Normally, a proper power needed to have its own signature fighting force. Things like the Three Admirals, the Seven Warlords, the Three Sweet Commanders, the Three Disasters, the Flying Six...
Ren also planned to organize something similar. He already had the Three Commissions, but compared to serving as a fighting force, their responsibilities leaned more toward management, making them an administrative body.
Beyond the Three Commissions, there was also the Four Winds Guardians. Dvalin was one of them — Ren called him the Dragon of the East Wind.
In addition, there was a griffin. Ren had given it to Moli as a birthday gift this year. Its name was Vanessa, and its title was the Lion of the South Wind.
The Fatui was another organization Ren planned to establish. However, compared to the already-formed Three Commissions and the half-formed Four Winds Guardians, the Fatui remained entirely a concept for now.
Yukiko did know that Ren had set aside eleven seats for Harbingers, and some of those seats even had candidates in mind. But this organization was still a long way from being established.
"The Three Commissions, the Four Winds Guardians, the Lightning Five Transmissions, the Eleven Harbingers — Lord Ren seems quite fixated on numbers," Yukiko said with a smile.
"Doesn't everything feel special once you put a number in front of it?" Ren countered.
"Things like the Thirteen Royal Knights, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the Twelve Guardians, the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, the Ten Espada, the Four Heavenly Kings... just hearing those names makes you feel that the people who represent those numbers must be the absolute strongest."
"That's true." Yukiko nodded.
"In that case, doesn't that mean only the strongest can join the Fatui? Nanatsuki is still far from that level."
Setting Ren aside, the strongest fighter currently under him was still Ashura Doji. Next came Yukiko, followed by Ayame, Yayoi, Chiado... Nanatsuki couldn't even make the list.
Oh right, perhaps Kurozumi Orochi should be counted as well. These days, his strength was no longer inferior to Yukiko's.
"Start as a reserve for the vanguard squad," Ren said.
In terms of raw strength, the only ones who satisfied him right now were Ashura Doji and Yukiko. The former had already reached Jack's level, while Yukiko's current strength was roughly on par with the future Flying Six of the Beasts Pirates.
In Ren's vision, becoming a Harbinger required at least the strength to serve as a core fighter in another pirate crew. At the very minimum, they needed to be at the level of a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral.
If he filled those seats with small fry, then there would be no point in organizing the Fatui at all.
Dropping the subject, Ren picked up a map and began calculating how large a thunderstorm he needed to create as a protective barrier around the islands.
The situation he faced was not optimistic. The one targeting him was Shiki, and in terms of pure strength, Shiki was actually stronger than the current Ren.
While the gap was not decisive, if his islands became a battlefield, it would put him at a slight disadvantage.
Moreover, Shiki's current movements were hardly a secret in the eyes of major powers. Big Mom would probably be more than happy to get involved.
Of course, this was just speculation. If it were merely about revenge, Shiki naturally wouldn't mind letting Big Mom do some of the heavy lifting. But when it came to interests — specifically the massive weapons trade in Inazuma — Shiki might not be willing to yield.
There was a good chance Ren would only have to face Shiki alone. An even better scenario would be if those who didn't want to see Shiki grow too powerful would secretly lend Ren a hand. Naturally, such help would not come free.
Still, Ren had no intention of pinning his hopes on others. Setting up defenses early and choosing the battlefield on his own terms was the right approach.
Shiki himself was certainly powerful enough, but his subordinates were nothing special. Ren at least had Ashura Doji, and he could even get Oden Kozuki to fight. Shiki, apart from himself, had no truly powerful subordinates.
Of course, he alone was enough to turn the tide of battle. After all, this was a man who had charged into Marine Headquarters single-handedly and fought Sengoku and Garp for three days and three nights before finally being captured.
If he truly wanted to escape, even Sengoku and Garp probably couldn't have stopped him.
"There are five islands under our control?" Ren asked, studying the sea chart.
These five islands were nearly connected into a single landmass, much like Wano Country itself. Unsurprisingly, Kurozumi Higurashi had likely chosen them with this in mind.
"Isn't that a bit too many?" Yukiko asked.
The thought of creating a thunderstorm large enough to envelop five islands was mind-boggling. To Yukiko, it was practically the stuff of myth.
She recalled that when Ren had completed the absorption of the Lightning Spirit, the thunderstorm he created had only cloaked Kageo Town.
She couldn't help but worry.
"It's fine. The area of five islands... if I go all out right now, I can do it."
"It's not even impossible to turn them directly into thunder islands," Ren said.
Completely altering the nature of an island was something that might not be achievable even at the level of Awakening. Take Doflamingo, for example — he hadn't permanently transformed an island into string, and his range wasn't island-scale either.
Yet Akainu and Aokiji had permanently altered the climate of Punk Hazard during their battle, turning the island into a polarized land of ice and fire.
Ren had always been curious about those islands in the pirate world that defied geographical common sense with their bizarre seasons. They were very likely created by ability users who had reached Awakening.
If a magnetic field could truly grow powerful enough to influence the climate, the first ones to suffer would be humans themselves.
Under normal circumstances, two islands at similar latitudes, both surrounded by sea on all sides, could not possibly have completely opposite climates. Ocean currents and elevation did affect the weather, but they couldn't create such an enormous disparity.
Thriller Bark was large and sailed swiftly. During the voyage, quite a few news birds delivered the latest papers, but the headlines were all the same — some pirates somewhere in the New World had gotten into yet another conflict.
For the remainder of the voyage, Ren spent most of each day training inside his mindscape. The battles with the vampire were quite interesting.
His opponent seemed intent on stealing Ren's time, hoping to age him to death. But Ren had discovered that his lifespan might be a bit too long for that to work.
What was fascinating was that although it was called the Vampire Fruit, what it truly stole from enemies was not blood, but time.
Yukiko and Yayoi trained Nanatsuki every day. Nanatsuki was only two years younger than Yayoi, so she could handle slightly more intensive training sessions as well.
Compared to Yukiko, Yayoi was much stricter with Nanatsuki. A little hardship now was nothing — it was far better than getting injured and bleeding when facing real enemies.
If you're enjoying this story, consider supporting on Patreon. You'll get 30 advance chapters immediately, plus monthly updates and bonus content. Every subscription keeps the chapters coming.
Patreon: patreon.com/anish_44
Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/anish_44