"Lord Ren!" Jasmine happily dashed to Ren's side, leaving Olvia and Saul trailing behind.
People like Jasmine and Yukiko usually addressed him as "Lord Ren" in private, but when speaking with outsiders, they called him "General."
Ren nodded to her and Iris, then turned his gaze to the two people disembarking from the ship.
"Archaeologist Nico Olvia and Jaguar D. Saul."
As he spoke their names, Robin's body beside him visibly began to tremble.
Olvia…
Robin knew that was her mother's name. Even if she hadn't known, hearing the surname Nico would have been enough to guess.
Just as she thought…
That white-haired woman was her mother?
Little Robin felt as though her heart were being squeezed tight, and she timidly looked toward the woman.
Olvia also felt Robin's gaze. It stirred something familiar in her, but she didn't dwell on it. Although she missed her daughter dearly, knowing that Inazuma was willing to protect them from the World Government made her feel much more at ease.
Reuniting with her daughter wasn't the most urgent matter right now.
What mattered most was hearing from this man himself that he could save Ohara.
Before Olvia could speak, Saul dropped to his hands and knees on the beach and bellowed: "Are you really the Raiden Shogun? You don't look anything like the person I met before! No… now that I look closer, the features are somewhat similar, but the aura is completely…"
Saul could sense tremendous power within the man's unimposing frame. This man was certainly strong, but his presence was the complete opposite of the Raiden Shogun he'd encountered before.
One was a cold, venomous serpent. The other was fierce, blazing lightning!
"You mean this form, then…" Ren glanced up at him, and suddenly purple light erupted from beneath his feet.
Then, before the astonished eyes of Saul, Olvia, and Robin, the entire beach seemed to be engulfed by a sandstorm of lightning!
"Full Body Reception — Rumble Soul!"
The light cleared, and lightning crackled!
Several purple serpents of lightning coiled around Ren's sides, flickering and flashing continuously.
Ren's black hair had turned purple, the tips darkening as if they shimmered with electric light! A pair of eyes like flawless purple gems gazed up at the giant.
Saul felt as though his throat had been paralyzed by electric current, pain surging through him again and again, rendering him utterly speechless.
Strangely enough, this man who was so small compared to him was currently looking up at him — yet Saul felt as though he were the one prostrating on the earth like an ant, while the other stood high above the heavens!
The moment those eyes locked onto him, Saul was hurled back to that naval battle years ago — the roar of cannon fire ringing in his ears, lightning flashing ceaselessly before his eyes!
The giant, tall as a mountain, was seized by terror.
Ren didn't continue frightening him, switching instead from Rumble Soul to Door Soul. In Door Soul form, Ren looked identical to his original self. Aside from the Door-Door Fruit's abilities, this form offered no boost to destructive power or endurance.
In truth, even without using Reception Magic, his current swordsmanship, Haki, and physical prowess alone gave him Yonko-level combat strength. But compared to the Rumble Soul, this form didn't radiate nearly as much pressure.
"Well? Can you confirm my identity now?"
Saul gaped, opened his mouth, and after a long pause finally managed: "What on earth is… Could this be the power of a Devil Fruit?"
With a big head that was actually rather empty, he could only attribute everything to the wonders of Devil Fruits.
But he wasn't completely foolish, either.
The outside world said the Raiden Shogun was a Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, but now it seemed that wasn't necessarily the whole story.
At the very least, the man's initial appearance hadn't been exactly the same as what he showed now.
Saul pondered this.
"Raiden… Shogun… I'll address you that way for now…" Saul scratched his head and spoke. His identity as a Marine hadn't changed yet, so talking to Ren still felt awkward.
But since he'd confirmed the man's identity and the situation was already pressing, he couldn't worry about such things.
"Listen — to be honest, what exactly is Inazuma planning to do? The Marines should already have warships heading this way. Using this one ship to evacuate all the scholars from the island… I'm afraid it won't be that simple."
Hearing Saul's words, Olvia quickly added: "The World Government's goal is to eliminate every single scholar. They've always treated Ohara's researchers as thorns in their side. This time, they've seized on my case as a pretext, and they absolutely won't let this opportunity slip away."
"Using ships to evacuate the scholars and all the knowledge in the Tree of Knowledge — that's obviously impossible. But we have a faster method," Ren said.
He raised a hand, and behind him a towering shoji door dozens of meters high appeared like a mirage.
"Whoa—"
The doors slid open automatically, revealing an unknown space filled with mist within.
"What is this…"
"Go on in first. You're too big — you're drawing attention here." Ren didn't explain, simply telling Saul to step through first.
"I understand…" Saul nodded. He wanted to refuse, but remembering that the person speaking was the Raiden Shogun, he didn't have the nerve.
Saul stood roughly twenty meters tall — little Robin wasn't even as big as his nose. So the World-Crossing Gate Ren summoned was equally vast, wide as a mountain.
After Saul entered that unknown space, the doors slowly closed and vanished into thin air.
Robin stared at the now-empty coastline. Even the sharpest mind couldn't have made sense of what just happened.
"Mr. Baal… was that magic?"
"No, it's a Devil Fruit ability," Ren answered.
"Devil Fruits are really…"
Robin, who hadn't yet learned much about Devil Fruits, was clearly very curious. But Ren cut her off.
"Instead of asking me about Devil Fruits, there's something else you want to say, isn't there?" Ren glanced down at her, then continued: "I'm heading to the Tree of Knowledge now. Even if the Marines want to make a move, it'll be a few days at least. No need to rush."
"I'll leave this to you, Robin."
"Robin!?"
As soon as Ren finished speaking, little Robin hadn't even had time to react before Olvia cried out and rushed toward the small child, grabbing her shoulders tightly.
"Are you really Robin?"
"Mm…"
Robin felt her eye sockets burning hot, while her nose and cheeks were ice-cold.
[
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