"What do you want us to do?"
"You sisters are both very useful. One Logia, one Paramecia. As it happens, I'm in great need of chess pieces and handy tools I can use."
Ren spread his hands. "And as it also happens, I have a bargaining chip neither of you can abandon. So is it really that hard to understand what I want you to do?"
"Sis…"
Sugar gritted her teeth, her gaze involuntarily shifting toward her older sister.
In truth, she had very little ability to act on her own initiative. She had always lived under the Family's protection.
She had essentially been raised into uselessness. The only things about her worth mentioning were her strength and her Devil Fruit ability.
Right now, between the two of them, the one who could truly make a decision was still her sister, Monet.
Sugar knew that with her sister's loyalty, Monet would never betray the Family or betray the Young Master.
However, at this moment, Sugar did not know what Monet had experienced.
As for the matter of her mind having been brainwashed and altered, Monet did not know how to explain it.
When she heard such a demand, Monet inevitably imagined an extremely terrible future.
With the Young Master as a hostage, Ren could treat them however he pleased.
Whether he ordered her or Sugar to carry out dangerous missions, or even demanded that the two of them climb into bed and do something with him…
Neither of them would have any way to resist, because the Young Master was simply that important to them.
When they were children, if the Young Master had not destroyed the slave transport ship…
She and Sugar would have died long ago during the slave trade!
At this moment, the only choice left before her was a one-way path.
But for some reason, Monet subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, as if a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
Some kind of unavoidable mentality began to sprout and grow.
Since the Young Master had already been defeated, since she needed to ensure the Young Master's safety, since she had already lost all means of resisting…
Then giving up resistance should be fine, right?
Stop resisting the power that was altering her thoughts. Stop thinking about how to break free from its influence.
Instead, give up choosing—
No!
"You influenced me again!?"
Monet's eyes widened, her golden pupils filled with anger.
Yet Ren only revealed a puzzled expression.
"What are you talking about?"
"…"
Not normal.
This man would never bother hiding anything. If he were exposed, he would simply show that vile smile of his and say he could do whatever he wanted.
Monet felt a chill run through her entire body. She discovered that she seemed to have no way out.
She could only watch helplessly as she fell, bit by bit, into a terrifying abyss, until she completely became this man's possession.
She had actually already begun to hope that she could abandon thought, stop thinking about the Young Master, and yearn to become something like a plaything.
After losing the Young Master as her source of hope, the speed at which her original toughness and persistence collapsed far exceeded Monet's imagination.
"Hurry up and decide."
Ren did not understand what she meant, but he still chose to urge her.
"I agree. But there has to be a time limit, right?"
"Ten years."
"Eight years!"
"…"
Ren did not speak. He merely snapped his fingers, and vast waves of magma suddenly surged from within the abyss, as though about to swallow the executed Doflamingo whole.
His eyes were cold and sharp, as if questioning what right Monet had to bargain with him.
"…I understand."
"Then that settles it."
Ren very directly released Sugar and Monet, while conveniently fitting them both with Seastone handcuffs and explosive collars.
This was necessary for convenience, to keep them from having any improper ideas.
The Space-Time: The Creator card was being reorganized.
Ren thought over this operation. The main objective had certainly been completed.
However, the secondary objective had not been achieved, namely the secret of the Celestial Dragons' National Treasure from Doflamingo's mouth.
First, a baseline needed to be established.
Doflamingo was unquestionably dead.
The one still alive in the Space-Time: The Creator Domain was nothing more than a recreated form of his soul.
There was no difference between him and Crocodile. He was a "person" who could only live within the Space-Time: The Creator Domain.
However, Monet and Sugar definitely did not know the truth. If they knew, they would only become even more dependent on him.
Because only Ren could make their Young Master come back to life.
As for why Doflamingo himself did not remember that he had died, and instead believed that he had not been killed…
It was very simple.
Before attempting to obtain intelligence about the National Treasure from Doflamingo's mouth,
the first thing Ren had done was try to invade his soul and read Doflamingo's soul memories like data.
After researching Monet and Baccarat, Ren had confirmed that the thing called a soul truly existed.
Moreover, the original story had also demonstrated this point.
It was just that the example used to display it was a mixed-blood member of the rare Buccaneer Race.
His manifestation on the soul level was incredibly astonishing and defied common sense.
Even after being completely modified, he had ignored every backdoor and control method.
In order to save Bonney, he had controlled his body purely with his soul, and during the Egghead Island arc, he had landed a heavy blow on the Five Elders.
Not to mention, Ren could even extract souls, with Crocodile serving as an example.
However, his attempt ended in failure.
If one was not a special race, then an ordinary person certainly would not have a powerful soul. But Doflamingo was clearly no ordinary person.
As an ambitious tyrant, his willpower, spirit, and other qualities were all maxed out.
It was just like after he discovered Monet and Sugar. He merely glanced at them once, then said nothing more.
