For some reason, maybe because they were both absurdly powerful, Esdeath and Teresa seemed born to clash.
The moment they met, they started sparring.
Kurogane Ren still remembered that first fight vividly. Esdeath had opened with a giant ice meteor. If he hadn't reacted fast enough and melted it with his ability, half the island would have been gone on the spot.
After that, the two of them took "tearing the place apart" to a whole new level.
The island Ren and the others had spent years building up was reduced to rubble in just a couple of hours.
Even the mountain on the island had been shaved down by half.
Afterward, Ren had asked them who was stronger.
Their answer had been simple.
In close combat, Esdeath would lose.
But once the distance opened up, Teresa would have a hard time winning.
Since the island had been ruined after their battle, Ren had no choice but to leave with the crew.
The problem was, even after boarding the ship, those two still refused to settle down.
They fought in the training room every other hour.
And that was not an exaggeration.
Ren had never regretted anything more than building such a huge training room on the ship.
The result was exactly what he feared.
Their attacks kept punching through the ship's walls, causing seawater to flood in.
Thankfully, the vessel had multiple watertight layers. As long as the bulkhead doors were sealed in time, the ship itself would stay safe.
And since the hull was made of memory alloy, the damaged sections would slowly repair themselves after a while.
Still, the constant flooding meant the ship had to surface from time to time just to drain the seawater out.
That was why Little Black had surfaced again just now.
Originally, when Ren spotted that pirate ship, he had wanted to ask them for information.
After all, they had spent years holed up on that deserted island near the Calm Belt. In all that time, Ren hadn't seen a single ship.
Not even a news bird.
And to avoid being dragged into the World Government's recruitment attempt for the Seven Warlords, he had also cut off contact with Treisia for the time being.
Which meant Ren knew almost nothing about what was happening out on the sea.
So when he saw that pirate ship, he had wanted to reason with them.
Physically, if necessary.
Instead, Esdeath casually dropped an ice meteor and erased them.
That left Ren in a terrible mood.
He glared at her.
"Come to my room tonight. We need to have a proper talk."
Facing Ren's obvious anger, Esdeath only smiled faintly.
"Come find me after you beat me."
"Damn it!"
When Esdeath had first been summoned, Ren had asked her a question.
"Do you know someone named Tatsumi?"
Back then, Esdeath had said no.
Ren had been thrilled for quite a while after hearing that.
No Tatsumi meant he still had a chance.
After all, the first time he had seen Esdeath, his only thought had been:
That's my wife.
But reality hit him quickly.
He didn't have a protagonist's plot armor.
At one point, he had straight-up confessed to Esdeath and told her he wanted to date her.
Her response had been even more straightforward.
"Beat me first."
Though Ren had grown much stronger over the past two years, Esdeath still possessed that outrageously broken move—
Mahapadma.
The ability to freeze time.
Their very first spar had ended with Ren getting shut down by that technique.
He had tried again and again to find a counter, only to realize that with his current strength, he still couldn't break it.
So while Ren could flirt with Esdeath all he wanted, actually trying anything was out of the question.
Not unless he wanted to get flattened first.
…
Near the waters of Treisia Kingdom.
Boom!
"Run! The people on this island are way too strong!"
"Don't let a single one escape! Capture them all!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Your Majesty, there were a total of one hundred and twenty pirates in this invading group. Three of them had bounties. The rest were just small fry."
Treisia looked at the more than one hundred pirates tied up like dumplings and said calmly, "Turn the wanted criminals over to the Marines for bounty money. Send the rest to the mines."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Ever since Ren had taught Treisia Kingdom's people Haki years ago, Treisia had begun searching throughout the island for absolutely loyal individuals to pass it on to.
By now, there were already more than three hundred people on Treisia Island who could use Haki.
It could be said that in the first half of the Grand Line, Treisia Island had already become one of the strongest islands around.
Even the Marines only kept a small force stationed there now.
Treisia's military strength was simply too high. Most of the time, the Marines felt more like decoration than protection.
At the same time, because of Treisia Island's powerful combat force, the World Government had even reduced part of its Heavenly Tribute.
Pururururu…
At that moment, the Den Den Mushi in Treisia's coat suddenly rang.
His expression changed at once.
He immediately used Soru to move out of everyone's sight.
After confirming no one was nearby, he carefully took out the Den Den Mushi.
The moment he saw it, excitement flashed across his face.
This Den Den Mushi existed for one reason only.
To contact Ren.
Treisia had carried it on him at all times for years.
After calming himself down, he spoke.
"Is that Lord Ren?"
"It's me."
"Nearly three years… You finally contacted me again."
"Treisia, I told you before. In three years, your island would no longer need to rely on the World Government. That time is almost here. The Worldbound Pirates are about to reappear before the world. The promise to protect Treisia is about to be fulfilled."
In truth, Treisia's own strength had already grown tremendously.
The island's security had improved by leaps and bounds.
And with better security came merchants.
Treisia's economy was booming.
On top of that, the World Government had reduced part of their Heavenly Tribute, and they had also captured large numbers of invading pirates and put them to work in the mines and fields.
That was pure profit.
Now, even relying solely on Treisia's own strength, they could pay the yearly tribute without issue.
He wanted to tell Ren that he no longer needed the Worldbound Pirates' protection.
But when he thought of everything Ren had done for his kingdom, he swallowed those words and said instead,
"Then I look forward to Lord Ren's protection over my nation."
Even if being protected by pirates would bring down sanctions from the World Government, Treisia didn't care.
To him, Ren was the benefactor of the entire kingdom.
Even if things became harder in the future because of it, he would never regret it.
"By the way," Ren asked, "what major events have happened on the seas over the past few years?"
"If you don't mind the trouble, I can go through them one by one."
"I've got time. Go ahead."
…
After hanging up, Ren stood there for a moment, his expression strange.
He hadn't expected that while they'd been hiding away, the world had changed so much.
First, the New World.
Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido had grown even stronger.
The three of them were now widely known as the sovereigns of the sea.
Second, the race for the fourth emperor had already begun.
And at the moment, the person with the highest chance of taking that throne was Shanks.
Then there was the Marine side.
The last few years had brought massive changes there as well.
Former Fleet Admiral Kong had been promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the World Government's military forces.
The new Fleet Admiral was former Admiral Sengoku.
At the same time, the Marines had also gained three new Admirals—
Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru.
Exactly the three Ren remembered.
On top of that, the World Government had already gathered seven great pirates and established the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Those were the biggest events.
Everything else was minor by comparison.
Ren looked out toward the sea, his eyes slowly sharpening.
They had hidden from the world for too long.
It was time for the world to remember them again.
Next, Ren planned to head to Sabaody Archipelago.
First, to restock supplies.
Second, to gather enough wealth.
And third…
to let the world know the Worldbound Pirates had returned.
After all, he wanted to become an emperor too.
But becoming an emperor wasn't just about raw strength.
It also required money.
True, as long as one was strong enough, money usually followed.
But outright robbing enough wealth would take too long.
Instead, Ren intended to go to the auction houses in Sabaody and sell a few things.
Things that meant little to him, but would be priceless to others.
Like storage rings.
He had no doubt the world would pay dearly for them.
As for whether auctioning off something like that would bring trouble?
Ren only smiled.
Selling the item was secondary.
His real goal…
was to make certain people notice.
And then use that stage to show the world exactly how strong the Worldbound Pirates had become.