"Hah... hah..."
Kurogane Ren leaned against a tree, breathing hard.
He truly hadn't expected to run into Kizaru there.
Thank god his ability was still useful.
The reason he had managed to evade Kizaru's lasers just now was because he had altered the temperature of the ground behind him. Once the surface temperature changed, it affected the movement of the air. Hot air rose, the density of the surrounding air shifted, and the refractive index changed with it.
Kizaru's attacks were still light in the end.
That meant they could be refracted.
The change in trajectory wasn't large, but with Observation Haki helping him read the attacks in advance, it was enough to let him dodge.
Still, the real reason he survived was simple—
Kizaru hadn't chased him.
If that bastard had really decided to pursue him, Ren knew he would've lost at least half his life even if he managed to get away.
At that thought, Ren suddenly felt lucky he hadn't run into Akainu instead. If it had been that lunatic, then after daring to rob a Marine base, Ren would definitely have been hunted to the ends of the earth.
After glancing around, Ren quickly changed into a fresh set of clothes and took off his mask.
Then he hurried back to his ship.
The moment he stepped aboard, Xu Nian looked over and asked, "Captain, you're back. I heard quite a commotion just now. Don't tell me you really charged the Marine base head-on?"
"There's no time to explain," Ren said immediately. "I ran into a troublesome monster in the base. We can't stay here. We leave at once."
He had no intention of lingering.
Kizaru was simply too dangerous.
And without Armament Haki, Ren had no way to really deal with him.
But Xu Nian shook her head.
"Captain, we can't leave right now."
Ren frowned. "Why not?"
Xu Nian took a drag from her pipe and said calmly, "You just caused a huge scene in the Marine base. If we leave immediately afterward, then aren't we basically telling the Marines that we're the intruders?"
Ren froze.
She was right.
If they sailed off now, it would be the same as confessing on the spot.
After all, it was night. Under normal circumstances, no one chose to leave port in the middle of the night unless something was seriously wrong.
Ren asked, "Then what do you suggest we do?"
Xu Nian turned and walked toward her cabin.
"Simple."
"Sleep."
Then she disappeared below deck.
Ren stared after her for a second, then could only head back to his own cabin as well.
Not long after he lay down, a loud commotion erupted outside.
Large numbers of Marines had flooded the harbor.
They began inspecting every ship in the port, while multiple Marine warships moved in and sealed off the harbor exits.
But the moment many of the docked ships saw the Marine soldiers and warships, they immediately began raising sail.
And before long, battle broke out between the Marines and the ships trying to leave the harbor.
For a while, the port thundered with cannon fire and echoed with gunshots.
Ren stood quietly on the bow, watching it all unfold.
It didn't take him long to figure out what had happened.
Most of the ships trying to flee were pirate ships.
They had all been resting in the harbor when a huge force of Marines suddenly appeared in the middle of the night. Naturally, they assumed the Marines were here to target them.
So they attacked first.
Seeing that, Ren felt a chill run down his back.
If Xu Nian hadn't reminded him, he'd be one of the people fighting the Marines right now.
Although many pirate crews docked at this island, none of them dared fly their pirate flags because of the Marine base here.
But a large number of pirate crew members still had bounties on their heads. The moment the Marines started inspecting ships, their identities were bound to be exposed.
So the pirates assumed the Marines were preparing to arrest them and launched into battle first.
"Boys! Kill the Marines!"
"OHHH!"
"Capture every pirate here and wash away the shame of tonight!"
"OHHH!"
Watching both sides roar with rising morale while cannons boomed and gunfire cracked through the night, Ren thought to himself that there was no way he'd get any sleep now anyway.
Since that was the case...
He might as well become a quiet spectator.
So Ren took out a reclining chair, cut open a watermelon he had stolen from the Marine base, and settled down to watch while eating.
Neither the Marines nor the pirates had any idea that the true culprit behind tonight's chaos was currently lying nearby, chewing watermelon and enjoying the show.
