On a stretch of sea unknown to anyone.
Three ships had collided with one another, and the shouts of pirates killing and fighting blended into a continuous roar.
Fragments of ship planks floated across the sea, and the broken corpses scattered around silently told the story of how brutal this naval battle had been.
The Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Portgas D. Ace, stood back to back with the Fourth Division Commander, Thatch.
"Fire Fist!"
As his power activated, Ace's fist transformed into blazing flames and surged forward instantly.
The massive pirate ship ahead was pierced straight through. Seawater poured into the ship through the gaping hole.
Along with it, more than a dozen lives were burned to ashes.
"These guys actually have some ability."
"No wonder they dared to attack an island under Pops' protection."
That was the reason the two of them were here.
The pirate crew ahead, already battered to the brink of sinking by Ace and Thatch, had actually dared to openly plunder an island protected by Edward Newgate.
At first, they thought it was some remarkable rookie pirate crew.
For safety, Whitebeard had even dispatched two divisions.
Originally, Ace and Thatch had complained a bit. After all, it was just some unknown pirate crew that did not know the immensity of heaven and earth.
Reality, however, proved Whitebeard's judgment correct.
Even with Ace and Thatch, two division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates, they still could not completely suppress the enemy with absolute ease.
They had encountered this pirate ship nearly half a day ago, and only now had they barely managed to break onto the enemy ship.
"Who knows?"
Thatch shrugged.
The twin blades in his hands flashed like lightning.
Wrapped in Armament Haki, each slash either took a life or rendered someone incapable of fighting.
"Be careful. Do not get ambushed."
Inside the pirate ship.
A figure suddenly darted forward, directly blocking a sneak attack for one of the pirates.
"Thank you, Vice-Captain Renji!"
When the pirate saw Renji, admiration and respect filled his eyes.
"What are you thanking me for? We are crewmates on the same ship. How could I just stand by and watch you die?"
Renji smiled slightly.
With a flick of his saber upward, he knocked the enemy's weapon flying. Then he thrust forward and instantly took the ambusher's life.
After killing him,
Renji glanced around the battlefield.
Although the Second and Fourth Divisions had already completely suppressed this pirate crew, the enemy's resistance was still fierce.
From time to time, he could still see their own people getting injured, or even dying.
Seeing this, Renji shouted loudly, raising his voice as much as possible.
"Although the battle is almost over, brothers, stay cautious."
"You would not want to lose your life right when victory is already in sight, would you?"
"Even if you do not die, do you want to lose an arm or a leg?"
"No!"
"Do not worry, Vice-Captain! We will take this seriously!"
"The celebration banquet tonight cannot be without me, hahaha!"
It was obvious.
In the eyes of the Fourth Division and even Ace's Second Division, Renji was someone worthy of respect.
Hearing their responses, Renji nodded seriously.
His body continuously moved across the battlefield, weaving through the fighting pirates.
Occasionally, he would step in to help crew members of the Whitebeard Pirates who had fallen into danger or were about to be ambushed.
[You picked up 1 Strength!]
[You picked up 1 Speed!]
[You picked up 1 Combat Experience!]
[You picked up 1…]
Within Renji's vision, places where battles were happening or had just happened were scattered with glowing orbs that only he could see.
Some orbs were large, some small, and their colors varied.
Whenever he approached them, they were automatically absorbed by him.
This was not a Devil Fruit ability.
It was the benefit of a transmigrator.
That's right.
Renji was not a native of this world. He was a transmigrator.
This ability to pick up attributes was the golden finger granted to him.
That was also why, despite being a vice-captain, Renji was not focusing on challenging the enemy pirate crew's strongest fighters. Instead, he was roaming around the battlefield like an observer.
"Be careful. If you run into an opponent you cannot beat, retreat first. Do not force it."
Renji stepped in and helped a thin Fourth Division crew member defeat a towering enemy.
A red light orb was absorbed into his body.
[You picked up 1 Strength!]
"Thank you, Vice-Captain!"
"It is nothing."
Renji shook his head.
"Be more careful next time. If you want to show off, improve your strength first. Got it?"
After saying that,
Renji headed toward his next destination again.
It had already been three years since he arrived in the world of One Piece.
He still clearly remembered that when he first arrived, it was one afternoon. He had fallen straight onto a pile of hay in a farmer's house.
After more than a year of getting familiar with things, he had finally gained a rough understanding of his transmigrator benefit, the attribute pickup system.
Whenever people around Renji used abilities or demonstrated their specialties, a glowing orb related to that ability would condense and fall onto the ground.
These orbs did not remain forever. They lasted roughly about one minute.
As long as Renji got within one meter of the orb, it would automatically be absorbed.
Based on Renji's own understanding, the attributes that could be picked up were divided into three categories.
The first category was experience type attributes, such as swordsmanship insight, combat experience, Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and Conqueror's Haki. Orbs of this category were red.
The second category was ability type attributes, such as Devil Fruits or abilities like hypnosis. Orbs of this category were yellow.
The third category was basic attributes, such as agility, strength, intelligence which could be understood as mental energy, defense, and similar stats. Orbs of this category were also yellow.
After getting familiar with the system,
Renji began collecting attributes across the island he lived on.
However, there were not any particularly strong people on the island. Most of them were just farmers doing daily work, and there were barely any attributes to collect.
At that moment, Thatch happened to arrive on Renji's island to purchase supplies.
As the world's strongest pirate crew, the Whitebeard Pirates surely had plenty of attributes to collect.
So Renji deliberately approached Thatch and boarded his ship.
Because of his golden finger, Renji had gained quite a bit of strength over the past year. Even Thatch had exclaimed that Renji's talent was unbelievably monstrous.
In order to collect attributes, Renji often wandered around battlefields.
To avoid suspicion, he would step in to protect weaker crew members.
Because of this, he gained tremendous prestige within the Fourth Division.
His reputation even reached Whitebeard himself, who greatly praised Renji.
It could be said that within the Whitebeard Pirates and even throughout the territories protected by Whitebeard, Renji had become quite famous.
And because of that,
Less than a year after joining Thatch's Fourth Division, Renji successfully became the Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division.
While continuing to collect glowing orbs,
Renji scanned the surroundings. The enemy pirates capable of resisting were already very few.
He spoke loudly again.
"Brothers! Victory is right in front of us. Keep it up!"