Patience is a virtue.
Perhaps it was luck, or maybe Ren had simply sent out too many Shikigami.
Either way,on the third day after arriving at Ruluka Island, they finally located the Rainbow Mist.
It drifted half a day's sail from the island.
At this moment,over a dozen ships clustered around a swirling vortex of iridescent fog that shimmered like a dream.
"So this is the so-called Rainbow Mist?"
Hovering in the air, Ren spread his six golden wings, the halo above his head casting a warm, sunlike glow.
From the decks below,Mayor Wetton's family and their guards gazed up in fear at this being who wielded power beyond their comprehension.
A bounty of 270 million—even the thought of such a pirate was enough to crush their spirits.
But…
That was fine.
The youngest of the family, Lake, possessed a different mindset from his father and grandfather. The treasures rumored to lie within the Rainbow Mist seemed too illusory to him. What he valued more was the preservation of their current wealth, authority, and—most importantly—their lives.
Thus, he began to form a plan.
The Rainbow Mist's legendary trait—"no return"—could be used to their advantage.
Once those outsiders enter, I'll cut the ropes immediately. As long as they're trapped inside, even if some of us stay behind, we'll have a chance to survive. After all, this is the sea—those Devil Fruit users aren't invincible!
Lake's eyes gleamed coldly.
Beside him, Flip's face darkened slightly. He seemed to guess what his son was plotting.
He glanced at his father—the mayor—who was still lost in delirious greed. The so-called Mayor Wetton had long been consumed by the thought of treasure, forgetting that they already possessed more than enough wealth and comfort.
I'll watch for the right moment. If the chance comes, we act. If not, then Lake will have to pay the price himself. And if those people push me too far, I'll trigger the trap and blow up the ships—trap them in the sea. As long as we make it back alive, everything can still be salvaged.
Flip schemed quietly.
Three generations of one family, each harboring different thoughts.
At the root of it all lay the same truth: Ren's group was small—only three people. In this vast sea, the only outsiders were them; the rest were Ruluka natives. If anyone wanted to plot something, it would be easy.
But such antlike gazes couldn't possibly draw the attention of a six-winged angel.
What a strange place… I can't sense anything unusual with Observation alone, Ren mused as he looked down at the hazy colors forming on the sea's surface.
That was the Rainbow Mist.
A place that didn't exist in the real ocean—home to an endless graveyard of ships and mountains of treasure.
Yet its most extraordinary feature was the grotesque distortion of time within—a difference so vast it spanned decades.
It wasn't merely that time flowed differently inside and out. From the events recorded in the original history, the mist even warped the timeline itself.
When the Straw Hats escaped after the Rainbow Mist exploded, they returned to their own time, but the Pumpkin Pirates who remained inside were flung fifty years into the past—later resurfacing as Marines who took revenge on the Wetton family.
That alone was enough to terrify anyone.
After all, this wasn't fiction—this was the real world. Reversing time wasn't just a story here; it was a tangible phenomenon.
Ren even suspected that this phenomenon might be the result of an awakened Time-Time Fruit. Only a Devil Fruit could create something this incredible.
If that guess is correct, then it explains the Rainbow Mist's origin. So… should I go inside and see for myself?
As he pondered, an excited shout rang out.
"There it is!"
Henzo gripped the ship's railing, eyes burning as he stared at the fog. The "thing" that had trapped him his entire life—his lost past—lay within that mist.
"Let's begin."
Ren slowly descended, the Thunder Spear unraveling into serpentine streams of lightning that crackled within hundreds of meters around him.
"I'll go in first to find them, "Vivi said, grabbing Henzo by the arm. As promised, she boarded a small boat and steered toward the mist. "Don't worry—I'll help you reunite with your crew."
"Thank you… truly."
Henzo's eyes welled with gratitude. He knew these people had other motives, but as long as they fulfilled his wish, that was enough. As a member of the Pumpkin Pirates stranded for decades, he finally had a chance to rescue his comrades.
"I'll stay here and keep watch. What about you?" Nojiko summoned flames around her, her fiery armor gleaming as she landed on the sea's surface.
Behind her, three generations of the Wetton family tensed in fear.
"Do as you please. I'm going in to take a look," Ren replied casually. He raised his hand toward their flagship—sparks flickered between his fingers.
Lake froze, his newly formed plan crumbling in an instant.
"W-Wait, he's—he's going to—!"
"Damn it, he's going to kill us now! Atta—"
BOOM!
