Chapter 59: Why Not Give It a Try?
Facing this character card, this absolute legend, who could possibly resist not using Take Over Magic immediately?
Ren's body began to change. It wasn't just a simple shift; it was an explosive expansion. He felt his bones thicken and stretch, his muscles swell with a density that felt like bedrock, and his entire frame rapidly grew taller and larger, his head almost touching the ceiling of his small room.
His clothes dissolved and reformed, replaced by the iconic light-yellow pants, black boots, and the massive white captain's coat, draped over his shoulders like a mantle of command. In his hand, a weapon materialized, its weight feeling both immense and perfectly familiar: Whitebeard's exclusive weapon, one of the Twelve Supreme Grade Swords, Murakumogiri.
[Akarin's Note: Murakumogiri, meaning "Cloud-Cutter," is the name of Whitebeard's personal bisento (a Japanese polearm). It is ranked as one of the 12 strongest "Supreme Grade" weapons in the One Piece world.]
Most noticeably, a crescent-shaped white mustache, curving upwards, appeared below his nose. His face was a composite of his own and that of Edward Newgate, but the aura... the aura was all Whitebeard.
At the same time, a lifetime of memories, not his own, began to surface in Ren's mind.
It wasn't a gentle stream; it was a flood.
He felt the biting poverty of his childhood in the Sphinx Kingdom of the New World, a non-affiliated country that couldn't afford the 'Heavenly Tribute' and was thus left to be ravaged by pirates and human traffickers.
He felt the loneliness of being an orphan. He saw the world that had destroyed his home and left so many children to suffer. He felt the one, burning desire that would come to define his entire life: the desire for a family.
He was on a ship. He was young again, strong, going to sea to become a pirate. He was on the crew of the Rocks Pirates, a chaotic, dangerous time filled with monsters like Rocks D. Xebec. He was there, fighting alongside and against men who would become legends: Roger, Shiki, Big Mom, Kaido.
The Rocks Pirates were destroyed 38 years ago. He founded his own crew. But it wasn't a "crew." It was his family. He felt the overwhelming, paternal love for every man who joined him, calling them his "sons." He didn't crave treasure, nor the title of Pirate King. He just wanted a place for his family to belong.
Then, the memories grew darker.
He felt the sickness take hold, the debilitating weakness, the tubes in his arms. He felt the pain of betrayal as his own "son," Squard, was deceived by the Marines and stabbed him through the chest.
He was at Marineford.
He felt the overwhelming grief as his son, Ace, was struck down by Admiral Akainu. He felt the surge of his own power as he fought, not for himself, but for his children's future. He was old, his body was already failing, and he knew there was no possibility of returning from this war.
If he didn't go, even if the World Government didn't act, the other pirates, like vicious dogs, would tear the Whitebeard Pirates apart the moment he died.
Ace was the son he most believed could lead the next generation; as long as Ace was alive, his sons would have hope of survival.
He would use his own life to pave the way for his sons' future.
Ren, experiencing this all from a first-person perspective, was even more shocked than he had been just reading it. He stood in his small room, his new, massive form trembling, not from weakness, but from the sheer emotional weight of a legend's life.
There are always some people online who feel that Whitebeard, the "World's Strongest Man," isn't as impressive as he seems. Yet, Fleet Admiral Sengoku didn't question it. The Marine Admirals didn't question it. The other Four Emperors and the Seven Warlords of the Sea never questioned it. But some people always think their judgment is superior to these powerhouses.
Now, Ren knew the truth. Whitebeard's title as the World's Strongest wasn't bestowed by others; he had earned it with every single, earth-shattering punch.
Ren felt the surging power within his own body. He had never, ever felt so strong before.
He clenched his new, giant fist, feeling as if he could easily tear the earth apart, shatter the sky above, and shake the very sea. This overflowing power wasn't just magic; it was a physical, tangible force, like a human-shaped volcano, thrumming with the power of the Gura Gura no Mi—the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
He felt that he could shatter space itself with a single punch.
Ren felt eager to try.
"Should I...?" he thought, a bead of sweat forming on his brow. "Should I try it myself? Just once! Just a little one."
Once this thought arose in Ren's mind, it became unstoppable. How could he not try such immense, world-ending power?
"Hmm... it's already twelve o'clock," he reasoned with himself, looking at the clock. "Everyone's asleep. I'll just use the smallest amount of power. The smallest, the smallest, the tiniest little bit..."
"Om----!"
Ren clenched his right fist. A spherical, translucent light shield, emitting a faint white glow, enveloped his fist. The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was confined within this spherical light shield, the air around it visibly cracking and distorting. He was trying to hold back a tsunami with a paper cup.
