For countless years, countless pirate ships, merchant ships, and even navy warships have met their end in these waters, hence the abundance of ghost ships drifting here.
Not long after they set sail, they encountered another dilapidated pirate ship.
However, this ship was different from the previous one. Although damaged, it showed few signs of aging.
Judging by the dust on the ship, it appeared to have been abandoned only in the last few months.
Upon boarding, they found a scorched pot with burnt charcoal in the ship's kitchen, and food items in the refrigerator that had rotted soon after the power went out.
The chairs in the kitchen, scattered haphazardly, suggested that a meal was being prepared when something sudden compelled everyone to gather on deck. No battle ensued, and the ship's crew simply vanished.
Why say no battle?
Because there were no signs of a struggle on board. There were some marks near the ship's hull, but not many, and their weathered state indicated they were from long ago, not from when the ship was abandoned.
After exploring the entire ship, they found nothing useful except for some treasure and berries.
The entire crew seemed to have been suddenly controlled by something, leaving in haste without taking anything.
The entity that attacked them clearly wasn't after treasure. So, what was its motive?
They couldn't figure it out.
The group disembarked from the ship and boarded the Freedom.
They then continued their journey forward.
Gradually, the surrounding fog grew thicker, until eventually, they could no longer see the path ahead.
Fortunately, although this sea area was part of the Grand Line, apart from the dense fog, the weather was different from the rest of the Grand Line.
"Kouta, there seems to be something in the water ahead."
At the bow, Alo pointed forward with his right hand and turned to look at Kouta.
"Why not just reel it in and see?"
Kouta picked up the juice on the coffee table, bit the straw, and took a sip.
"Oh..."
Alo turned his head, picked up the fishing rod he usually used from a nearby rack, cast it forward, and accurately landed it in front of the object in the sea. Then, he turned the reel and pulled the line back.
*Thud—!*
"It's a barrel."
Aha and A Tao gathered around the barrel Alo had fished up. "Hey! There are words on it too."
Aha pulled off the flag stuck in the barrel and unfolded it to read, "It looks like treasure."
"Treasure?"
Upon hearing this, everyone's spirits immediately lifted.
"Treasure?"
Kouta looked at the barrel, put down his juice cup, and stroked his chin with his right hand, deep in thought.
Just then, a flash of red light interrupted his contemplation.
The barrel, which had been surrounded by everyone, had been opened at some point.
The moment the barrel was opened, it rapidly expanded, and a fiery red cannonball shot out from within.
The cannonball, trailing a red tail, rocketed towards the sky.
With a bang, it exploded like fireworks.
The immense sound and vivid red light were dazzling in the dim sea.
"What is this!"
Alo kicked the barrel and looked up at the fireworks in the sky, grumbling, "It's just fireworks! I thought it was real treasure?"
"What a wasted excitement."
"Yeah!"
Aha threw away the small flag in his hand, nodding with a disappointed expression.
"This looks like a signal flare!"
"Signal flare?"
Everyone froze, then turned to look at Robin, who had spoken.
Robin looked up at the red light in the sky, which was brilliant even through the dense fog, and said sternly, "This is likely a bait deliberately dropped into the sea, waiting for others to find it and set off the flare, allowing the bait-dropper to quickly locate and find the person who set it off."
"Hmph!"
A Tao, smoking, retracted his gaze and smiled faintly, "I thought it was something serious! Just a locator? Let them come. I'd like to see who's messing with us?"
Clearly, he didn't take the bait-dropper seriously at all.
Hmm!
The other crewmates didn't take it seriously either.
Seeing that everyone was not the least bit tense, Robin said nothing more. She glanced ahead, then retracted her gaze, turned back, and sat down in her lounge chair to read.
Indeed, with the strength of their crew, how could they fear such a man-made trap?
Watching the fireworks still blooming red, Kouta lowered his hand, a look of realization in his eyes.
"So, it's this thing."
It had been so long that he had completely forgotten about this.
This wasn't anything else but a tool Moria used to pinpoint the location of pirate crews entering the Devil's Triangle.
"The fireworks have been lit, so the ghosts should be here soon, right!"
Thinking of this, he felt a surge of anticipation.
He was looking for this particular fellow anyway.
Zombies, ghosts, giants...
Hmm...
In fact, that Moria fellow was quite interesting.
His talent was definitely not weak. Otherwise, he wouldn't have vied for supremacy with Kaido in his youth. Although he lost, he was still not someone an ordinary pirate could provoke.
The only puzzle was, why couldn't this guy use Haki?
If this fellow could use Haki, he definitely wouldn't be the weakest of the Seven Warlords.
Could it be that his spirit was truly broken by Kaido, and thus he lost his Haki?
That was also unlikely!
Observation Haki could perhaps disappear after losing spirit, but Armament Haki was bodily energy. As long as the body was healthy, it was impossible for it to simply disappear by saying he lost his spirit.
The only explanation was that this fellow had never cultivated Haki at all.
What a waste of such a massive physique.
No wonder he was abused by Kaido.
...
"Eeeeh~ Another fish biting."
Deep within the dense fog, there was a colossal sailing ship, as large as an island.
Let's call it an island for now!
After all, it was also known as Ghost Island, wasn't it?
There were many castles on the island.
However, whether these castles had been in this dense fog for too long, or if they were truly ancient, they looked as if they had come from antiquity, exuding an aura of age.
Of course, in this dim, foggy environment, the island combined with the castles made the place appear exceptionally eerie.
In the center of the island, on the second floor of an ancient castle, within a small room.
This place was different from the exterior walls; it was adorned with all sorts of cute objects, and even the walls were pink.
At a glance, it was clearly a girl's room.
And the voice emanated from here.
In the room, sitting on a circular bed, was a little girl wearing a white t-shirt and a small red jacket.
The little girl had pink hair tied into two pigtails on either side. She wore a crown on her head, and her large eyes were circled with black eyeliner.
At first glance, she was clearly a princess-like figure, but with a somewhat mischievous personality.
The girl seemed to sense something and was rolling excitedly on the bed, letting out a "Hororo hororo hororo hororo!" laughter that was somewhere between cute and eerie.
Her laughter ceased, and she lay on the bed, addressing a strangely patched-up doll standing beside her, "Go tell Master Moria that I've found another prey, and have him sail over."
"Understood, Perona-sama."
The doll respectfully saluted the girl and turned to leave.
"I wonder what interesting people will come this time!"
Tilting her head to look out the window, the girl's face displayed a pure yet slightly eerie smile.
"Hororo hororo hororo hororo!"
At the same time, several translucent, balloon-like objects floated around her. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be ghosts.
The ghosts ignored gravity and the surrounding walls, passing straight through them, and then flew towards the direction of the brilliant red light in the distance.
As they flew, they displayed the same smile as the girl.
All of this made the castle and the island filled with an eerie atmosphere found only in horror films.