For the next several hours, Marine Forces kept arriving at the location, and by the time the sun started sinking, the Admirals and the two Warlords had joined the forces.
As soon as everyone had gathered, Tsuru asked them to pull back a little, increasing the distance between them and the Rainbow Fog.
Everyone complied with her command and then they watched Admiral Kuzan jump off the ship and start walking on the water. When he had walked a hundred metres away from his ship, he sat down and dipped both his hands into the sea.
In a show of power, which made Sin grin, Kuzan froze the entire sea between their ships and the Rainbow Fog, providing some footing for all their soldiers, and froze the water as far as he could inside the Fog too, until he could no longer sense things after crossing an invisible barrier.
Sin, who greeted both Kuma and Mihawk, teleported to the Black Pearl, which had arrived two hours ago, and which was anchored away from all the Marine Vessels.
His crew was having their supper when he joined them, and then he discussed with them the plans that the Admirals and Tsuru had formulated.
"Shouldn't we wait for tomorrow morning before we take any action?" Bepo frowned. "The Sun is about to set, and it will be harder for the Marines to battle at night."
"There is no need to wait since all the forces are already here. It has been decided that only the elite forces will head inside the Rainbow Fog, and the rest will stay on the ships." He informed them. "You, Bart, and Kuina will stay on the Black Pearl." He looked at Bepo and told him. "Augur, you will stay in the Crow's nest of the Tallest Battleship and will help with the communication between the forces and will protect people in case they are ambushed. The two Doctors will be helping the injured and leading the Medical Unit. And Vigaro, you will stay in the Sky to keep an eye on everything. Only come down if the crew needs help, and you are not allowed to step into the Rainbow Fog under any circumstance."
"Aye Captain!"
"No one is allowed to go inside the Rainbow Fog alone." He seriously looked at Yamato and Lily. "The power of Shroud Shroud Fruit is very tricky, and we may all be separated from each other if we are not careful."
"I will stay with Lily," Robin said, and he nodded to her before looking at Yamato and Bonney.
"We will stay together." Both of them promised and nodded their heads.
"Good. Some Marine Forces will join you too, but you don't need to follow everything they do and say."
"We know." The Oni-Girl grinned.
Sin glanced at all of them and then smiled.
"Don't panic if your Observation Haki doesn't work once you are inside the Rainbow Fog. It just means that you have been isolated from the rest. Keep in mind that you can only survive if you stay calm and look for a way to find the rest of us."
All of them seriously nodded to him, and those who were already nervous became even more nervous.
"I don't care about any other Devil Fruit than the Shroud Shroud Fruit. Bach is our target. Don't get ahead of yourself and try to go against Ragnus and Krom. Garp warned Kizaru and Kuzan to not try to take on Ragnus if they were on their own."
"He's that strong?"
"Yes, and the Metal Logia is one of the Devil Fruits that are considered invincible."
"Just like yours." Kuina frowned, and he smiled at her.
"It's extremely versatile and outright superior to the Ice Ice Fruit," Robin informed her.
"I won't bother with anyone else, but I will kill that Temptress if I get a chance. She's an abomination." Bonney said, and almost everyone smiled at her words.
"Are you sure her Powers won't affect you?" The Swordmaiden worried and asked.
"Nope. Not a chance." She grinned.
"Why not?"
"Secret." She winked.
"But it is related to your Devil Fruit, right?"
"Yup." She nodded her head, and Kuina was satisfied with the answer even if she was very curious about Bonney's powers now.
"That Power won't be able to control anyone with a very strong Will." The younger Black assured them. "Keep some faith in yourself and you will be fine."
They all smiled and nodded their heads as she had just indirectly complimented their Will, and Sin was quite amused by their reaction.
"Don't forget our goal." He reminded, and his crew nodded their heads again in a promise. "I will decide if anyone from the adult Lunarians needs saving or not. You don't have to burden yourself with that decision. But save as many children as possible if there are any on the Island."
"Aye, Captain!"
Having given his instructions, he let them finish their meal and stood up to walk towards the cabinet to pick up a bottle of Rum, and it was then that he froze, receiving new signals and sensations, and he rushed out without saying a word.
Only Bonney and Lily stayed back at the table, cleaning up everything, and the rest immediately ran out on the Main Deck and then onto the Forecastle Deck.
Their hearts slowed down as they watched the Rainbow Fog part and reveal a passage.
