That not-so-harsh sound struck everyone's hearts like the blow of a warhammer.
Their breath caught in terror as they stared—stared at the monster who smiled at them even after taking a bullet straight to the forehead, his skin merely dented.
"Mommy! I want to go home!"
A terrified scream from one of the guards jolted everyone back to their senses.
Almost instinctively, the entire squad of guards scrambled to hide behind Aula, like a flock of frightened chicks huddling behind their mother hen.
Aula: "..."
Why the hell are they hiding behind me?He was scared too!
Forcing a flattering smile with all his veteran's instincts, Aula instinctively bent at the waist.
Noticing the sword still clutched in his hand, he discreetly tossed it aside and nudged it away with his foot.
Then, with the utmost caution, he said, "We don't mean any harm. The Chamber of Commerce just sent us to check what's going on. If you're not happy with that, we'll make ourselves scarce right away!"
At this point—If he still didn't believe that survivor's words, Aula figured he might as well brand himself an idiot.
Anyone who could take a bullet to the head and stay standing wasn't someone an ordinary man could handle.
Whether or not those two really wiped out the Bloodhand Gang didn't even matter anymore. What mattered was that there had to be at least one more monster like this one nearby.
That made the choice easy.
He was just here for the paycheck. The Bloodhand Gang was gone? Good riddance!
They were scum anyway. If some big shot happened to clean them up, Aula would pop champagne and celebrate, not get in the way.
Stand in their path? Please—what qualifications did he have for that?
Whatever the truth was, he'd already filled in the blanks himself and decided what the answer must be.
As long as the other party didn't attack them, he was more than happy to just sit back and spectate—He could even bark a few times on the sidelines to cheer the big shot on if needed.
"Now that's a decent attitude."
Ren glanced at this shrewd man with mild amusement. The whole "Fiery God of War" performance just now had been meant to avoid tedious talk and show his strength directly.
Still, this one's ability to shift gears so fast was impressive.
After a moment's thought, Ren decided there was no need to keep up the act. "Since you're with the Chamber of Commerce, deliver a message to Sir Becks for me. Tell him there's a big business deal here I'd like to discuss with him.
Also, the Bloodhand Gang is finished. If he's interested in their leftover assets, he can talk to me about that too.
If there's nothing else, you can go report back."
"Y-Yes, of course!"
Aula bobbed his head repeatedly, then took off with his men the instant he was allowed to leave.
Their footsteps quickened—soon it was a full-on retreat. Too terrifying! A monster who could take a bullet to the face and grin about it!
"How interesting."
Ren watched the guards disappear. He'd only come here to establish dominance and prevent future interference.
When those guards happened to show up to investigate, he figured he might as well scare them a little—and have them go fetch Becks for him.
After all, much of the Bloodhand Gang's stash wasn't in Beli. And the Dimensional Roulette only accepted Beli.
So using an existing "business partner" to offload the loot was a perfect choice—fast and safe.
Becks had seen Zoro's strength firsthand, and his cautious nature ensured he wouldn't dare try anything risky.
As for the people in Cuckoo Town…Frankly speaking, none of them could fight worth a damn.
The Bloodhand Gang had been the town's biggest armed force. If Ren could annihilate them, he could wipe out anyone else just as easily.
And the merchants certainly wouldn't get involved in that kind of bloodshed—they only cared about profit.
From a practical standpoint, they should be grateful if Ren didn't cause them any trouble.
"Time to think about the Sharingan."
Ren shook his head, then turned toward the few Bloodhand thugs still clinging to life.Without hesitation, he drew his sword and performed his daily good deed—finishing the job swiftly and cleanly.
By four in the morning,
Ren sat on Zagu's bedroom sofa, drenched in the stench of blood, eyes fixed on the glowing countdown projected before him.
It was the timer for claiming his new talent—the Sharingan.
He was deep in thought, recalling what he knew about that power from Naruto.
To be honest, he'd never watched much of it—the art style hadn't appealed to him—but the cool stuff had stuck in his mind.
Like the Sharingan—A power system with immense growth potential, but also severe drawbacks.
Without Uchiha blood, one couldn't deactivate the Sharingan, meaning it constantly drained the user—a permanent "mana-burn" buff.
And "mana" here referred to chakra, the basic energy of the Naruto world—Essentially the equivalent of spiritual energy in a cultivation world.
But chakra had to be refined through technique—and Ren didn't know that technique.
He could, however, obtain it through the Dimensional Roulette. If things like Explosive Tags could appear, then Chakra Refinement shouldn't be impossible to draw either.
Yes—
Ren had decided to claim the Sharingan talent. The fight with the Bloodhand Gang had exposed his weaknesses.
He was, at the end of the day, an ordinary human with no extraordinary instincts, gifts, or combat experience from his past life.
Reincarnation had only changed his mentality—making him decisive and cold.
All his true strength came from the Dimensional Roulette, like a gamer playing with cheat codes.
If this were a game world, he might not have taken such risks.
But this was reality. He would seize that one advantage and amplify it without hesitation.
If power defined justice—then he would become the strongest and set the rules himself.
That required power.
But the Sharingan came with clear drawbacks.First: adaptability.Ren's body belonged to the One Piece world—a purely physical human form.
He wasn't sure if he even had natural chakra attributes or if he could refine chakra at all.
Theoretically, probably not.
Second: consumption.Even if he obtained Chakra Refinement, the constant drain of an active Sharingan would be too much.
The overflow would have to be paid in stamina, and judging from the system's warnings, that likely equated to burning his life force.
Still—the benefits were just as clear. It was a straight path to the world's top-tier power level.
Someday, he could stand over Mary Geoise, drop a Heavenly Shock Star meteor, and let the Celestial Dragons feel the warmth of a falling star.
Then blame it all on Fujitora. Perfect.
"Claim—Single Tomoe Sharingan!"
After careful consideration, Ren made his choice.
He would accept the risk for the sake of future potential. Any problem with the Sharingan could be solved through the Dimensional Roulette.
No Chakra Refinement? Draw it.
Not enough chakra to sustain the eye? Draw Uzumaki bloodline.
In short—draw whatever he needed to fix the problem.
If he'd already pulled a template like the Third Calabash Brother, surely a Naruto-world "Sage Body" would show up someday too.
Besides, the templates were toggleable states anyway—no big deal.
Of course, this choice came with one obvious issue: The cost.
(End of Chapter)