From the moment he witnessed how public opinion could be manipulated and put to use, Hound became certain that this man's future would be anything but ordinary.
For that reason—
He crossed mountains and seas, exhausting every possible method to track down Ren's whereabouts.
He even went so far as to sell himself to slave traders, using a massive sum of money to buy information about where Ren might be.
Then he fled at the first opportunity, crossed the vast ocean, and arrived at this place.
Fortunately—
He found him!
'Ren, I'm here. Your glorious deeds will be revealed to the world by me!'
Hound rushed in with irrepressible excitement.
As a professional reporter, his skills were exceptionally refined.
"Here—these scorch marks from lightning. This has to be Ren's work."
"And the weather… the weather definitely changed. At least seven Mock Town residents can confirm it."
"That's right. Ren appeared here, and then—"
"Then he was pursued by the Marines? Oh, Vice Admiral Onigumo—so even that big shot lost to Ren?"
"No—of course he lost to Ren! That's the Fiend who killed Crocodile!"
Hound excitedly gathered information.
The disaster-stricken residents of Mock Town, desperate for money, spoke freely—holding nothing back.
After all, for now, Hound was the only reporter who had come here.
They even began competing with each other.
"Hey, kid—two hundred thousand Beli and I'll tell you the whole story. I'm an eyewitness!"
"Bastard, like you're the only one who watched the show up close! I'll do it for one hundred ninety thousand!"
"Pick me! I only want one hundred fifty thousand Beli!"
"I need the money to buy supplies—I've got elders to support and kids to feed!"
"Damn it, why are you all undercutting each other?!"
No matter how fiercely the residents competed, Hound was the clear beneficiary.
Before long—
Guided by the locals, he discovered the massive stone giant's half-body statue.
In truth, anyone who landed on Jaya would notice the stone giant almost immediately.
And their reactions were always the same:
'The Grand Line is really strange. The people here sure are artistic.'
No one realized that this thing hadn't originally belonged to Jaya at all.
Rather—
The destruction of Mock Town had been caused when this thing was still moving.
A devastation on the scale of a natural disaster.
Naturally, Hound learned all of this.
"Look, kid. This thing definitely wasn't here before. Must've been made by some Devil Fruit user."
"You know the Marines came here earlier, right? That bastard seemed to be attacking both the Marines and his enemies."
"He summoned a giant like this and launched an attack—one punch wiped out half the town."
"Then somehow it stopped moving, and after that we don't know anything."
"The Marines left, the pirates were arrested, and no one knows what really happened."
The Mock Town resident leading the way spoke in great detail, all while eagerly eyeing the thick stack of Beli in his hand.
Hound, meanwhile, snapped photos feverishly, already planning how he would frame the story.
'The vanished Fiend returns—stone giant suppresses a Marine Vice Admiral!'
'Onigumo defeated, a new pirate superstar rises!'
Naturally, Hound attributed the stone giant to Ren.
"Yes—this is exactly why I follow you. As long as I stay behind you, there'll always be huge news!"
Click—
The Camera Den Den Mushi captured the image of the stone giant.
Dressrosa, inside the royal palace.
"Fufufufu… what a truly detestable bastard."
Doflamingo sat upon his throne, his expression dark as he stared at the photographs in his hand.
Images taken by a World Economic Journal reporter had reached him at lightning speed.
There was no mistake—
This was Pica's ability.
Pica had clearly gone all out. That enormous stone giant was the power he took the greatest pride in.
There were still traces of ice and snow left on the island—likely remnants of Monet's abilities.
But—
The mission had failed.
Pica and Monet seemed to have vanished completely, with no contact whatsoever.
The men he sent out couldn't find either of them.
The Marines had no news either.
Fiend Ren was likewise nowhere to be found—
Though eyewitnesses confirmed that Ren had appeared in Mock Town, fought a Marine Vice Admiral, and won.
After that, Pica intervened, followed by Monet.
Judging from the current situation, they had likely been defeated—or even killed.
"Doffy, what do we do?"
Trebol stared at the family's leader, awaiting Doflamingo's orders.
It wasn't that he lacked initiative or ideas.
It was simply that the family needed only one voice to give commands.
Those who couldn't place themselves properly would only become obstacles.
"Find a way to confirm Ren's whereabouts, and extract information about Pica and Monet from him."
"This time, I was careless. I'll accept the consequences of that failure."
"If Pica and Monet are still alive, then find a way to bring them back alive."
"As for Ren—leave him for now. Next time, I'll move personally and give him no chance whatsoever."
Doflamingo tossed the photos aside, his expression utterly cold.
The power of the Donquixote Family began to mobilize.
He believed that as long as the price was high enough, a pirate would agree.
Of course—
If Pica and Monet were dead, then there would be no need for negotiations.
