Chapter 51: Reflection and Who Am I?
Gloriosa arrived on Amazon Lily with all the kids and the Kuja. Looking at her homeland, a nostalgic expression appeared on her face.
How many years had it been?
She, the Empress of Kuja, had abandoned her homeland just to find Roger. Yet he had never had feelings for her. After God Valley, she wandered alone, not knowing where to go.
Now?
She was back in the kingdom she had abandoned.
Did she even have the right to call this her home again?
Meanwhile, Hancock, Sandersonia, and Marigold were already on the verge of crying. They had finally returned home. After being captured, they had almost lost all hope of ever returning.
But now that they were back...
"Si-Sister, we are back!"
Marigold said as tears began dropping from her eyes. Sandersonia also started crying.
Hancock held her tears back, but the joy and relief she was feeling could not be described in words.
They were home.
Yamato, Ulti, and the others stayed silent, not disturbing them. After a while, when they had finally calmed down, Yamato suddenly shouted at Hancock.
"Hey, stupid Snake Girl! Are you going to show us around or what?"
A vein popped on Hancock's forehead, but she sighed.
"Let's go. We will show you around."
Marigold and Sandersonia nodded.
The Kuja were already returning to the kingdom, but their feelings were complicated. Another Empress had run away, leaving the kingdom behind.
The only good thing was that the former Empress, Gloriosa, was back.
Yet she was also a traitor who had once abandoned them.
Jack and Page One stayed on the ship.
"What's so interesting about an island full of women? I would rather train here."
Jack snorted and turned around, heading back toward his room.
He had to keep training so that next time, he could fight alongside Lord Ren and Lord Kaido. He had no time for this.
"I won't be running away next time."
Page One looked at Ulti and immediately decided to join Jack.
Training with Jack was a hundred times better than going with Ulti.
"Umm... I'm also going to train. You guys can go and explore."
"Pay-Pay, why are you not coming?"
Ulti looked at Page One with a hint of displeasure.
Yamato turned toward her.
"Hey, are you coming or not? If you don't come, we're leaving you behind."
"Huh?! Who are you leaving behind, you dumb girl?!"
Ulti immediately started bickering with Yamato.
Page One, seeing his chance, bolted after Jack.
SWOOSH!!!
"Hey! Pay-Pay!"
Ulti shouted, but Page One was already gone.
The girls went to explore the island.
Gloriosa smiled as bat wings appeared on her back.
FWOOOSH!!!
She flew off.
After flying for a while, she arrived at a snake-like mountain. She looked at the amazing Lily Kingdom below and sat there.
"Life really takes turns we never expect. I left for Roger and ended up wandering around. Now I'm with Ren."
She muttered as she sat there.
Her feelings about Ren were complicated.
She knew Shakky just wanted her to move on from Roger and start living a new life. But love sickness wasn't that easy to cure.
"Well... life has to go on."
She muttered.
A gentle breeze blew through her hair. She closed her eyes and laid there quietly.
The wind continued passing over the mountain as Gloriosa remained silent, surrounded by the familiar sight of her homeland.
---
On Sabaody Archipelago, the battle was almost over.
Ren and Sengoku were panting as they faced each other.
This was technically Ren's first battle where he had fought with everything he had, not just sparring with Shakky and Toki.
When fighting Kaido, he had simply overpowered him.
But here, he learned the value of combat experience.
If he had more combat experience, he could have taken fewer hits and wouldn't have wasted so much energy.
The battlefield around them remained in ruins.
CRACK...
Pieces of broken mangrove trees continued falling to the ground.
"So, what do you say? Wanna end this here? This should be enough, right? Or should I bring another tornado?"
Ren asked with a grin.
Sengoku's face darkened in rage.
But now, after fighting for the last five days, he had calmed down.
He understood that continuing the battle was pointless.
This guy is definitely a Yonko-level powerhouse, but he lacks combat experience... which is confusing. But he has the strength.
Sengoku thought as he turned toward the direction where Zefer and Shakky were fighting.
And when did Shakky grow strong enough to fight Zefer for so long?
He had too many questions, but this wasn't the time.
Shakky, with the Goro Goro no Mi, and this guy with his Mythical Zoan were troublesome to deal with.
If they wanted to leave, Sengoku knew he couldn't stop them.
And for Garp to arrive, it would still take quite a while.
He gritted his teeth.
He had no choice.
"The battle is over."
He said and stopped.
Continuing the battle would only damage Sabaody Archipelago and cause more Marines to die.
"But don't think this is your victory. I will not forget the lives of the Marines you have taken. You will pay for their blood."
Ren waved casually.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
He didn't care.
"But do remember, if you come for blood, be ready to shed your own blood."
A gold-red cloud formed beneath him.
FWOOOSH!!!
Ren shot into the sky.
On the other side, Shakky, who was fighting Zefer, had already sensed the conclusion of Ren's battle.
"Well, seems like this is it. Thanks for the warm-up."
Saying that, she flashed and disappeared from there.
KRAAAAK!!!
"Damn it!"
