Not long after, Ren calculated the Marines' total compensation, including the damaged Autonomous Machines and the environment destroyed during combat, totaling 235 billion Berries.
It seemed like a lot, but it was actually just the cost of building over two hundred warships.
However, this was a world with relatively low productivity. Such a sum, let alone the Marines, would make even the World Government's heart ache. When the bill was presented to the Five Elders, these five old geezers nearly had heart attacks.
And the six agents they had sent earlier were now down to three, which was also a loss. But this loss couldn't be mentioned openly—they had to swallow this bitter pill in silence.
Inazuma's relationship with the World Government also hit rock bottom because of this incident.
But later Ren agreed to let the World Government pay with Devil Fruits, and at prices above market value. This made the Five Elders breathe a sigh of relief.
The Celestial Dragons, those spendthrifts, didn't have much of anything except Devil Fruits. They usually just used them to feed slaves anyway. Rather than wasting them on that, it was better to use them to pay debts.
However, Ren had made it clear that for Zoans, he only wanted Mythical Zoans. Even Ancient Zoans were unacceptable.
So the World Government and Marines actually began collecting Devil Fruits during this period.
Half a year later, over twenty fruits were placed before Ren.
Logia: Swamp-Swamp Fruit, Dust-Dust Fruit, Aurora-Aurora Fruit
Paramecia: Permeate-Permeate Fruit, Box-Box Fruit, Love-Love Fruit, Rust-Rust Fruit, Thorn-Thorn Fruit, Compress-Compress Fruit, Spoon-Spoon Fruit, Fly-Fly Fruit, Extend-Extend Fruit, Metal-Metal Fruit…
Mythical Zoan: Dog-Dog Fruit, Nine-Tailed Fox Model, Human-Human Fruit, Oni-Oni Model
Most of these fruits were Paramecia. The Logia and Mythical Zoans combined totaled only five, but their value was high. The three Logia fruits weren't particularly worth paying attention to—they weren't powerful fruits.
The Dust-Dust Fruit was actually a subordinate to the Sand-Sand Fruit, while the Aurora-Aurora Fruit was a subordinate to the Glint-Glint Fruit.
As for the Paramecia fruits, their quality varied. There were decent ones like the Love-Love Fruit, as well as filler like the Fly-Fly Fruit and Extend-Extend Fruit.
What surprised Ren was that the Box-Box Fruit and Spoon-Spoon Fruit, which sounded somewhat silly, were actually quite useful.
The Box-Box Fruit was similar to the Door-Door Fruit—it was a space-type fruit. That alone was enough to double its value. As for the Spoon-Spoon Fruit, the point wasn't the spoon itself, but its telekinetic ability.
It was said that whoever ate the Spoon-Spoon Fruit could manifest a ladle. The ladle's size symbolized the strength of the user's psychokinesis. If someone could develop the ladle to match their body size, they would be close to awakening.
Twenty fruits offset 100 billion Berries of the World Government's debt. If you really thought about it, these fruits weren't actually worth that price. But for Ren, money was far less important than power.
Money depreciated, but once a fruit was eaten, it became permanent power.
With these fruits, Inazuma's top-tier combat strength could be upgraded significantly.
With such an opportunity, Ren's first thoughts were naturally Yukiko and the others. Not only because they were the people closest to him, but also because they were Inazuma's main fighting force.
Even though they were gradually stepping back from the stage of the Grand Line, with the Time-Time Fruit, they wouldn't age or die. This power would become eternal!
First was Yukiko. Ren gave her the Oni-Oni Fruit directly. The Mythical Zoan Oni-Oni Fruit could compensate for her physical deficiencies and also gave her control over wind, lightning, and fire.
The other Mythical Zoan, Ren planned to give to the Pirate Empress, making up for her loss of the Love-Love Fruit.
After that, Jasmine received the Love-Love Fruit, and Kujo Qiyue received the Smoke-Smoke Fruit Ren had collected earlier, compensating for her aerial combat capabilities.
As for her sister Yayoi, Ren's plan was to transfer Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit to her, but he couldn't do that yet. He had to let it go for now.
Saori, Yuriko, Keiko, and Kozuki Toki weren't combatants, so they declined the Devil Fruits. Iris hoped to become a Great Swordsman without relying on Devil Fruits, so she didn't need one either.
Ayame, originally a spider-type oni, became a Cloud-Cloud Fruit user this time. The Cloud-Cloud Fruit was also a fruit obtained long ago, only now being used by her.
Saya became a Tanuki-Tanuki Fruit oni.
The Mythical Zoan Tanuki-Tanuki Fruit had fallen into Inazuma's hands long ago, and this time it was just right to enhance Saya's Illusion-Illusion Fruit power.
After that, Lucci and Yamato, who were fighting overseas, also received two fruits.
Now, Lucci was a Deep Sea Dragon Gecko: Thunder-Devouring Form dragon gecko person plus a Metal-Metal Fruit user—an electromagnetic cannon was within reach.
And Yamato was a Fish-Fish Fruit Mythical Zoan: Azure Dragon Model (artificial) oni plus a Spoon-Spoon Fruit user. This way, both her physical strength and psychic abilities had reached the pinnacle. And from now on, her Thunderclap Eight Trigrams would have to be renamed Thunderclap Eight Ladles!
Black Maria, who followed Yamato, and the Pirate Empress's two younger sisters each received a Paramecia fruit.
After finishing this, Ren sent the remaining fruits to the Seirai Islands. These fruits couldn't all be kept—Inazuma was a large organization with many subordinates under its banner.
The Fatui Skirmishers team leaders they had recruited had already changed several batches. These people's combat strength would be Tobi Roppo level in the Beasts Pirates. One or two might not be noticeable, but together they were formidable.
Therefore, most of the fruits he wouldn't use would be distributed downward. Only a few more powerful fruits were kept in Enkanomiya.
With this, Inazuma's combat strength upgrade was complete. To achieve this goal, they had to thank the Marines and World Government, those two good buddies, for their generous assistance!
Ren was very happy, and would be even happier once the Marines delivered the remaining 100-plus billion Berries.
The Marines—what wonderful people!
So much so that whenever Ren felt he needed to spend money, he couldn't help thinking of those two good friends.
…
During this period, strictly speaking starting a few years ago, Doflamingo had been bothered by one thing. That was his brother Rosinante, who had reconnected with him a few years ago.
But in reality, Rosinante was an undercover agent sent by Sengoku. However, Doflamingo already knew this. After all, if Doflamingo wanted his brother to return to the family, Rosinante would naturally learn about the family's secrets with Inazuma.
Therefore, Doflamingo had long since brought his brother to meet Ren and implanted the Great Serpent Mark on him.
[
Dear Readers,
I need your help. My financial situation is critical, and I can't continue without support.
Despite this, I'm still posting 5 chapters daily across all my fictions because I love what I do and don't want to stop—but I can't sustain this alone.
Support Tiers:
Adventurer ($3/month): 20 chapters ahead + 150 chapters/month across all fics
Warrior ($7/month): 40 chapters ahead + 150 chapters/month
Immortal ($10/month - Best Value): 60 chapters ahead + character images/visuals + bonus content + 150 chapters/month
Important: Subscribe through your browser (not Apple App) to avoid 30% extra fees and 2-3 month payment delays.
Even $3 helps immensely. If you can't subscribe, please share my work with someone who might enjoy it.
Thank you for reading and considering support.
Patreon: patreon.com/anish_44
Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/anish_44
]