The sea in front of the sanctuary was shrouded in a thick fog.
Strangely, this sea fog only covered a circular area, neither expanding nor dissipating.
This was Aetheria, a rare fog island in the North Blue.
The islands in the Four Seas have vastly different climate conditions from the Grand Line, with few extreme weather events.
Aetheria is a C-shaped volcanic island, forming a natural inner bay called the Lake of Destiny.
The active volcanic crater in the center of the island is thousands of meters in diameter.
The outer perimeter of the island is a dark Blake basalt, spiraling along the coastline, forming a somewhat eerie pattern with the crater.
Visually, the highest point of the entire island is only about a hundred meters, yet the columnar joints formed by volcanic eruptions create a natural stargazing platform.
The thick fog on the outer perimeter of the island is a peculiar phenomenon formed by the fusion of volcanic ash and sea fog.
Even more peculiar, for one hour every day at noon, the fog completely dissipates, only to form again in the afternoon, repeating this cycle.
Blake took the women off the ship, and as expected, they didn't attract too much attention.
The most mischievous Perona was holding Stella's hand, but she couldn't hide her excitement, curiously looking around.
Although the others weren't as obvious as she was, they were also quite curious.
"Outsiders…"
Just then, an old man walked towards them, chanting in a low voice:
"When the hot springs erupt in sync with the tides, your destiny will be revealed here."
After speaking, he didn't wait for their reactions and turned to leave, leaving everyone with puzzled expressions.
Robin explained:
"I checked the information before getting off the ship."
"The country on this island is called the Tarot Kingdom, which is not a World Government member state."
"Their supreme leader is the 'Great Prophet,' a hereditary position, essentially the King."
"It sounds like this is a very superstitious country."
Koala was thoughtful.
Robin nodded and continued to introduce:
"Indeed, whenever they have important decisions, they make them through the 'Wheel of Fortune'."
"Children's enlightenment education typically involves Tarot card memory training, and the coming-of-age ceremony requires everyone to pass through the misty area alone."
"What a strange island…"
Perona muttered softly.
Blake added:
"Because the Tarot Kingdom believes in divination, they often make some unexpected decisions, which has resulted in this island not being wealthy."
"They can't join the World Government by paying a huge tenryuubito tribute."
"Normally, such non-member states are the countries pirates love to visit the most."
As he spoke, he glanced at Mandy out of the corner of his eye, and seeing that she remained expressionless, he continued:
"But the situation on Aetheria Island is special, with natural sea fog as a barrier."
"Ordinary ships find it very difficult to pass through the sea fog area within the one hour at noon."
"This makes it difficult for ordinary pirates to land on the island, and great pirates don't bother with such a small place."
"The Tarot Kingdom, on the other hand, is quite peaceful because of this."
Everyone walked and looked, and Perona noticed that the reeds by the roadside seemed a bit strange.
She ran closer, curiously observed for a while, then reached out to pull out a reed, but couldn't move it, almost falling into the water herself.
Seeing this, Koala quickly went to help.
She held Perona with one hand, and with a gentle tug of the other, pulled the reed out of the water.
Perona thanked her and curiously examined the reed.
There were several faint patterns on it, which, when combined, formed the image of a balance scale.
Everyone gathered around to look.
A resident of the island passed by, and seeing the group, he said:
"Are you outsiders?"
"Those by the roadside are unique reeds from our island, the one in that child's hand is called the 'Judgment Reed'."
"Besides that, there are 'Marriage Reeds' symbolizing love, 'War Reeds' symbolizing war…"
Blake asked curiously:
"Do you use these to judge criminals and decide on wars?"
The person did not answer directly, but mysteriously said:
"Everything is the arrangement of destiny."
Riddler, get out of Gotham!
The sudden appearance of the Riddler did not dampen everyone's spirits, and Blake and his group arrived at the central square.
The giant bronze wheel rotated under the sunlight, casting constantly changing shadow patterns.
"Is this the legendary 'Wheel of Fortune'?"
Looking at the bronze wheel, which was twenty meters in diameter, Robin murmured softly.
She gently placed her hand on the wheel, and the bronze wheel paused its rotation for a moment, then slowly revealed an image of a book.
"Congratulations, little sister, this is a sign of wisdom awakening."
The soldier guarding the wheel stepped forward and said to Robin with a smile:
"You must be a very wise child."
Blake raised an eyebrow upon hearing this:
"This wheel is interesting, you all go and try it."
Perona, who had been eager to try, was the first to step forward and place her hand on the wheel.
The bronze wheel revealed a distorted and eerie figure, which was clearly a ghost.
"Ah!"
Perona was startled and quickly withdrew her hand.
The soldier, however, laughed heartily:
"You must be a mischievous little girl."
"You're talking nonsense!"
Perona immediately stomped her foot:
"Lady Perona was clearly taking the divination very seriously!"
Everyone tested one by one.
Stella was depicted as a priestess.
Mandy was a sword.
Koala's pattern was very interesting, a lion with a crystal ball on its head.
Only after asking the guarding soldier did they know that this represented wisdom and strength coexisting.
Blake was the last to step forward.
He had originally been dismissive of the divination on this island.
After all, they weren't fortune tellers who had eaten the Scarecrow-Scarecrow Fruit, so what accuracy could there be?
But now it seemed that at least the images reflected by this "Wheel of Fortune" were quite accurate.
Robin represented wisdom, Perona represented mischief, Stella represented gentleness, Mandy represented martial prowess, and Koala possessed both martial prowess and wisdom.
Blake was very curious, what was his own core personality?
When Blake placed his palm on the bronze disk, the disk did not react for a long time.
Just as he was getting a little impatient, a clear and distinct figure suddenly appeared on the disk.
Against a dark red background, a man holding a scepter stood against the wind, wearing magnificent robes, with a resolute and stern face.
It was Blake himself.
"Is this… self?"
The soldier responsible for guarding also scratched his head upon seeing this:
"I've never seen a sight like this before, but sir, have you really not considered the clothes in the image? They seem to better suit your temperament."
He had unconsciously started using honorifics.
Blake smiled and did not answer.
As he turned to leave, his gaze fell on a boy who looked only eight or nine years old.
"It seems my luck is really good."