The Four Elders were quickly defeated, almost chopped to pieces by Ren.
The only worry was whether these Mythical Zoan Types had some other way to revive themselves.
Ren stepped forward, heading toward the Empty Throne.
The pressure emanating from it could rival his own.
The figure sitting there showed no expression.
He had ruled for eight hundred years; no situation could shake him.
Ren felt no curiosity toward him, and the deaths of his subordinates did not sadden him.
This surprised Ren—it was the first time he had encountered someone like this.
The King of the Celestial Dragons was truly a terrifying existence.
Without exchanging a single word, the two sides clashed.
The Red Line began to crack, unable to withstand their attacks.
Whenever Ren struck the wounds on his opponent's body, they would instantly heal.
Ren understood—this would be a prolonged battle.
Even if he gave his all, he could not hope to determine a victor in a short time.
The battle raged on for ten days.
Outside, the war had begun to stabilize.
Both sides were minimizing casualties while waiting for the outcome from above.
The Red Line was now unrecognizable, on the verge of collapsing.
If it fell, countless islands would sink.
Only now did the Navy realize what the World Government had been hiding.
Ren's haki was depleted.
He looked at Imu, whose aura was weak, yet whose expression remained unchanged, and sighed.
"Won't you use it, Uranus?" he asked.
"You are not the one to inherit Joy Boy's will," Imu said, disappearing without a trace.
The entire Red Line could no longer sense his presence.
Ren felt a chill in his heart.
The opponent had avoided a final fight and had retreated away along with Uranus.
It was likely that a Damocles Sword would hang over him for the future.
Ren lay down on the ground.
He did not know if he had truly won, but there was no doubt—the opponent had yielded the position to him.
They had battled for nearly ten days and exchanged only one sentence.
At this moment, he had no intention of announcing the end of the war.
He needed to recover, to prevent a Navy counterattack.
Fortune still favored Ren in this war.
He could recover on the Red Line without anyone disturbing him.
If the Navy came, the pirates would stop them.
If the pirates came, the Navy would stop them.
It was a closed loop.
Three days later, Ren was fully recovered.
During this time, Imu had not appeared again.
Though a knot lingered in his heart, it was time to move on.
The moment Ren appeared on the battlefield, the pirates erupted in celebration.
The Navy, in contrast, was dejected.
Many Navy members planned to resist to the death, guarding their justice.
Hancock, seeing Ren, finally let go of the tension in her heart.
Ren's Observation Haki was extremely unique.
He could sense people's inner emotions and easily distinguish between good and evil.
Ren directly unleashed his astonishing Conqueror's Haki.
The Marines thought it was aimed at them, but they didn't react.
Soon, many of the pirates fainted instantly.
In less than five seconds, the worst of the Marines, the worst of the pirates, all members of the CP units, and the members of the God's Knights had collapsed.
"Ren?" a standing pirate asked, confused.
"Attack," Ren said coldly.
The nearby Fish-Men, Mink Tribe, and other special races, who had fought alongside the pirates before, decisively took action.
They sent the previously allied pirates straight to hell.
Those who had tried to resist were paralyzed by Ren's Conqueror's Haki.
After confirming that those he wanted dead were dead, Ren announced, "The World Government's highest authority no longer exists. From now on, I will take control."
The pirates didn't cheer.
Bloodied corpses lay around them.
The Marines were puzzled, wanting to see what Ren would do next.
"What will happen to this sea?" Gion asked.
She was battered and bruised, her beautiful cheeks showing exhaustion.
Looking at the woman he had once defeated with a single strike, Ren replied, "It will not be a place of chaos. Continue your work as Marines."
"Garp, what about Sengoku and the others?" Tsuru asked.
Beside her stood a humanoid paper figure, including Doflamingo.
"They are living peacefully on Fish-Man Island. Don't worry, they won't betray their sense of justice. Morgans, you're there, right?" Ren's voice echoed across the sky.
"Isn't this the Era-Changer, Lord Ren? What do you need from me?" a Den Den Mushi projection appeared, showing Morgans' figure.
"Announce to the world that I have won. Also, one month from now, hold a world conference. Any country that doesn't participate will be treated as rebels and executed immediately."
Ren finished speaking and turned to leave.
"Lord Ren, we won't disappoint you," Morgans said excitedly.
He could see history being rewritten. Was there anything more thrilling than this?
A new era had arrived.
People accepted it surprisingly quickly.
After all, as long as commoners had enough food and drink, they didn't care who their leaders were.
The first thing Ren did was update the information system.
Pirates were no longer called pirates, but "Maritime Adventurers."
He also had Vegapunk develop a new Den Den Mushi for information recording, like a complaint system.
Its purpose was to sense nearby deaths, automatically record the scene, and link it to the registered adventurer's information.
After all, pirates without registered information were executed immediately.
Their status was considered no better than beasts.
With a genius like Vegapunk, fingerprint recognition was quickly developed.
As long as Ren provided the idea and requirements, Vegapunk could recreate it.
This greatly sped up Ren's progress in governing and reforming the world.
After all, why would someone go out to sea and become a pirate?
Working hard often seemed pointless; one could toil for a whole year and still not have enough to eat.
In such circumstances, it was almost natural to turn to piracy.
So Ren's first step was to focus on these kinds of needs.
He approached Vegapunk directly, asking for rice that had both high yields and a short growth cycle, something like a hybrid.
This immediately sparked Vegapunk's inspiration.
His research spirit soared, and within the first month of the new government, Ren had supplied this rice to neighboring countries where it could be cultivated.
But Vegapunk's research didn't stop there.
He went further, developing crops that could grow in extremely cold regions, drought-stricken areas, and scorching climates.
Watching the fields progress in an orderly manner, Ren was very satisfied.
Finally, he gave Vegapunk a major project: to research technology that could allow islands to float on the sea, preparing for a future where islands might be submerged.
Time passed until the day of the World Conference.
No one was absent, as everyone was still trapped in the lies the previous World Government had spread.
To them, Ren was the ultimate villainous pirate, someone who, if said something, could very well see it be done for good.
At this moment, Ren thought those news reports weren't so bad; they had saved him a lot of trouble.
Otohime of Fish-Man Island was delighted to finally attend such a conference.
Shirohoshi immediately leapt into Ren's arms, leaving no one at the event willing to be careless.
As for discrimination? It was unthinkable.
The conference itself was simple: the officials were informed about the establishment of the new government and the many new regulations, including requirements to register information with the government.
Ren wasn't in a rush; he planned to proceed step by step.
If he said too much at once, these people wouldn't be able to process it, so he chose a gradual approach.
Naturally, these countries were willing to join the new government, since the Heavenly Tribute had been abolished and only taxes were required.
No nation could resist that temptation, though in reality, they had little choice.
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