Ren wandered casually through the town on Skoll Island.
Besides pirates, the island wasn't completely devoid of other people. The island was originally ruled by John, and some of the residents actually had experience dealing with pirates.
It was just that the pirates who came this time were too diverse, and the beginning was when conflicts were most intense—quite a few people died back then.
By now, the various forces had roughly achieved a delicate balance, and the civilians on the island barely managed to survive. Of course, those people's situations couldn't be good. Some could be said to be worse off than slaves.
Many young women on the island had been taken by pirates for their entertainment, and as for valuables, not a single thing was left behind.
Living in such a world without the power to protect oneself was truly a tragedy.
Ren didn't overflow with sympathy—he didn't have the ability to help everyone. He couldn't possibly offend all the forces gathered on the island at once.
Although most of the great pirates hadn't personally arrived, their second and third in commands had basically gathered.
These people together formed a very powerful force. When watching the anime, these characters were often overlooked because they weren't given much attention. But in reality, being able to become the second tier of power on the seas, they were also very formidable.
Just like old veterans like John, wasn't he still defeated by the combined efforts of Shutenmaru, Gara, and Yukiko?
Even Ren himself couldn't claim he could ignore these people's combat power. If a hundred fighters at Shutenmaru's level showed up, he'd find it troublesome too.
Shutenmaru: ???
He walked brazenly through the streets. After leaving the tavern where Kaido was, more and more people began eyeing him again.
These people were too far away to know what had happened earlier. Seeing Ren's expensive clothing and not recognizing him as any famous big shot, they started having crooked thoughts.
But before these people could make a move, they were interrupted by commotion in the distance.
BOOM!
Ren's gaze turned toward the source of the sound. Across several streets, thick smoke rose into the sky—clearly two groups were fighting.
He was wondering who it was when the next moment he saw a figure wearing modified action-friendly kimono jump out from the smoke. Jasmine's body flipped through the air—her waist strength was astonishing. Her seemingly petite body was not only flexible but also tough.
She did a somersault and landed lightly on a building's rooftop, as graceful as a cat landing from the air.
'Jasmine?' Ren didn't expect her to run into trouble just from going out for a walk, but he didn't intervene and instead began observing.
Jasmine wasn't using her Devil Fruit ability, and hadn't even drawn the Shimonita blade at her waist—it was clear she had things well in hand and didn't need his help.
Ren was thus able to observe her opponent.
From the dust emerged a strange fellow. He looked somewhat like a lion, but had bighorn sheep horns on his head. His hands were claws, but his feet were powerful hooves.
"What kind of new species is this?" Ren watched for a while, guessing that this was likely a Mink who had eaten a Zoan-type Devil Fruit.
Usually, demi-human races rarely ate Devil Fruits. As demi-humans, their bodies already had advantages beyond ordinary people, so there was no need to eat Devil Fruits to strengthen themselves.
This was especially true for Fish-Men, Giants, and Minks.
Fish-Men naturally didn't need to be mentioned—they excelled at sea combat, and eating a Devil Fruit was like cutting off their own arm. Minks who ate Devil Fruits were also very rare.
They already had physiques no weaker than Zoan ability users, could use Electro, and under a full moon could transform into Sulong form. This was an ability even more special than ordinary Zoan users.
In Ren's view, even if they were going to eat one, it should at least be a Logia or Paramecia-type fruit to make up for their weaknesses. But this lion-goat creature before him had clearly eaten a Zoan Devil Fruit.
Two different species combined did make his body tougher. But this boost was very limited.
"Grrr—" The lion hadn't succeeded and now revealed an angry expression. He opened his mouth, showing teeth thicker than an ordinary person's fingers, and from his throat came a low sound like a rapidly running engine.
"Woman, are you looking for death!"
Ren saw him clench his claws, but there were no traces of Electro crackling on his palms, leading him to deduce that this fellow probably wasn't from Zou.
While Zou was the Minks' main home, there were actually quite a few Minks scattered across the seas. At the illegal auction house in the Sabaody Archipelago, one could potentially buy a Mink slave for just 700,000 Berries.
This lion couldn't use the Minks' signature Electro ability, so he probably had never learned it.
Jasmine didn't take him seriously. She stood on the roof's eaves, her legs straight and pressed together one in front of the other, facing the wind like a valkyrie looking down at her opponent.
At the same time, one of her hands was holding a little girl.
It seemed this little girl was likely the source of this conflict.
"Trying to eat people—you really are a beast," Jasmine said, looking at him as if he were a talking animal.
Minks were also a demi-human race. Whether from the Minks' perspective or from a human perspective, both sides belonged to the broad category of humanity. Yet this creature before her was planning to eat people.
"You don't know a damn thing!"
"Women and brats' meat is the most delicious!" The lion laughed cruelly. Looking at his expression, he seemed to be savoring some memory. After a moment, his gaze toward Jasmine became even more heated.
"Perfect, a little brat like this won't fill my stomach anyway. You look quite delicious too!" He licked his lips, saliva already starting to drip from his mouth.
For someone who had abandoned his human identity, Jasmine didn't plan to say anything more.
She lightly leaped, intending to put down the little girl she was holding, but clearly the girl was too terrified. Though she wasn't crying or making noise now, her hands were tightly clutching Jasmine's sleeve.
"Alright then, hold on tight." Jasmine couldn't bring herself to forcibly pull the girl away. Instead, she held her with one arm in front of her chest while drawing her sword with the other hand.
The little girl buried her head in her chest, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
[
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