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Grand Line: Plague Island.
True to its name, this island is arguably one of the least habitable places in the sea.
Every inch of its land was cracked, with dark, poisonous sap seeping from the fissures. A normal person's shoe soles would corrode upon contact.
The island's water sources glowed with an eerie, dark purple hue, and toxic mists permeated large areas of the island.
The surviving vegetation consists almost entirely of poisonous plants adapted to the extreme toxicity. Though the island itself is vast, only the central, poisonous, mist-choked forest can be considered lush.
Neither fish nor sea beasts approached these waters, and even seabirds instinctively avoided flying over the island.
This was a true 'forbidden zone for life,' where normal existence was utterly impossible.
Yet, at this very moment...
'Cough, cough.'
A petite young girl was making her way across the island. She walked with a hunched posture, leaning heavily on a cracked wooden staff. Thick layers of fabric wrapped around her entire body and face, serving as a barrier.
Even through the wrappings, however, her unnatural frame was evident. Her shoulder blades protruded at odd angles, as if they had been broken and healed incorrectly. One leg appeared broken, and an arm bent at a grotesquely unnatural angle; the flesh was stretched so thin over the bones that she seemed almost skeletal.
She was blind in one eye, but the moistness and shape of the other hinted at the great beauty she must once have possessed.
Carefully skirting the treacherous, toxic pools and rivers and giving the central forest a wide berth, she eventually reached the high ground of Poison Thorn Mountain, located on the opposite end of the island.
"Ha ha... almost there," She gasped. "I wonder if that gentleman has found the medicine Grandpa Milas needs."
She struggled to catch her breath. For someone in her condition, the climb was excruciating.
But she had no choice.
The survivors on this island had managed to endure this for so long thanks to the help of one man, but that was all.
Apart from her, who had only recently arrived on Plague Island, everyone else's bodies were in terrible condition due to long-term exposure to toxins. Ideally, they should not inhale any more of the Poison Mist.
Therefore, only she could handle this task.
She knew that the antitoxin measures she carried were ineffective.
She could feel the toxins slowly seeping into her body and faint pains radiating from various parts of it.
Perhaps this was precisely the Celestial Dragons' intention, to watch those exiled here slowly succumb to increasing agony.
But, as she had said before, she had no choice.
"I must survive. Grandpa and my elder brother are waiting for me back home."
This unwavering conviction was the sole reason she was still standing there.
She had a reason to survive.
"This meager pain means nothing!"
Whispering these words, she thrust her wooden staff forcefully into the ground, causing toxic fluid to spurt from the soil of the mountain.
She had to reach the nearby cave, the designated meeting place where they met the 'gentleman' each month to receive supplies.
But at that very moment...
The girl glanced sideways, her body freezing instantly.
For a moment, she seemed to glimpse a faint blue glow erupting from the Poison Mist shrouding the forest at the foot of Poison Thorn Mountain.
Then...
Screech!
A loud, grinding sound grew closer by the second.
The girl tried to dodge, but her frail body was unable to react in time.
She could only watch helplessly as an enormous shadow gradually emerged from the mist.
'What new creature could have emerged from the Miasma Forest?'
The girl's entire body tensed at this sight, her hand tightening instinctively around her wooden staff.
The Miasma Forest, a vast expanse on Plague Island, was notorious for being the most perilous place on the island.
It teemed with countless highly venomous creatures, almost all of which were Monsters released by the Adi Kingdom at the behest of the Celestial Dragons; only these resilient Monsters could survive in such a hostile environment.
While there might be a glimmer of hope of survival outside the forest, within its depths lay certain death. The chances of surviving even a single day were zero.
"What is that thing?"
Struggling, the girl managed to drag herself behind a nearby boulder.
Then...
"!!!"
Through her remaining eye, she saw something emerging from the dense poison mist.
It was indeed a massive monster, at least twenty meters long and resembling a grotesquely twisted lizard. Its vibrant, multicolored blood testified to its extraordinary toxicity.
And this was only the first. Three other colossal creatures, each rivaling its size, materialized simultaneously beside it.
The girl instinctively knew that even in the Miasma Forest, these monsters must be among the most dangerous and powerful beings.
Yet now... they were all dead.
Their enormous bodies were being dragged out of the forest by a lone figure standing before them.
"..."
The girl caught sight of the figure.
A gaunt silhouette, clad in white robes and surrounded by strange swirling mists of white and blue. But it was the Sea Beast head mask he wore that truly caught her attention... a Sheep-Headed Mask.
"Oh?"
At that moment, he seemed to notice her and waved casually from afar. "Hey~ Young lady, are you a survivor from this island? I've lost my way in life, so I've decided to hunt some prey for distraction..."
As he spoke, the man in the Sheep-Headed Mask took a step forward under the girl's horrified gaze.
Then…
Buzz!
Pure white and azure flames erupted from beneath his feet and coalesced into billowing clouds of fire. Remarkably, he stepped onto these fiery clouds and began to ascend one step at a time.
Even more terrifyingly, the corpses of the monsters he had been dragging behind him were lifted up with him.
Moments later, he stood before the girl, who was frozen in shock.
"So, young lady, can you guide me back to the right path? These monsters can serve as payment, you know?" he said casually.
"The right path?" The girl stammered.
"Yes, I'm searching for a girl named Cori on someone's behalf. She should have visited this island. Perhaps you..."
As the Sheep-Headed Mask Man spoke, the girl's face turned as pale as snow.
But at that very moment...
Buzz!
The Sheep-Headed Mask Man's footsteps suddenly halted.
Simultaneously...
Rumble!
The ground in front of him suddenly collapsed, creating a massive chasm that separated him from the young woman.
"Oh ho?"
The Sheep-Headed Mask man stopped in his tracks, his gaze shifting sideways.
He wasn't particularly wary; the previous strike had been a warning, not an attack.
"Gravity Field – Separation Field!"
Clack! Clack!
The sound of wooden clogs striking the ground echoed out.
A moment later, a figure materialized in the direction in which the Sheep-Headed Mask was looking.
"My apologies for this abrupt and impolite intrusion, but unwelcome guests..."
The figure was tall and imposing. He had short black hair and a neatly trimmed mustache and beard. He wore a light purple kimono with armored gauntlets. Over this, he wore a standard Kingdom Guard uniform.
His right hand gripped a katana, and he wore a bag over his shoulder. Most striking of all, however, was the fresh X-shaped scar across his eyes.
He was blind.
Yet his narrowed eyes seemed to sense the presence of the Sheep-Headed Mask, turning slightly in his direction.
"Would you kindly step away from her?"
(End of Chapter)