current monster Vice Admirals.
Though they weren't Admirals yet, their strength was already very close.
"Captain Ren, Lady Teresa, Lady Xu Nian, Lady Martha, the carriage has been prepared for you. Please step aboard."
Looking at the four-wheeled carriage in front of him, Ren realized this was actually the first time in his life he had ridden in one.
He boarded first.
Then Teresa, Xu Nian, and the others followed.
When Martha stepped in, the whole carriage visibly sank lower.
Even the horses pulling it let out miserable whines.
Ren naturally knew why.
Martha weighed over a thousand pounds.
Abner looked at the carriage in confusion and thought to himself,
Why does it suddenly feel shorter?
But those women don't look heavy at all.
Could this carriage be a fake?