"..."
The moment he received that answer, Issho froze.
It seemed somewhat beyond his expectations, yet at the same time, it also felt natural—exactly the kind of answer he should have expected.
But the contradiction still remained.
"You don't believe me? But it's the truth."
Ren tilted his head, not the slightest bit tense. "If it's you, you should be able to tell whether someone's words are true or false, right?
Through another kind of vision, you can see the emotional colors inside a person. A unique application belonging to a branch of Observation Haki.
As for me, I'm not deliberately hiding anything.
Even though what stands here is only a clone, from the root of it, it is still the real me."
"..."
Issho tensed for a brief instant. The colors within the man, as perceived through his Observation Haki, were indeed just as he had said.
Then he slowly relaxed, and a deep voice followed.
"If I had received such an answer when we first met, I would have drawn my blade and cut you down."
"Then why not now?"
"I cannot treat you as someone who is purely evil.
When beings like that begin to act, they never care about the ants by the roadside. But you and your people are not like that.
Whether it was that pink dragon or those various measures, they were all to prevent the civilians from being caught up in it, weren't they?
And afterward, you even arranged matters so that this old man would step in and restore Dressrosa's environment."
"Yes. But you still think too highly of me, Mr. Issho. I'm only an ordinary person."
"Ordinary? You?"
Issho's face was full of confusion and incomprehension.
"Do not do unto others what you do not wish done unto yourself. That's an old saying from the teachings of my homeland.
If translated in the simplest way, it carries a fairly broad meaning:
'If it is something you yourself would not accept, then do not impose it on others in another form.'
Because of that, I care whether civilians live or die. I will uncover the buried truth of this country and bring it before the eyes of the people.
I will allow tragedy to be amended—father and daughter reunited. I will let the Tontattas cast off their shackles and gain their freedom.
At the same time, I will punish sin and let those who deserve death die.
And I will also guide you into restoring Dressrosa's ecological environment."
Ren let out a light laugh. "But—precisely because I'm just an ordinary person—
I also have ambition, desire, dreams, and things I pursue.
Even knowing full well that innocents may be harmed because of it, I can still move forward coldly and without hesitation for the sake of my own selfish wants.
Just like how I brazenly started this war, and would still laugh as I draw my sword even before a Yonko."
"...So it's not black and white, but something like this?"
Issho was deeply shaken.
"There has never been anything in this world that is purely black and white. Or rather, only a child's world is black and white.
In the eyes of adults, the world is usually nothing more than an exquisite shade of gray.
Good and evil inhabiting the same body. Mercy and killing intent blurred together. Just like how mankind longs for peace, yet also longs for war."
Ren shrugged. "If one were truly firm about black and white, then under absolute justice, there should not be even a single innocent's blood shed.
And the one passing judgment should possess no selfish desire or personal motive at all, but merely enforce the rules.
But both you and I know that's impossible, don't we?"
"...I cannot answer such a question. I am still on the road of searching."
Issho shook his head and did not continue down that line of conversation. "Then may this old man ask—what lies at the end of your selfish desire?"
"The world I want.
More or less, it is a world where the elderly are cared for, the young are raised, where people can laugh, where they do not die from hunger, disease, war, or chaos.
A world where they are not cut down like weeds by the powerful, where blood and tears are not turned into fuel to keep society running.
Much like the world you and I are looking at right now."
Ren thought for a moment, then gave his answer.
"I hate the way this world works."
Issho's expression changed once again, as though he had just seen something unbelievable.
In the end, he could not stop himself from asking,
"Your selfish desire... how is it any different from that of a sage?"
"Of course it is. This is my own one-sided will, imposed upon the world. And along the way, there will inevitably be sacrifice, pain, bloodshed, and other necessary things.
No one should be sacrificed simply because someone mouths a noble cause.
If someone willingly chooses sacrifice, I will praise his actions and his will.
But if someone hides behind others and makes them sacrifice themselves instead, I'll hang him up and sacrifice him along with the rest.
The conflict between one ideal and another is an irreconcilable contradiction.
If you want to see something through to the end, then what could be better than selfish desire?"
Ren grinned, baring his teeth.
"Because it is your own desire, you can ignore what others think.
Because it is your own pursuit, you can stake everything on it wholeheartedly. Whether you die or fail is something for afterward.
Because it is your own ideal, harming others becomes acceptable. And filthy methods become even more acceptable."
"...I still cannot understand you. You are far too contradictory..."
Issho no longer knew what to say.
"Then let's talk about something that interests me."
After thinking for a moment, Ren changed the subject. "After I left, what happened on that battlefield?"
"Once they all remembered what had gone missing, they probably felt they'd been toyed with. There was no meaning in continuing the fight.
The Marine Kizaru didn't seem to have any intention of pursuing victory.
On the other hand, that Pirate Emperor seemed to find it all very interesting. After this, he'll probably come looking to settle accounts with you."
Issho's meaning was obvious.
