Whether emotionally or in practical reality, the survival of all Kuja now rested on Ren.
At present, because all of Kuja had followed the Angel Legion under Ren's command to wage war across the New World, they had obtained vast amounts of land and resources, and their lives had become far better than before.
Under such circumstances, even if Hancock wanted to leave, Kuja would not go with her.
Instead, all she would receive was a line like, "Ren is the true uncrowned king. We advise Lady Snake Princess to first think about how to get pregnant."
Yes.
Those were Granny Nyon's words.
Emotionally, things were even more complicated. Hancock herself did not even have the courage to take revenge on the Celestial Dragons.
Yet Ren had already killed more than one Celestial Dragon. Even the Supreme Commander of the God Knights had died by his hand.
For a little girl who still could not walk out of that past, what could possibly be better, or move her heart more, than him?
It was as if desire had reached its peak, and also as if the final barrier had been broken through after a long, relentless chiseling.
Hancock's attitude softened.
"We want a toy," she said.
"Hm?"
"How about those Celestial Dragons with the Donquixote surname?"
"Good."
In truth, Hancock did not actually enjoy prolonged torment. She simply needed a seemingly reasonable excuse.
Ren knew this as well, but he did not expose it. Instead, he went with the flow and carried Hancock onto the broad bed.
"We are an emperor. How can we be pinned beneath you?"
Hancock pushed Ren over in dissatisfaction, taking the knight's position herself as the hem of her cheongsam rose and fell.
Ren thought about it, then chose to accept it. He even helped the Snake Princess complete the process of "mounting the saddle."
This method was actually still rather rare. Vivi had only done something like this once, then later gave up because she found it far too embarrassing.
As for that desert princess, he actually preferred pressing her against a wall, or having her face away from him.
For Hancock, as a proud and haughty empress, this method did indeed suit her tastes.
The female knight truly mounted the saddle and let out a cry of pain. But when she saw Ren's teasing expression, the pride that had been suppressed deep within Hancock's bones for so long erupted.
The female knight took a deep breath and began trying to control the fierce steed beneath her.
The true sun rose once more from the sky, naturally hanging high above.
For the people of the Grand Line and the New World, however, it was very hard to tell whether this was normal weather or not.
The sun that had repeatedly risen and fallen last night left everyone utterly baffled.
Over on the Five Elders' side, during the third time, they still believed it might have been caused by some secret weapon or Devil Fruit ability. But by the sixth time, they gave up on that idea.
Who would be so bored as to toy with the entire world for no reason?
And besides, nothing major had even happened!
For the people on Kuja Island, last night had indeed been very special. But compared to the sun repeatedly rising and setting, the warriors who protected the nation were more concerned with matters closer to reality.
For example, the broken bed that had been carried out from the Empress's bedchamber.
"So amazing."
"Are all men like that?"
"Some aren't."
"Didn't it only end in the morning?"
"What do you mean, end? That person and the Empress changed places. When I passed by the hot spring in the rear mountain, I saw them there!"
Amid the whispers, the nation's guardian warriors all revealed satisfied smiles.
Good. Her Majesty the Empress had finally understood who the true master of Kuja Island was.
In that case, they no longer needed to consider doing anything difficult.
At that moment, in the rear mountain hot spring—
Hancock, who was being gossiped about by subordinates who had once been very loyal but were now even more "loyal," was lying limp in Ren's arms. Her mind still held the remnants of the extreme sensation from just now.
If it had merely gone from one to the limit, that would have been one thing. But she had continuously remained at the extreme.
For the first time, Hancock truly realized the beastly part of Ren. He simply had no such thing as a physical limit.
At the same time, she also understood why so many breathtakingly beautiful women, each one a world-class beauty, had chosen to share the same man with others.
It was not that they had no possessiveness.
It was that they were completely incapable of bearing his desire on their own!
At this moment, Ren tightened his arms around Hancock's waist, making the incomparably beautiful woman let out a muffled groan before her entire body trembled.
Only after quite a while did Hancock weakly push at Ren.
"Go find your other women."
The Empress, who had always been proud and refused to lower her head, showed that she did not want to keep fighting Ren.
If not for the fact that her strength was high enough, she would not even have had the strength to push him away right now!
"?"
Ren's face was full of confusion.
"Weren't you the one who said last night that you were going to ride me into submission?"
"We never said such a thing. You must have misheard."
Hancock chose to shamelessly deny it. If this continued, she would end up rolling her eyes again and babbling nonsense.
The key point was that Ren would even record it or repeat it back to her afterward.
Sometimes, she really could not stand this man's wicked sense of humor.
But Ren did not listen at all. Grabbing Hancock by the waist, he sent her toward paradise once more.
Two days later, the New World, which had already been surging with hidden currents, finally welcomed a major event.
A vast number of Angel Legion forces surrounded Hachinosu from land, sea, and air. Warships obtained from the Marines were moored upon the sea.
Smoker, who had already taken up a position in Cross Guild, had a cigar clenched between his teeth. Beside him stood the beautiful swordswoman who had followed him here—Tashigi.
