The exploration group took their first steps onto Thriller Bark.
As they passed through the entrance gate, they had to come to a stop.
"A canal?" Nami wondered.
"It's a moat," Robin laughed as she explained. "It's common in castles and walled cities. It serves as a defensive barrier to slow down enemy invasions."
"What's it doing on the edge of an island?" Vivi asked.
Allen sighed. "Because it's not an island, it's a ship... Girls, don't you believe me?"
"I do!~" Mikita said.
"Sorry," Uta said with a shrug, "but you have to admit it's a little hard to see this island as a ship."
Perhaps not to the same extent as the Sky Island, but this ship itself was a miracle.
"Alright, alright, so what do we do? Climb down?" Mikita asked.
"I don't want to!" Nami said with a pale face. "There are bones down there!"
Nami's fearful reaction was understandable. At the bottom of the moat lay countless human skeletons.
"Well, we don't have to climb down."
Allen smiled, and ice began spreading beneath his feet, forming a bridge across the moat.
"Let's go," Allen said.
He and the girls crossed the bridge and arrived at the entrance to the forest.
The entire place remained shrouded in mist. The air was damp, carrying the faint scent of old corpses. It made it clear to the group that whoever owned Thriller Bark did not enjoy visitors.
Before they could venture deeper into the forest, the growl of three creatures behind them stopped them. When they turned around, everyone was stunned.
"Bark!" "Bark!" "Bark!"
It wasn't three creatures but one—a massive three-headed wolf, or perhaps dog. It looked bizarre, with two different fur colors, stitched scars across its body, and the number 82 tattooed on its side.
"Don't tell me that's the famous Cerberus?" Allen asked in disappointment.
The legendary Cerberus was supposed to be the guardian of the underworld, a terrifying beast... or so the legends claimed. Yet the three-headed dog standing behind them looked nervous, almost frightened.
"No, look closely. One of its heads is a fox," Uta said.
"A chimera?" Mikita asked in confusion.
[What a disgusting hobby. Whoever created that creature is a monster.]
Allen took a step toward the frightened Cerberus. It tried to back away, but under Allen's gaze, it simply lay on the ground and exposed its belly.
"Shouldn't you show a little more courage, Cerberus?" Allen mocked. "Or are you just a cheap imitation?"
Cerberus felt insulted, and that was enough to overcome its fear of Allen. It stood back up, growled with all three heads, and charged at him.
"Now that's the spirit," Allen laughed as he clapped his hands together and created a sword of light.
Skill: Ama no Murakumo (Kizaru)
The girls were surprised. They hadn't expected Allen to take it so seriously.
Cerberus turned pale, but it was already too late. The sword of light sliced it clean in half. Its eyes rolled back, and a black shadow emerged from its mouth before flying into the sky.
"Hey..." Vivi said.
"Wasn't that a little excessive?" Nami asked, scratching her cheek.
"It wasn't alive," Allen laughed as he looked at the girls while making the sword of light disappear.
"What do you mean, Captain?!" Mikita shouted in fright.
"Exactly what it sounded like. That Cerberus was a zombie."
A ZOMBIE?!
....
For the girls who stayed aboard the Black Pearl, the day was fairly ordinary. They had nothing to do, so they returned to their usual activities. However, an intruder was approaching the ship—without a shadow, without a reflection, and completely invisible.
"Grrr, what luck... I can smell women... several of them, and they're all gorgeous! My future wife is among them!"
The "invisible man" was none other than Absalom, one of Moria's subordinates with the Devil Fruit of Invisibility. He was a degenerate who used his power to spy on women in a bath.
Absalom smiled when he saw Tashigi training on the deck under Doll's watchful eye. The pervert thought it wouldn't be so bad to have a strong wife, though he'd have to test her first.
However, the moment he stepped onto the Black Pearl, he froze as he saw a floating scroll appear in front of Tashigi.
She immediately stopped training and focused on the scroll.
'What's that?' Absalom thought.
Just as an ominous feeling began creeping over him, he saw Tashigi close her eyes with one hand resting on her katana.
"There you are!" Tashigi shouted.
She vanished with Soru and appeared right in front of Absalom. He didn't even have time to react before she unsheathed her katana and slashed across his chest.
"Ahhh!"
Absalom screamed before jumping back onto the dock and running away. His chest was bleeding from the wound, but his body wasn't normal. He was a true chimera, with parts of animals grafted onto him that made him far stronger than an ordinary human. That was why he managed not only to survive but also to escape.
"Wait!" Tashigi shouted as she chased after him.
"What a pain," Doll muttered.
She extinguished the cigarette she was smoking before following Tashigi.
