[2600 Words]
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The Grand Line, Paradise.
In an unknown sea, aboard a certain pirate ship.
Kaya was shocked after hearing Ren's words, and so were the rest of the girls.
They didn't expect Ren to invite Princess Vivi to join the crew; she was a princess after all!
Could a princess leave the noble life and live the life of wanted pirates, pursued by the Marines, not to mention their bad reputation?
The answer, of course, was no.
So, they didn't hold much hope for Vivi, They looked at the girl who wore a grim expression as she pondered over Ren's previous words.
Vivi was conflicted; she wanted to save her country, but the price was becoming a criminal.
She thought of her father and everyone she loved in the Alabasta Kingdom, the people dying of thirst, seeking revenge against the king, believing him to be the cause...
She wanted to go there and tell them that all of this was Crocodile's plan!
But she couldn't. Luckily, after facing the disaster that was a powerful pirate, it turned out he had the same goal as her: to overthrow Crocodile. Before he helped her, though, she had to pay the price.
She was on edge; she didn't know how her father would react when he found out she might become a pirate.
"I accept...I'll join your crew."
In the end, Vivi chose to "sacrifice" herself for the sake of the country.
No one could solve her problem except Ren; she feared if she refused, everything would be ruined.
"Great, no need to make such a face, Although you'll be a member of the crew, you'll still stay in your kingdom."
Ren laughed when he saw Vivi's exaggerated expression, so he decided to explain to her what he planned for her.
"R-really?!" She exclaimed with joy, seeking confirmation from Ren. Did this mean she would be the crew's joker or what?
Even the girls were surprised by Ren's words; they thought Vivi would sail with them and become wanted by justice.
"I mean what I say, but you must obey my orders as a member of the crew, even if you're not with me on the ship." Ren suddenly became serious.
"I understand! Captain." Ren chuckled when he heard her call him captain.
A notification arrived from the system; Ren looked at the blue interface and smiled.
[Ding! Congratulations host, for completing the main mission "Recruit Vivi into the crew" and obtaining:"Haki Training Guide"]
[Haki Training Guide: An instructional book that allows you to learn about Haki and how to train it, providing tips for getting the best results in the shortest time, it contains all information about types of Haki as well as theories on new ways to use Haki]
"Interesting" Ren read the description and became interested in this mysterious book that appeared in The infinity space without warning.
"You're officially a member of our crew now, Vivi" he said, looking at the princess and smiling faintly.
"Thank you, Captain."
Ren stopped talking to Vivi and opened her data.
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¶- Name: Vivi.
¶- Age: 17 years.
¶- Occupation: Not specified yet.
¶- Affiliation: #### Pirates.
¶- Status: Stable.
¶- Title: None.
¶- Bounty: None.
¶- Physical Power Level: 2,400 (E).
¶- Loyalty: 55%.
¶- Devil Fruit: None.
¶- Devil Fruit Rating: None.
¶- Skills: None
¶- Haki: None.
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There were no surprises; she was weak and pitiful, but he would gradually make her stronger over time.
Ren told the girls he was going to his room and left while the girls stayed chatting with each other.
Nojiko was trying to get closer to Mikita because of the mission Ren assigned to her.
Gradually, Mikita began to get used to being in this group, which consisted only of girls, with the captain as an exception, but she also felt comfortable and safe around him.
And this feeling multiplied even more after he saved her before...
"I cut that bastard like this... and then... hahaha, he started begging for his life."
Nami explained how she defeated the rapist in the previous battle, describing how she tortured the captain with Nojiko and Mikita, making Lorena and Vivi pale.
"Hahaha, Lorena and Vivi, your faces are hilarious" Nojiko laughed unusually, hoping this friendly conversation would improve the relationship between the group.
She noticed Ren didn't like this clear division among them; Nojiko didn't want to see her boyfriend upset, so she took it upon herself to improve the relationship between all the girls.
In Ren's room.
Ren sat in his room, his face illuminated by a faint light emanating from a single candle placed on a small table in front of him, He held a book with a black cover and golden inscriptions.
The golden inscriptions formed a single sentence that seemed to be the title of the book:
{Secrets of Haki: The Hidden Spiritual Power.}
He was contemplating the pages of the book, while the illuminated candle cast a long shadow on the wall, adding a mysterious and sacred atmosphere to the place.
Amidst the deadly silence, he immersed himself in his reading, and as he pondered the pages, he noticed small details related to Haki techniques.
The book discussed the types and levels of Haki, then moved on to explain the characteristics of each.