"Gently... just... gently..."
Ren lightly, almost casually, threw a punch at the empty air in his room.
"------!!"
There was no sound, at first. Just a silent, deafening shatter.
Crack crack!!
The very atmosphere in front of his fist fractured like a pane of glass, covered in dense, spider-webbing cracks.
Immediately after!!
Rumble----!!!
The entire town of Magnolia began to tremble violently, as if a magnitude-six earthquake had erupted from its very center.
"Ahhhhhh!!"
"Earthquake!!"
"Run! Get out of your houses!! Go to an open space!!"
In the dead of night, all the lights in Magnolia's homes snapped on. Doors were thrown open as panicked citizens, screaming in terror, rushed out of their houses and into the streets. For a moment, the entire town of Magnolia was in total, unadulterated chaos.
"Uh... oh no!"
Ren, standing in the epicenter, quickly deactivated his transformation. The massive, god-like form vanished, and he was just himself again, standing in his pajamas in a room where every cup, plate, and book had been violently thrown to the floor.
He quickly slipped back into his house—or rather, his bedroom—and dove directly under the covers, pulling them over his head.
"So strong!" he whispered to himself, his heart hammering with adrenaline and excitement. "It's truly too strong!"
Despite causing trouble, Ren was extremely excited. He had tried his best, his absolute best, to control his power and use only a fraction of a fraction... and the unleashed force was still terrifying. How strong would it be if he used his full power?
Shaking with a nervous laugh, Ren pulled out his system panel from under the covers. He quickly selected all the character cards of blue rarity and below that he'd just pulled.
[Do you want to recycle the selected character cards?]
"Yes!"
[Recycling successful! Congratulations to the host, your magic power has increased!]
Ren opened his personal attribute panel.
"Host: Ren"
"Age: 19 years old"
"Race: Human"
"Magic Power: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (5/6 Stars, nearing 6)"
"Magic: Take Over Magic"
"Character Cards: Ulquiorra Cifer (Gold), Yoriichi Tsugikuni (Gold), Fushiguro Toji (Gold), Edward Newgate (Gold), Portgas D. Ace (Purple)."
"Current number of draws: Three."
"My magic power still hasn't increased yet? System, when will my magic power reach six stars?"
[Host, recycle three more purple character cards, or one gold character card, and you can immediately reach six stars.]
Upon hearing this, Ren's mouth twitched. He would be crazy to recycle a gold character card. He had already recycled two purple character cards before. After all, with a growing roster of gold character cards, he generally wasn't interested in ordinary purple ones.
He kept Ace partly because he just genuinely liked Ace, and partly because the Ace character was incredibly practical. His mana cost was far lower than the gold cards, but his attack power was still devastating, making him incredibly cost-effective. Ace had become his go-to character for regular missions.
"At least two more ten-pulls to get three more purples, then..."
Magic power was the foundation of everything. The stronger his base magic power, the greater the strength he could display when taking over a character, and, more importantly, the longer he could sustain it. Therefore, magic power was crucial.
However, the higher the level, the harder it became to increase.
"I still need to do more missions!"
Early the next morning, Ren, trying to look as well-rested and innocent as possible, arrived at the guild.
Many people had already gathered there, far more than usual for this hour. They weren't drinking or fighting; they were all huddled in anxious groups, all discussing the terrifying earthquake from the previous night.
"You all felt last night's earthquake, right?"
"Of course! It was a super strong earthquake! It shook me right out of my bed!"
"Me too! Me too! I was having a wonderful dream about a mountain of cheese, and the earthquake woke me up!"
"The earthquake was so scary. My whole house was shaking! To prevent aftershocks, I didn't go back inside all night."
"You weren't the only one! The entire town didn't go back inside. Everyone slept on the ground in the open spaces in the center of town!"
Hearing these discussions, Ren muttered softly to himself, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"Ren! You felt it too, right?"
At this moment, Elfman, looking surprisingly fresh, patted Ren's shoulder with a hand that felt like a sledgehammer.
Ren feigned a yawn. "Uh... felt what? I slept pretty soundly last night. I didn't notice a thing."
Mira, who was wiping down the bar nearby, was slightly taken aback when she heard Ren's words. Her hand paused.
'That's strange,' she thought, her eyes narrowing just a fraction. 'Cana told him 12 AM was his 'peak luck' time. And the earthquake happened at exactly 12 AM. Now he says he was sleeping soundly? How could he have been sleeping...?'
However, Mira's expression didn't change. She didn't think much of it... or at least, she pretended not to.
'Maybe he really was asleep,' she reasoned, resuming her polishing. 'After all, missions are tiring. And he did just get back...'
[Akarin Note:
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