Ren and the others stayed on the island for nearly another half month.
The reason they waited that long was simple—Martha needed time to finish building the cannons.
And after seeing the finished product, Ren was extremely satisfied.
Because the artillery Martha built was breech-loading.
It fired faster.
It hit harder.
Of course, because the ship itself was still limited in size, they could only install a single cannon on board.
During this period, however, Xu Nian and Martha got along surprisingly well.
After all, both of them were technical talents in their own way.
On this day, Ren finally decided it was time to leave the island.
But before they set sail, he gathered Martha and Xu Nian to discuss something important.
"I've made up my mind. We're becoming pirates. But if we're going to be pirates, then our crew needs a name. And our ship needs a name too."
Xu Nian took a drag from her pipe and a sip of wine before saying casually, "You decide. I'm fine with anything."
Ren turned to look at Martha.
Right.
She was a robot.
Naturally, she had no reaction at all.
Ren let out a sigh.
Looks like he'd have to rack his brain over the naming himself.
He first considered naming the pirate crew after one of them.
The Ren Pirates.
The Xu Nian Pirates.
The Martha Pirates.
No.
None of those sounded remotely imposing.
Then he tried thinking in terms of some defining characteristic.
What special trait did they have?
...
Apparently none.
"How about the Myriad Worlds Pirates?"
Ren blinked, then nodded.
"Mm. That's actually not bad."
Then he suddenly realized that voice hadn't belonged to Xu Nian or Martha.
It had been the system.
Ren immediately asked, "System, was that you just now?"
"Yes."
Ren frowned. "Why are you even showing up in this kind of discussion?"
The system answered matter-of-factly, "Why shouldn't I? I'm part of the pirate crew too."
Ren froze.
Damn.
That actually... made sense.
Then the system added, "Host, look. I even designed the pirate flag."
Ren looked over.
At the center of the design was a skull.
Behind it sat a roulette wheel.
And on both sides of the skull were the large characters for Myriad Worlds.
Looking at the flag, Ren decided it was good enough.
He hadn't been able to think of anything better anyway, so he might as well use it.
So he had Martha paint the flag immediately.
Then Ren started thinking about the ship's name.
He thought for a long time.
And still failed to come up with anything good.
By the time Martha finished painting the flag, Ren still had nothing.
Looking at the completed pirate flag, Ren finally said, "Let's raise it."
Following his order, Martha hoisted the pirate flag.
Watching it rise and flutter in the wind, Ren smiled.
Then—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, towering columns of water exploded all around the ship.
Ren looked around—
and only then remembered a very important detail.
They were still in the harbor.
And ever since the Marine-pirate battle half a month ago, the Marines had never relaxed the security around the port.
Which meant that in broad daylight, openly raising a pirate flag in a harbor under heavy Marine guard...
wasn't just courting death.
It was a direct slap to the Marines' face.
"Move! We're leaving right now!"
The instant Ren came to his senses, he shouted at once.
"Fire! Sink that pirate ship!"
"Those damn pirates! They dare raise a pirate flag right in front of us? They really think the Marines are nothing! Fire! Open fire now!"
The Marines in the harbor were practically losing their minds.
In broad daylight, a ship had openly raised a pirate flag right under the noses of heavily armed Marines.
This wasn't just provocation.
This was humiliation.
If they failed to sink this pirate ship, then the Marines would lose all face.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Cannon after cannon roared.
Shells rained toward Ren's ship from every direction.
Water columns erupted around them, surrounding the vessel completely.
And yet...
not a single shot actually hit.
Meanwhile, Ren and the others were scrambling to get the ship moving.
At first, Ren had intended to use Observation Haki to help deflect or dodge the incoming shells.
But very quickly, he noticed something strange.
The Marine artillery only seemed to land around the ship.
At one point, he clearly sensed a cannonball about to strike them directly—
only for another shell to hit it in midair.
The two exploded before either could reach the deck.
Soon, the ship was finally ready to move.
