"Got it. So what you're saying is—it's still just a prototype. And I'm guessing… you've run out of money again?"
Zoro nodded meaningfully. "So, who's your next target? Which pirate crew are we going after next—and when do we set sail?"
"Haven't decided yet. Let's wait until the resupply's done."
Ren could only give a wry smile.
Zoro clearly understood both Ren's Devil Fruit powers and his personality.
In his eyes, Ren was the kind of guy who either didn't act at all—or went all the way when he did.
And when something ended up half-finished, there was always one reason behind it.
No money.
In fact, that was exactly the problem.
His chip balance was sitting at zero.
After chatting a bit more, the two went their separate ways—Zoro to inspect his quarters, and Ren back to the deck.
"Ren! Look outside—the ship seems to be surrounded by something!"
Nami had just discovered something strange in her cabin. She hurried up the stairway to the deck, right as Ren was coming down.
Following her gaze, he saw that the Enlightenment's exterior was now wrapped in a shell made up of countless interlocking octagonal panels.
It looked incredibly sci-fi, the whole thing glowing in a cold, metallic silver-gray.
"That's the Field Generator's barrier. It's a protective shield—blocks cannon fire."
Ren took one look and immediately figured out what was going on. The generator had activated, and he'd already set the defensive parameters to repel bombardments.
It seemed, however, that due to the One-Time Skin: Mechanical Style, the normally invisible barrier had turned visible.
He frowned. It felt a bit too flashy for comfort.
"Really?"
Nami didn't mind. Gazing at the shimmering barrier, she actually felt a reassuring sense of safety.
"How's your section coming along?" Ren asked.
"It's great—so much bigger than the Pipi Shrimp!" Nami nodded cheerfully, her earlier frustration about her empty savings melting away.
The only thing that bothered her was how cold and hard the silver-gray theme felt. She was already planning to repaint it later.
"Good."
Ren nodded.Below the deck were three levels, and above it another three.
The first level, counting from the main deck, housed the kitchen, dining room, viewing platform, and lounge—plus Zoro's and three crew cabins.
It basically occupied all of the foredeck's space, leaving only a sunken square platform at the junction point.
That platform held the Bubble Coating Machine. Ren took the barrel of Yarukiman Mangrove Resin and poured it in.
If they ever ran into danger, they could create a coating layer and dive into the deep sea.
The second level belonged to Nami and Nojiko.
Facing forward were Nami's Weather Plantation and Nojiko's orange grove.
Once the railings were raised, they'd left a walkway around it that worked as a balcony, complete with power, heating, cooling, and hot-water systems.
The back section contained their bedrooms, personal workrooms, and a shared lounge.
As for the third level—naturally, that was Ren's domain.
"Go handle your Weather Plantation," Ren said, letting Nami get to work while he began inspecting the foredeck.
The space was huge. On both sides of the ship's hull were six protruding square platforms, each covered with a lid.
'What's this?'
Curious, Ren lifted one—and froze when he saw a silver-gray missile inside.
He instinctively ducked back, half-thinking he'd wandered onto the wrong set.
But after checking through the control screen, he realized these six platforms were the Corn Cannons—just… transformed.
The upgrade was so drastic that even Ren hadn't recognized them at first glance.
The Corn Cannons' long, thick shells had been merged with the Mechanical Style skin, now looking like vertical missile pods.
Basically, they'd been turned from horizontal turrets into vertical launchers.
The function, however, was the same—they still fired corn missiles.
Before merging the new skin, Ren had even added some Redstone powder, linking them to the Redstone Intelligence Core.
Using the Iron Knight's AI standard as a reference,
the once-primitive Corn Cannons now had predictive targeting and coordinate locking functions.
According to the control interface, under the Redstone Core's direction, even the Iron Knights could call for a missile barrage.
Or Ren himself could manually operate it through his link with the Core.
A full missile strike!—Well, the description might be a little exaggerated.
In truth, it just meant setting coordinates and having the cannons fire at that spot.
The range matched the Redstone Core's effective area—about a 3,000-meter diameter.
Zoro and the others, of course, couldn't control it without compatible abilities.
Ren then went to inspect the ship's bow. The ramming head had been reshaped into a cluster of interlocking gear-blades, and even the railings along the hull had turned into intricate gear formations.
But when he touched or lightly struck them, he found they were still made of wood beneath the illusion.
After a few taps, he stopped—this was his ship, after all.
Leaving the foredeck, he ascended to the uppermost layer.
The third deck resembled a layered cake—each level smaller than the one below, but still spacious for a single occupant.