- Armament Haki: Where the user focuses their spiritual power through a part or all of their body, creating a magical shield of black color called Armament Haki, which can be used for both defense and offense, making attacks several times stronger when combined with Armament Haki.
- Observation Haki: It's a power present in all creatures, but often remains dormant in many, The essence of Observation Haki is to use that mysterious spiritual power to awaken the sixth sense, which achieves miracles and reaches a stage where you can see the future.
As Ren read more and flipped through the pages of this mysterious black book, his understanding of Haki deepened.
He knew relying solely on the instant power of the system was a mistake; Ren understood this, so he always trained hard to avoid falling into the trap of quick benefits.
"To become a master of Haki, one must feel Haki, sense Haki, live with Haki, and understand the essence of Haki"
When he read this sentence from the book, Ren didn't quite understand what it meant.
After several attempts, he gave up and decided to continue reading the book.
- Conqueror's Haki: It's a power present in a few creatures, they are born with it, but it remains dormant, It can be awakened in life and death situations or when exposed to a strong mental shock.
Those who possess Conqueror's Haki have the ambition to rule everything, the ambition to rule the world and the seas; these people were born to become kings.
Ren's heart raced when he read this page; he had the desire to rule everything, Does this mean he possesses Conqueror's Haki?
His situation was peculiar; he wasn't from here, not a resident of this world, yet he still retained his original soul, Since Haki is a spiritual power associated with the soul and has no connection to the body, did Conqueror's Haki transfer with his soul to his body?
"Even if I don't possess it, I can awaken it with the help of the system..." Ren muttered softly, confident that someday he would receive a reward related to awakening Conqueror's Haki.
Ren continued reading the book for several hours; Nami and Nojiko entered the room and saw him busy and focused on reading, They didn't disturb him and tried not to make any noise.
[After Hours]
Ren stopped and looked around.
The girls had already fallen asleep; only the candle illuminated the room, and the Haki book was open in the middle, The atmosphere was quiet, with only the faint breathing of the girls audible.
[The Pic is here]
Ren stretched his body, closed the book, and placed it in The infinity space.
He went to Nojiko, kissed her on the forehead, making her smile in her sleep as if she could feel it, and did the same with Nami.
He left the room, closed the door quietly, then went up to the ship's deck.
It was time for training again.
He activated Observation Haki and saw a scene that surprised him a little.
Mikita, on the deck, was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.
"It's surprising to find you training here."
Ren's voice reached Mikita; the girl was surprised and looked at the newcomer.
"Oh, Captain Ren! Are you here to train too?" Mikita smiled as she wiped the sweat with a white towel.
"Yes, let's train together."
Mikita quickly responded: "Ok Captain!"
Ren wanted to train on Shigan, so he asked her to attack him using it, Mikita was worried it might hurt him, but he reassured her.
He used Armament Haki to defend against Shigan; He didn't attack her, just countered her attacks, and after several minutes, they moved on to physical training and competed in a battle of punches and kicks.
Of course, Ren didn't attack with full force, but he still caused Mikita a lot of pain, He didn't use Armament Haki in his strikes because it was too much for Mikita.
*Bam!*
Mikita was hit in her stomach, causing the girl to step back a few steps, holding her stomach in pain. Ren didn't give her a chance to rest and quickly moved towards her, directing a kick to her face.
*Oh!.*
Mikita collapsed unconscious when she saw Ren's foot stop in front of her face by a few centimeters.
If this kick had hit her, with Ren's physical strength, her head would have been broken into a mess of flesh and blood!
"You're improving quickly, Mikita. I like your determination, so we'll add night training sessions from now on. Every day you must come here for training before we reach Alabasta."
Ren approached Mikita and patted her head, playing with her blond hair gently, Mikita didn't mind his touch and focused on his words.
She was happy; she quickly opened her mouth and agreed: "understand, Captain Ren!"
"I told you to call me Ren when we're alone."
"That...Ok...R-Ren" Mikita stammered.
"Silly girl~ Why be shy."
"Kyahaha~ I'll go rest now, Ren" She said, awaiting Ren's response.
He nodded, saying:"Good, make sure to rest well, Training is important, but you must balance it with rest to avoid your body collapsing without warning."
"Um~ Thank you Ren, I'll go now."
"Goodbye~" He waved to her, keeping his gaze on her figure as she disappeared into the darkness and entered the ship.
He sighed and smiled lightly, impressed by Mikita's determination and her pursuit of strength.
"Show me Mikita's status,Miss System."
[As you command.]
.
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¶- Name: Mikita.
¶- Age: 22 years.