By the time the rest of the girls came out onto the deck, Doll and Tashigi were already gone.
....
[Hey, something happened on the ship.]
"Yeah, I heard it," Allen said before laughing.
At first, Allen had believed Devil Fruits were powers with no equal in this world, but after learning about Haki, he realized many abilities became completely useless.
The perfect example was the Invisibility Paramecia. Against anyone with Observation Haki, it was utterly worthless.
"Hey, where are you going?!" Nami exclaimed.
"To meet the owner of the castle," Allen said with a mocking smile. "Someone here is obviously doing shady things with corpses and zombies. We should find out who it is, then decide whether to kick their ass or fine them for being so indecent."
Nami's eyes lit up, and she ran after her captain.
Mikita rolled her eyes. "The moment she heard the word money, she forgot all about being scared."
"Well, that's our navigator," Uta laughed.
The rest followed Allen into the forest.
It wasn't long before the group stopped.
"Girls, this..." Allen said as he looked at a tree with a face drinking tea alongside a zombie horse.
"It's simply surreal," Robin said. "I don't see how a tree and a zombie can drink tea."
"That's not the point!" Nami exclaimed with a blue face before grabbing Allen's arm. "What are you waiting for? Burn them already!"
Allen looked at Nami, then at the tree and the zombie horse, both of whom looked absolutely terrified of them.
"But they're just drinking tea. I'm not a monster," Allen said.
The tree and the zombie horse fled in terror.
"In a way, I feel sorry for them. It looked like they were just hanging out," Uta said, scratching her cheek.
....
The journey through the eerie forest—if it could even be called that—felt more like a stroll through the park for the World King's crew than a dangerous situation. Even the sinister creatures lurking in the woods seemed more afraid of them than the other way around.
At one point, Uta punched a zombie bird to get a closer look at it. However, after using Haki, "its soul" broke its connection with the body and was exorcised.
Uta apologized, pressing her hands together as though offering condolences to the zombie. The others stared at her with blank expressions. If you were going to apologize that sincerely, then maybe don't hit it with Haki in the first place!
And just when it seemed things couldn't get any stranger, an eerie song echoed from above.
"Ne-ga-ti-ve~" "Ne-ga-ti-ve~" "Ne-ga-ti-ve~"
"What?! Ghosts?!" Nami exclaimed.
Three small, semi-transparent creatures floated through the air, waving their little hands. They had mouths and eyes, but they didn't look human.
"Well, there are zombies. It's not surprising there are ghosts too," Robin said.
"This isn't the time to analyze it!" Nami shouted.
"If I die, I don't want to end up looking like that. How could I ever face my captain after death?~" Mikita said in disgust.
"Don't say creepy things like that!" Vivi shouted.
"I'm not sure they're ghosts," Allen frowned. "But they're awfully arrogant to be looking down on me from up there!"
"That's not the important part!" Vivi and Nami shouted together.
The two girls exchanged glances before nodding.
Vivi drew a pistol and fired at the ghosts, while Nami launched a bolt of lightning from her hands. Unexpectedly, neither attack worked. They passed right through the ghosts as though they weren't there.
"Impossible! Those bullets were coated in Armament Haki!" Vivi shouted in shock.
"My lightning had Haki too!" Nami said in disbelief.
"So... are they really ghosts?" Robin asked, opening her eyes wide.
"Ne-ga-ti-ve~" "Ne-ga-ti-ve~" "Ne-ga-ti-ve~"
One of the ghosts stuck out its tongue and flew toward Nami. She couldn't dodge, and it passed straight through her body.
"Nami!" Vivi shouted.
The others were worried as well, except for Allen, who wore a smile.
Nami remained silent, but a moment later she dropped to her knees as all the color drained from her face.
"I'm sorry for being such a miser and such a greedy woman. You should find another navigator. I'll just stay here and sink into the mud..."
No one knew how to react, but then another ghost passed through Vivi.
Like Nami, she fell to her knees.
"I'm sorry for being such a useless princess. My people were right to get rid of me. I was never good for anything. You can use me as decoration to give my life some meaning..."
Once again, everyone was left speechless.
Robin calmly analyzed the situation. "It seems those ghosts can induce severe depression and negative thoughts in people."
Uta stepped forward. "Then let me try. Maybe my voice can do something!"
"Be careful!" Mikita shouted.
The last ghost flew toward Uta. She turned pale. She herself knew how dangerous it was to let her inner demons take control of her body, so she immediately tried to run away, but it was already too late.
"Horo horo horo!~" the ghost laughed.
'I'm sorry, Allen.'
Uta closed her eyes.