Opening the door, he was greeted by floor-to-ceiling windows facing the sea and foredeck—
bulletproof glass he'd drawn from the 100,000-Beli prize pool, strong enough to withstand a cannonball.
From here, he could see everything ahead of the Enlightenment.
There was even an emergency exit in case he ever needed to jump out fast.
Inside the cabin stood a massive bed—actually three Minecraft beds fused together.
One of the few lottery rewards Ren had spent on himself.
As for its purpose… well, anyone could guess.
A single red-and-white bed was more than enough for one person, after all.
Ren sat on the edge of the bed.
To the left of the door was the large Advanced Decomposition Machine, still with plenty of space reserved around it.
The original Enchanting Table and anvil had sunk along with the Pipi Shrimp, and he didn't have spare money to replace them yet.
The enchanting system seemed somewhat obsolete now, but he wondered if he could apply it to the Iron Knights—perhaps strengthen their external gear that way.
"Right now, what I really need… is money."
Ren sighed. He'd already taken down nearly every famous pirate crew in East Blue.
The Arlong Pirates, Buggy Pirates, Krieg Pirates—who else was even left?
No one of note.
The Black Cat Pirates had been wiped out by Garp's arrival; chasing down Kuro personally wasn't worth the effort.
At most, he could anonymously report the guy to the Marines.
And soon enough, he'd be facing the Navy's pursuit anyway.
Garp might even chase him personally. East Blue might not stay safe for long.
"Is it time to head to the Grand Line?"
Ren pondered his future plans.
Without a doubt—
his top priority right now was earning money.
Nothing made money faster or easier than robbery.
Of course, he wasn't about to rob civilians or the weak—his targets would be pirates and criminal syndicates.
His secondary goal: becoming one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
The more he learned about the Marines, the less he wanted to oppose that massive organization.
After all—
Ren had no fundamental conflict with them. If not for Marine Branch 16, he wouldn't have been branded a pirate at all.
He didn't even see himself as a pirate, nor did he recognize the so-called Demon Pirates.
The Enlightenment wasn't flying any Jolly Roger either.
There was no need to antagonize the entire Navy over a label someone else had slapped on him.
Beat the small fries, and the big ones would follow. The stronger the foes, the worse the payoff.
And worse yet—there wasn't even much reward for winning.
'If I think about it logically, I'll definitely have to go to Alabasta. I can't rise in reputation without taking out Crocodile… but I've no idea how strong he is at this point in time.
'Early-game "Sand Godfather" Crocodile and late-game "Desert Emperor" Crocodile are worlds apart.
'Guess I'll just have to see as I go. In that case, the first stop will be Whiskey Peak. I may not consider myself a pirate, but those bounty hunters won't care about my opinion. Still, with Vivi there, I could use it as a springboard into Alabasta.
'We'll figure out the details when we get there.'
Ren lay back on the red-and-white bed, roughly finalizing his course of action.
Then he pulled up the Enlightenment's system data.
[Spirit Load: 0]
He valued the submarine and aerial modes the most—but both required souls to power them.
After studying the system, he found that users had to capture wandering souls and infuse them into the ship manually.
Which was… quite morbid.
Ren's first thought was to use the Ghost-Making Technique, but since each spirit cost three Mana Crystals to craft, he gave up immediately.
Maybe he could try pulling a prize that allowed him to trap the souls of defeated enemies.
The Elder Scrolls series had something like that—Soul Trap.
Worth a shot.
After a full inspection of the Enlightenment inside and out, the crew got to work.
Food stores were the top priority, followed by furnishing and decoration.
Nami and Nojiko couldn't stand the silver-gray theme. Since no outsiders would be living on their floor, they seemed determined to redecorate it completely.
Ren and Zoro, however, thought the metallic look was cool—and after some arguing, managed to keep the ship's outer hull unchanged.
Maybe this was just the eternal difference between men and women.
Once the task list was set,
they ran into their first big obstacle—no money.
In the deck's main lounge, Ren sat idly toying with an empty pink wallet.
Don't get the wrong idea—it wasn't his.
The rightful owner, Nami, was glaring daggers at him, clutching his arm in outrage. "It's really gone—not even a hundred Beli left! You already took everything!"
Heaven help her—
this was the first time in her life she'd ever been robbed by a man, rather than robbing from one!
And it wasn't even the first time—this was the third!
Nami was starting to feel that, in Ren's eyes, what was hers was his… and what was his was still his!
"If we're really short on funds," Nojiko said hesitantly, "I've still got around a hundred thousand Beli saved up. I can chip in."
She'd clearly sensed the crew's financial crisis—and offered to help without hesitation.
(End of Chapter)