A paw-shaped bubble slapped down onto Kuja Island, and Kuma and Zoro stepped out from within it. The latter was carrying the sealed-up Golden Lion in his hand.
The Golden Lion, after pulling out the ship's wheel, had indeed been powerful. He had even used the technique of Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
But he still failed to defeat Zoro. After the two tangled for half a day, the battle was decided.
Zoro defeated the Golden Lion with One-Sword Style Iai: Death Lion's Song.
There was nothing worth elaborating on afterward. Zoro tossed the Golden Lion into the conversion pool. The last one to enter this place had been Kurozumi Orochi.
Now, inside it, there were at least two Devil Fruit powers capable of creating powerful Devil Fruit users.
The Yamata no Orochi and the Float-Float Fruit.
"Zoro, don't you plan on eating a fruit?" Kuma asked casually.
"What I pursue is pure swordsmanship."
Zoro shook his head. Before he could say anything else, the sound of a Den Den Mushi suddenly rang out.
When it connected, it was Robin calling.
"Ren's instructions are for the two of you to garrison Kuja Island.
"Make sure the Glory Sanctuary doesn't run into any problems. Afterward, Dragon of the Revolutionary Army will arrive here to hold the fort."
"I got it."
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "With this way of doing things, did Ren go into seclusion?"
"Yes. Together with that Vegapunk, and more than half of Egghead Island."
Robin roughly explained what had happened earlier.
While Zoro and Kuma had been dealing with the Golden Lion Pirates' great fleet, Vegapunk, who had reached a consensus with Ren, immediately requested to use that device after learning of the power of Space-Time: The Creator.
He even swore with absolute confidence that as long as he was given a heavy tilt in resources, he would definitely deliver results.
Those results were currently Ren's most important matter.
And so, the laboratory, along with Law and the others, had all gone in together.
With Ren, the top-tier fighter who could be summoned at a moment's notice, temporarily unavailable, arrangements had to be made in other places.
The Cross Guild headquarters established in Totto Land would be guarded by Mihawk.
Kuja Island had Zoro, Kuma, and the Revolutionary Army led by Dragon.
Skypiea had Fujitora and Kuzan, two fighters at Admiral level.
Meanwhile, Nami, Vivi, Nojiko, Baccarat, Monet, and the others served as the main force in Cross Guild's cleanup campaign.
The small-fry pirates in the New World had already been dealt with earlier. What they were handling now were all mid-sized pirate forces—old pirate crews that had accumulated strength over the years.
However, in the face of a formation consisting of numerous Angels, Whitebeard's elite commanders, and the core members of Ren's crew, they were still swept away without the ability to resist.
Many pirates had stopped at Fish-Man Island, not daring to advance recklessly.
They even hoped the Marines would solve this problem, but… the Marines had not taken action.
On one hand, the World Military Draft had yet to end. On the other hand, they were happy to see it happen.
The NEO Marines led by Zephyr had tried to intervene before, but after discovering that Cross Guild was indeed killing pirates, Zephyr had not interfered again.
At the same time, Nami and the others still had emergency escape measures given by Ren. If necessary, Fujitora and the others could even teleport over to support them.
So the situation was basically still within a controllable range.
It could only be said that with Tesoro supporting Ren's group, they had yet to lack money or items so far.
Of course, because of the Buster Call incident, the World Government had already begun investigating Tesoro's side. Something like corruption through money could not be hidden once examined in detail.
But Ren did not care about that.
He was only a little time away from the final step.
Robin had not been idle either. She had been constantly following up on Kozuki Hiyori's situation. Wano had already fallen into great chaos after its inner and outer seas were broken open, forcibly opening the country.
During this period, Kozuki Hiyori gathered the remnants and assembled a force of her own.
With the items Ren supported her with, she caused trouble even for Kaido and Big Mom.
Their original plan to attack Cross Guild headquarters and retake Totto Land had no choice but to be shelved.
The World Government was also unexpectedly quiet. Aside from Cipher Pol agents constantly moving around, there were almost no obvious actions.
In reality, they were waiting for an opportunity.
Tsuru believed that it would not be long before the Demon Pirates went to war against Kaido and Big Mom. Perhaps that would be the chance for them to join forces with the two Yonko and kill Ren in one stroke.
To that end, Cipher Pol agents used the channels Doflamingo had left behind to tentatively make contact with the two Emperors.
At the same time, one of the Five Elders, Saturn, once again held talks with Red Hair.
"We have nothing to discuss." Shanks's attitude was rather hostile.
Saturn's method this time was very simple. He displayed, one by one, photographs of the family members of every one of Shanks's crewmates.
"For the World Government, it is only a matter of whether something is necessary, not whether it can be done."
The World Government official accompanying him said, "If we want to do it, all these people will die in various accidents.
"Shanks, you need to remember this. If such a thing happens, then it will be you who killed them. You who killed your crew's—"
Before he could finish speaking, a tyrannical Conqueror's Haki pressure erupted, and the official who had been spouting threats instantly fainted.
Shanks pressed his hand to the hilt of his sword and stared coldly at the calm and composed Saturn.
