"AHHHHH!!"
Rehn nearly lost his soul in fright, his chubby face turning deathly pale in an instant!
"Lord Renzo! Are you okay?! I-I didn't mean it! Ahh! This hand-this stupid hand won't listen to me!!"
He flailed his fat arm, still crackling with sparks, panicking so hard he was on the verge of tears.
"Waa~!!"
Floating in midair, Kizaru finally let out a genuine cry of amazement. His signature O-shaped mouth opened wider than usual.
"It really is~… the Goro Goro no Mi!!"
"Good heavens~ Renzo-kun~!"
Kizaru landed back by the pool, looking as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Just where~ did you get something like this?! First 'revival'~ and now the power of a 'god'~."
He glanced at Rehn, who was still fumbling around trying to "put out" the sparks on his hand, and muttered softly:
"You really~ went and picked up even this kind of 'god'~ as a… err… lackey… no, a subordinate~?"
"Kizaru, you can eat whatever you want, but don't talk nonsense."
Renzo calmly tossed away the piece of charcoal in his hand.
"I just… have better luck than most."
"Luck~?"
Kizaru smacked his lips, clearly unconvinced.
He looked at Rehn, terrifying aura, clownish behavior, then at Renzo, who wore a very obvious I'm just watching expression.
At that moment, an idea surfaced in Renzo's mind.
"Kizaru."
"Hm~?"
"Isn't vacation… kind of boring?"
"Naa~ boredom~ is the very essence of a holiday~."
"No, no," Renzo shook his head. "Just soaking in hot springs and drinking isn't interesting at all. You need some… after-dinner entertainment."
Kizaru paused, his eyes behind the lenses turning toward Renzo.
"Oh~? 'Entertainment'~?"
Renzo's gaze flicked between Kizaru and Rehn, still wrestling with his own fingers, his lips curling slightly upward.
"Rehn just acquired the power of a 'god' and has nowhere to use it. And you, Kizaru, are the Marines' light, our top-tier combat power."
"So how about…" Renzo finally revealed his hand, "you help me, 'guide' his lightning control? Consider it… light exercise after a meal."
Thunder and light.
The Goro Goro no Mi versus the Pika Pika no Mi.
Renzo simply wanted to see how light-speed would toy with a round thunderball.
"What?!!"
Rehn froze on the spot, eyes bulging.
"I-I-I'm not worthy of fighting an Admiral…"
He instinctively shrank back, then immediately caught Renzo's this will be fun look.
Rehn's brain clicked into place!
'My Lord is testing me!'
'This is my chance to make Him proud!'
With a loud thump, he pounded his chest, producing a dull bang bang sound, then turned to Kizaru righteously.
"But! If it's Lord Renzo's order! Even if you were one of the Five Elders, I'd still dare to-no, I'd still dare to request guidance from you!"
He followed that with an exaggerated ninety-degree bow and shouted:
"I humbly request the Admiral's instruction! I will fight with everything I have and absolutely will not disgrace Lord Renzo!"
"..."
He looked at Rehn, brimming with fighting spirit then at Renzo, whose face clearly read Good!.
"Ahh~…"
Kizaru lay back into the hot spring, letting out a satisfied groan.
"Fighting a 'god' and such an energetic one at that~ sounds~ exhausting~. And if we accidentally blow up Renzo-kun's~ beautiful hot spring~ I couldn't afford the compensation~."
Renzo said immediately. "G-5 is well-funded. One fake rock won't break us."
"Ahhh~ still no~."
Kizaru closed his eyes.
"I'd sweat~. Just finished bathing~ can't be sweating now~."
"..."
Renzo saw through it instantly, Kizaru was negotiating.
Renzo sighed. "Fine. When we head to Fish-Man Island… the top-floor luxury suite on my newest flagship, Nap-One, is yours."
"Ohoh~?"
Kizaru's ear twitched.
"And," Renzo gritted his teeth, "my personal collection, three bottles of hundred-year-old North Blue whisky known as 'Liquid Gold'…"
"Deal~!"
Before Renzo even finished speaking, Kizaru shot upright, water splashing everywhere.
His yellow-striped suit appeared instantly, covering his lean body, and his expression became… well, slightly more serious.
"Ahh~ since Renzo-kun~ is being so sincere~ it'd be rude to refuse~."
Hands in pockets, Kizaru crooked a finger at Rehn.
"The Goro Goro no Mi~ does interest me~. Come on, Mr. 'God'~ let's see~ whether your thunder's faster~ or my light is~."
"Yes, Lord Renzo!"
Rehn shouted excitedly every cell in his body vibrating.
"We can't fight here~." Kizaru said
"So where?" Rehn asked.
"Not inside G-5~."
Kizaru looked up at the sky and raised a finger, golden light gathering at the tip.
"Let's go there."
He pointed toward the distant horizon.
"Northeast of G-5, about fifty kilometers out, an uninhabited sea zone. That should be~ enough for us to fight to our hearts' content~."
The next second-
Whoosh!
Kizaru turned into a stream of golden particles and shot into the sky at light speed, vanishing beyond the horizon.
Rehn immediately turned to Renzo and bowed ninety degrees again.
"Lord Renzo! Please wait! I will absolutely defeat this 'light', I will return victorious and will not waste your whisky!"
"Go," Renzo waved.
"Yes!"
Rehn spun around, struck what he thought was a cool pose, lightning exploding across his body.
"TAKEOFF!!!"
BOOOOM!! BZZZZT—!!
He transformed into an enormous, deafening, blinding blue lightning sphere and smashed straight through the top-floor ceiling
"..."
Chasing after the golden light, he vanished into the distance in the most unreasonable way imaginable.
Left behind was Renzo alone, soaking in a hot spring that crackled with residual electricity and floated with chunks of shattered rock.
"..."
Renzo stared at the smoking, round hole in the ceiling… then looked down at himself.