[2200 Words]
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In The Marineford, the war entered its final phase, aptly titled: a massacre of pirates.
Indeed, the current scene in Marineford was nothing short of a one-sided slaughter. The pirates had lost the will to fight; they had been defeated horrifically, failing to achieve any of their goals in this doomed battle. With the death of Whitebeard, their morale was at an all-time low, and all they wanted was to survive.
What made matters worse was the appearance of robotic soldiers resembling the Warlord Kuma. These automatons were responsible for slicing and blasting hundreds of pirates with their scorching laser beams.
Due to Ren's intervention in the war, these weapons had not been deployed from the beginning. The Marines had not suffered losses at the hands of Whitebeard's commanders, as they were killed by the Sinful Crew, while Whitebeard himself was suppressed by the admirals with Ren's support.
Furthermore, Sengoku had hesitated to deploy them because they had only recently completed their testing and trials, unlike in the original Work where the Summit War began six months after Luffy's adventures started. Here, it commenced two months in, creating a significant time difference.
Under Sengoku's orders, the Marines, having lost many of their loved ones, transformed into relentless hunting dogs, pursuing the retreating pirates without mercy.
"They killed my brother! I will avenge you, brother, and eradicate all pirates from this world!" A soldier shouted wielding a rifle, consumed by rage and madness. He pulled the trigger and blew the head off a surrendering pirate on the ground.
*Bang!*
"Don't take any prisoners! The good pirate is The dead pirate!" An old veteran from the Marine side shouted. He had lost his promising apprentice during Whitebeard's rampage, driving him to madness. His sword sliced through pirates of any age or gender, leaving them in a pool of blood and flesh.
The denizens of the sea observed all these scenes in silence through live broadcasts. This war fundamentally changed their understanding of their world and its powers—be it the man who could unleash natural disasters like earthquakes, the admirals with their overpowering abilities, or Ren with his sword capable of cutting giants and delivering a fatal blow to Whitebeard.
Back in Marineford, where the massacre continued unabated, Ren watched the chaos with a slight smile on his face. He was in a good mood at that moment, and the reason? He had killed many Devil Fruit users and made a significant harvest.
Ren's harvest wasn't just about Devil Fruits; don't forget he possessed a system feature called "Pirate Hunter," which allowed him to gain half the bounty of any pirate he killed.
He had already accumulated billions of berries. Money was incredibly important; it didn't matter when or where—money was power, and that was a proven fact.
He also received several bounties from the system.
But the details would come later.
"Captain Ren, what's the next step?" Nami's soft voice pulled him from his thoughts. He looked at his Orange-haired girl and pondered deeply.
'The Blackbeard Pirates are slowly retreating under Akainu and Kizaru's assault, while the Marines slaughter the fleeing pirates with no intention of letting them go... and that man hasn't shown up yet...'
As he thought of Shanks, his mind drifted to Koby, whom he had previously hypnotized and turned into his Slave.
'What I did will change Koby's fate... Koby, who was supposed to shout for an end to the madness unfolding, won't stand against Akainu and risk his life, which would awaken his hidden talent like the Original Work... what a shame.' Ren sneered coldly, but soon pushed the thought of Koby to the back of his mind.
Koby wasn't important to him. Yes, he had talent, but that was it. If he became strong enough that Ren could no longer control him with his hypnotic skills, wouldn't that mean he had raised an enemy who would stab him in the back later?
All these thoughts crossed his mind in mere seconds before he replied to Nami, "We will just watch for now."
"Okay~" She nodded with a smile, then took Mikita, who was off to the side, and walked away to talk about something that made the blonde girl blush.
"..." Ren remained silent, but he didn't follow the girls.
When girls talk to each other, men should not interfere.
Something like that.
Putting all jokes aside, Ren then looked at Hancock. He had previously noticed that the Pirate Empress had been watching him for a brief moment, so he felt curious.
Ren couldn't deny that he was attracted to Hancock. What man wouldn't be? Only a castrated man or someone with a rubbery mind like Luffy would not be. Although Ren thought of Luffy as a mix of the two.
'But still, his Devil Fruit is dangerous... Nika, the Sun God and Liberation...' Greed filled his heart, and some dark thoughts and plans began to form in his mind.
Ren suppressed all that and used Shave to disappear, then reappeared in front of Hancock, who was sitting atop the stone statues.
The woman was startled to see Ren appear in front of her suddenly, staring at her. She looked at him coldly and arrogantly, then said in a resonant voice that could soften the hearts of even the toughest men, "Hmph, why are you looking at this princess?"
'She's acting like a young lady from a xianxia novel...' Ren was at a loss for words, but he still maintained a neutral expression and replied, "That question should be directed at me, peeper."
"W-What?!" Hancock exclaimed in anger and embarrassment, thinking to herself, 'Have I been discovered?!'
For a moment, Hancock didn't know how to respond. She suppressed her embarrassment and said angrily, "Don't overestimate yourself! I was just looking randomly."
Seeing her proud, arrogant expression, Ren couldn't help but let out a laugh, which didn't go unnoticed by Hancock, who fell into another childish fit of anger.
"Hmph! You annoying and disgusting men deserve to submit to this princess--" Hancock's words were cut short when she sensed an imminent danger approaching her. Narrowing her beautiful eyes, she quickly vanished from her spot, reappearing five meters away in front of a large man wielding a massive sword.
"Die, scum." Her cold voice made the attacker's heart nearly stop from fear.
She was about to petrify him and shatter him into a thousand pieces, but someone got to him before she could.
"He is my prey , 'Princess.' " The intruder, who was none other than Ren, grabbed the attacker by the neck and lifted him into the air with one hand.
"So, our little guest is none other than Blenheim, the captain of the ninth division of the Whitebeard Pirates. Why didn't you run away like the rest of your loser friends?"
