Ren charged forward at full speed—so fast that he didn't even bother to dodge.The bullet flew straight toward him… yet he felt nothing when it struck.
In the next instant, he realized the airflow swirling around his body had dropped by roughly a third.The bullet had been deflected—pushed off course by his aura—and struck something else instead.
And how could he be so sure of that?Because when Ren turned to look, he saw Jick—the wormlike impostor—half-buried face-first in the dirt, a neat hole bored clean through his skull.
Unfortunately for the fool, the deflected bullet had killed him instead.
"Seems like the plan's gone off track… oh well. I'm already wanted by the Marines anyway. Might as well handle this the simple way—brute force."
Ren flicked the blood from his blade and sheathed it, but then frowned slightly.Something about the weight of his clothes felt… off.
'No way…'
He reached around and groped through the inner pocket—only for his fingers to slip through a torn hole.
Fact confirmed.The pouch containing his gemstones was gone.
And considering how Nami had clung to him just moments ago, lying pressed against him for a good twenty seconds or so…
That little cat burglar must have stolen it.
"Interesting," Ren murmured, chuckling under his breath.
As a 'good person', he could, of course, 'forgive' Nami for her ungrateful act of theft.
After all, she had discovered he was a pirate back in the tavern—it was only natural for her to be wary or even hostile.
At worst, he'd simply make her repay him a hundredfold.
Spinning the Dimensional Roulette required Beli as chips.The fourth jackpot alone had cost him ten million Beli.
By that pattern, it wasn't hard to estimate what the fifth jackpot would demand—
One hundred million Beli.
That was no small sum.He'd have to rob fifty pirates like Jick to gather that much.
But Ren didn't have the luxury of time to go running around the seas.Overnight riches were his true pursuit.
And as luck would have it, Ren knew that Nami—desperate to buy back her village—had been scamming and robbing pirates to raise money.
Judging from the timeline, she must have already saved at least fifty million Beli.
The stash's location? The orange grove of Cocoyasi Village.
So as the wronged creditor, Ren simply intended to reclaim what was stolen—plus a little "interest" for her trouble.
Meanwhile, Nami, completely unaware that her home had just been targeted, was still basking in her small victory.
She rowed her tiny boat across the waves, humming to herself as she drifted farther from the island.
Her latest heist's target had just completed a major raid and converted all loot into cash.By robbing him amid the chaos in the tavern, she'd netted three million Beli in one go.
And from that nobleman earlier, she'd snatched a pouch of gemstones—worth at least another five million.
All in all, she was sitting on nearly eight million Beli.
Since gold and jewels could be devalued by Arlong's gang, she preferred to convert her loot into hard cash first.Her plan was to sell the gemstones on a familiar island, trade them for Beli, then stash the money safely back in her village.
"Almost there," she whispered to herself, hope shining in her eyes as she paddled. "Once I sell these, I'll have over seventy million Beli.If I keep pushing for another six months, I can hit one hundred million… and buy back the village!"
The sea stretched endlessly before her, glimmering beneath the sun.But her mind was filled with the faces of Cocoyasi Village.
A place shackled under Arlong's tyranny, where everyone lived beneath the shadow of a blade—desperate to earn enough before the next "protection fee" deadline.
People starved themselves, ignored illness, suffered in silence… because the alternative was death.
Failure to pay meant execution—just like her mother.
Ten thousand Beli for an adult.Five thousand for a child.
That price was burned into Nami's memory.
Ten thousand Beli had bought her and Nojiko their lives—at the cost of their mother's.
She'd tried to avenge her once. Tried everything—poison, traps, daggers, even cannon fire.But nothing worked on that monster, Arlong.
If not for her genius with navigation, she'd already be dead.
Yet the harder it became, the more determined she grew.
The same tragedy replayed over and over in her village.They'd begged the Marines for help more times than she could count—but those so-called "men of justice" never came.
So Nami decided to rely on herself.When Arlong named his price—one hundred million Beli—she accepted without hesitation.
To save her home, she would lie, steal, deceive… anything.
Just like that pirate in the tavern earlier—Ren.She'd confirmed through overheard chatter that he was a pirate too.
She didn't know why his bounty was only one hundred Beli, but from experience, she'd learned something important:All pirates, no matter their rank, had blood on their hands.
And when she saw Ren kill that man—so coldly, so quickly—she knew it was true.
He wasn't some naive rich boy.
So she'd acted immediately.
Of course, Nami had her own code.She would never steal from or deceive anyone except pirates and criminals.
Otherwise, she'd be no better than Arlong himself.
Schkkk—!
The tip of Ren's blade scraped against the stone floor, throwing a trail of sparks.He climbed the staircase toward the second floor, the bloody sword dragging behind him.
Silence hung heavy in the hall below.
Zoro usually killed in a single strike—meaning some victims lingered, half-alive and writhing.
When Ren entered, he found a few of those survivors and interrogated them for intel about Cuckoo Town.
Then, seeing their agony, he'd helped them out.
Nothing much—just a few clean stabs to the heart.
After all, everyone dies someday, and scum like them only needed a little "assistance."
As a good person, Ren couldn't just leave them suffering, could he?
He ascended the steps to the second floor.With each step, his "Good Deeds of the Day" counter ticked higher—+1, +1—until it reached forty-seven.
Finally, he spotted Zoro standing before a room, his expression grim.A strong metallic scent of blood drifted from inside.
Ren sniffed the air, noting how much heavier the smell was compared to downstairs.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Dead body," Zoro replied curtly, glancing at him without moving. "Just a warning—are you sure you want to see?"
Ren frowned. "What kind of horrors haven't I seen before?"
He stepped closer—then froze.
On a cold wooden table lay a man, bound and twisted in his final moment of agony.
The cause of death was obvious—his abdomen had been split open, and what should have been inside was missing, neatly packed away into an ice-filled box beside him.Blood had pooled across the table, staining nearly everything crimson.
Ren was silent for a long moment.
What storms haven't I weathered? (×)
Turns out I really haven't seen something like this. (√)
Without question, this was a black-market organ harvesting operation.
(End of Chapter)