"Sir, we need to discuss something," he said in a calm voice.
— M-M-MARINE?!
The old man said this while backing away, and Bill realized that, despite all his efforts, he was still over nine feet tall and looked like a giant compared to this sixty-year-old man.
"Calm down, sir," Bill said, raising his palms slightly. "There's no need to worry, I just want to talk."
"T-talk?!" the old man exclaimed, looking like he was ready to run at any second despite trying to pull himself together. "You kidnapped me and destroyed my home! Is this the Marine way of 'talking'?!"
Still holding his hands slightly up, Bill calmly explained:
"This is an unfortunate coincidence. I tried to find you, but the mayor was constantly with me day and night. Your property will be repaired. I simply ask for your time."
While Bill was speaking, the old man seemed to calm down a little and even asked sharply:
— Mayor Wetton? Yes, that's right! How did you even end up here, where did you come from?!
Smiling slightly, Bill lowered his left hand and pointed up with his right:
- This morning I decided to fly around the city several times in the hope that I would accidentally meet you.
"You came from the sky?!" the old man exclaimed. When Bill nodded and said it wasn't such a big deal, the old man replied, "Son, in our area, that's a big deal!"
"I'm sure there are stranger things in this world than flying marines," Bill said with a laugh, causing the old man to both relax and wince.
"Yes... yes, there is," said the old man, removing the metal device from himself and adding: "Okay, what do you want from me?"
While Bill began asking his questions, the old man walked to the corner of the room and sat down on a chair.
— …it doesn't fit in with the rest of the city, so what is this huge tower?
The old man sighed and replied:
"This tower is Wetton's dream, in case the Rainbow Mist appears again. The tower is basically just a hollow tube—I won't bore you with the details—but the next time the Mist appears, it should provide its people with an escape route. Only after they've collected all the riches inside, though."
"Wait, what Rainbow Mist?" Bill asked, confused, as this didn't fit his expectations at all.
"Oh, you don't know?" the old man asked in surprise, then waved his hand and continued, "Well, whether you know it or not, Wetton is sure that's why you're here."
When Bill asked why, the old man explained:
"Because you're not the first Marine to come here because of those rumors. In fact, there was a Marine here recently who was even bigger than you. G.Gaz... something like that, I can't remember, but this guy just wouldn't leave and ended up forcing Wetton to pay another tribute. He really didn't like that."
Bill frowned upon hearing this.
His job didn't involve fighting corrupt Marines, but he would do whatever it took. Bill knew he couldn't eradicate corruption worldwide, but if it happened before his eyes, he would stop it.
After that, Bill first asked about the Marine who had come here, but Henzo couldn't provide any information. So the conversation returned to Rainbow Mist.
"Forget it," Henzo said before continuing, "The last time the fog appeared was fifty years ago. Don't be a fool like me and waste your life looking for it."
Shaking his head at the suggestion, Bill said:
"That's what I don't understand. Why should anyone care about this Rainbow Mist?"
With a heavy sigh, Henzo sat down on a chair and replied:
"It's all about treasure. Robber Reef, Monkey's Concert, the Sargasso Sea—whatever you call it, it's real. And not only real, but the only way to get there is through the Rainbow Mist."
Bill, who had never heard of such places, asked in bewilderment why it was connected with treasure.
"Because," the old man replied, "it's a ship graveyard. All those treasure ships—from ancient times or the future—end up there. I don't know how or why, but I've seen it myself, and that's why I can never refuse!"
Looking at Henzo in silence, Bill didn't judge the old man. Whatever this Rainbow Mist represented, and whatever the tower's purpose, he could tell the old man wasn't lying.
But just because he wasn't lying didn't mean he was right. And as if answering his suspicions, after Bill asked how he knew he'd been there, Henzo replied, almost in tears:
"Of course I was THERE! My friends… my best friends were on that ship that disappeared! I know what I saw! And the Rainbow Mist must return, it will return! And there I will find out what happened to them, I will save them then!"
Without showing any pity, Bill had heard this before.
If the old man had been younger, Bill might have tried to help him, but the man was so old that the Rainbow Mist fantasy was probably the last thing he had left.
Nodding, Bill said he was sorry and that he hoped the old man would find his friends.
"When you find them..." Bill paused before continuing, "If you need help, you can come to me. I'm a captain in the Science Department, and while I don't think I can help you right now, I'm more than willing to do whatever I can."