After witnessing a series of incomprehensible events that could only be described as "miracles,"
Baccarat came to deeply understand the gap between herself and Ro… no, her master.
A prophet?
Did a title like "prophet" even deserve to be used for someone like him?
Even though Ren himself had said there were many limitations, she truly did not dare believe that.
Resist?
That would be wrong. She was just a weak, pitiful woman with a bit of luck, living a peaceful life.
"Don't call me 'master.' I don't think it suits me. Just call me Ren."
Ren waved his hand,
feeling that his little display of "power" had gone a bit overboard.
But there was no helping it.
Once the team got bigger, people became harder to manage.
The few companions whose character he understood well were one thing, but someone like Baccarat was genuinely hard to judge.
At the end of the day, he only knew the plot, not the future as some real prophet would.
"Understood!"
Baccarat nodded obediently.
"In that case, I'll go train on my own.
I learned Dragon Claw Fist from the Revolutionary Army before, but I still haven't fully mastered it.
If I think of anything I need, I'll come back and look for you."
Robin seemed to have already made up her mind. After saying goodbye, she left the area.
Her training plan was clearly to rely on herself.
Ren didn't really have any specific arrangements for her anyway. Other than Haki and martial arts, there wasn't any ability especially suited to Robin.
Or rather,
Robin's true role was as an administrative talent.
Combat was not her specialty. The direction best suited for her growth was intelligence and espionage.
If he were going to invest in her, then targeted prizes would actually be more suitable.
But the others were different.
Ren let Baccarat continue fumbling around on her own for a while, then left to find Zoro.
The great valley had been transformed into a training ground, and the section belonging to Zoro was a steel dojo.
Urouge and Cavendish had just been beaten up—not that it wasn't under the name of training.
Still, the two of them were sprawled on the ground groaning.
Urouge was fine. He already had some understanding of Zoro's strength, and his attitude toward Zoro was very respectful.
Cavendish, however, was another matter. The two of them had already had friction before.
And just now, they had directly crossed swords under the pretext of training. As for the result… Cavendish was now wearing a face that looked like he was questioning his entire life.
Ren chuckled as he passed by, then found Zoro, who was still training.
After briefly explaining the situation, he sat cross-legged on the ground and asked Zoro,
"So, what do you think you need?
Although the biggest function has already started up, I still have quite a few reserve units left that can 'change' things."
"I don't know."
Zoro thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I've always believed that progress in swordsmanship depends on myself.
Anyway, time is enough now. The ratio here—one year inside to one and a half months outside—is very good.
One year from now, I'll definitely be stronger than I am now."
"But change can make you stronger too. For example, gravity."
Ren raised his hand slightly, and the area around the dojo changed in an instant.
Creator Authority · Gravity · Fivefold!
Bzz—!
The invisible gravity suddenly shifted, and a surging pressure descended onto everyone's bodies.
Cavendish and Urouge's expressions changed at the same time, and creaking sounds came from all over their bodies.
"Ren… what did you do?!"
Cavendish flipped himself upright, utterly dumbfounded as he clutched his chest.
It felt awful, truly awful.
His muscles, bones, joints, even his internal organs—all of them felt many, many times heavier.
Urouge didn't say a word at all, as if he were fully focused on struggling against this force.
"I changed the gravity in this area. It's about five times what it was before."
Ren frowned slightly, then shrugged. "Don't worry. At your level, it won't kill you.
If you can adapt to it, though, it's actually very suitable for training. You'll get much better results than you would in a normal environment.
Later on, I can even increase the gravity further, but then you'll need to train inside a specialized gravity chamber."
As he spoke, he returned the gravity level to normal. "After all, changing gravity over a large area also consumes a lot of reserve energy."
"This is good."
Zoro's eyes lit up at once.
"And that's not all."
Ren extended a hand, and a ball of flame suddenly ignited in his palm. "Zoro, can you tell what's different about this?"
Zoro frowned slightly. After observing it for a moment, he suddenly closed his eyes.
"…'They' are gathering into your hand on their own. But this isn't the power you changed through the realm of swordsmanship, right?
You're making them gather into your palm, and once enough of that element collects, it forms a physical manifestation?"
"That's right. It works on pretty much the same principle as your One-Sword Style: Flying Dragon Blaze.
You sense the elements in the atmosphere through the Breath of All Things, then use swordsmanship to control them and turn them into a technique.
The reason the wounds left behind by your Flying Dragon Blaze erupt with high-temperature flames
is because, during the slash, you gathered a huge amount of fire element and ignited it with extreme heat."
Ren grinned. "In a certain sense, I'm a swordsman too."
"Hahaha, I guess you are."
"Then if I make them gather around you actively, would that let you progress even faster?"
"…I don't know. But maybe we can try it?"
Zoro pondered it and did not reject Ren's proposal.
If it had been in the past, he might have stubbornly insisted on improving through his own efforts alone.
But after going through a series of events, Zoro had begun to feel his own "weakness" more and more deeply.