"Tsk, those Marines are idiots. They had guns and still rushed into close combat."
"Mm. That Marine's Iron Body isn't bad, though."
"Now that's more like it. Sink the pirate ship first. Once their ship is gone, they can't run."
"Go for the nuts, idiot! You're a pirate. Why are you playing fair with a Marine?"
"Holy hell, was that really necessary? Your own people were tangled up with the Marines and you still fired a rocket at them? That wasn't killing a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred. That was killing a thousand enemies at the cost of three thousand."
"Moron! Who cuts down his own sail?"
...
There Ren was, munching watermelon while pointing fingers at both sides and commenting nonstop on the battle.
Not a shred of guilt.
And it was a good thing no one could hear him over the chaos, because if they could, both sides probably would've beaten him to death together.
As more and more Marines poured into the harbor, the pirates gradually began to lose ground.
The real turning point came from the Marine warships.
The Marines had appeared too suddenly. Most pirate ships hadn't even had time to pull up their anchors before the warships sealed the harbor.
That left them sitting in place like live targets.
Once their ships were destroyed, the pirates were forced into direct battle against the Marines.
And pirates fighting separately against organized Marines were naturally no match.
Just then, Ren heard shouting nearby.
"Surrender, Giant Strength Monk! Your bounty is twenty-two million beli!"
A Marine charged toward a giant pirate who stood at least five meters tall.
But the pirate didn't panic in the slightest.
He swung the enormous spiked club in his hand and sent the Marine flying with one blow.
The Marine smashed hard into Ren's ship.
Bang!
A deep dent immediately appeared in the stern.
Ren stared at it.
Then his face twitched.
"Damn it... that's my newly upgraded ship!"
The melon-eating spectator had just gotten caught in the crossfire.
And he was pissed.
Ren leaped down from the ship and walked right up behind the giant pirate.
At that moment, the pirate was looking arrogantly at the surrounding Marines and roaring, "If you want to capture me, Giant Strength Monk, you'd better send a Marine Vice Admiral!"
Hearing that, Ren almost laughed out loud.
This was obviously the kind of idiot who had never been beaten hard enough by reality.
Did he really think Marine Vice Admirals were cabbages growing by the roadside?
A guy like this would be nothing more than a single laser shot in front of Kizaru.
Ren's laugh made the pirate turn around.
Looking down at Ren, he sneered.
"Little brat, what are you laughing at?"
Ren smiled and said, "I'm laughing at someone who doesn't know his own limits."
The pirate's face darkened.
"Hmph. Little brat, let's see if you can take this!"
He raised the huge spiked club and brought it crashing down.
"Iron Body!"
Ren hardened his right hand and threw a punch straight at the club.
Boom!
The massive club couldn't withstand his fist and shattered on the spot.
And Ren's punch didn't stop there.
It slammed directly into the pirate's stomach.
The giant screamed as his five-meter-tall body was sent flying.
All around them, both Marines and pirates stared in stunned disbelief.
A man had just punched away a pirate like that with a single blow.
After throwing the punch, Ren turned around with deliberate calm and returned to his ship.
The moment he stepped back aboard, he saw Xu Nian leaning against the railing, smoking quietly.
"Captain," she said, "the person you just punched away seemed to have a bounty on him."
Ren stopped dead.
Right.
That bastard had a bounty.
He could've grabbed him and turned him in for money.
And not just him—right now, with the Marines and pirates fighting everywhere, all kinds of wanted men had come crawling out into the open.
If Ren captured a few of them, wouldn't that solve his money problem instantly?
But then he looked back out at the battlefield—
and realized it too late.
The pirates had already been mostly suppressed by the Marines.
And the giant he'd just punched away had already disappeared, most likely dragged off by the Marines.
The feeling that he had just missed out on a fortune hit Ren like a physical blow.
He squatted down in the corner of the deck and began drawing circles in frustration.