In the waters near the Kingdom of Trecia, three warships sailed side by side.
At the bow of each stood a Marine Vice Admiral, though the difference between them couldn't have been more obvious.
On the warship to the left stood a man with an eye mask on, head tilted slightly upward, a thin trail of drool running from the corner of his mouth.
He was very clearly asleep.
On the warship to the right stood another Vice Admiral, calmly trimming his nails with a pair of clippers.
Only the man on the center warship looked remotely serious, his gaze fixed on Trecia Island in the distance without wavering.
These three were here under orders to capture Ren and his crew.
Sakazuki.
Kuzan.
Borsalino.
Just then, a small boat appeared in front of the fleet.
A young man standing aboard it shouted toward the warships, "We are from the Kingdom of Trecia's royal guard! Identify yourselves! The waters ahead belong to the Kingdom of Trecia!"
Sakazuki frowned. "The Kingdom of Trecia? Wasn't this supposed to be that lawless island? Did we come to the wrong place?"
He turned toward the ship's navigator.
"What's going on?"
The navigator quickly answered, "Vice Admiral Sakazuki, our heading is correct."
Trecia's request to be restored as a World Government member nation had only reached the Five Elders today. The approval decision had been made, but the official notice hadn't been issued yet.
Which meant Sakazuki and the others had not yet been informed that Trecia had been restored.
Sakazuki frowned even deeper.
"The Kingdom of Trecia isn't a World Government member state, is it?"
"There's no country by that name among the member nations. That means it's just another non-member kingdom."
"In that case, we proceed as planned."
Then he turned toward the warship beside his.
"Borsalino. Handle the one in front."
"So scary."
Borsalino casually put away his nail clippers, transformed into light, and vanished.
The next instant, he appeared aboard the small boat.
Grinton's expression sharpened.
The moment Borsalino disappeared, he knew the Marine was a Devil Fruit user. He instantly activated Observation Haki and locked onto the man's position.
A split second later, he sensed Borsalino appear behind him.
At the same time, he sensed the incoming attack.
Grinton tilted his head and narrowly avoided it, then immediately spun around and lashed out with a kick.
Bang!
Borsalino had already found it strange when the man dodged his strike.
But when Grinton followed up with an immediate counterattack, Borsalino raised an arm to block, only to feel a sharp jolt of pain.
He had failed to turn intangible.
That told him all he needed to know.
This man could use Haki.
"So scary."
Grinton realized at once that even with a Haki-coated full-force kick, the Marine hadn't budged an inch. He knew immediately that he was outmatched.
So instead of pressing the attack, he shouted, "You're Marines! Why are you attacking us? We're already a World Government member nation!"
Though the news of Trecia's return to the World Government wouldn't appear in the papers until tomorrow, the World Government had already informed Trecia through a Den Den Mushi.
Trecia had immediately spread the news across the island.
Borsalino looked at him, and the man's expression didn't seem fake.
So he flashed back to the warship and looked at Sakazuki.
"What now?"
Sakazuki stared at Grinton for a moment, then felt something was off as well.
If the man had been a pirate, he never would've boldly rowed out in front of the Marine fleet like this.
And if he truly intended to fight, that last exchange wouldn't have ended so cleanly.
Sakazuki turned to his men.
"Confirm what's going on with this Kingdom of Trecia."
"Yes, sir!"
While the Marines investigated, Grinton reported the situation back to Trecia.
Not long after, Trecia himself arrived with six Haki users.
During Ren's stay in Trecia, he had granted double Haki to ten people.
And on top of that, Trecia had already begun preparing a dedicated training program to teach Haki, hoping to strengthen the kingdom further.
This time, he had brought seven Haki users to deal with the Marines.
At present, the Kingdom of Trecia already had eleven people capable of using both Observation and Armament Haki.
For Paradise, that was a force no one could afford to ignore.
Trecia wasn't too worried about the Marines' arrival.
What worried him was who those Marines were.