Granted,
within the scope of the East Blue, he had absolutely no equal.
But as Ren advanced onward, the enemies they faced grew stronger and stronger, and the strength that had once allowed him to stand above the masses was beginning to feel ordinary.
That was something Zoro could not accept, and so he kept pushing himself harder and harder.
That was why that brilliant slash aboard the ark had come into being.
And yet, compared to what he had seen when facing Mihawk, he was still far, far too lacking.
This level was not enough. Otherwise, Ren would not have made him join the special training as well, because the enemies they would face in the future would inevitably be even stronger.
Perhaps not just the Warlords of the Sea…
but even the Yonko!
Against the Four Emperors, who had dominated the New World for decades, and against the forces under their banners—was their current strength really enough?
Zoro had no answer in his heart, and to him, having no answer meant failure.
As someone determined to become the world's greatest swordsman, he should not be in a state where he lacked the confidence to answer, "The victor will definitely be me."
"If you can do that, then maybe I'll improve faster."
After thinking it over, Zoro added seriously, "The realm of a great swordsman.
To put it bluntly, it's an extension of the Breath of All Things—an advanced result born from sensing the breath of all things and then mobilizing them.
That's why, even without matching techniques, secret arts, or abilities, a slash can burst into flames, or fly outward through the air.
I've already achieved this result now, but I still feel the gap between myself and Mihawk is enormous.
If I keep training in an environment where they gather on their own, then by comparing it to when they do not, maybe I'll be able to see more of the difference."
"Then it's settled."
Ren nodded, then after a moment's thought added, "Oh, right. Later on, there's another method I want to tell you about.
I think part of it may suit some of your techniques extremely well."
"What is it?"
"The Blood Demon Art."
That was the end of Ren's discussion with Zoro's group for the time being.
Just as Ren returned, he ran into Nojiko, Nami, and… Vivi.
After everything that had happened, the three of them had unexpectedly gathered together.
And judging from the atmosphere, they were actually getting along remarkably well.
Ren was a little curious about the reason behind it, but obviously Nami was not going to give him a pleasant expression.
For now, they were simply discussing how to develop their abilities.
All three were Devil Fruit users—two Logia-types and one Mythical Zoan.
Nojiko's path was the simplest. What she needed was continuous battle, constantly learning to control her power through the cycle of getting beaten down and standing back up again.
At the same time, Ren handed over the written template for the [Mini Kaido Crash Course Plan].
Vivi's needs were simple as well. Take out Crocodile's Soul Stone, use the authority of Creator Domain to mold a body that could house the Soul Stone, then grant it authority over sand and dust.
Create an artificial Crocodile, and let him train Vivi.
The slightly more complicated case was Nami. She needed to study meteorological knowledge and required different weather environments.
According to her, even Enel needed machinery to generate thunderclouds.
But something even stronger than thunderclouds was nature itself.
Weather Clouds were powerful, but if nature itself formed a thunderstorm, wouldn't that mean power stacked on top of power?
Ren didn't understand the details, but that didn't stop him from supporting Nami's research.
As for Baccarat, she was granted a certain degree of authority so she could research matters related to luck.
After that,
Ren also began his own strengthening process.
The first thing on the list was naturally the seven-in-one Calabash Brothers template.
He studied the rice cooker that had been placed indoors, then began the fusion process according to the procedure.
Actually,
his situation was different from the original design, because only one person was entering it instead of seven.
Fortunately, the rice cooker seemed to possess a bit of its own intelligence and would adjust its method depending on the circumstances.
Once Ren stepped inside the rice cooker, set the time, and closed the lid behind him,
even with Creator Authority in hand, the sudden plunge into darkness still made him somewhat nervous.
But very quickly,
Ren no longer had the attention to spare for the environment, because a heaven-shaking transformation had already begun within his body.
His data interface popped up in the next second, frantically sending out one message after another.
The template-switching mechanisms in his mind began disappearing one after another, while the templates themselves unified within his body, merging into that singular one.
But unexpectedly, the unified result was not constructed in the form of a template.
Instead, it fused directly into Ren's body.
And the one in control of the process was the Datafication he had drawn earlier!
[Data Alteration… Race · Heavenly God Functional Aptitude Adjustment · Ability Integration]
The dominance of Datafication was beyond imagination. It altered the templates and fused them together with Ren's body.
At the same time, it continuously integrated the abilities of all seven templates.
And throughout the process, Ren felt incomparable comfort, like the sublime pleasure that arises when a person elevates themselves.
The fundamental level of his life was silently and rapidly leaping toward an entirely different tier.
This was both something he had never anticipated and something that, in a way, had been within expectations all along.
Who knew how much time had passed.
Click.
The rice cooker opened on its own, and one hand slowly emerged while holding up the lid.
Violent radiance surged within the pot, then transformed into a pillar of light that shot toward the ceiling of the room.
A gale rose from flat ground, the temperature indoors began to climb, and faintly, one could even hear the roar of tides and thunder.
(End of Chapter)