After a brief conversation with Redfield, Ren went with him to check out the location of the "Wolf's Eye."
The ground in that forest was very damp, the soil soft, and the tree trunks were covered with aquatic algae plants. Just as Redfield had said, this place had indeed been a lake, but its surface area was rapidly shrinking.
Ren also saw some fish trapped in shallow puddles.
"Isn't it interesting? But they're safe in those puddles. Once that day passes, the lake will rise again, and this brief period won't be enough for the puddles to dry up," Redfield said.
Ren silently rolled his eyes.
No one would worry about the safety of a fish, let alone whether that fish was even safe in the puddle. In front of Red, Ren snapped off a tree branch, pierced the fish through it, then turned and asked.
"Do you eat grilled fish?"
Fish: 6!
Although he had verbally agreed to cooperate with Redfield, Ren had no intention of ending his partnership with Kaido. In fact, his current cooperation with Redfield was hidden from view.
Unless necessary, the two were unlikely to meet directly.
Ren had originally planned to take this opportunity to check on Shutenmaru, but with Redfield's Observation Haki, everything on the island would likely escape his perception. Although that guy seemed to know something, Ren still didn't reveal himself directly.
So he headed straight back to the tavern. As expected, Kaido was there drinking today.
"Still drinking, Kaido? Don't tell me an unexpected situation comes up and you end up passed out," Ren said.
"How could that be? This amount of wine isn't even enough to get stuck in my teeth!" Kaido complained grumpily. His enormous stature was over eight meters tall. Even sitting down, he was almost twice Ren's height.
Actually, if Ren wanted to, changing his height wouldn't be difficult either.
Since fully mastering the Oibore Devil Fruit, he had gained the ability to transform into a giant. In his fully transformed state, he could become even larger than a mountain.
Even without using the Oibore's power, in his normal state, Ren's body could make minor adjustments, allowing him to freely transform between heights of two to six meters.
It was just that he had grown accustomed to his original height, so he generally maintained it.
Over the past few days, Kaido hadn't completely withheld the information he'd acquired. In fact, he was quite willing to share less sensitive information with Ren.
Ren also shared his findings with Kaido.
"The lake is shrinking? Does that mean it will form an underground cavern?" Kaido stood up. He hadn't expected Ren to bring him useful information.
Ren was willing to share this information with Kaido partly because, as Red had said, traps are meaningless if no prey gets caught. So even if Kaido hadn't discovered it yet, Ren figured someone would notice once the lake completely dried up.
In fact, many people had already noticed the problem in that area. Kaido's intelligence was already lagging behind other factions. He had been holding back, not making a big fuss, just to ensure his own survival until the very end.
John's treasure wasn't for whoever found it first.
Only those who stood last would be the winner!
Thinking this, Kaido subtly glanced at Ren, momentarily considering whether to burn his bridges at the end. But he quickly dismissed the idea.
Kaido was not only cunning but also far-sighted.
Not to mention whether he even had the power to betray this partner and keep all the stolen treasure for himself. Even if he did, in his view, it wouldn't be worth it.
No matter how vast John's treasure was, it couldn't compare to the value a true powerhouse could bring.
Kaido believed that if he could recruit Ren into his crew, then even if they gained nothing from this operation, it would still be a profit. Even just establishing a longer-term cooperative relationship was a very tempting prospect for him.
Therefore, while Kaido was wary of Ren, he truly had no intention of burning his bridges.
"Underwater cavern, Sunlight Tree and Moon Tree... this is really something. I heard the Moon Tree was considered extinct several hundred years ago," Kaido said. "Well, with so many islands in this world, and many ancient ones, it's not surprising that a Moon Tree would appear now."
Ren nodded. Due to the independence of the Grand Line islands, islands with completely opposite characteristics like Ancient Islands and Future Islands existed.
In many cases, creatures considered extinct on most islands could still occasionally be found living on remote ones.
However, this world had no wildlife protection agencies. Even if creatures thought to be extinct were rediscovered, they would likely disappear again, and eventually become truly extinct.
"What's special about the Moon Tree?" Ren wasn't a botanist and didn't know much about it. But Kaido was different. When considering building his own ship, he had specifically researched some famous plants.
The best material, of course, was the Treasure Tree—Adam.
"If you're talking about durability, it seems quite ordinary, but I heard it has a special ability," Kaido said, scratching his thick hair as he carefully recalled. "The branches and leaves of the Moon Tree can absorb light, just like the Sunlight Tree Eve. But its trunk doesn't conduct light."
"The light absorbed by the Moon Tree is stored, and silver-glowing branches and leaves grow from its trunk, but I don't know what those specific branches are used for."
Kaido knowing so much about the Moon Tree was enough to surprise Ren.
As for the Moon Tree's uses, he would find out soon enough when he saw it with his own eyes.
"Speaking of which, you probably don't know yet. The Marines have arrived on the island," Kaido shared the intelligence he had gathered today. "It's not a covert operation; they've actually sent a fleet. Leading them is the new Marine Admiral from two years ago, Zephyr (Z)."
"Only Zephyr alone?"
"Currently, only the Admiral has come. But there are quite a few Vice Admirals from the headquarters," Kaido nodded.
"It seems the Marines can't sit still anymore. I bet he won't be the only one for long."
[
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