That was a chilling sight—
In the deepest corner of the alley, a group of "people" wearing villager clothes were gathered together.
They were either kneeling or squatting on the ground, making strange "gurgling" sounds.
It was impossible to see their faces clearly because of the angle and the light.
Suddenly, the movement from the alley entrance attracted their attention.
One "person" looked up, followed immediately by the others.
They saw Hiluluk and two accompanying soldiers standing at the alley entrance.
By the moonlight, the three could see the faces of the group of "people" clearly.
Their faces were mostly white skin, with faintly visible reflective bumps, which seemed to be something like crystals.
The same "crystals" also appeared all over their bodies.
Some larger crystals pierced through their clothes, exposing them to a greater or lesser extent.
Their pupils were no longer the common black of the Alabasta people, but showed a reflective blue.
And the most striking thing was their heads.
The clusters of crystals that grew out of their bodies were gathered together, forming a "helmet" that looked like a demon.
Some "people" with more crystals on their bodies even had crystals all over their bodies that showed an effect similar to "armor."
What happened to those people?
No…
Are those really "people"?
"gulp…"
One of the soldiers couldn't help but swallow.
Those were demons—
Terrible demons covered in translucent crystals!
The crystal demons spotted the three people at the entrance of the alley, slowly stood up, and approached them step by step.
Hiluluk made a quick decision and shouted in a low voice, "Run!"
Although the two soldiers were also frightened at this moment, they still had the awareness of being elite soldiers of Alabasta, so they immediately drew the short swords from their waists and held up their shields.
"Mr. Hiluluk, you go quickly, we will block them here!"
Before he could finish speaking, Hiluluk suddenly grabbed the back collars of the two soldiers with both hands, and then pulled them directly backward.
As he pulled, he scolded, "What kind of sentimental drama are you doing here? When it comes to running away, you'd have to call the old man here your teacher of running!"
"Huh?"
The two soldiers looked puzzled, but immediately adjusted their postures, turned their bodies, and kept up with Hiluluk's pace.
That's right, they seemed to have heard rumors.
The doctor in front of them, before embarking on the path of medicine, seemed to be a big thief who roamed the world!
Sure enough, even with the leg strength of the two soldiers, they could only barely keep up with Hiluluk, and couldn't even surpass him.
"Hahahaha, the old man... I'm, still as good as ever!"
Hiluluk almost revealed his old habit, so he immediately changed his words.
He led the two soldiers through another block, thinking silently:
Is that enough?
Running so fast, ordinary people can't keep up, let's look back and see the situation first!
Hiluluk looked back.
But this one look back was a disaster, and the scene in front of him immediately made Hiluluk's hair stand on end.
He saw those crystal demons running wildly on all fours, their speed no less than that of Hiluluk and the others!
In just a brief look back, the distance between the two sides was instantly shortened, leaving only about ten steps.
"Keep running, don't stop!"
Hiluluk ran while rummaging through his pockets.
Then, he took out two small balls from his pocket and threw them directly behind him.
Whoosh!
In an instant, smoke rose up, blocking the front of the crystal demons.
But the crystal demons did not hesitate at all, but directly broke through the fog and continued to rush towards the three.
"How can this be? This smoke has a high concentration of anesthetic!"
Hiluluk frowned, "Do they have drug resistance?"
"We can't run away, prepare to fight!"
The two soldiers saw the crystal demons getting closer and closer, immediately turned around and raised their shields to block.
Clang!
The crystal-covered claws scraped across the surface of the metal shield, bursting out with a harsh friction sound.
"Ugh!"
The two soldiers groaned at the same time.
This force... it's too strong!
They were both good at fighting dozens of people on their own, and ordinary pirates were no match for them at all.
But now, just by blocking one blow from the crystal demons, half of their arms went numb!
"What the hell are these things!"
"Never mind, let's just kill them!"
One of the soldiers let out an angry roar and swung his sword.
But when the blade hit the crystals on those demons, it just burst out a few sparks, and couldn't cut through at all!
Another soldier made a quick decision and shouted, "Cut at the places that are still skin!"
Then, he swung his sword down.
Sure enough, the blade went into the body of one of the crystal demons, but because of the obstruction of the crystals, it could not directly cut off the opponent's body.
After all, they were facing a large number of enemies, so the two soldiers retreated at the same time, intending to enter the alley and use the narrow terrain as their home ground to reorganize.
But the crystal demons moved extremely quickly, attacking the soldiers like crazy, making it impossible for the two to cope.
"These guys are like beasts..."
Hiluluk watched this scene, thinking very quickly about a solution.
At the same time, the two soldiers roared and worked together to shield their way out.
"Go quickly, Mr. Hiluluk!"
The two signaled Hiluluk to run away quickly.
In any case, someone must tell the main force at the pier about the strange phenomenon in the Kingdom of Alabasta!
But just then, the door of a room next door suddenly opened.
The person who came out was a pale little girl.
She seemed to have heard the movement outside and was planning to go out and take a look.
Seeing this, Hiluluk quickly shouted, "Don't come out, it's dangerous outside!"
"Huh?"
The little girl looked up, saw the crystal demons rushing towards them, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Ah, monsters!"
But to everyone's surprise, just when they thought the crystal demons were about to tear the little girl apart, they actually passed by the little girl!
"What?!"
The three couldn't help but be stunned when they saw this.
It was because of this moment of hesitation that the crystal demons rushed to one of the soldiers, and although the soldier reacted, he was still scratched on the wrist by the crystal claws.
The injured soldier was even prepared to die, but like the little girl, the soldier was also ignored by the crystal demons after he was injured!
The injured soldier looked at this scene in confusion and subconsciously covered his injured wrist with his hand.
Suddenly, he found some crystal residue on his wrist.
Did the crystals fall off them?
The soldier wanted to pick it up to take a look, but found that he couldn't pick it up at all!
Those crystals... seemed to be growing on his body?
No, no no no, that's not it!
Those crystals were growing out of his body!
A chill that made him feel cold all over surged up.
The injured soldier immediately shouted desperately, "Run, don't get scratched, these crystals are contagious!"
"Once you get scratched, you'll turn into the same kind of monster as them!"
…
If Rowan himself was present, he might also be shocked.
Because he should be very familiar with the characteristics of this "crystal."
Many years later, in Wano Country.
[The Plague] Queen - Ice Demon Virus.
You can read 50+ more chapter on patreon com/JYouyi