"Xu Nian, Teresa, go calm the women in the hold."
Everyone down there was female, and a large number of them were still in a state of disheveled undress.
Ren would have loved to go down there himself and help "comfort" them. After all, those soft, fair, rounded—ah, no, he meant he wanted to reassure them properly. Maybe offer them a shoulder to cry on.
But judging from their condition earlier, it was obvious they were deeply wary of men. If he went in now, it would only make things worse.
So it was better to leave that to Xu Nian and Teresa.
As for him, he would handle something within his capabilities.
Cooking.
Not long after, the women in the hold emerged under Xu Nian and Teresa's guidance.
By then, Ren had already prepared food and began handing it out one by one.
What disappointed him, however, was that Xu Nian and Teresa had dressed them all first—and not lightly either. They had wrapped them up so thoroughly that not a single inch of skin showed.
In this heat?
Was that really necessary?
Damn it.
Still, once they had eaten, the women gradually let their guard down around Ren.
At that point, one of them suddenly dropped to her knees.
"My name is Nina. Thank you, my lords, for saving us!"
The rest immediately followed suit.
"Thank you, my lords, for saving us!"
Being knelt to for the first time in his life—and by so many beautiful women, no less—left Ren so flustered he hurriedly waved his hands.
"You're too polite. We only happened to run into this by chance."
Then he asked, "Where are you all from? Do you want me to send you home?"
The moment those words left his mouth, the women began to cry.
Ren froze.
He hadn't said anything wrong, had he? Why had they all suddenly burst into tears?
At that moment, the woman named Nina knelt again and said, "My lords, we're all from a place called White Veil City. Our homeland was famous for producing a kind of thin, white silk."
"Though our country was small, we lived fairly well thanks to the profits from that silk. But a few months ago, a Celestial Dragon came to our island."
"He demanded a huge amount of white silk as tribute. We didn't dare refuse. But he wasn't using it to make clothes…"
Her voice shook, and tears streamed down her face.
"He burned it for fun."
Ren's expression hardened.
Nina continued, voice trembling, "The amount he demanded was far beyond what we could produce in the time given. When we failed, he flew into a rage and ordered the Marines stationed on the island to withdraw."
"Once the Marines were gone, pirates came almost immediately."
"Our people had always lived by weaving silk. We had no real army—only a few police officers. There was no way we could stop pirates."
She choked on a sob and could go no further.
There was no need for her to continue.
Ren could already imagine the rest.
An island wealthy enough to attract greed, but too weak to defend itself, was the exact kind of place pirates loved most.
Once they had looted the island's wealth, the islanders themselves became the next commodity.
Ren had dealt with the traffickers aboard the ship, but now a more difficult problem stared him in the face.
There was an old saying: if you save someone, save them to the end.
Now that he had rescued them, Ren couldn't bring himself to just throw them aside.
He roughly counted again.
There were over a hundred women here.
What exactly was he supposed to do with them?
These women might be experts at weaving silk, but when it came to sailing, they were completely helpless.
There was no way they could navigate a ship on their own.
And they were all ordinary people. Without Ren and the others, even a random pirate crew could reduce them to "cargo" again.
But taking them along wasn't ideal either.
He was a pirate, after all. His destination was the New World. If they followed him there, they'd be stepping into a far crueler world.
Seeing the troubled look on Ren's face, Nina knelt once more.
"My lord, please take us in. Our homeland is gone. We have nowhere left to return to."
"Please take us in…"
Looking at the sea of kneeling women before him, Ren's headache only worsened.
"Actually, we're pirates too," he said after a long pause. "How about this? I'll find an island with a Marine base and leave you there."
Nina shook her head without hesitation.
"Our home was destroyed because of the Marines. We would rather follow you than trust them."
Ren stared at her in surprise.
What she didn't say aloud was what she had already realized.
Their country was gone.
Even if Ren dropped them off on some Marine-protected island, they would still be undocumented outsiders. Over a hundred women with no identities and no protection.