A blinding pillar of lightning descended like a wrathful dragon, spreading a web of searing electricity across the deck. Within a heartbeat, hundreds of meters were engulfed in roaring thunder.
Schemes, plots, whispered conspiracies—all were annihilated beneath overwhelming might.
The three generations of the Wetton family, along with their loyal retainers,were reduced to charred ash in an instant.
The sea, once noisy and chaotic, fell into a deathly silence.
Even the waves seemed to bow beneath the thunder's authority.
Fools. Rule long enough, and you forget your place.
Ren lowered his hand, glanced once at the wreck, then beat his wings and flew straight into the Rainbow Mist.
"Proceed according to plan," he said over Den Den Mushi.
High above, Nojiko had already conjured a massive fireball. Her cold gaze swept across the remaining Ruluka soldiers, compelling them to move again.
They had no choice—those who refused would drown and feed the fish. At least now, only the mayor's family and cronies had perished.
In truth, most of the soldiers despised Ruluka's taxes anyway. The "plan" was simple: secure the treasures inside the Rainbow Mist.
Most of it would be gold and jewels—meaningless to Ren's crew, who were already wealthier than nations—but better than leaving it behind. Nojiko had always been frugal.
Within the mist, Ren streaked through the air like a bolt of light. His enchanted Elytra gave him an acceleration of 300 meters per second—nearly sonic speed.
Thanks to the Angelic Wings set, even the intense airflow didn't affect him. This peculiar resistance made him realize his gear had greater potential—something to test later.
For now, he focused ahead.
The sea within was veiled in fog, dotted with countless ancient wrecks. Judging from the ship designs, many dated back centuries.
But Ren wasn't an archaeologist like Robin—he cared little for old history. He only scanned the area briefly before dispatching his Shikigami to explore.
Since the Skypiea campaign, the number of Shikigami had grown dramatically. The reason was simple:with the Judgment ship and Nami's Rumble-Rumble Fruit powers, their crew's reliance on Mana Crystals had dropped sharply.
The surplus energy was then funneled into creating more Shikigami. Now, Ren commanded a full corps of one hundred.
In any army, cheap and mass-produced scouts were indispensable—and compared to his Angels of Glory, the Shikigami were far better suited for reconnaissance.
Before long, Ren had a full picture of the interior.
Vivi had located Henzo's long-lost comrades, the Pumpkin Pirates, and crushed the Wetton loyalists still hiding within. After fulfilling Ren's deal with Henzo, she swiftly led them out. The treasure collection, meanwhile, was left to the Ruluka locals who followed.
After two days of systematic looting, nearly all valuables within the mist were gathered.
As for the treasures lying deep below the waves, Ren lost interest once he confirmed most were gold. Gold? He already had tens of thousands of tons sitting unused back home. He'd even given some jewelry to the Ruluka sailors as payment.
But the main reason for his haste was simple—the Rainbow Mist was entering its collapse phase.
"So basically, once the pointer on this device hits the bottom, the mist will vanish," Henzo explained wearily, dark circles under his eyes.
His reunion with his old comrades hadn't been pleasant; they were still trapped in the past, unchanged by time. Still, the pragmatic scientist carried out his work faithfully.
"Understood. You can take your people and leave now. Nojiko, the rest is up to you," Ren ordered.
He wasn't sure what effect the Land Card would have here. According to its description, it could "capture a piece of heaven and earth"—but what would happen if that "place" wasn't real to begin with?
"I got it. I'll gather as much funding from the island as possible," Nojiko replied before departing with Vivi and the others aboard their ship.
Soon, Ren was alone.
He reached into his four-dimensional storage and drew out four cards:
Blank Land Card ×1
Land Enhancement Card ×3
After a brief series of manipulations, the cards transformed.
[Blank Land Card · Enhanced ×3]
Origin: Unknown Dimension
Type: Planeswalker Artifact
Effect: A creation of the Planeswalker system derived from Magic: The Gathering. This is the most crucial card type within the Planeswalker system. Blank Land Cards, crafted by a Planeswalker's hand, contain no innate element. They must "capture" a fragment of the external world to define their content.
For example, absorbing a lava river would create a Fire-type Land Card that generates Fire Mana—while the real river disappears in exchange.
When reinforced with specialized tools, these cards can even capture higher-order phenomena—such as spatial or temporal distortions—though not the true source concepts themselves, only their localized manifestations.
[Cost: None]
(End of Chapter)