The purpose was to make Ren realize that threatening him with his Family was useless.
If he compromised for the sake of his Family, the end result would be all three of them dying together.
But if he held on with one breath left, perhaps all three of them could still live!
That was what people called a true ambitious tyrant.
Such a person was absolutely not ordinary. In other words, his soul was also extraordinary.
Because the relationship between the soul and the body had been proven, through the above verification, to be extremely close.
The soul could affect the body, and the body, in turn, could also affect the soul.
Thus, the soul of a strong person would not be weak. This led to a problem.
If the difficulty of changing Monet was 1, then the difficulty of changing Doflamingo was 100.
And that was only the degree of change, not the attempt to invade him.
It was precisely because of this that Ren chose to take a step back.
Of course, he would not negotiate with Doflamingo.
Information about the Celestial Dragons' National Treasure was very important, but he was even more wary of an ambitious tyrant like Doflamingo.
Ren had never considered himself a particularly clever person.
When dealing with such a cunning fellow, the best method was not to deal with him at all!
Yes.
After confirming Doflamingo's attitude, Ren decisively and cleanly gave up on this side of things.
Did he want to hold the information as a bargaining chip?
Then let him clutch it until death!
"In any case, the main objective has already been achieved. Next, I should focus on Kuma's side first…"
The Space-Time: The Creator card returned to completeness, and Ren also sensed the approach of two "good things."
One of them was the 30 billion in funds Tesoro had paid.
The second was that Kuma was about to arrive at Skypiea!
The mobility of the Paw-Paw Fruit was unparalleled. In almost the blink of an eye, Kuma arrived on Punk Hazard.
Whoosh—!
A violent sound of wind rang out, and then a figure appeared on the ground of Punk Hazard.
Ren left the underground prison at just the right time and met Kuma.
"Kuma, long time no see."
Ren greeted him and was just about to exchange a few words with Kuma.
Then he learned of a very troublesome situation.
Just now, the World Government had already begun to sense that something was wrong and had attempted to investigate Kuma's whereabouts.
Vegapunk was worthy of his good-person characterization. While saying that he had no ability to track Kuma, he had also used certain methods to warn Kuma that he had already been exposed.
In the original story, when Kuma found Vegapunk, Vegapunk agreed to treat Bonney.
The requirement he proposed was merely that Kuma provide some material as cloning samples.
However, at that time, hidden Den Den Mushi connected to the World Government's side had been installed inside Egghead Island's research facility.
Saturn, one of the Five Elders, personally interfered.
Vegapunk clearly had no way to influence the decision of his funder. If the Five Elders decided to stop him, then Bonney would definitely have no way to receive treatment.
It was precisely because of this that Kuma ended up suffering the tragic fate of becoming a test subject.
Perhaps Vegapunk felt guilty, which was why he had made such a move.
In any case, the crisis had visibly appeared before their eyes.
"I'm very sorry for bringing you such great trouble."
Kuma lowered his head apologetically. "Because I needed to remove the devices on my body, I went to find Lindbergh, and it ended up delaying me for a very long time.
I'm truly sorry that they noticed something was wrong…"
He roughly explained the reason. As a test subject, there were many positioning, tracking, and similar devices on his body.
They were one of the measures the Five Elders had used to prevent him from escaping.
When he had previously met Ren, he had always asked Lindbergh of the Revolutionary Army for tools to temporarily create a false signal.
But the false signal could only be maintained for one or two days. It was impossible to keep blocking them forever.
"No. This is my problem. I didn't clearly explain what specific method I planned to use.
"In truth, whether you have those positioning and tracking devices or not doesn't matter at all. You don't need to worry about whether it will affect my side."
Ren shook his head. From Kuma's description, he guessed the fundamental reason the other party had done this.
He did not waste time going back and forth. This was a critical moment.
He directly brought Kuma into action.
"Let's go. We'll be able to finish this very soon."
"Really…?"
Kuma followed Ren's steps, his expression somewhat dazed.
The nightmare that had lasted for so long. The consequences he had feared for so long.
The ending in which only by sacrificing himself could he make everyone smile.
Would it truly be completely changed here?
Right here…
Ren, who was walking ahead, seemed to notice the abnormality in his emotions. Without turning his head, he spoke softly.
"Don't be nervous. Don't be afraid. Don't fear. Because I am here. Believe in me, just as you believed in Punk Hazard. Here and now—I will grant you the Fruit of Liberation."
"That thing of yours is very precious, isn't it? Is it really worth using it on me?"
For some reason, Kuma suddenly said those words.
When he said them, his heart was filled with panic, fear, and timidity. He had completely lost the bearing he possessed as the Tyrant.
If the other party stopped helping him, then the nightmare would return tomorrow.
So why had he said something like that…?
"You truly are a good person. Only a good person would think like that after being helped."
Ren said softly, "Kuma, I actually only want to do one thing."
"What?"
"Good people should receive good rewards. That is all."
(End of Chapter)