The moment he clearly saw Sakazuki and Borsalino, he immediately ordered his subordinates not to act rashly.
He naturally recognized them.
These three were the famed Marine monsters who had been rising to prominence across the seas.
And more importantly, Trecia knew all three of them were Logia users. Even setting their Devil Fruits aside, their physical combat, swordsmanship, and fundamentals were terrifying in their own right.
A Marine on the warship soon received the reply from headquarters.
"Vice Admiral Sakazuki, we've confirmed it with Marine HQ. The Kingdom of Trecia is indeed a World Government member nation. It's just that the official announcement hasn't been released yet because the restoration happened so recently."
"I see."
Sakazuki's eyes narrowed.
Then he gave another order.
"Ask them if the Myriad Worlds Pirates are still on the island."
The question made Trecia's heart tighten.
It wasn't because he was worried for himself.
It was because he was worried for Ren.
Those three were simply too strong.
But even so, he didn't lie to the Marines.
He told them the route Ren and his crew had taken.
The reason wasn't betrayal.
Trecia knew perfectly well that too many people on the island had seen Ren's ship depart. Even if he lied, the Marines would uncover the truth soon enough.
Rather than drag his newly restored kingdom into needless danger, it was better to speak honestly.
After learning that Ren had already left, Sakazuki and the other two immediately turned their ships around and set off in pursuit.
Once the warships were gone, Trecia took out a Den Den Mushi.
This particular Den Den Mushi had been reserved specifically for contacting Ren.
…
Buru Buru Buru…
Click.
"Trecia? What is it?"
"Mr. Ren, three Marine Vice Admirals just came here looking for you. I couldn't stop them, so I had no choice but to tell them your direction. They're still some distance behind you, so change course at once. Don't go to Sabaody Archipelago!"
Instead of panicking, Ren immediately asked, "Trecia, what are the characteristics of those three Vice Admirals?"
He was more interested in who was coming than in the warning itself.
Three Vice Admirals were definitely troublesome.
But with the combat power currently aboard the Good Fortune, ordinary Vice Admirals weren't enough to scare him.
That confidence came entirely from Teresa.
With Teresa around, Ren really didn't put normal Vice Admirals in his eyes anymore.
But the moment he heard Trecia confirm it was Borsalino and the other two…
Ren immediately ordered a change of course.
Those three were completely different from ordinary Vice Admirals.
If only one of them showed up, Ren still had some confidence.
But with all three together?
He didn't have the slightest confidence in beating them.
Teresa was monstrously strong, yes, but even she could at most hold one of them back in a real fight.
The remaining two were far beyond what the rest of them could handle.
So Ren decisively ordered the ship to turn away.
At that very moment, Sakazuki and the others had no idea Ren had already received the warning and altered course to avoid them.
They were still following the direct route toward Sabaody, convinced they were on Ren's trail.
While Ren and Sakazuki's group began a deadly game of hide-and-seek, Marine Headquarters, Marineford, was already wrapped in storm clouds.
Because of Red the Aloof's attack on a Heavenly Tribute transport ship, Fleet Admiral Kong had decided to move personally.
At the same time, the Marines and Whitebeard Pirates had entered a tense standoff in the New World.
Of course, Ren knew nothing about any of that.
Five days later, the Good Fortune was still drifting aimlessly across the sea.
Since they were no longer following the Log Pose's route, Ren and the others had absolutely no idea where they were anymore.
By now, Ren had already received the news that the Kingdom of Trecia had officially rejoined the World Government.
Trecia had even stationed people long-term at Sabaody specifically to relay information back to Ren.
Through the Den Den Mushi, Ren learned that Sakazuki and the other two had arrived at Sabaody yesterday.
But because they hadn't found any trace of his crew, they were still staying there.
In order to avoid running into them, Ren decided he would only head to Sabaody after the three Vice Admirals finally left.
As for what to do in the meantime?
He decided to just wander around for a while.
After all, with the amount of food and fresh water they had onboard, they could keep drifting for three to five years without any real problem.