"Still no sign of them? How is that possible?"
"Vice Admiral Sakazuki, we've kept Sabaody Archipelago under constant surveillance. We even placed men in the lawless zones, but there's still been no trace of the Myriad Worlds Pirates."
It had already been half a month since Sakazuki and the other two reached Sabaody.
During that time, they had remained stationed at the Marine base on the archipelago, waiting for Ren and his crew to show themselves.
After all, anyone wanting to head into the New World had to coat their ship here first.
So in Sakazuki's mind, there was no way Kurogane Ren could avoid appearing forever.
At first, Sakazuki had assumed Ren would show up within a few days.
But half a month had passed, and there was still nothing.
There were no shortage of pirates on Sabaody, of course, but to keep their operation secret, Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan had refrained from making any moves at all.
That left Sakazuki, a man who believed in absolute justice, increasingly irritated.
Unlike his simmering frustration, Borsalino and Kuzan were having the time of their lives.
Even though they were stuck inside the Marine base, the two of them spent their days sleeping, drinking tea, and relaxing.
Opportunities to officially loaf around and do nothing without anyone complaining were rare, after all.
Meanwhile, the man Sakazuki had been waiting for was currently yawning while fishing.
Truthfully, Ren had wanted nothing to do with fishing.
The last time he got involved with anything related to fishing, he ended up transmigrating into the One Piece world.
But even he hadn't expected Sakazuki and the others to be this patient.
Half a month had passed, and those three were still camping out at Sabaody.
Are you really going to ignore every other pirate just to catch me?
Of course, none of the three were Admirals yet, so sitting in one place for an extended period wasn't a problem for them.
And as long as they stayed there, Ren couldn't go to Sabaody.
Because he hadn't originally prepared for such a long stretch at sea, they had recently run out of fresh food on board.
To get new ingredients, Ren had no choice but to pick up a fishing rod and start fishing.
Just then, he spotted a seagull overhead. Pulling out a hundred beli, he waved it around.
The bird immediately swooped down and dropped a newspaper into his hands.
Ren opened it and saw an explosive headline right away.
The Great Pirate Red Count, Baloric Redfield, Captured by Marine Hero Garp
Naturally, Ren knew exactly who Red Count was.
A monster who could stand shoulder to shoulder with legends like Whitebeard and Golden Lion on sheer individual strength alone.
Whitebeard and Golden Lion were feared not only because of their own power, but because they commanded enormous crews.
Red Count, on the other hand, had reached that level by himself.
If Ren remembered correctly, Red Count had even defeated the current Fleet Admiral, Kong, at some point.
Still, Red Count's capture had little to do with him. At most, it was worth a brief sigh.
The other stories in the paper interested him more.
The clashes between the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates.
Mihawk defeating yet another famous swordsman.
But under the shadow of Red Count's arrest, those stories all seemed smaller.
"Captain, ship ahead!"
Xu Nian's voice rang out, and Ren immediately tossed aside the fishing rod and hurried over.
"What direction?"
She pointed.
Ren raised his binoculars and looked where she indicated.
Sure enough, there was a ship in the distance.
Judging by its appearance, it looked like a cargo vessel.
"Martha, full speed. Catch up to them."
"Understood."
Although Good Fortune had a screw propeller powered by electricity, Ren usually preferred to sail under wind power.
The propeller was reserved for two situations only.
Running for their lives.
Or robbing someone.
Far off in the distance, on the merchant vessel, a sailor shouted in alarm, "Captain! A pirate ship is approaching fast!"
"Can you identify them?"
"I'm checking... It's the Myriad Worlds Pirates!"
"What?! The Myriad Worlds Pirates? Why are they here?!"
Naturally, the captain knew who they were.
A pirate crew with few members, but terrifying strength.
There were four core members aboard, and three of them already had bounties.
Fifty million.
Twenty-five million.
And five million.
But that wasn't the truly frightening part.
The real monster was the one with no bounty at all.
A female swordswoman powerful enough to match Dracule Mihawk.
With monsters like that onboard, his crew wouldn't even be enough for the enemy to kill with a single swing.
After all, Teresa's battle with Mihawk had been so shocking that news of it had spread through the world by newspaper the very next day.
"Captain, what do we do?"
After a long pause, the captain finally made up his mind.
"Stop the ship. Lower the sails. Everyone put down your weapons. Bring out all the valuables."
"Captain! If we do that, all our work will have been for nothing!"
"Hmph. As long as we're alive, we can make money again. But if we piss them off and they split this ship in half with one strike, what then?"
"Captain, you're joking. They're still that far away. How could a sword possibly reach us from there?"
"You ignorant fool. On this sea, the strength of true monsters always exceeds your imagination."
"Do as I say. As long as we get the cargo to Sabaody, we'll still make a fortune."
"Yes, Captain!"
Seeing the other ship stop and lower its sails, Ren nodded in satisfaction.
At least this captain had some sense.
When Ren and the others boarded the merchant ship, they found the crew already lined up neatly on deck.
Their weapons had been piled to one side.
Several large chests had been placed on the other.
The lids were open, revealing glittering treasures inside.
The captain stepped forward with an ingratiating smile.
"To the honored Myriad Worlds Pirates, we've already prepared the valuables. Please, take them."
Ren looked at the smiling captain and nodded back with a smile of his own.
He had to admit, this was the most cooperative captain he'd ever encountered.
After taking the wealth without the slightest guilt, Ren was just about to return to Good Fortune when Xu Nian suddenly raised her gun and aimed it at the captain's head.
The man dropped to his knees in terror.
"Mercy, my lord! I've already handed over all the money! Please spare us!"
Xu Nian's voice was cold.
"What's in the hold?"
The captain froze for a second, then hurriedly answered, "Food! It's all grain in the hold!"
Bang!
"AAAGH!"
Xu Nian fired without hesitation, blowing through the captain's leg.
The other crewmen immediately panicked, but Teresa merely glanced at them once.
That single look was enough to freeze everyone in place.
Ren frowned.
"Xu Nian, is there something wrong with this ship?"
He knew her well.
She would never do something like this without reason.
"The hold is wrong," she said.
Ren turned and headed for it.
He pushed open the hatch and went below.
At first glance, all he saw were sacks of grain.
He even stabbed a few open himself. Grain spilled out.
But if Xu Nian said something was off, then something was definitely off.
Ren immediately activated his Observation Haki.
And at once, he found the anomaly.
Beneath the grain...
There was another compartment.
Inside it were many people.
Packed together so tightly they could barely move.
Without hesitation, Ren pried up one of the floorboards.
"Aaahhh!"
Screams erupted from below.
Only then did Ren finally see the truth.
More than a hundred young women were crammed into the lower hold.
Every face was filled with terror.
Some of their clothes were torn. Bruises and injuries could be seen on exposed skin.
It was obvious now.
This ship's real cargo wasn't grain.
The grain was just a cover.
The true cargo was these women.
It was a slave transport ship.
Ren's face darkened as he climbed back up to the deck.
As far as he was concerned, slavers deserved only one thing.
Death.
Seeing Ren emerge with murder in his eyes, the captain seemed to realize there was no hiding it anymore.
Still clutching his bleeding leg, he shouted, "My lord! The cargo on this ship is meant for the Celestial Dragons! Please, show some consideration!"
Ren only gave a single order.
"Kill them all."