After this, the New World quickly became a stage for a power struggle. The former members of the Rocks Pirates began to make their marks.
Now known as the "Flying Pirate Admiral," the Golden Lion Shiki; Charlotte Linlin, who held the Big Mom Pirates together through blood ties; Whitebeard... these great pirates rose to prominence in the New World, becoming a major headache for the Navy.
However, they had plenty of friction among themselves, which relieved some of the pressure on the Navy. It could be said that the stage of the New World was now almost completely occupied by the remnants of Rocks, but of course, this wasn't absolute.
Besides them, there were also Redfield, Byrnndi World, and, most importantly, the future Pirate King, Roger. Roger's reputation wasn't particularly widespread across the world at this time, but anyone who had participated in the Battle of God's Valley had a deep impression of him.
If not for this man, Rocks might not have fallen so quickly. However, Roger was different from other pirate forces that constantly recruited more members; he had no interest in that.
In fact, he was still searching for the true end of the Grand Line. He had some leads now, but he hadn't set his sights on the Poneglyphs yet, and even if he had, he wouldn't have been able to read them.
Before the scholars of Ohara began their research on the century of emptiness, the only clan in the world that could read this text was the Kozuki family.
Thinking of this, Ren put down the newspaper he had brought back from overseas. "Oden has set sail early now... can Roger still become the Pirate King?" he couldn't help but wonder.
If Roger hadn't met Oden at sea, perhaps he wouldn't have been able to become the Pirate King. Given Roger's physical condition, he likely wouldn't have lived long enough for the scholars of Ohara to make any breakthroughs.
"Forget it, it doesn't really matter," Ren shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He had never liked a predetermined fate, and thus had lost interest in One Piece.
"Shutenmaru's bounty has increased again," Yukiko said, flipping through the wanted poster. On the latest one, Shutenmaru had also become a wanted man, with a bounty of 390 million Berries.
"I heard he had a run-in with one of Shiki's subordinates," Ren explained. "He was probably recognized because of his flag."
Besides Shutenmaru, several of Oden's retainers also had their own bounties, though they were only in the tens of millions. Right now, their group was wandering around Wano.
A sailor on their ship had mentioned that Oden seemed to be planning to sail all seven routes of Wano. Ren's own bounty had also increased recently, reaching a clean 2.5 billion.
The last time he had appeared overseas was during the Battle of God's Valley, but he had only taken Buggy from the battlefield, and very few people had noticed him.
The real reason for his bounty increase was the development of people like Shutenmaru. The name "Inazuma" was becoming more and more famous overseas, and with formidable fighters like Oden and Shutenmaru, he was seen by the government as the leader of a great force, his influence already surpassing that of a typical pirate.
And in reality, that was true.
A little later, Ren continued his attempts to master the Vampire Fruit. To be honest, the progress was much faster than he had expected, but the Door Door Fruit was proving very difficult.
The battle with the Vampire Soul was essentially a clash of power, but the fight with the Door Door Soul's spirit left Ren baffled. The space he was in was dim and vast, with thunder patterns and magatama patterns imprinted on the earth.
At the edge of this land, towering crimson Torii gates stood, looking just like a Pure Land. "Are Torii gates also doors?" Ren sighed.
There was nothing else in this world but these things. His consciousness passed through layer after layer of Torii gates before finally leaving the mental space.
Only then did he understand how tricky a Paramecia-type fruit could be. He wasn't just facing the doors themselves, but the very concept of a door, and the space behind them.
No matter what was happening in the outside world, Wano was at least peaceful for now. Everything in Kuri was thriving, and the constant output of weapons had become the main source of the overseas economy.
After seeing two Great Grade Swords, Ren had even more ideas. The highest-grade weapons in this world were the twelve Supreme Grade Swords.
Unlike Great Grade Swords and Good Grade Swords, whose numbers fluctuated, the number of Supreme Grade Swords hadn't changed in who knows how many years. Some of these weapons were circulating in the seas, but most were lost to history.
After Sandai Kitetsu was destroyed under his full-powered lightning release, and acquiring two Great Grade Swords, Ren began to have high hopes for Supreme Grade Swords as well.
After his last transaction with Shimotsuki Ushimaru, he had asked for many swordsmiths and forging techniques, and now the swordsmithing industry in Kuri was flourishing.
The former Inazuma had the Raiden Gokaden; now, Ren wanted to create his own version of it, with Shimotsuki Ushimaru being one of his chosen candidates.
"Tenma, Isshin, Tsukutsu, Senju, Hyakume..."
The surnames didn't have to be identical, but at the very least, they had to be capable of forging a Great Grade Sword to qualify as one of the five.
"Perhaps we can forge a Supreme Grade Sword, or even... weapons that surpass them," Ren thought. It wasn't impossible.
The iron ore best suited for forging in Wano was Sake Iron Ore, but what if its properties could be altered to make it even more precious? The finest materials combined with the best craftsmanship might truly create extraordinary weapons.
Ren looked forward to the day weapons worthy of names like "Kirisame no Kaiko," "Urabuki Mangetsu Tenma," or "Haran Getsu Tsukutsu" could be forged.
After all, these were the names of five-star weapons, and at the very least, they deserved to be Supreme Grade Swords. Among them, Urabuki Mangetsu Tenma was the true blade of the Tenma Kageuchi.
But it wasn't just Supreme Grade Swords; even just forging a Great Grade Sword was no simple task. Fortunately, swords of "average" quality were exported, and given the overseas situation, there was no need to worry about weapons piling up.
As for more advanced weapons, they could only be studied in the laboratory. The newly established laboratory had been temporarily relocated to Amakuni Island, an uninhabited place guarded by Teyvat, making it an excellent testing ground.
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