Outside the warship where he and Tashigi stood, on another large warship, an incomparably beautiful woman stood facing the wind.
If pirates who had just entered the New World saw her, they would surely flee in terror.
Amid the increasingly intense conflicts in the New World, amid Cross Guild's extermination campaigns against pirate forces, and amid several large-scale wars between the two sides—
The stunning goddess named Nami, who controlled thunder, was the undisputed ruler of the battlefield.
Beside this famed goddess stood others as well, such as Vivi, the "Sand Woman," and Nojiko, the "Little Kaido."
"What an exaggerated lineup. It seems the most famous people in Cross Guild are all here."
Tashigi held her sheathed sword in her arms, somewhat surprised by the forces gathered this time.
"That's normal. After all, the master of Hachinosu is a legendary pirate from the same era as Whitebeard."
With a cigar in his mouth, Smoker expressionlessly exhaled a breath of smoke.
"I just don't know whether Ren will show up or not… I think he probably won't.
"Kuzan has already joined Ren's crew. There's also that guy who manipulates gravity, and… far too many powerful fighters who can be put to use.
"That guy might not necessarily appear here…"
As he said this, his mood seemed to sink slightly.
"Sounds like you really want to find him. Why?"
A voice asked this.
Smoker assumed it was a former Marine who had now joined Cross Guild, so he answered seriously, "I just want to ask him for an answer."
"What answer?"
"Whether he's going after the Celestial Dragons. If he is, then I'll fight with him to the end."
As he spoke, Smoker exhaled another mouthful of white smoke. The smoke blocked his vision, making him subconsciously shift his gaze. Then he saw Tashigi staring with her mouth wide open.
He froze, then heard a light laugh.
"Interesting."
Ren's hand rested on Tashigi's shoulder as he silently appeared.
"Smoker, you've finally stopped clinging to that rotten-to-the-core justice.
"On behalf of Cross Guild, I welcome a person of conviction like you, one who holds fast to justice to the very end."
"Ren!"
Smoker was startled, only then realizing that the person he had wanted to meet had appeared.
"All right. I've already given you your answer. Next, just watch carefully."
Ren withdrew his hand, then glanced at Tashigi, whose great chest made her especially memorable.
"You too, Miss Tashigi."
As soon as he finished speaking, he disappeared in the next instant and arrived where Nami was.
"Ren!"
"Ren!"
Of the three women there, two cried out at the same time. Then, unable to stop themselves, they moved closer. Under the stunned gazes of the surrounding Cross Guild members, whose eyes had turned into hearts, they hugged Ren's arms from the left and right.
"What the hell? How could those two goddesses…"
A Cross Guild member could not help crying out in shock.
"Isn't that completely normal? There aren't many men in the Demon Pirates, and that person is their captain. I mean, don't tell me you people really joined because you were chasing after the goddesses?"
Another Cross Guild member rolled his eyes.
"We're fighting for the unification of the New World."
There were also Cross Guild members who paid no attention to goddesses like Vivi at all. Instead, they stared straight at Ren's back, their eyes filling with joy.
"The lord we follow… we've finally reached his side!"
Just as the original Straw Hat Pirates had fans, the unique Demon Pirates had also attracted a large number of people who disliked the existing order but did not truly want to become pirates.
They used following in the footsteps of Demon Ren as their reason, making enemies of every pirate they encountered. Because of that, very few of them had managed to reach this place.
Ren heard all of this and could not help curling his lips.
After soothing Vivi and Nojiko, he came to Nami's side.
"Why didn't you call me?"
"Was that beautiful swordswoman just now nice to look at?"
"Uh…"
"I'm the lightning goddess. The electromagnetism on your body can't escape my perception."
"Ah, this…"
Ren's scalp went numb. He had indeed stood behind Tashigi and admired her for a couple of moments.
"I'm not angry. I'm just asking about it."
Nami rolled her eyes.
"Hancock has surrendered. That woman previously said she wanted to take you all for herself, but now she's instead asking about sharing the burden.
"Although I don't know how you tormented her during those few days, we've all reached a consensus that each of us has our own things to do.
"But we can't ignore your feelings either, so the best method is to add a few more people."
"Hiss…"
Ren sucked in a breath of cold air. He very much wanted to say that he was not that kind of person, but his head had already honestly nodded.
"Then you can go get to know them. But I won't do anything that isn't voluntary."
As Nami spoke, she suddenly clapped her hands.
"Wait a moment—"
Boom—!
A dazzling pillar of light suddenly erupted in the sky. Judgment's main cannon fired a high-energy beam, piercing toward the skull castle on Hachinosu like a blade.
Atop the castle, Ochoku, who had tried to resist, swung his gold and silver twin axes, cleaving down at the pillar of light with tremendous force.
Then he vanished in the great explosion that followed!
"—All right. The strongest one is dealt with. The rest is their business."
Nami calmly withdrew her hand, as if she had done something utterly insignificant.
(End of Chapter)