As everyone didn't know how to start a conversation.
The skeleton, as if discovering a new continent, set its gaze on Robin and Kuina in the center of the crowd.
Then, with a hearty laugh, he took a few steps forward and stopped a few paces away from everyone.
He said to Kuina and Robin, "What beautiful ladies, hmm... Beautiful."
"Heh heh!!"
Robin covered her mouth and chuckled lightly, while Kuina's eyes curved.
Seeing Robin and Kuina happy, the skeleton continued, "I get so happy when I see beautiful women, I grin from ear to ear, even though a skeleton has no eyes."
"Yohohoho~"
Kouta stared at the skeleton, his lips twitching uncontrollably.
This guy, truly one of the Four Emperors. He wondered if he was always like this when he was human decades ago, or if he had gone mad after turning into a skeleton and drifting in this dense fog for decades.
Hmm!
Just then, the skeleton put down his coffee cup and the cane on his wrist, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, bent down to polish his shoes, and then walked up to Kuina and Robin, speaking with utmost seriousness.
"Pantsu, may I have a look at your pantsu?"
"Ugh!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the smiles on everyone's faces instantly vanished. Ah Hua and the other two, in particular, silently retreated, looking at the skeleton with a mixture of terror and admiration.
As expected, not disappointing Ah Hua and the other two, Kuina stared at the skeleton, her smile freezing, and then with cold eyes, she opened her mouth and roared, "Dream on!"
Then, she directly kicked the skeleton's head, sending him flying with a single kick.
Robin, on the other hand, burst into laughter.
"Heeheeheeheehee~"
Although he knew the guy was joking, Kouta still felt a slight annoyance in his heart. However, thinking about it, this guy had been alone here for decades, perhaps he had truly gone mad. The slight annoyance in his heart gradually faded.
Besides, this guy's real age was more than enough to be the grandfather of everyone here.
So why bother calculating so much?
It was just a harmless joke.
Even though this guy was called one of the Four Emperors, he was the most gentlemanly among them, never having done anything out of line.
Hmm...
Even the title of Four Emperors was just a joke among them.
With a bang, the skeleton hit the ground. A large red bump appeared where Kuina had kicked him.
Clearly, Kuina hadn't used her full strength, and the skeleton hadn't dodged.
Lying on the ground, the skeleton looked at Kuina and laughed heartily, "Yohohoho~ How violent! It hurts to my bones, though I only have bones, yohohoho~"
This guy was actually a master of dad jokes. Every sentence he spoke seemed to be a cold joke,
causing everyone who heard it to burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha!!"
Their laughter dispelled the loneliness that had enveloped the ship, bringing a long-lost liveliness to this place.
The skeleton lay on the ground, looking at the laughing crowd. A trace of remembrance flickered in his dark eye sockets.
Looking at Kouta and the others, it was as if he had returned to decades ago, back to when his companions were still alive. Unconsciously, two streams of tears flowed from his dark eye sockets.
As if sensing something, the laughter of the crowd gradually subsided.
Kuina took a step forward, standing in front of the skeleton, and said sternly, "Enough joking, tell us!"
"What exactly are you."
The skeleton looked at everyone, and with a creaking sound, he stood up straight.
He first went to the table beside him, picked up his coffee cup, reattached the cane to his left wrist, then turned back and walked towards them, taking small sips of the hot coffee in his cup unhurriedly. Had it been decades? Was it still coffee, and was it still steaming?
Only then did he put down his hand and say to everyone, "Have you heard of the Yomi Yomi no Mi?"
"Yomi Yomi no Mi?"
"Is it really a Devil Fruit ability?"
Robin stepped forward, standing beside Kuina, and said to the skeleton, "You mean, your current state is a special state granted by the power of the Yomi Yomi no Mi."
"Mhm!"
The skeleton nodded and added, "Actually, I died decades ago. I am now a resurrected person."
"Resurrected person?"
"Mhm! A resurrected person."
"Actually, decades ago, I was a pirate. I came from the West Blue with a group of companions to the Grand Line. After entering this devil sea, we were attacked by a group of fellow pirates, and after that, we were annihilated."
"Before that, I had eaten the Yomi Yomi no Mi, which only made me unable to swim. But shortly after I died, the fruit's power activated and pulled my soul back from the cold underworld."
"Wait!"
Ah Hua pushed up his glasses, stepped forward, and asked, "Since your soul came back from the underworld shortly after you died, how did you end up in this skeleton form?"
The skeleton picked up his coffee and took a gentle sip. "That's all thanks to this devil sea."
"I did come back from the underworld not long after I died, but after coming back, I found that I couldn't find my ship. I got lost in this devil sea, shrouded in dense fog."
"Lost??"
Everyone looked at the skeleton, their expressions freezing.
They had never expected such a lame reason. However, considering the peculiar fog in this sea area and the limited visibility, they were somewhat relieved.
It was indeed easy to get disoriented here. Without a Log Pose, no one would venture into this sea.
Even with a Log Pose, about 100 ships get lost in this sea every year and never return.
The second ship they encountered had its crew captured by something. The first ship was clearly lost here a long time ago and had completely become a ghost ship spoken of by others.
"Mhm!"
The skeleton nodded, shrugged helplessly, and said, "Indeed, I got lost."
"What happened next?"
Alo tilted his head, glanced at the skull on the tattered sail, and his eyes flickered with thought as he looked at the horns on the skull.
"This skull flag, I think I've seen it somewhere before?"
Shaking his head, perhaps it was because he had seen too many pirate crews recently, everything with a skull looked familiar.
He withdrew his gaze, and with a smile, his attention returned to the skeleton.
"Next."
The skeleton looked down at the exposed skull on his chest, his voice slightly low, "Next, by the time I found my ship and my body, it was already a year later."
Well, there was no need to say it, everyone had already guessed it.
A year was more than enough time for a corpse to turn into a skeleton.
Just then, the skeleton suddenly looked up at the sky and laughed loudly, "Yohohoho~ Today is truly a good day! Finally, I've met someone."
Then he lowered his head, and a strange light flashed in his dark eye sockets. "In this dark sea where day and night are indistinguishable, shrouded in mist, all my companions died. Alone on a ship with a broken rudder, I drifted and wandered for decades."
"I was truly so lonely!"
"So lonely and scared, I sometimes wished I could just die."
Everyone looked at the skeleton, as if seeing him tirelessly moving around various parts of the ship day after day, mourning his deceased companions, waiting to see others again.
But day after day, year after year, this sea was too vast, and the rudder of his ship was broken, so he could only leave it to fate.
And he waited, for decades, but never saw anyone else.
The loneliness of it sent shivers down their spines just thinking about it.
"It would drive a person mad!"
A new emotion appeared in the crowd's gaze towards the skeleton.
"Sympathy!"