"Are you threatening me?"
"I merely wish to tell you what we are capable of."
Saturn said calmly, "Shanks, a new era is coming. Before that era arrives,
"As one of the Five Elders, I must ensure the stability of the World Government.
"Whitebeard is already dead. The Whitebeard Pirates have fallen apart. Ace is no longer important to us.
"As long as he dies on the surface, Sphinx, your crewmates' families, and Ace himself will all be safe."
"I feel like I've heard words like that once before."
"Cunning is also a required lesson for rulers, but things are different now."
Saturn's expression became solemn. "Saint Figarland Garling died at the hands of the criminal Demon Ren, and the God Knights were wiped out along with him.
"As long as you are willing to return to Mary Geoise, become the head of the Figarland family, and take command of the newly established God Knights,
"Then even we Five Elders will be unable to tear up our agreement with you."
"What exactly are you trying to do?" Shanks frowned.
"Gather our strength and purge the greatest current danger—Demon Ren."
Saturn's tone was icy. "Whitebeard merely kidnapped Celestial Dragons and made us lose face.
"But Demon Ren's hands are stained with the blood of Celestial Dragons. The recent Buster Call was also very likely his handiwork.
"A criminal who destroys order like this must be eliminated and erased!"
At this point, he stared at Shanks. "This should also align with your position and interests, shouldn't it? You once barged into the East Blue in order to kill him, causing us a great deal of trouble."
"I'm a pirate, Saturn. My goal is the Pirate King's treasure once the time is right, not that lofty throne of the gods."
Shanks directly rejected Saturn's proposal, then continued, "I won't join your plan. Whether you can kill him or not is your business.
"I do have a grudge against him, but that will be settled through a duel in the approaching three-year agreement.
"Not by joining you and ganging up on him in some filthy scheme!"
Boom—!
A fierce Conqueror's Haki pressure erupted from Shanks's body. As black-red lightning scattered, even heaven and earth seemed to lose their color.
"For the sake of our past ties, leave this place, Saturn!"
"…"
Saturn silently rose and left.
Shanks's gaze fell on those photographs, and he added coldly, "If you dare touch my crewmates' families, don't blame me for taking my sword to Mary Geoise.
"Whitebeard could make that place tremble. What do you think I can do?"
Saturn did not answer. He walked straight away, and the voices of the other Five Elders sounded through the communication in his mind.
"Even for the Figarland family, that attitude is far too arrogant."
"He is unfit to become the head of the Figarland family. He is not even a qualified Celestial Dragon."
"After all, he grew up with Roger the Pirate King. He has already completely become like a mortal."
"Then shall we carry out a purge?"
"Kaido and Big Mom have already agreed to cooperate. It is currently unsuitable to create unnecessary complications."
"Let us deal with Shanks after eliminating Ren."
At that moment, the Five Elders reached a consensus. They would set Shanks aside for the time being and prepare to deal with Ren with all their strength.
In order to kill this man who most likely possessed prophetic ability, they even opened the treasure vault and activated a Devil Fruit specifically designed to counter prediction abilities.
If there were wishes to know everything, then naturally, there were also wishes to keep secrets from being known.
And the Five Elders, who possessed a complete Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, had naturally acquired this fruit over the long years.
However, because its use was so special, it had been sealed away inside the treasure vault.
Now, because of Ren alone, it had been activated. At present, everything related to it was protected under a secret barrier.
As long as it was a Devil Fruit–type prophetic ability, it would be impossible to bypass the secret lockdown of this fruit.
Only after they had this countermeasure did the Five Elders begin taking these actions.
In their eyes, Ren was undoubtedly the World Government's greatest enemy right now.
Because Tsuru and Sengoku had submitted a report that could only be described as unbelievable.
There was not a single piece of evidence in the entire thing. It was all personal conjecture.
But when combined with the events that had occurred, its contents became extremely credible.
To summarize it simply: the Marineford War's catastrophic defeat? Ren's doing. The Celestial Dragons being kidnapped? Ren's doing.
The Buster Call's failure? Ren's doing.
In short, as long as the series of events that had happened so far involved a loss, it could not be separated from Ren.
If they had heard such a conclusion in the past, the Five Elders would have assumed the Marines were shifting blame. They would also have remained doubtful about the existence of prophetic ability.
Because a fruit that could truly predict the future was sitting right inside their treasure vault.
The reason they had been unwilling to take it out was that after a person died, their Devil Fruit would transfer elsewhere.
Collecting it again afterward would require who knew how much effort.
A dangerous thing like that was far safer kept inside the treasure vault. Time was on their side.
However, after they had experienced the incident where Egghead Island was said to be so important one moment, only for Egghead Island to be attacked the next, and after a careful investigation revealed that even the island itself had been moved away, they had no choice but to believe it.
There were not that many coincidences in the world. When coincidences became too numerous, they were definitely no longer coincidences.
No matter what, beneath this brief calm, what was brewing was an undercurrent that would shake the world the moment it unfolded.
And during this process, Ren's side proceeded steadily—
and then ended!
(End of Chapter)