Unexpectedly, nothing happened. When Uta opened her eyes, she saw in disbelief that Allen was holding the ghost in his hand.
"You've had enough fun," Allen smiled, frightening the ghost, which stared at him in horror.
"How...?" Uta asked.
"I suppose it's thanks to Big Mom," Allen said. After scaring the ghost, he looked warmly at Uta. "I already told you, you don't have to worry. As long as I'm here, you won't destroy the world."
"...!"
Uta bit her lip and held back her tears.
"Now, as for you..."
Allen threatened the ghost, telling it not to bother people anymore or he'd send it to heaven. The ghosts, who seemed to have found their natural enemy, nodded fearfully before flying away into the distance.
....
A few minutes later, once Nami and Vivi had recovered from their depression, they complained to Allen for not saving them the way he had saved Uta.
"What was that supposed to mean?!" Nami pouted.
"That's so unfair," Vivi added.
"Sorry. I just didn't see any real danger, and I was curious to see their effects firsthand."
"What do you mean?" Mikita asked.
"Hm? That's right, I never told you," Allen said. "Each type of Haki has an advanced stage. Once you reach it, you gain a new ability. Advanced Observation Haki lets you see the future."
"Seriously?!" Mikita exclaimed.
"Yeah. In my case, I can only see about two seconds ahead, but that's more than enough to know those ghosts weren't dangerous."
"That sounds ridiculous," Mikita said, covering her mouth. "Does that mean the captain always knows what's going to happen?!"
"No. Just like regular Haki, it's an active ability, so I only use it in dangerous situations and during battles. Otherwise, it would wear me out."
Even though the others already knew this, it was still incredible to hear that Advanced Observation Haki allowed someone to see the future.
They continued forward, ignoring the creatures that merely watched them from afar until they reached a cemetery.
The horror movie cliché was so strong that no one was surprised, though Nami and Vivi still clung tightly to Allen's arms.
"Nami, I'd like to remind you that you're a Logia user..." Allen said.
"Shut up. You already saw that it doesn't work against ghosts, so take responsibility and protect me!" Nami exclaimed.
Allen was speechless. Since when had Nami become so shameless?
[She learned from the best, hahaha.]
*Crack*
Interrupting the conversation, the ground split open, and a hand emerged. More hands burst out from different graves, and soon corpses began crawling out everywhere.
"No!!" Nami screamed.
"Ahh!" Vivi screamed.
"I knew it..." Robin said.
"It's so predictable that it's boring," Uta said.
The girls' reactions were so different that it was amusing, while Allen watched the corpses crawl out while making guttural growls.
"They look like classic zombies. I wonder if they eat brains," Allen said.
"Gahh!"
The first zombie lunged at Allen but instantly burst into flames and was reduced to ashes, frightening all the other zombies.
"Ah! What are you doing?!" one zombie shouted in terror.
"Fire!" another exclaimed.
"They don't pay me enough for this..." another zombie muttered before climbing back into its grave.
"Stay away from me!" one zombie fell backward and pointed at Allen.
Everyone was surprised once again—not only because these "zombies" could speak perfectly well, but because they were capable of feeling fear. In fact, more than zombies, they looked like a group of actors pretending to be zombies in a graveyard.
"Don't be so dramatic. You were already dead," Allen mocked. "Besides, you shameless pigs attacked us first!"
The zombies couldn't argue with that.
"It's simple. I need answers. Where can I find them?" Allen asked.
The zombies didn't answer immediately. They exchanged glances before sitting down on the ground without saying a word.
"Oh, then I guess I'll burn all of you."
The zombies panicked and begged for their lives—or rather, their un-lives. Finally, one of them pointed toward the mansion in the distance.
"Dr. Hogback lives there! He has the answers you're looking for! Just go and don't hurt us!"
Allen looked toward the mansion in the distance before narrowing his eyes.
"That's right. There's someone alive over there."
Allen started walking toward the mansion.
The zombies felt a wave of relief upon hearing that and immediately began celebrating.
"What lively zombies," Uta said with amusement.
"So these guys really were just acting earlier, weren't they?" Nami said awkwardly. She felt embarrassed that she had been frightened by people like them.
....
At the top of a tree, a bat-like man nervously watched Allen heading toward the mansion.
His name was Hilton, and his usual job was to approach frightened intruders, offer them help, and trick them into drinking a sleeping potion to make things easier. However, he had been too afraid to try that with Allen and his crew, so he watched them from afar.
"Dr. Hogback is in danger. I have to inform Moria-sama!"
Hilton spread his wings and flew away. Of course, that was only possible because Allen allowed it. It was almost laughable that Hilton believed he could spy on him without Allen noticing.
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