Once he confirmed Ren's location, he would make those idiots regret ever being born—
For daring to lay hands on his family.
Marine Headquarters, the highest office.
Having just finished processing a mountain of affairs, Sengoku frowned deeply, his expression as if he were staring at something revolting.
"Onigumo failed? And the Cavendish we previously captured escaped as well?"
"That's right," Tsuru replied calmly from not far away, taking an unhurried sip of black tea.
"Cavendish's status is still uncertain."
"But as for Ren, it seems not all members of his crew were present."
"Based on Onigumo's report, Ren defeated him head-on."
"He used his main body to remain invisible while deploying clones as bait."
"He exploited the fact that the clones weren't afraid of Seastone, creating a tactical trap."
"His thinking is extremely sharp."
"He's also mastered both types of Haki. His strength has increased significantly compared to before."
"His weapon appears unchanged."
"And the stone giant?" Sengoku asked.
"Most likely a subordinate of Doflamingo. The Donquixote Family seems to have intervened."
"However, according to Vice Admiral Onigumo, they were probably targeting Ren as well."
"And the result?"
"Our Marines recovered a corpse near Mock Town."
"The victim was decapitated. Based on the facial features, it was Pica."
"He was a member of the Donquixote Family—a rock manipulator who gave us headaches years ago."
"But there's a follow-up issue."
"Pica's body disappeared."
"…What do you mean?"
"While passing through the waters near Thriller Bark, it was stolen."
"It was likely taken by Gecko Moria's people."
"Since he's a Warlord of the Sea, the Marine officers transporting the body for research into Ren's abilities did not pursue."
"Forget it. It's just a corpse—there's nothing to research anyway."
"That kid's abilities seem to have increased again."
"Yes. So far, he's demonstrated more than ten special abilities."
"We've asked the World Government, but there's no answer."
"They have no idea what Devil Fruit he ate."
"And he never reveals what fruit it is during combat."
Tsuru's gaze turned subtle.
Most pirates or Marines would announce their Devil Fruit at the start of a fight—
Some to mislead, others so their opponent would 'die knowing.'
But someone as silent as Ren was rare.
"So… his growth rate is accelerating."
Sengoku rubbed his temples.
"Perhaps our earlier decision was wrong. We should've strangled him in the East Blue."
"In the end, how could someone who escaped from a Yonko ever be anything but troublesome?"
"But there's something very strange," Tsuru said.
"What?"
"The Marines who fought Ren suffered almost no casualties."
"Only a few unlucky ones died due to old injuries acting up."
"That man still seems to hold onto certain principles."
"Perhaps we can make use of that."
"You said the same thing last time."
"No—this time it's because of Kuzan."
"…?"
"I spoke with him about Onigumo's defeat."
"Shouldn't you first tell me what he was doing there?"
"That so-called 'passing by'?"
"I don't know. He didn't tell me."
Tsuru's expression remained calm.
"…Fine. Then let's wait and see."
Sengoku paused, then sighed helplessly.
"If he's so free, tell him his vacation is over."
"No applications accepted."
"And Ren?"
"Is there anyone left in Paradise who can deal with him?"
"Let him go see the New World."
"Understood."
The two of them tacitly avoided mentioning the World Government's earlier orders.
In truth—
It was precisely because of those orders that Onigumo had gone to capture Ren in the first place.
Now, the mission had clearly failed.
Onigumo had been heavily injured by Ren, barely escaping with his life.
If not for Ren's consistent conduct, including Onigumo—
The Marines might have been completely wiped out.
That would've been a tremendous loss for Marine Headquarters.
Of course—
Sengoku suspected there was another possibility.
But he didn't voice it.
For example—
Kuzan's convenient "coincidental" appearance, and his so-called opinions.
'When the team gets too big, it's hard to lead.'
Sengoku glanced at the unperturbed Tsuru, sighed inwardly, and picked up the next report.
An Admiral stood above millions of Marines—an irreplaceable pillar of absolute power.
Irreplaceable talents were extremely rare and had to be cherished.
Precisely because of that, Admirals enjoyed tremendous freedom.
Even he couldn't interfere too much.
In fact, part of the reason the rotation system existed was because Admirals needed vacations.
That was why Sengoku knew—
Back then, Robin had escaped.
Because Kuzan had secretly frozen the rudder of the pursuing warship—and pretended not to see it.
The value of one child couldn't compare to Kuzan's value.
It absolutely wasn't because he… also felt there was something wrong back then.
At the time, Kuzan had only been a Vice Admiral—
But he had already shown the potential to become an Admiral.
That generation of Marines only had three people with that potential.
And now—
This person seemed to show similar signs.
'What a pity.'
Sengoku stared at Ren's large portrait photo on the report, his expression complicated.
(End of Chapter)