In an unknown sea, the going merry was under siege by a fleet of Marine warships. A barrage of cannonballs rained down, with Zoro and Sanji strenuously rowing the ship while Nami gave directions. Orochimaru, in a semi-human form, used a telescope to scout the enemy, occasionally flicking away incoming cannonballs with his tail.
Since leaving Alabasta, they had frequently encountered such situations.
"The bounty must have increased," Orochimaru mused. "Generally speaking, it definitely has."
"But where are the News Coos? Where are my News Coos? How come I haven't seen a single one in half a month?"
A News Coo, blown away by the cannon fire in the distance, cursed loudly.
"This damn job, any other bird can do it, I'm not doing it anymore! How many times has this happened this month?!"
"I'm going to transfer to the Four Seas!"
It tossed the half-burnt newspaper into the sea, turned, and flew back to the company to apply for a transfer.
Orochimaru observed the warships opposite. A white-haired middle-aged man appeared on the deck of a warship, holding a coin between his fingers and striking a strange pose.
"Luffy! Prepare for defense! The enemy officer is about to counterattack!"
No sooner had Orochimaru spoken than he saw the man opposite sneeze, his fingers twitching… The warship next to the going merry sank… Usopp blinked, then struck his most impressive pose.
"Ah ha ha ha, everything is as I expected!"
Zoro looked at Usopp showing off, speechless.
"Let's escape while we can! Ah!"
Hoo-hoo, Orochimaru, diligently rowing the boat, wondered when they could switch to a motorboat. Was he, Orochimaru, meant for rowing? It was quite beneath his dignity!
After navigating a current full of reefs, the going merry successfully docked.
"Wait!" A soldier approached. "On our Ruruka Island, if a ship docks at the port or along the outer coast, an entry tax must be paid."
"Entry tax??" Chopper, with his small backpack, blinked, confused.
"In short, you have to pay," Usopp explained concisely.
"Why do we have to pay just to dock?" Nami refused.
The soldier raised his gun at the group. "It's an obligation."
The air instantly grew heavy. Before anyone could speak—
"Food!!!! It's time to eat!! Time to eat!" Luffy shouted happily, stepping on Sanji and the soldier in front, one by one, and yelling as he ran towards the town.
Sanji, feeling wronged, gritted his teeth, stood up, dusted himself off, and entered the town with Nami and the others.
Only the weeping soldier was left. Usopp, Robin, and Orochimaru were a beat slower, walking leisurely behind.
"Hey!! I have some questions for you."
A strange old man with a signal radar on his back and wearing a helmet appeared on the mountain.
Orochimaru: "An astronaut?"
Robin looked up: "A new comedian."
Usopp was also surprised: "Maybe a profiteer."
"!!! None of those are right!"
Lifting his goggles, the old man looked at Robin. "Hey! Have you seen a rainbow-colored mist?"
Usopp looked blank, knowing nothing.
Robin, however, was very interested. "Could you elaborate?"
At a small seaside restaurant, Luffy happily ordered a special meal. As for encountering Luffy in a restaurant... that wasn't particularly surprising.
Robin handed him a book titled "The Rainbow-Colored Mist."
"The author is unknown, but the book was written 40 years ago. The Rainbow Mist is the garden where the gods reside, the entrance to El Dorado, the City of Gold."
The old man, named Henzou, closed the book.
"That's just a legend. Countless people have ventured out following this legend and never returned. My friend was one of them."
"So that's why you're researching this Rainbow Mist?"
Usopp suddenly understood, but the people in the restaurant, hearing this, scoffed at the so-called Dr. Henzou, even showing disgust.
A drumbeat sounded, and a middle-aged man with glasses, accompanied by soldiers, burst in, forcibly collecting taxes. Everyone pointed at Usopp, indicating that he was treating.
Usopp, holding his empty wallet, looked very wronged. He turned to Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru~ When are you giving out pocket money?" Orochimaru turned away, avoiding Usopp's tearful gaze.
"Soon, soon. Once we find a currency exchange in a big city, we'll have some."
A commotion erupted. An old, dilapidated ship appeared in the harbor. Seeing the ship, Henzou excitedly launched his self-made deformable dinghy and sailed towards the large ship.
Luffy, eyes gleaming, chased after Henzou.
The group boarded the ship one after another.
"This ship disappeared 50 years ago," Henzou explained to Robin.
Orochimaru explored the ship, which looked as if someone had just been on it, finding it very interesting... A 50-year-old ship, yet with no trace of time.
Henzou's radar suddenly blared. Henzou, carrying the radar, jumped onto the going merry. "Lend me your ship!"
Luffy also returned to the going merry. "Don't steal my Merry! You use that big ship!"
Henzou explained that the ship's rudder was broken and stated that he had been on that ship 50 years ago.
Soon, the going merry, with Luffy, Usopp, Robin, and Orochimaru, entered the Rainbow Mist. Zoro, who was napping on the going merry, was Zzzzzzz.
The mist was filled with beached ships. Luffy happily explored, finding a chest of gems and four children disguised as ghosts to reclaim their treasure.
Henzou's pupils dilated as he looked at the children, and he trembled as he walked towards the child holding a bomb.
"Rabani... Are you Rabani? I'm Henzou..." The children didn't believe him, released a smoke bomb, and ran away.
Orochimaru wasn't interested in those stories. His eyes gleamed as he looked at the pervasive rainbow mist. He modified a device from a vacuum cleaner in the store, connecting the other end to a dozen glass jars, each half a person tall.
Orochimaru carried the tube, inserting one end into the mist, and used his tail to open the switch. The machine hummed. The group, who had been listening to the story, turned, blinking and looking at the excited, even slightly unhinged, Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru? What are you doing??" Everyone tilted their heads, full of questions.
"Collecting the Rainbow Mist for research. Those children just now were Henzou's childhood friends, which means what?! It means this mist can stop time! It means eternal youth!! If the experiment succeeds, it might even reverse time, allowing people to regain their youth.
"Also, it can be used to study the time flow of the Rainbow Mist. This mist should have different exits in different places, corresponding to different eras. We need to find the time point we came from, to prevent Nami and the others from becoming old grannies when we leave."
Robin paused, her expression solemn. "I'll help you switch jars." This was all to get out as soon as possible, absolutely not for eternal youth or to return to eighteen.
The two worked in perfect sync, collecting many different types and sizes of bottles of mist. After all, they didn't know if this stuff would disappear if opened outside! So, they needed to separate it into various sizes, using the smallest glass bottles for initial research.
Better safe than sorry!
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thank you so much for your support!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"