"Don't let him out."
Very abruptly, Vivi, who had been so hesitant just a moment ago, refused.
Her brown eyes grew moist. She suddenly threw her arms around Ren, buried her face in his chest, and said:
"I don't want to disappoint you. Not just because of that debt, and not because I have to repay you."
"Then why?"
Ren could feel two sword-like gazes stabbing into his back. Stiffly, he wrapped his arms around Vivi in the most gentlemanly way he could manage.
This battlefield of love had arrived completely out of nowhere.
At that moment, Vivi finally gathered her courage and went straight for it.
"I... it's because I want to be like Nami and Sister Nojiko."
She started off hesitant, but immediately firmed up.
A blush spread across Vivi's fair cheeks as she declared, "If they can do it, then so can I!
Whether it's keeping up with your pace or anything else!"
Once those determined words left her mouth, the "hero" who had worked up all that courage seemed to run out of it in an instant. Like she had been shocked by electricity, she quickly let go of Ren.
"Anyway... that's what I mean..."
Vivi slowly backed away with her head lowered, secretly glancing at Nojiko and Nami from the corner of her eye.
At this point, behavior like this could already be considered an open declaration of war on the battlefield of love, right?
But—
This was Vivi's decision. Courage was the necessary first step.
If she never even stepped onto the track, then it would remain nothing more than her own fantasy.
However—
When she actually looked at her two close friends and romantic rivals, she realized that neither Nojiko nor Nami looked surprised at all.
Nojiko even had an expression that clearly said, I knew it.
Ah, being seen through by big sister didn't seem strange at all.
As for Nami, she simply kept staring at Ren. She didn't come over to respond to Vivi, and she almost seemed unconcerned about it?
Am I really that lacking in threat?
At that moment, Vivi couldn't help doubting herself.
But in truth—
It was a completely different matter.
If she wants to join in... does that mean the alternating schedule can go from two rotations to three?
That was the first thought that popped into Nami's head.
Although she hadn't thrown herself too deeply into that kind of thing yet, she still had to think about the future.
Pleasure was certainly wonderful.
But too much pleasure just became Ren's pleasure alone.
And yet, if she kept suppressing Ren and refused to do what "should" be done, Nami felt like she wouldn't be able to get past that herself either.
That was why she had allowed her sister to move up.
One person alone simply couldn't handle a "beast" with endless stamina like him.
But when it really became two people—
Those three days had given Nami an even deeper understanding of Ren's energy.
Even with two of them, and even alternating one day on, one day off, it was still far too overwhelming.
She had things to do—get stronger, study weather, draw navigation charts, and more.
The same was true for her sister.
If Vivi joined them, then from a practical standpoint, it would definitely ease some of the pressure.
Of course—
She was still angry. After all, that meant yet another person was coming to take a share of what belonged to her.
If the "quantity" weren't so outrageously excessive, she definitely wouldn't have agreed to it.
Even so—
Nami was still going to be mad at Ren.
"Ahem, I understand."
Sensing the gaze behind him becoming sharper and sharper, Ren didn't dare drag this out any longer.
"See you later."
Vivi fled as though she had been granted amnesty.
"Mm."
The moment Ren turned his head—
He was met by Nami's frosty expression. Hands on her hips, she glared at him with obvious displeasure.
"Heh, keeping up with your pace, huh..."
The corners of Nojiko's lips curled up as she teased him, "So, Ren-sama, how does it feel to be admired like that?"
"Pretty good."
Ren stepped closer, trying to wrap an arm around Nojiko's slender waist.
But he was immediately rejected.
He turned and tried to put an arm around Nami's waist instead, hoping to coax this little ice doll a bit—
Smack—
But Nami instantly slapped his hand away.
"Go hug your admirer instead."
Nami rolled her eyes, then said, "I'm very busy right now. I have a lot of things to think about."
"Ahem... Nojiko..."
Ren awkwardly clenched his empty hand into a fist and coughed, then looked helplessly toward big sister for help.
"I can't help you either," Nojiko said, blinking her beautiful eyes. "If anything, I'm one of the people affected too."
Then she led Nami away from the area.
Before leaving, she threw out one last sentence:
"Greed always comes with a price. You'd better think this through properly."
Ren could only nod helplessly, though he had already sorted out the situation in his head.
Looks like this is just them making a statement—warning me not to think this kind of thing can be allowed without limit...
That was Ren's conclusion.
But as soon as he turned his head, he saw Robin covering her mouth and laughing softly.
"This is the first time I've seen that kind of... that kind of situation. What do you call it again...?"
"A battlefield of love."
"Even if it's not completely accurate, it does feel strangely fitting."
"...Let's not talk about that. Do you have any thoughts?"
Ren shrugged and changed the subject.