On top of the Marine Battleships, the advanced Searchlights lit up, illuminating the pathway, which was slowly parting, and all they saw in their way was wreckage.
Kuzan immediately started freezing the passage, not wasting any time, but he too was stunned when a sight straight out of the dreams greeted them.
There was an Island, yes, but it was made out of layers, reaching hundreds of metres in height. The terrifying part was that it was made completely out of metal, resembling a large fortress.
Yes, the entire Island was a metallic bastion! And it was not a small Island, but quite a large one, almost the same size as the Drum Island.
"The Power of Gata Gata no Mi..." Bepo fearfully stared at the scene.
The Island they were looking at was giving them a very bad premonition.
Inside, the Mink was quite glad that he would not be setting foot inside that place.
Sin narrowed his eyes as he saw the giant umbrella-like structure on top of the Island, and he felt like it was made specifically to prevent him from attacking the Island with his Lightning Powers.
He immediately shot up into the sky and found out that not one, but four passages had been opened that led to the Island, in all four directions. The next second, he clenched his fist when he sensed an extremely powerful signature.
The signature was stronger than Mihawk and the Admirals, and it was slightly stronger than Garp as well.
It was not surprising, given that Ragnus was supposedly in his mid-fifties, still in his prime, whereas Garp, who was now in his seventies, was on the decline.
However, this strength was without taking into account Ragnus' Devil Fruit Powers, and Sin knew that they were up against a monster.
His heart kept racing as he kept picking signals and more signals, and by the time he landed on Tsuru's ship, he was wearing a sullen expression on his face, and they all tensed up even more.
"What's wrong?" Garp curiously looked at him and asked.
"He has tens of thousands of prisoners," He said, and Tsuru's eyes widened at his words. "And he's going to..."
Sin stopped and narrowed his eyes at the Island, where giant metallic boards had suddenly lit up with Projector Den Den Mushi displaying a scene somewhere on the Island.
"Jahahahahahahaha... Garp!"
A loud and booming voice sounded out from the Island, and only those with Observation Haki picked it up.
"It's been a while!"
They saw a tall and muscular man, almost twice as large as Garp, walk onto a platform. The next second, he created a Sabre in his left hand with his Metal Powers.
"Welcome to my Iron Paradise!"
There was a mad grin on his face, and his blue eyes, which were a stark contrast to his black hair, were glinting in excitement.
The camera zoomed out, and when they saw all seven Celestial Dragons on top of an execution platform, everyone immediately understood what was about to happen.
Before they could even react, Ragnus, without wasting any time, decapitated all seven of the Celestial Dragons in a single swing, and the Marines went pale at witnessing the scene.
"You failed to save them," Ragnus smiled. "For those who are not aware, my name is Ragnus Archbane! And I am going to kill every single person who has come to fight me today."
He declared, and then the scene changed, where they saw their forces being displayed from up the sky, and the cameras zoomed in on their faces one by one.
"He's telecasting it in different places, including Sabaody." Sin informed them, and now, even the Admirals went pale in horror.
"Come!" They heard Ragnus' call, and when no one responded, not daring to march towards the Island, the scene changed again, and this time, they saw hundreds of prisoners lined up on the execution platform. "Every 5 minutes, I am going to kill 100 of these prisoners. You better hurry if you, the Marines, want to save these innocent lives."
As soon as his words fell and the cameras switched to their forces again, Sin sent Lightning strikes at all the avians who were holding those Visual Den Den Mushi, which immediately disturbed the feed.
The next second, Garp was off, flying towards the Island using Moonwalk, and Kuzan and Kizaru followed his steps.
"He won't lock off the Island in Rainbow Fog as that would cut the feed," Tsuru said and then nodded to the Vice-Admirals. "Charge."
"Yes!"
The Marine Elite Forces rushed towards the Island, followed by Mihawk and Kuma.
However, Sin stayed in his place and kept looking at the sky.
"I can deal with them."
"I know, Granny." He smiled and then nodded to Augur who had taken his position on the tallest Crow's Nest. "Let's go." He ordered.
Robin, Yamato, Bonney, and Lily rushed down the Ice Road that led to the Iron Paradise.
At front, Sin's heart gradually slowed down as he his cleared away all the thoughts and pushed his senses to their limits.
A light smile crept on his face as he awaited a challenge...