"Doesn't matter. He was already an enemy. Sooner or later, we were bound to face each other."
The Yonko—
were enemies he was destined to confront.
If Ren did not step over the corpses of the Four Emperors to rise higher, then how could he ever obtain the highest level of influence?
The voice of a small fry was not the same as the voice of the strong.
Ren understood that reality perfectly clearly.
At that moment, Issho seemed to think of something and asked in turn, "Then you guided this old man here... was it only to learn those things?"
"Of course not. If it were only something like that, I could have sent some little toy to appear in my place.
The reason I'm here personally is because there is something here that would only seem respectful if I came in person."
Ren looked at Issho meaningfully.
"...Are you trying to recruit this old man?"
Issho was somewhat taken aback.
"To be honest, it's a little embarrassing to say this. My team has lofty goals, and all of its members are very young.
But precisely because they're so young, their average age isn't even twenty yet. Their hard power is still lacking.
They're definitely first-rate, but the level of the world's summit—or Admirals and Yonko—is still rather far away."
Ren smiled awkwardly. "So... I set my sights on you.
With your strength, Mr. Issho, I think you would be more than qualified to become an Admiral at Marine Headquarters."
"...I do not think I possess that kind of strength."
"A prophet is never wrong."
"...A prophet?"
"Mr. Issho has always been an observer. At the same time, the range of your Observation Haki is immense—you can even drag meteors down from outer space.
Which means that everything in Dressrosa has been within your perception.
And you also came into contact with those who were freed, learning part of the abilities of the Donquixote Family officers and other such information.
So you should understand that, in this war, the Donquixote Family was in a situation where they had been calculated to death so completely that they had no room whatsoever to fight back."
Ren calmly laid out the facts, his expression utterly indifferent.
"If not for a prophet, then how could we, who came from Paradise, have achieved victory so quickly?"
"You are very strong."
Issho refuted him. "The advantages brought by hard power can crush many things."
"Is that so? Then let's make a wager."
"A wager? To wager on the outcome of something like this?"
"No. That would be boring. If we're going to bet, let's bet big."
Ren waved a hand. "Let us wager on whether a certain event will happen or not.
Or rather, let us predict something that has not yet happened, but is destined to happen—one could even say it is already in the process of happening.
A war. A tremendous war that will affect the entire world, is about to begin.
A death battle between the Marines and a Pirate Emperor.
Would that be enough to prove that I am a prophet?"
"Are you serious?"
Issho straightened, his expression turning solemn. He seemed somewhat uneasy.
"Of course. The event called the Marineford War can no longer be stopped.
Or rather, there are ways to avoid it—but as a prophet, I know very well that the direction of that great event will benefit my ideals."
Ren looked extremely confident—one could even say certain.
"What is the stake?"
"One opportunity. An opportunity for me.
Join us temporarily. If you are willing to stay afterward, then you will be one of us.
If you believe this place does not suit you, then even if you leave, that is fine."
Ren extended a hand, his expression calm.
"Will you wager, Issho?"
"This sort of thing..."
Issho gave a bitter smile and tightened his grip around his blind man's cane, feeling as though he had been schemed against from the very beginning.
Should he accept?
This kind of wager seemed far too childish.
There was no necessity to it whatsoever. It was simply a calculated method.
His wealth of experience allowed Issho to see through the essence of this wager in an instant.
But... should he refuse?
There did not seem to be any need for that, either.
If this man truly was a prophet and truly possessed such ideals, then perhaps one could glimpse the future of this world through him.
He himself had only witnessed a partial, limited, narrow darkness in the world—and had gone so far as to blind himself because of it.
Then what sort of method would this man use to attain victory?
He did not know.
And because he did not know, he wanted to know.
If the other party could truly win...
At that moment, Issho realized that he actually felt the faintest trace of anticipation.
After a moment of silence, he made his decision.
"This old man likes gambling. There is no special meaning to it—I simply like gambling.
Perhaps, to some extent, what I truly enjoy is the rise and fall of fate, the unexpected turns of events.
In that case, I'll gamble with you!"
He stretched out his broad hand and shook Ren's, sealing the wager.
"At the latest, it will happen within half a year.
Marine Headquarters will send one hundred thousand elite soldiers, sixteen Vice Admirals, and the three Admirals to battle the Whitebeard Pirates and the dozens of pirate crews under their banner.
And at the center of the struggle... is a man held by the Marines, awaiting execution.
He is a division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and also the utterly wicked son who carries the bloodline of the Pirate King, Roger.
Though personally, I don't think inherited sin means very much.
Of course—
the world, the Marines, and the World Government do not think that way.
And to make it clear that I am not cheating: this man is still active on the seas right now."
Ren's voice gradually faded, and with the cancellation of the special property of the Space-Time: The Creator card, he returned to the original timeline.
In the dark alley, only a stunned Issho remained.
"Roger's son?!"
(End of Chapter)