He was steady, like towering famous peaks. Just standing there was enough to make one feel afraid.
But if one truly looked closely, they would realize he was not quite so terrifying.
Edward Newgate's arms were covered in dense needle marks. One of them was connected to a thin IV tube, and at the end of that tube was a medicine bottle held in Marco's hand.
He was indeed the sea, but the seawater no longer surged. It only occasionally rippled.
He was indeed a towering mountain range, but those peaks had long since collapsed. Only one famed mountain remained, bitterly holding itself up.
"A legend in his twilight years."
As the two approached, Ren uttered those almost provocative words.
"Hey!"
Marco's expression shifted slightly, but Whitebeard merely raised a hand, and he immediately quieted down.
"Gurarararara! Isn't birth, aging, sickness, and death the normal state of people? If anything, not dying would be the strange part, wouldn't it?"
Edward Newgate laughed loudly and looked around twice before sitting down on a chair that had clearly been enlarged for him.
"So it can also be understood the other way around, yes?"
Ren's eyes flickered as he pointed at the IV equipment on Whitebeard's arm. "Because you are about to vanish, before your final brilliance, you must accumulate enough strength.
"Even if it exposes your own weakness, a dying man would not care."
"You really do talk in an irritating way, Demon Ren."
Marco's expression gradually turned cold. If not for what those few photos represented, he might have already attacked first and asked questions later.
"I'm only speaking the truth."
"Gurarararara! Brats these days really do have sharp tongues. But your nerve is surprisingly impressive too."
Whitebeard waved his hand again, cutting off the confrontation between the two.
He studied Ren for a moment, seemingly recalling matters related to this person. Then, in the truest sense, he opened this conversation.
"What do you want to do?"
Straight to the point.
"That depends on what you think," Ren replied calmly.
Most of the time, the world of One Piece spoke with fists. Powerful people, in particular, preferred to discuss things physically.
But that did not mean every powerful person decided matters purely with muscle.
Whitebeard was clearly one of the exceptions.
He had lived a very long time, and he saw many things clearly. He knew what he wanted, and he also knew that doing anything required paying a price.
This could be seen during the Marineford War. After exchanging only a few words with Luffy, Whitebeard immediately realized that the Marines had some sort of "backup plan."
He even inferred from that that the information leak had been intentional, meant to lure them into attacking as a group.
And that was not all.
When Whitebeard noticed Buggy and the prisoner force he led, he reacted swiftly and made an almost deliberately weak statement.
Even when the other party's idea was to take his head, he did not get angry.
If one only looked at the plot, then naturally it was Buggy's heaven-defying luck, once again causing the clown's reputation to soar.
But if one looked at the logic, there was only one explanation.
Whitebeard did not want any unexpected waves to appear in the matter of rescuing Ace. He believed there was a ninety percent chance he would die on that battlefield.
So he decisively used his own reputation as a stepping stone and turned the pirates Buggy had brought into usable fighting strength.
"You want to take my head? That's fine, but how do you plan to deal with all these Marines next? I find them troublesome too."
For words like that to come from Whitebeard's mouth, no matter how one listened to it, it sounded strange.
Yet when combined with the background situation and the underlying logic, everything made sense.
Rescuing Ace was the main objective. Even his own prestige could be set aside.
In other words, Whitebeard was no fool. He was extremely experienced and worldly.
But… his weakness was also very obvious—his family!
Edward Newgate clearly had not expected that he could be analyzed to such a degree the moment they met.
He was still proceeding according to his own method.
"Oh? You were the one who invited me here, black-haired brat."
The corners of Whitebeard's mouth turned downward, forming an intense contrast with his upward-curving mustache. The pressure it brought was like a collapsing mountain.
"I think fighting over the right to speak is meaningless. Meaningless probing serves no purpose besides wasting time.
"Deception between you and me will not bring greater benefits. Sincerity paired with sufficiently weighty bargaining chips is the true killing move."
Ren raised a hand and interrupted Whitebeard's probing routine. He lifted one index finger. "Next, I will present a bargaining chip. It is something you will definitely want, and something you urgently need.
"I will give it to you once, as the cost of this meeting.
"Of course, it also requires a price. No one can take something from me for free without paying anything. But considering the current situation, I will propose a return that fits the circumstances."
As he spoke, he spread his five fingers, and a golden radiance bloomed in his palm.
Word Spirit: Don't Die.
Designated target—Whitebeard, Edward Newgate!
Buzz—!
The surrounding air distorted for an instant. The Word Spirit being applied was rejected and blocked outside.
Edward Newgate's face turned grim. "Brat, do you take me for some kind of fool!?"
Black-red lightning exploded at that moment, and an aura like the collapse of the heavens came crashing down.
However, black-red lightning from Conqueror's Haki also surged from Ren's body. Even if supreme-grade Conqueror's Haki could not contend with ultimate Conqueror's Haki, it could still buy a brief moment of time.
He said calmly and indifferently, "A deal is fair, Whitebeard.
