"What a… truly bizarre experience."
Ren, having reverted to a single body, pondered with a subtle expression.It was the first time he had ever split into two—and the strangest part was how one of his fleeting daydreams had somehow turned into reality.
The Soul-Shattering Horn he'd drawn from the 10-million Beli pool wasn't as useless as it first appeared.Come to think of it, it came from Tom and Jerry—a prop from a gag series.
"The horn has no usage limit. When I use it on myself, it splits my existing templates into separate entities… but all other skills remain shared. Is it because of the concept of 'character templates' itself?"
Ren muttered, eyes gleaming as he pieced the clues together.
Right now, his greatest issue was that his combat strength lacked any coherent structure—a messy collage of techniques.
He'd already planned ahead for future growth and even acquired complementary powers like Thunder Breathing and Heart of the Sword.But the truth was, those abilities demanded immense time and effort to train, master, and fully integrate into a fighting style.
For now, all Ren could do was keep pushing forward and trust that his future self would reap the rewards.
Still, the inconsistency of his abilities remained an ever-present flaw.
The Calabash Brothers system, however, was different. Each template could be used immediately—no training required.
And with the horn's new feature… two templates meant two Rens.
"So what if I had all seven templates?"
Seven clones of me.jpg!
Each one could specialize along a different skill tree. Sure, drawing the Calabash templates early would mean weaker results due to lower draw-tier quality, but not everything in this world could be perfect.
Besides, once he eventually gathered all seven templates, he could even aim for the fusion—Calabash Golden Steel! That alone would be another massive power boost.
"And come to think of it," Ren murmured to himself, "I drew a Senzu Bean before. In Dragon Ball, weren't there also fusion earrings that let two people merge into one? Maybe I could pull those too someday."
Nojiko blinked, stepping closer and placing her hand on his forehead. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Ren reassured her with a faint smile. "Just… got lost in thought. You actually gave me some inspiration with that attack of yours."
Then, tilting his head, he asked, "Speaking of which, what are you doing here?"
"Nami and Zoro used your invisibility potion and ran off," she sighed. "I couldn't keep up and got lost. Then I just followed the loudest noises… halfway there, you fell out of the sky! I thought it was an enemy and used the horn by instinct.
Anyway, what were you doing here, Ren?"
"Checking if the enemy's really dead."
Ren suddenly remembered Buggy—the clown who'd been shot through by the Ambition Rifle—and hurried to the scene.
There, he found a head.
A neat hole punctured its forehead. Even through the smeared makeup, it was unmistakably Buggy's trademark clown face.
The Chop-Chop Fruit could be powerful, but if mastered poorly, even bullets could be fatal.
Sadly, Buggy had never been one to seriously pursue strength.
And so… he died.
"He's dead, huh."
Ren gazed down at the frozen look of unwillingness on Buggy's face and spoke softly.
Happy?
Not exactly. Killing Buggy might actually cause more trouble than relief.
After all, the seas weren't just about fighting—there were politics, connections, and legacies.
And Buggy's background was one of the most unique in the entire Great Pirate Era.His later fame as one of the Four Emperors would come entirely from that background.
A former member of the Roger Pirates, sworn brother to Red-Haired Shanks, and a key player in the Impel Down breakout—those two early credentials alone carried weight beyond imagination.
Members of the Roger Pirates hadn't all been wiped out—they'd simply disbanded. Crocus at Twin Cape, Rayleigh in Sabaody, Shanks in the New World…
Each one of them was a legend—and all of them, in one way or another, had shared life and death with Buggy.
Killing him meant inheriting that karma.Someday, it could easily come back as a disaster.
Because pirates didn't care about who "started it."
Still, letting him live wasn't an option.
Ever since that newspaper report on Mys Island, Ren knew the East Blue wouldn't stay peaceful for long.
The Marines' retaliation from Branch 16 had proven effective—it reminded everyone that pirates chased money above all else.
Ren's greatest feat so far was destroying the Arlong Pirates, yet his bounty was a mere 4 million Beli.The Marines had deliberately covered up the truth, likely to avoid bureaucratic trouble.
But then the papers claimed he'd seized 1 billion Beli in treasure.The meaning was obvious: they wanted someone else to take him out.
A borrowed knife to kill.
That was the setup.
And then came Buggy, drawn to the bait—he and his crew could never resist such a prize.
After all, Buggy's lifelong dream was to claim every treasure in the world.
To him, a "treasure" meant gold and jewels. A pirate's duty was to steal wealth.
The moment he discovered Ren's existence, he was bound to chase him down relentlessly.
Even the surviving citizens of Mys Island could become collateral in that pursuit.
Rather than wait until he was hunted and cornered, Ren chose the preemptive strike.
That was his way of thinking.
"Isn't him dying a good thing?" Nojiko asked blankly, unaware of the tangled implications.
"Who knows," Ren muttered. "Even if it's bad, that's a problem for the future."
He shook his head, stared at the severed head in his hand for a long moment, then sighed and began gathering Buggy's other remains.
No matter what, Buggy had been a popular character. Ren had actually found him amusing once.
Now that he'd killed him, he might as well bury him properly.
Don't blame me down there—I at least bury who I kill.
Ren stuck a crude wooden marker into the ground, carving "Buggy" onto it.
Then he dropped the charred planks beside the grave and looked up at the sky.
The thunderstorm, which had raged for nearly fifteen minutes, was finally clearing.
Given the scale and power, the five Mana Crystals he'd spent were just about worth it.
Time to clean up the battlefield.
Stretching his arms, Ren walked toward where Nami and Zoro had likely gone.
Whatever consequences Buggy's death might bring wouldn't reach the East Blue immediately.
If Crocus from Twin Cape truly came after him, the Marines would riot long before that.
After all, when they tried to erase Gol D. Roger's bloodline, the World Government had ordered an entire generation of South Blue infants to be slaughtered.
If Crocus ever showed himself publicly again, he'd be treated no differently.
Rayleigh in Sabaody was the same—maybe even worse.
As for Red-Haired Shanks in the New World? Forget it—the Marines had countless eyes on him already.
If any of them made a move, Marine Headquarters would be in chaos.
The New World and Grand Line might belong to pirates—but the Four Seas absolutely did not.
No way a Yonko would charge into East Blue just to avenge Buggy… right?
Three chapters first—the rest is still being written.
(End of Chapter)