"Strong World: Shiki's Roar" was one of Ren's favorite One Piece movies from his previous life, but since it was from so long ago, he'd actually forgotten many details.
He remembered the general plot, but background information was mostly forgotten.
He only recalled that the plants on Shiki's island contained a factor called "IQ" that could make animals go berserk. So he had his subordinates research this, creating many ferocious beasts.
As for whether the feathers on the residents' arms were caused by this, he wasn't sure. He hadn't brought scientists on this trip, so he couldn't analyze it.
"Wait, actually it's not hard to verify." Ren released the little girl's arm, and she immediately shrank behind Matsuri as if escaping.
"Matsuri, where did you find this child?"
"She seemed to have been hiding in a cellar before, but that lion bastard found her." Matsuri answered.
"Do the other natives on the island have these characteristics too?" After coming ashore, Ren had seen one or two natives but hadn't paid close attention, possibly overlooking their differences from outsiders.
After all, the special features behind the ears and on the arms were easy to hide.
"Everyone is like that..." Before Matsuri could answer, the little girl stuck her head out and whispered.
She still seemed a bit afraid of Ren, but due to her trust in Matsuri, the fear wasn't very strong.
"So everyone who used to live on this island is like you?"
Ren tried to appear gentler and quickly gained her trust. You could only say that humans, even children, are visual creatures—they instinctively trust beautiful things.
Or rather, precisely because they're children, they more simply believe that good-looking people are good people.
This child nodded vigorously.
"Can you tell me your name?"
"I'm... I'm called Foresight... Mom and Dad both..." Foresight began speaking in a tearful voice. Ren had only asked for her name, but everything she'd experienced recently had clearly put tremendous pressure on this child's mind.
Once she started, she couldn't stop. Like finding someone to rely on, she poured out everything that had happened since the pirates appeared.
"Waa... Dad... Foresight is so scared..."
By the end, neither Ren nor Matsuri could understand what she was saying anymore. Her crying mixed with words, and given her young age and weak expression, plus her constant sobbing...
But neither Matsuri nor Ren interrupted her.
Experiencing all this at such a young age—if crying could help release her inner fear, that was a good thing.
Matsuri held her with concern. Before long, she fell asleep from exhaustion.
"Lord Ren, what should we do now?" Matsuri held Foresight in her arms. She was becoming more and more like Yuriko, especially after becoming more maternal, more easily showing a motherly radiance.
If people in the One Piece world could surf the internet, Matsuri would have countless unrelated sons by now.
"Let her rest first. There's no rush for other matters. According to the intelligence from Kaido's side, the polar day on Sku Island should appear in about ten days."
Ren wasn't anxious to get information from Foresight. Or rather, he felt this little girl probably didn't know much. She wasn't the only native on the island. If you could just randomly find someone and get useful information, John's conspiracy would have been discovered long ago.
As for his guess about IQ, it was actually easy to verify. Just check whether the monsters on this island were extremely berserk.
After letting Matsuri stay in the tavern room to watch over her, Ren went out again.
This time he didn't wander around town but headed up into the mountain forest alone.
"No ferocious beasts, and it seems even large animals don't exist." Ren looked around without finding anything unusual. Or rather, an island without animals like tigers or leopards was already unusual in itself.
Tigers and wolves of normal size weren't dangerous in this world at all. The three brothers Luffy, Ace, and Sabo could hunt giant beasts as children. Crocodiles several meters long were just food to them.
Ren walked along the ridge and arrived at the northeast side of Sku Island.
This was the "giant wolf's" forehead area.
"You've been following for so long, you should come out now." He stopped walking, his gaze fixed on the distance. From here he could see the entire island, but his eyes were drawn to a patch of darker forest.
That position should be... the wolf's eye.
"I didn't expect you to notice."
Behind Ren, a gentlemanly-dressed man stepped out. He wore a red cape and trousers, with a rose-colored shirt beneath. At the cape's clasp was a large blue flower.
Redfield.
Since their brief eye contact last time, he'd actually sought out Ren again.
"My name is Barlorick Redfield." This man known as the "Red Count" and "Solitary Red" was still very young. He had red hair and held a blue long umbrella—his weapon.
Redfield's reputation wasn't great right now, mainly because his influence on the seas was too low, but his strength was second to none.
"Interesting. The famously solitary Red Count, I wonder why you'd target an unknown nobody like me?" Ren turned around, one hand on his sword hilt.
"An unknown nobody, huh..." Redfield laughed softly while gently shaking his head, apparently denying Ren's words. He seemed to know something, yet didn't verbally contradict him.
Ren remained silent. He knew this man's Observation Haki was powerful enough to peer into others' hearts, but he didn't believe this ability would work on him.
His own Observation Haki was also strong. In his Thunder Soul state, Ren could even hear others' heartbeats.
Though he couldn't do that now, he could still prevent others from peering into his mind.
"Then, may I ask, Mr. Nobody, how should I address you?"
"You can call me Sesshomaru."
[
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