Martha activated the propeller system.
Driven by the propeller, the ship surged forward, picking up speed faster and faster.
At that same moment, the Marine warships patrolling the harbor began turning their guns, preparing to block Ren's escape.
Ren saw two Marine warships moving in from the left and right, clearly intending to seal the harbor exit.
On one of the ships, a Marine officer shouted, "Main bow turret—aim!"
The response came back almost immediately.
"The turret is malfunctioning! It won't rotate!"
"What?!"
Watching Ren's ship closing the distance at high speed, the officer immediately shouted, "Broadside guns, prepare!"
Bang!
Without warning, the entire warship suddenly tilted violently.
"What happened?!"
"We've run aground!"
"How can we run aground inside the harbor?!"
"It's not a reef! We hit one of the pirate ships sunk during the earlier battle!"
The heavily listing warship was obviously in no condition to continue blocking Ren.
At the same time, the second warship prepared to fire.
"Cannons ready! Fire!"
The order was given.
The turrets turned.
And yet...
nothing happened.
A Marine officer barked, "Why aren't you firing?!"
"Bad news! The gunpowder's damp!"
"What?"
"All of it?! How did the gunpowder get damp?"
"When it rained last night, the powder magazine door wasn't sealed properly. Rainwater got inside."
"What about the bow turret? There should still be loaded shells there!"
"Turn the ship! Present the bow to the target! Sink them!"
"Yes, sir!"
The second warship quickly swung around, bringing its forward turret to bear on Ren's ship.
"Fire!"
Boom—BOOM!
The very center cannon in the bow turret exploded.
It was a catastrophic barrel burst.
The blast wrecked the other two guns beside it as well.
Then the explosion ignited the remaining powder inside the turret and blew the entire structure apart.
"What the hell happened?! How did the cannon burst like that?! Damn it, every man who built these guns should be executed!"
"Major! The cannon burst! They're already almost past us!"
Seeing Ren's ship only a few hundred meters away, the Major made a brutal decision.
"Ram them."
The Marine beside him stared. "Major... you mean ram them?"
"Yes. Ram them. Our warship is bigger than theirs. We can definitely crush them and sink them. In the name of Marine justice, we absolutely cannot let them leave this harbor."
"Yes, sir!"
Ren watched the Marine warship charge directly toward them.
It was obvious what they were trying to do.
They wanted to smash straight into his ship.
Ren had no intention of trading hulls with a Marine warship.
His ship had been upgraded, yes—but the enemy vessel was still far larger.
Just as he was about to order evasive action, he suddenly noticed something.
The warship's course shifted.
"Why did it turn?"
On board the Marine ship, panic broke out.
"The rudder's not responding! We can't control the direction!"
"Look out! There's a ship ahead!"
Crash!
Ren stood there blankly as the warship that had nearly collided with them veered past and smashed straight into a nearby merchant ship instead.
He turned and looked back.
Other Marine warships were already moving, but at this point it was obvious—
none of them could possibly catch up.
The two ships that had been patrolling the harbor were already completely out of action.
And Ren's side had done... basically nothing.
The Marines had thrown themselves into chaos all on their own.
Ren absolutely did not believe that was because of him.
Slowly, he lowered his gaze to the deck beneath his feet.
He remembered very clearly what the ship spirit's name was.
Yukikaze.
Ren could only marvel inwardly.
Yukikaze was absurdly powerful.
And right then, he finally thought of the perfect name for his ship.
The Lucky.
So Ren strode to the stern and shouted at the top of his lungs,
"I am the captain of the Myriad Worlds Pirates! My name is Kurogane Ren! And my pirate ship is called The Lucky!"
In the harbor behind him, the Marines ground their teeth in fury as they watched The Lucky sail farther and farther away.
And hearing Ren's voice only made it worse.
This was no longer a slap to the Marines' face.
It was him grabbing their face and grinding it against the ground.
At the same time, several reporters in the harbor had already snapped photos of Ren as he sailed away.