At best, they might be allowed to stay for a while before being expelled.
At worst, they would fall into the hands of traffickers again.
People like them—those with no legal identity—were exactly the kind human traffickers loved most.
Hard to trace. Easy to disappear.
Staying with Ren was different.
He had openly admitted he was a pirate, but from everything he had done so far, it was clear he utterly despised traffickers. There was no need to fear that he would sell them off.
So even if Ren was a pirate… he was still a good person.
Completely unaware he had just been handed the "good guy" card, Ren was still trying to think of a solution.
In the end, he turned to Xu Nian.
"What do you think?"
Perhaps because they were women themselves, both Xu Nian and Teresa immediately made their stance clear.
They couldn't just abandon them.
So the final outcome was that Ren was forced to take in over a hundred women.
Then Martha began piloting the transport ship, towing Good Fortune behind it.
…
"What? Did you just say Admiral Sengoku has been chosen as the next Fleet Admiral?"
"Kuzan, Vice Admiral, Fleet Admiral Kong has only designated Admiral Sengoku as his successor. That doesn't mean he'll take over immediately."
"Oh. So that's how it is."
At the side, Borsalino, still trimming his nails, casually asked, "Then why did they send us an order?"
The Marine messenger swallowed and replied, "Fleet Admiral Kong has ordered that the pursuit of the Myriad Worlds Pirates be suspended temporarily."
Sakazuki's face darkened at once.
"Why?"
The messenger stiffened under his glare.
"B-Because… Fleet Admiral Kong says the World Government intends to issue the Myriad Worlds Pirates a summons. They want to recruit them as one of the Seven Warlords."
"What?! What the hell are they thinking?!"
…
The proposal to make Ren a Warlord had begun a few days earlier.
Mary Geoise.
"Dracule Mihawk has agreed to become one of the Seven Warlords."
The bald swordsman among the Five Elders raised a brow.
"Oh? I didn't expect Mihawk to agree so quickly."
"But he has one condition."
"What condition?"
"When he has need of it, he wants access to the whereabouts of the Myriad Worlds Pirates."
"…Why?"
"He didn't say. But it's probably related to that new female swordsman in their crew."
The bald Elder gave a faint smile.
"I see."
As a swordsman himself, he understood immediately.
For someone like Mihawk, an evenly matched rival was more precious than treasure.
Then the blond Elder spoke.
"Couldn't we try recruiting the Myriad Worlds Pirates as Warlords too?"
That suggestion silenced the room.
Originally, the reason they wanted Ren captured was because his ability posed too great a threat to the World Government.
But the situation had changed.
His crew now included a swordswoman powerful enough to stalemate Mihawk.
At that point, trying to crush the Myriad Worlds Pirates with brute force would cost the Marines dearly.
Perhaps it would be better to bring them under control through recruitment instead.
If Ren became a Warlord, the World Government would gain far more peace of mind.
The other Elders exchanged glances.
"That could work. But before sending the invitation, the Marines need to raise his bounty."
"A Warlord summons sent to a pirate worth only five million would make the World Government a laughingstock."
"Agreed."
"Indeed."
…
And so, after the world-shaking news of Red Count's capture, another bombshell spread across the seas.
Among the women Ren had taken in, a fair number proved useful as crew support.
At the very least, they could handle cooking and cleaning aboard the transport ship.
That left Ren much freer than before.
Now, at last, he no longer had to cook every meal himself.
For the first time, he could finally live the glorious life of a captain.
As for the ship itself, Good Fortune had far more than enough supplies now, so Ren stopped worrying about provisions for the time being.
Instead, his attention shifted elsewhere.
A few days later, when a news seagull delivered the latest paper, Ren unfolded it only to find his bounty listed in bold.
The old five million beri bounty was gone.
In its place was a staggering new number.
Two hundred and fifty million beri.
Ren stared at it for a long moment.
Then, slowly, a grin spread across his face.
At last.
That looked like a proper captain's bounty.
[Author Note]
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