"Just as I directly exposed that secret before your eyes.
"If you believe that the person who did such a thing would be a friend of the World Government,
"then I regret to say that you have lost a very good opportunity.
"That is your loss—not mine!"
His voice was steady and powerful, without the slightest sign of being oppressed.
Supreme-grade Conqueror's Haki poured out continuously, actually forming a stalemate for a time.
Creak—!
Whitebeard's great hand suddenly tightened around Murakumogiri's long shaft, and Marco instinctively assumed a battle-ready posture.
However—Edward Newgate waved his hand.
He studied the young man before him once more, then released that layer of rejection.
The effect became apparent the moment contact was made. Word Spirit: Don't Die officially took effect on Whitebeard!
"It isn't a trick?"
Whitebeard seemed to have read some kind of information.
"If the world's strongest man could be killed by a trick, why would I bother sitting here?"
Ren shrugged and made a cold joke. "If that were really the case, then perhaps Pangaea Castle in Mary Geoise would be my home."
"…"
Marco frowned as he listened to their conversation. Because he roughly understood what the two sides were doing, he did not show any extreme reaction.
"Gurarararara! Kid, you're quite interesting!"
Whitebeard laughed twice. Amid the surging black-red lightning, he suddenly rose and looked down at Ren. "But what is this return you speak of?
"Do you want treasure from a pirate? Islands? Treasure hoards? Fame? Or something else?"
"A path to becoming stronger, Whitebeard."
Ren slowly rose. While releasing the pressure of his Conqueror's Haki to resist him, battle intent ignited in his crimson eyes. "I have Conqueror's Haki as well. But I am missing one necessary condition to reach the peak.
"I asked my teacher, and the conclusion I received was that the answer must be found between life and death.
"If one has spirit but no courage, if one fears even death and defeat, then how can one stand at the summit of the world?"
"Gurarararara! Conqueror's Haki Infusion, is it? You're treating me as a whetstone. What an arrogant brat."
"This is also the best method. A thousand words and ten thousand explanations are not as useful as fighting a real battle."
"…"
Whitebeard narrowed his eyes. "And if you die? Don't think that knowing a few things means you can act recklessly.
"It is true that I have declined from my peak, and I no longer possess the strength I once had.
"But… just because I have grown weaker does not mean you have grown stronger.
"At nineteen years old, no matter how great a genius you are, you cannot erase the gap created by time."
"It's only one life!"
Ren suddenly reached out and grabbed. A streak of lightning descended from the sky, transforming into Heavenly Might in his hand.
Heavenly Might: Bedrock + Heavenly Might: Adaptive + Heavenly Might: Thunder God!
He seemed to become lightning itself. As electricity raged wildly, the restraints were released, and cyan patterns hidden beneath his skin shone, erupting with terrifying energy.
Haki Coating + Meteor Burst + Thunder Breathing Technique: Activation + Immortal!
The combination of dual traits brought Ren into an extremely wondrous state.
Heavenly Might's Thunder God shared Lightning Constitution. In theory, Thunder Breathing Technique: Activation should have stopped working. However, because of the operating principle of Meteor Burst, Ren still possessed a "body" that could be driven by energy.
Although whether lightning energy counted as material for a body was a question, and the amplification range of Activation had decreased by a very large margin compared to before, the combination of numerous traits still pushed this physical shell into a new stage once again!
[Strength: S+], [Agility: S+], [Constitution: S+]
Once attributes stepped into the S-rank domain, every step forward became extremely difficult.
The progress represented by a single plus sign was the stacked difference of four A-ranks!
And yet, under the stacking of so many traits, his three-dimensional attributes had forcefully reached a level above S+.
Ren could even feel that if they increased by another two A-ranks, he would reach the level of S++.
Note, this was still only the increase to his three-dimensional attributes. It did not factor in the constant resistance of his immortal body, designated immunity, Haki Coating, and other elements!
'I feel like I'm very strong right now! Maybe I don't need to wait for the More-More Fruit. I can already fight a Yonko head-on…'
As his strength swelled, Ren's ambition swelled along with it.
However—the one who had improved was not only Ren!
The greatest bug of Word Spirit: Don't Die was that, on the level of Rule Blessing, it restored action, ability, thought, and other aspects to their peak!
"Gurarararara! The legend of immortality is supposed to be fake, isn't it? Then let's test it!"
Whitebeard laughed wildly and ripped the needles from his body in one motion, feeling endless strength pouring into his formerly weakened shell.
Then, with a ferocious expression, he punched the air.
The atmosphere abruptly distorted. Terrifying power poured endlessly into every inch of space!
Then, it unleashed a horrific airquake!
Space—was distorting!
It formed a single sharp point, then erupted in one breath.
If this strike had been unleashed on an island outside, it would have been enough to destroy a mountain and split the island into pieces.
However, this was Raijin Island, a massive chunk of metal.
Even so, Whitebeard's punch blasted out a trench that stretched for over a thousand meters!
(End of Chapter)