A hideous fish, larger than an entire island, opened its colossal maw and swallowed Ren's party—ships and all—in a single gulp.
After a brief, lightless slide down the esophagus, a brilliant golden glow bloomed before Ren's eyes. In the vast space above, the golden radiance was so mesmerizing that one couldn't help but linger in awe.
Rumble!
The two ships splashed into the water, quickly regaining their balance. Before the crews could even process their surroundings, Olga, currently held in Hina's arms, screamed at the top of her lungs, "Get the ships to shore! Fast! Otherwise, the wood will be dissolved by Lord Bonbori's stomach acid!"
In the eerie silence of the giant's belly, the little girl's voice rang clear as a bell.
Law instantly expanded his domain. The blue spherical field stretched all the way to the shoreline. With a quick flick of his wrist, he swapped the ships with several large boulders on the bank, safely depositing the group on solid ground. On the other side, Franky used a Coup de Vent to propel the Thousand Sunny through the air, landing it steadily on the island.
Once gathered on the ground, Nami looked around with wide-eyed wonder. "Where exactly are we?"
Olga smirked. "Welcome to the interior of Lord Bonbori! As for the Pure Gold, it's tucked away in a corner of his stomach!"
Ren looked at Olga and asked point-blank, "So, how old are you really this year?"
"Don't ask a lady her age!" Olga snapped with an air of mock arrogance. Then, she urged, "Hurry up and grab the Pure Gold so we can leave. If Lord Bonbori dives back into the deep sea, getting out will be a nightmare!"
Luffy and his crew were more direct; they were already sprinting across the island. Under Luffy's heavy-handed hunting, the "adorable" dinosaurs hiding in the woods were rapidly being converted into a delicious lunch. Ren, meanwhile, took Hina and Blu toward the second of the giant fish's stomachs.
I remember the data on how to manufacture Pure Gold is in the final stomach, behind a rather tedious trial.
The giant fish's stomachs were interconnected. After a bit of trekking, the trio arrived at the innermost chamber. It was a small, desolate island with no living creatures—only a rather primitive mechanical trap. Of course, "primitive" was Ren's assessment; an ordinary person would have found it quite a handful.
BOOM!!
With a single punch, Ren shattered the mechanism left by Olga's father. He barreled through the ruins and found the laboratory containing the Pure Gold. Pushing open the lab doors, Ren raised a hand to stop the two behind him. "Stay back for a second. I need to copy everything in here."
Hina and Blu watched their captain with curiosity, wondering how he planned to "copy" a room full of papers. Ren's eyes shifted, the Mangekyou Sharingan manifesting in his pupils. As he activated his ocular power, the research data scattered throughout the room was imprinted into his mind almost instantaneously, memorized with perfect clarity.
Doing so, Ren's lips curled into a smirk.
Scientist Ren has been a bit lazy lately, spending all his time juggling an angel and a vampire. Ninja Ren is too young to do much more than swap spit with Mikoto. I'll leave the actual research to them; I'm not exactly the academic type.
On the laboratory table sat a container holding an egg-shaped metal, submerged in an unknown liquid.
"This is the Pure Gold? Incredible stuff!" Even for a metal, the power it held to halt biological growth was a marvel of this world's nature.
Hina leaned in for a closer look. She stared at it for a long time but couldn't see anything particularly special about the lump of metal. "Can this really grant immortality?" she asked skeptically.
Ren didn't bother explaining. He turned to Blu and commanded, "Young man, it's time for your workout! Package this whole cave up and take it with us!"
"Eh?! That's a bit much, Captain!" Blu's face fell. Aside from the data, the cave was filled with fragile vials and jars. With his clumsy hands, one broken bottle could spell disaster.
Ren waved him off. "Fine, just take all the books and equipment. Hina and I will wait for you up front."
Looking at their retreating backs, Blu felt like crying. A few seconds later, with a massive crash, Blu followed behind them, literally carrying the laboratory floor on his back.
Toying with the container of Pure Gold, Ren began calculating. Once they were out, he'd kill this giant fish. He didn't want the creature hunting him down every time he took the gold out for a stroll. To solve the problem permanently, the fish had to go.
Returning to the first stomach, a loud, arrogant laugh reached Ren's ears.
"Hahahaha! Take me to the Pure Gold right now, or I can't guarantee these people stay alive!"
A red-haired man with thick, ugly lips was shouting. Beside him, Nami and Robin were bound in chains in a series of... creative poses. They looked at Luffy with frantic eyes.
With his friends captured, Luffy was fuming. He roared at the red-haired man, "Let Nami and the others go! Or I'll never forgive you!"
"Hahaha! Hand over the Pure Gold first! Or I kill the hostages!"
"I don't know where the Pure Gold is! Let them go first!"
The two sides were at a stalemate, neither willing to budge. Krillin and the others were sitting some distance away, watching the scene with looks of utter boredom.
"What exactly is Luffy doing?" Krillin muttered, resting his chin on his palm. They had noticed the Treasure Hunter, Mad Treasure, from the very beginning. Since Ren hadn't given the order to move, they simply ignored him.
However, they hadn't expected Nami and the others to actually get caught. In the process of being bound, it was as if Luffy and the boys had suffered a collective lapse in brain function.
Law and Grus had no intention of interfering in Luffy's mess. Olga was busy stuffing her face with meat, not even sparing Luffy a glance. Though she'd only known him for a few days, she had a good grasp of his power; the Marines who caught her had been blown away like flies. This random "Treasure Hunter" was no match for him.
As Ren's group walked back across the water, Ren casually asked Nami and Robin as he passed the hunter, "Need a hand?"
Nami nodded frantically.
"Ten million Berries per person."
Nami's face instantly transformed into a jagged-toothed shark. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST ROB A BANK!"
Ren shrugged and walked right past Mad Treasure. As for the hunter, the moment he saw Ren, his entire body went rigid. He didn't dare move a muscle.
How... why is a dangerous monster like that in here?! The man's brain had apparently been on a delay, only just recognizing Ren's identity.
Once Ren had passed, Mad Treasure finally exhaled, but his relief was short-lived. He heard Ren say to Luffy, "Wrap it up. We're leaving."
Luffy scratched his head. A second later, Zoro stepped forward.
"You guys head to the ship. I'll handle this and catch up."
Zip!
Zoro appeared beside Nami, his blade flashing as he severed the chains, freeing the women. Mad Treasure tried to react, but the moment he looked up, his eyes met Zoro's. In that instant, Zoro's silhouette seemed to expand infinitely in his vision. Before this man, he felt like a tiny insect that could be crushed with a single footstep.
The Treasure Hunter finally realized he had made a very, very stupid mistake.
Zoro's eyes glinted with murderous intent, a cold smirk playing on his lips. "Now... are you ready to die?"
Zoro is ending the farce! Should the crew leave the giant fish's belly and witness Ren's "cleanup" of the sea monster, or should they check in with the newly immortalized Olga on the ship?