¶- Occupation: Not specified yet.
¶- Affiliation: #### Pirates.
¶- Status: tired, sleepy.
¶- Title: None.
¶- Bounty: 7,500 million 𝕭.
¶- Physical Power Level: 17,600 (E).
¶- Loyalty: 94%.
¶- Devil Fruit: Kilo Kilo no Mi.
¶- Devil Fruit Rating: ★★★★☆.
¶- Skills: [Shigan(Low)].
¶- Haki: None.
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Mikita's physical power was increasing rapidly, with her body nearing level C.
"Oh? Her loyalty has become close to perfect, I remember it was only 77% a few hours ago..."
Ren didn't understand the reason. Perhaps because he was training her?
In truth, Ren didn't mistreat any crew members, and he never would. Regardless of gender, as long as they were loyal to him, he would train and protect them.
The same went for enemies, If someone threatened his crew's safety, he would kill them regardless of their gender.
These were Ren's principles, but in the pirate world, they were rare among crews.
Most captains ruled their crews with force and threat, instilling fear in their followers to prevent them from even considering opposition or betrayal.
But this was the wrong way, Not because of Ren's original world's concepts, but because the followers would stab the captain in the back at the first opportunity.
Not everyone was like Luffy's crew, Shanks, or Whitebeard. Most were waiting for the captain's first misstep to betray him.
That's how pirates were, and that was their way of life, except for the chosen few.
Ren dispelled his unnecessary thoughts and continued training, taking out a few rocks from the infinity space and focusing on his training.
With Armament Haki as a shield, Ren began punching the hard rocks.
The noise was present, but the girls didn't wake up, They were tired from a long day after a tough battle against the Blood Tiger Pirates.
*Bam!* *Bam!*
*Punch!*
*Bam!*
*Crack!*
*Crack!*
The sound of punches filled the ship. Ren's black fists collided with the hard rocks, leaving marks of his grip on them, He didn't hit the rocks with all his strength because his goal wasn't to destroy them but to strengthen his Armament Haki.
After obtaining the Haki training guide, Ren was determined to strengthen his Haki as quickly as possible to test the theories in that book.
Waiting for a reward from the system was foolish. He must become stronger without waiting for any help, What if the system didn't give him what he wanted?
He would find himself falling behind and losing a lot of time.
[Several hours later]
Under the moonlight approaching dusk, Ren trained diligently on his ship's deck in the dark night, as his hands collided with the hard rocks, pain seeped into his body, but he refused to give up.
Instead, he continued punching the rocks with strength and determination, where each punch reflected his resolve and determination to improve.
Facing the pain, blood oozed from his hand, He had lost the ability to use Armament Haki for a long time, and he began punching with his bare hands.
But he ignored the feeling of exhaustion and pain, he continued training, the cold winds blowing on his face, but he didn't lose focus, instead, he continued training seriously.
Amidst the noise of the waves and the howling wind, Ren expressed his determination and resolve in his punches, although his hand was bleeding, he continued training until he reached the point of exhaustion.
Although blood began to flow from his injured hand due to the rocks, his determination remained unshaken. He kept repeating his movements, trying to surpass the limits of his body and mind, and take his Armament Haki to another level.
Although the cold wind blew on his face, he felt the warm heat from within, as his desire for strength ignited like a fire.
"Haaah...haaah...That's enough for today" Ren stopped and looked at the rocks, which had become small pieces, then glanced at his hand with bruises and small wounds.
"I'll ask Kaya to bandage this..."
The sky was painted with beautiful dawn colors, the golden sunlight slowly seeped into the horizon, The clouds were slowly dissipating, as if preparing to welcome the new light.
The surrounding environment was strangely silent, in the moment of beautiful silence, Ren lifted his head to enjoy the warm rays of the sun touching his face, and a light laughter escaped his lips.
Suddenly, this moment was interrupted by the sound of Den Den Mushi.
He took out the Den Den Mushi from his pocket and answered the call, quickly hearing a soft voice from the other side: "Hello, Mr. Ren."
"Oh, look who it is, I thought you forgot about me completely." Ren smiled lightly upon recognizing the caller's voice.
"Fufufu~ How could I do that? We made an agreement after all." The soft voice came to clarify to Ren.
"So, what's up, Miss All Sunday?" Ren knew that Robin wouldn't call him if there wasn't something important.
"Crocodile has moved."
Robin said a single sentence, but it fully grabbed Ren's attention.
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Author's gossiping.
The challenge still exists، If we reach 320 power stones 24 hours before the previous chapter, there will be a bonus chapter.