Hancock paused and looked at Ren with a frown. The speed he displayed was something even she could only hope to achieve with effort, yet he did it effortlessly. This reminded her that the man in front of her fought against Whitebeard and even participated in his death. Although Whitebeard was old and sick, it didn't change the fact that Ren had defeated Marco, Vista, and the other powerful commanders.
Suddenly, Hancock felt a sense of danger. If he wanted to attack her, could she resist? And if that happened and she lost, what would happen to her sisters and Amazon Lily?
'But he's also a Warlord, so it's unlikely that would happen...' She realized how foolish and chaotic her thoughts were when she noticed that Ren wasn't even paying attention to her; he was focused solely on Blenheim, who was struggling to breathe.
'Tsk... he's ignoring me again! I'm the most beautiful woman in the world, and yet he ignores me!'
Such feelings were strange for Hancock, who had always been the center of attention wherever she went. Even the admirals had to be wary of her beauty and the power of her fruit if her Haki matched theirs. But now she being disregarded by a man...
"Humph!"
Hancock scoffed coldly and irritably before leaving without saying a word, suppressing her turmoil.
'There's no point in staying in this place full of disgusting men!' With this arrogant thought, she went off to find a spot to spend time alone without interruption until the end of this war was announced.
Back to Ren, he noticed Hancock leaving but before that, he observed her troubled expression as she pondered something, realizing that his goal had succeeded: he had made the Empress think of him, even if it was negatively and filled with anger.
He understood her personality and what she had gone through, so he didn't blame her. He also knew who she really was and what her true personality was, the side she would only show to someone she would fall for.
"Now, let's deal with you, Blenheim..."
Blenheim trembled as he felt the grip on his neck tighten. He tried to scream, but his throat was constricted. He began kicking like a slaughtered sheep, but the grip wouldn't release him; he could only gaze at the sky as tears streamed down his face.
*Crack~!*
With a sound of cracking bones, his neck snapped, and Ren extracted the Devil Fruit from him, which turned out to be a regular Zoan fruit—nothing impressive.
'When will this war end? Does there really need to be a scene with Koby and Akainu for Shanks to intervene or what?' Ren thought with slight annoyance. He wanted to go home and absorb the benefits he had gained today.
Because they were ridiculous in quantity.
Suddenly, an idea struck him. He looked at Blackbeard, who was retreating with his crew, engaged in a fierce battle with Kizaru and Akainu .The latter was exhausted from his recent fight with Whitebeard, allowing Kuzan and Kizaru to take over as he withdrew to supervise the lower-ranked Marines, ordering his soldiers to slaughter the fleeing pirates mercilessly.
Ren took out a Den Den Mushi once he confirmed that Koby was far from Helimbo and sent him some specific orders. Koby responded in a mechanical, emotionless voice.
The hypnotic ability was truly impressive.
"Alright, this should do it."
"When will this madness stop…" Helimbo murmured, his voice trembling. He and Koby were currently hiding in a place out of sight, watching the slaughter unfold.
"We have already achieved our goal, so there's no need for all this chaos… We're just losing more Marines!" Koby shouted, his expression filled with concern and fear, making Helimbo feel equally anxious.
"I have to do something! I have to stop this madness!" Koby yelled, drawing Helimbo's attention. The latter looked at him with an angry expression and said, "Koby! Don't be reckless! We can't do anything on this battlefield! We're too weak."
"But…" Koby stammered, then, ignoring Helimbo, he stepped out of their hiding spot and began to shout, "Stop! Please stop!"
His voice was weak compared to the sounds of artillery fire and gunfire, but it began to seep into the ears of the warriors. The soldiers, immersed in killing and chaos, seemed to be waiting for a savior—the one who would pull them back to reality and stop them.
"Koby… what is that kid doing?!" Garp, whose eyes were red from crying over Ace, looked at Koby in confusion.
"We've already achieved our goal! Whitebeard and Ace are dead! There's no reason to continue fighting… We're just losing more lives and comrades! Can't you see this?!"
He shouted with all his strength, his legs trembling, and his frail body, compared to the beasts on the battlefield, weakened his stance. But his words struck like arrows, piercing the minds of the Marine soldiers.
"Shut up, you brat! Our supreme goal as Marines is to eradicate pirates!" Akainu shouted, magma forming in his hand.
'Here it comes… the legendary scene,' Ren thought, sitting quietly while smoking his cigarette. A small smile crept onto his face as he sensed the powerful signatures of several strong characters infiltrating Marineford's waters without attracting anyone's attention.
Back to Koby, he looked at Akainu, who seemed ready to kill him, and shouted with a trembling voice, "S-Sir… we're just losing lives here and—"
"Shut up!"
"What's the point of the Marines if they don't kill pirates?! If one of us falls, he falls for justice! Now die!"
Under the astonished gazes of all the survivors on the battlefield, along with hundreds of millions of viewers across the world, Akainu directed his magma-infused punch at Koby.
"!!!!"
Tears began to flow from Koby's eyes, but no one knew, except for Ren, that this was all just an act. The current Koby was nothing but an empty shell, devoid of his former personality. As long as he remained under hypnosis, he would stay a hollow shell without will or Free thoughts forever.
*SWING!*
*SPLASH!*
To everyone's surprise, Koby did not turn into a pulp of charred flesh and blood. Instead, a sword appeared from nowhere and intercepted Akainu's magma-infused punch.
"What bold words, young Marine soldier."
"Your words are correct, and maybe will change this world's fate… there's no point in spilling more lives now."
Everyone who witnessed the figure that stopped Akainu's punch was shocked. The man, unaware of their thoughts, continued speaking: "I'm here now for one reason…"
"And that is to stop this war!"
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To be continued...
500 PS = Bonus chapter.