Zefer cursed in rage.
On the flame cloud, Shakky's figure formed from thunder.
KRAAAK!!!
She immediately collapsed into Ren's arms.
Ren caught her effortlessly.
"Pheww..."
She exhaled.
"Fighting an Admiral is not as easy as I thought."
Ren smiled and let her rest against him as his arms wrapped around her.
"So, how strong are you currently?"
Ren asked.
Shakky nuzzled into his embrace like a cat.
"Currently, if I go all out, I might be able to defeat Zefer. But victory isn't certain. I can definitely fight him to a tie."
"Hmmm."
Ren nodded.
"Same here. If I also go all out, I might be able to defeat Sengoku. But my lack of combat experience is a handicap."
He looked at his hand.
"And I also noticed something. My Haki is strong, but it lacks the will of someone truly strong."
Shakky raised her eyebrows.
"What does that mean?"
Ren smiled and pecked her cheek.
Shakky didn't even react as she waited for his explanation.
"Well, every Yonko-level fighter on the sea has honed their Haki through combat and life-and-death battles."
"While our Haki is fueled by our strong physiques, our will needs to be honed more."
"That is also why you can only tie against Zefer."
Ren pulled her closer as he continued.
"If not for my ability to control the weather and you having the Goro Goro no Mi, Sengoku and Zefer wouldn't have let us go."
"Hmmm."
Shakky hummed in understanding.
"So, what do we do?"
Ren smiled.
"Well, now that Kaido has joined us, we can have more opponents to fight with. And there are Samurai like Ushiburo, so we just have to take it slow."
"We don't lack time anyway."
With the Sun and Moon Marks, time wasn't a problem for them.
And after this display, the Government would also leave them alone for a while.
"Hmmm..."
Shakky muttered as Ren's hands were becoming a little naughty.
"Well, that's for future Ren and Shakky to handle."
Ren said as he laid down on the clouds while hugging Shakky.
"For now, we just have to move Amazon Lily to Wano."
"What about Fish-Man Island?"
Shakky asked, looking at him.
"Well, I didn't expect the battle to drain my strength this much. And I'm not as strong as I thought I was."
Ren stared at the sky.
"Heck, now I even feel Newgate was holding back."
"After we arrived in the future, the gap between me and Newgate has increased."
"So, let's just take Amazon Lily for now. Once Amazon Lily is integrated and our forces grow stronger, we can go and visit Fish-Man Island."
Ren said.
"Hmmm. Sounds reasonable."
Shakky said. If thay really took Both Amazon Lily and Fishman Island the Government might not tolerate it and other forces might also get alarmed.
They lay on the clouds as they flew toward Amazon Lily.
The sky above them was calm.
The clouds slowly drifted past.
Ren stared at the sky while Shakky lay beside him with her eyes closed.
"Hey, Shakky... don't you feel afraid?"
Ren suddenly asked.
"Hmmm? Afraid of what?"
Shakky asked as she opened one eye to look at him.
Ren continued staring at the sky.
"That we have too much time?"
His voice was quiet.
"Time is really a scary thing. It changes people."
"Just look at me. I was just an ordinary guy, but after eating the Devil Fruit, and all those years of training and sparring, I've completely changed."
"I annihilated an entire fleet without even feeling anything. I drank for the first time in my life."
"This wasn't how I was."
"I had never fought in my entire life before I ate the Devil Fruit, but look at me now."
Shakky kept staring at him and let him say everything.
Ren continued.
"Before all of this started, I was just an average guy."
"I never had any female friends."
"I was a loner who lived thinking that I wasn't worth being anyone's favorite or deserving anyone's love."
Ren's voice became quieter.
"But look at me now."
"I have you, Toki, and Gloriosa."
"I don't understand... how did I change so fast?"
"I'm afraid I will become someone completely different."
"The previous me would have never laid his hands on Gloriosa like I did."
Ren said as he looked at Shakky in his arms.
Shakky was startled when she looked into those eyes.
"I-I'm afraid I might become the kind of guy I hated the most."
"I don't understand when I stopped respecting boundaries."
"When did I become like this?"
Shakky reached forward and hugged him.
"I don't think you were thinking about this seriously."
Ren hugged her.
"You don't understand, Shakky."
His voice trembled slightly.
"I... I feel like the me back then and the me now are completely different people."
"I'm afraid I will do something I will regret without even knowing."
"I'm afraid I will hurt you, Toki, Yamato, Hancock, and the others."
Shakky remained silent.
"I-I shouldn't have crossed the line with Gloriosa."
"At that time, I didn't even think about how she might feel."
"I was too drunk on my sudden growth in power."
"I was looking at her not as Gloriosa... but as something that should be mine."
Ren said as something inside him broke.
His breath became unsteady.
Tears slowly started flowing down his eyes.
He hugged Shakky tighter.
The Storm Emperor who had just annihilated a Buster Call...
Who possessed strength capable of bringing disasters upon the world...
Was now trembling.
Not because of an enemy or fear of death.
But because he was afraid of himself, Afraid of what he might become.