"Then let's talk about the current situation. Even though you can do many things here, it's just like Monet said, right? This space has its 'limits,' doesn't it?"
"Yes. Like what just happened—while it looked miraculous, the consumption was enormous."
Ren answered honestly. That earlier attempt had already given him feedback.
Though he possessed Creator-like abilities within the Creator Domain, the premise of all that was built upon an infinite expenditure of time-consumption units.
The world might be different, but it still had to obey certain laws of conservation.
He could easily alter terrain, change the composition and structure of matter, infinitely stretch spatial distances, and so on.
But he still had to pay the required "consumption" for those changes.
Thinking about it carefully, that made sense.
The strongest root of the Space-Time: The Creator card was merely the mist affected by the awakening of a time-based Devil Fruit user.
The other rewards were certainly powerful, but they were nowhere near enough to recreate an entire miniature world from scratch.
"Then what's the greatest meaning of this training camp?"
Robin followed up naturally. "If all we've done is enter a magical world, then surely a magical world should have some extraordinary advantage of its own."
"As expected of the Devil Child."
Ren smiled. "Actually, it's already started. Why don't you guess which part?"
"Oh?"
Robin looked around in confusion, but didn't notice anything unusual.
After thinking for a moment, she used her ability to bloom hands with eyes all over the place, yet she still found nothing.
Even as her mind kept trying to speculate on what was special about this place, she still couldn't detect it.
"I give up. I can't find anything unusual."
Robin surrendered decisively, choosing not to challenge a prophet's abilities with the limits of her own.
"What do you think is the thing I—and we—truly lack when it comes to becoming stronger?
A channel? Devil Fruits? Secret arts? Or something else?"
Ren answered with another question.
"Hm? Indeed, for us, none of those seem to be lacking.
I heard Nojiko mention it before—you can draw all sorts of wondrous items, things that let even ordinary people possess tremendous combat power.
What we truly lack... should be... uh... that's impossible!"
Robin's pupils suddenly contracted. She whipped her head around toward the direction they had entered from.
Arms stretched into the distance, blooming out at the edge.
Her heart was filled with disbelief, because the conclusion her reasoning led to involved something the world considered utterly impossible to change—
Time itself.
And yet, when the eyes in her palms opened, she saw a bizarre scene.
Outside the range covered in golden light, the sea of towering ancient trees beyond the great valley was still there.
They swayed with the wind, producing the rustling sound unique to a forest of giant trees.
At first glance, everything seemed normal. Nothing had changed at all.
That is—
If the entire process hadn't been slowed down by a full five times!
"The time outside slowed down!?"
Robin abruptly raised a hand to her chest, suppressing the shock crashing into her heart, the kind that made her whole body go numb.
Then she immediately reacted and blurted out the truth:
"No—it's that time in here has sped up tenfold!"
"Correct."
Ren clapped happily. "That is the true meaning of this training camp. One and a half months in the outside world equals one year in here.
I used up most of my savings on this, in exchange for time that is unimaginably precious to us.
Even the greatest genius is still only a genius. Once dead, they're worthless.
But if a genius fulfills their potential, then they become a true powerhouse, fully realizing the value and influence they were meant to have."
"Incredible... To think you can actually do something like this... Isn't this already the power of a god?!"
Robin was utterly stunned. What was happening here had already gone beyond the bounds of her understanding.
"No. There are Devil Fruit users in this world who can affect time.
Part of the reason this region could take shape is also due to something left behind by one such Devil Fruit user."
Ren shook his head and didn't explain too much.
"In short, the greatest function of this place has already begun."
At that point, he turned to Baccarat, whose expression was just as shaken.
"This is for you too, Baccarat. I expect to see at least some results from you within a year.
Don't worry—I won't force you. I'll provide some of the necessary factors for awakening.
For example, things that will help you understand luck more deeply. Among the remaining savings, there's a share prepared specifically for you.
I hope you won't disappoint me. If you fail to make any progress at all..."
He didn't finish the sentence.
Because the Baccarat before him had already dropped to one knee in fear and reverence.
"I will do everything I can, Master."
From the moment she arrived here, Baccarat had never regarded herself as part of this team.
After all, she was merely an "item" Tesoro had lost.
Especially after being betrayed, she felt that she could no longer form a relationship of trust with any group.
No matter what Tesoro had thought of her before, at least from Baccarat's own perspective, she had been extremely loyal as a subordinate.
She had worked hard to satisfy the captain's preferences and fulfill everything she was supposed to do.
And what was the result in the end?
Not to mention that now she had fallen into the hands of someone even more terrifying.
She had even considered trying to escape before.
It was only because she was restricted by the environment of the Sky Island, and because she feared Ren's reputation as a "prophet," that she hadn't dared to act without certainty.
But now things were different.
(End of Chapter)