"Something special?"
Kaido hadn't thought about that before.
"That's right. I've heard that this Skoll Island and the Hati Island not far to the east are two identical islands that mirror each other. The two islands face each other across the sea like two wolf heads, but besides that, there should be something else special, right?" Ren said.
"Considering John faked his death, why would he choose Hati Island as his 'death location'? I heard that island is now in ruins."
"And now, why has Skoll Island become a gathering place for pirates?"
These were Ren's questions. Over the past two days, he had already observed the area, and there were no traces of an ambush on Skoll Island. Could it be that John planned to use empty-handed tactics to create conflict among other pirate crews?
That would be far too naive.
If real benefits weren't placed before their eyes, then even if different forces had friction, it wouldn't escalate into major conflict first.
"He couldn't be completely unprepared, unless he really plans to use this incident to retire," Ren said.
This was his other theory. Captain John might genuinely be planning to retire, but he was worried about being constantly targeted, so he simply released this kind of news.
He knew few people would believe it, but when the world's attention gathered here, perhaps he had already gone to the other side of the world to enjoy himself freely.
If the real John never appeared until the very end, then the "rumor of Captain John's death" would slowly become reality.
As for his treasure, it could only become a legend circulating on the seas.
"Could it really be that simple?" Kaido was starting to feel uncertain.
"Who knows..." Ren shook his head. "But for you or other forces, this outcome is acceptable. After all, John's people can disappear, but his territory won't. By occupying his territory, you can gain benefits as well."
But Kaido wasn't happy hearing this.
Fight with Golden Lion and the others for territory?
That would be foolish.
Territory is different from treasure—it's not something you can take away. Even if you could seize it temporarily, whether you could hold it is another matter entirely. He didn't want to get bogged down in a quagmire of war at this time.
Kaido's current territory in the New World was quite small, occupying only one or two inconspicuous islands where he developed quietly.
"King, do you have any intelligence on these two islands?" Kaido thought for a moment and turned to ask.
"These two islands look similar, but in reality, they're like opposites. Not only do they face opposite directions, but the climate and terrain on each island are completely different. Skoll Island is a summer island, but Hati Island is a winter island." King had flown to Hati Island to investigate before, so he had some intelligence.
"There are traces of battle on Hati Island, but it doesn't look like there's an ambush. If I had to mention something special..." King's wrapped gaze turned toward Ren, seemingly hesitating about whether to share this information in front of him.
"It's fine, go ahead."
"I understand, Kaido-sama," King continued, his tone unchanged. "On one day each in March, June, September, and December every year, both islands experience either polar day or polar night phenomena. That means for two days each year, these two islands have no night, and similarly, for two days each year, they have no day."
"Polar day and polar night? But that's nowhere near the North or South Pole!" Ren said in disbelief.
This world, of course, also has a North Pole and South Pole. In the original story, Buggy and Shanks even argued as children about which one was colder. But whether the North Pole or South Pole, both were very far from the Grand Line.
Actually, if you look at it from Earth's map, the Grand Line's position would roughly be near the equator.
The Earth's doldrums are also on either side of the equator. There, the sun shines almost directly year-round. Due to the relatively uniform horizontal temperature distribution, the horizontal pressure gradient is very small, and the air flow is mainly convergent and rising with weak wind speeds—hence called the equatorial doldrums.
"The Grand Line's abnormal weather can be attributed to magnetic fields, but polar day and polar night are caused by the movement of the sun's direct point—how could they appear at the equator? And on just two separate islands..."
"It seems the problem most likely lies with these special days. It's already September now," Kaido said. He didn't understand much about magnetic fields or direct points, but he could see where the issue lay.
Time and location both matched up. Eliminating all impossibilities, what remained was the only possibility.
"When that day comes, we'll just have to see what happens. For now, we can only wait." Kaido wasn't as hung up on this as Ren was. He didn't know much about natural science, but he knew the Grand Line well, and he knew Devil Fruits well...
In his view, anything that existed in reality was reasonable.
There were too many wondrous things in this world. Aside from someone being able to master Armament Haki internal destruction, Conqueror's Haki coating, and Devil Fruit awakening—three things requiring years of training—just from getting hit on the head three times, nothing was impossible.
Ren didn't know his thoughts, otherwise he would have held his hand and told him, "Kaido-sensei, you're too modest. With your guidance, nothing is impossible."
He was thinking that when Buggy and Enel grew up, he'd have to let Kaido hammer them a few times.
Thinking about it now, if Ace had gotten hammered by Kaido back when he went to Wano, his Haki wouldn't have been so weak. Such a loss, such a huge loss!
Not just Baji and Enel, Shutenmaru would need to find an opportunity to get hammered a couple times too.
'No, never mind Shutenmaru—I'm afraid he'd accidentally get killed by a bomb...'
People's constitutions cannot be generalized. Some can take a direct hit from Thunder Bagua and survive even with half their body gone, while others would lose their life from just getting randomly hit by a bomb.
"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me with that strange gaze?" Kaido asked suspiciously.
"Nothing." Ren shook his head. "For now, we can only wait and see. I'm going out for a walk."
He planned to check on the other pirate crews' situation.
Kaido didn't stop him: "If there's any situation, come back here to regroup. Even though we don't have any foundation of trust, at least we're allies for now."
"Don't worry, I won't keep information to myself. I have no interest in money," Ren said coldly with an annoying tone.
But actually, he genuinely had no interest in money right now.
Inazuma's annual revenue and expenditure figures were already unimaginably large. If he wanted, he only needed to cut one year of research funding and spend the extra money, and he could easily cause economic turmoil across the seas.
[
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