Degal struggled, tied to the ground, yelling, "Let me go! Let me go! You damned outsiders! Give me back my power! You cursed demons!"
He had never seen Seastone before and naturally didn't understand why being cuffed with this strange metal left him utterly weak and unable to use his abilities.
"Stop whining! If we didn't think you might still be useful, we'd have killed you already!"
Edmond glanced at Mina, who was studying the altar, and kicked Degal in annoyance.
Earlier, when the native men of the Wild Mountain Tribe saw the old shaman die, their morale instantly collapsed, and they dared not continue resisting.
Gin and Sriya teamed up to take down Degal, then seized the opportunity to capture him using Seastone handcuffs.
In the end, most of the adult men of the Wild Mountain Tribe were killed, leaving only about two hundred elderly, weak, women, and children, who were now guarded.
"A top hat, a bone cutlass, a captain's coat, a skull book... Yes! Yes! This stone statue that is being worshipped is indeed the legendary 'Skeleton King' Hyster Homans!"
Mina circled the stone statue on the altar several times before finally confirming her suspicion.
As the once-dominant 'Skeleton King', Homans' image is still known to many: wearing a large black top hat, a cutlass made of bone slung at his waist, clad in a captain's greatcoat, and always holding a skull-covered book outside of combat.
Of course, one of the aspects of the 'Skeleton King' Homans' legend that interested people the most was what kind of book that skull-covered book in his hand truly was!
The statue before Mina vividly captured the likeness of 'Skeleton King' Homans, clearly the work of a master sculptor.
"This stone door should be the clue related to Captain Homans' treasure!" Sriya walked over and pointed to a stone door behind the statue.
With that, Sriya stepped forward and began feeling the door, apparently searching for a mechanism.
"Hey, what's behind that stone door?" Mina walked up to Degal and asked in a low voice.
"You damned outsiders! You will never enter the Forbidden Land!" Degal glared at Mina with hatred, cursing loudly, "Any outsider who enters the Forbidden Land will die under the curse of the god Homans!"
Hearing this, Mina raised a delicate eyebrow, realizing a few things from his words.
One, the stone door leads to the tribe's Forbidden Land, which likely contains clues about Captain Homans' treasure.
Two, there is danger inside the Forbidden Land, featuring traps resembling a curse.
"How do we open it?" Mina asked directly.
The stone door was three meters high and two meters wide. Although its thickness was unknown, if opening it triggered some kind of self-destruct trap, all their efforts would be for nothing.
"Hmph!"
Degal coldly turned his head away.
Click.
Suddenly, the sound of a mechanism activating rang out. With a rumbling sound, the stone door recessed inward and then slid down, revealing a pitch-black tunnel.
"Uh…"
Sriya looked at the slightly sunken rectangular gap on the stone wall, momentarily stunned.
The mechanism to open it was way too simple!
"You found the switch so quickly. Not bad!" Gin looked at Sriya in surprise.
Following the opening of the stone door, Mina, along with Sriya, Gin, and ten Super Soldiers, entered the tribe's Forbidden Land.
Only Edmond and the remaining Super Soldiers were left behind to guard the valley.
…
Boom, boom, boom, boom...
Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble...
In Coral Hill, the bustling port town of the Ryugu Kingdom, located in the southeast of Fish-Man Island at 10,000 meters beneath the sea, huge explosions rang out continuously. Intense, scorching flames charred the coral trees, the acrid smell of gunpowder filled this underwater world, and the shockwaves from the blasts swept everywhere.
"Drive these pirates out!"
"Defend the Ryugu Kingdom! Defend Fish-Man Island!"
"Kill! Kill all these Fish-Men!"
"Charge! Storm Fish-Man Island! There's gold inside!"
Masses of ferocious pirates were locked in battle with King Neptune's Army of the Ryugu Kingdom. Both sides had committed over ten thousand people to the slaughter, and the ground was already stained red with blood.
Having lost the protection of the Whitebeard Pirates, Fish-Man Island, which is a mandatory passage to the New World, immediately bore the brunt of attacks from numerous pirate groups.
Though Jinbe, who was stationed on Fish-Man Island, was powerful, without the deterrent of his Warlord of the Sea title, he faced countless daily challenges from pirates and was already worn out.
What's more, Jinbe had secretly betrayed the Seven Warlords Alliance, losing the support of people like Aeridar and Doflamingo.
Although the Ryugu Kingdom still traded with Aeridar and Doflamingo, the old camaraderie was completely gone, leaving only pure, transactional exchange for profit.
For example, in this instance, over eight pirate crews attacked simultaneously, numbering over six thousand. Every one of them was a veteran pirate with years of life on the sea. Even an average human kingdom would struggle to withstand so many pirates.
Fortunately, the Ryugu Kingdom was not entirely defenseless thanks to the years of cooperation. The sturdy armor made of coral and seashells, worn by the Neptune Army soldiers, and the anti-corrosive light metal swords they wielded were results of that partnership.
Coupled with the Fish-Men's natural wrist strength, which is more than ten times that of a human's, the battle against the pirates was fierce and evenly matched.
"Fish-Man Karate: Arabesque Brick Fist!"
Suddenly, ripples appeared in the air, and an invisible shockwave burst out.
BANG!
Dozens of pirates were caught off guard, spitting blood and flying backward, crushing three boats.
At that moment, a massive blue whale shark Fish-Man appeared on the battlefield. Dressed in a kimono embroidered with patterns, his wild, wind-swept eyebrows and sideburns were instantly impressive.
"What's going on?"
"Ouch! Don't crush me!"
"Oh no! It's J- Jinbe!"
"Knight of the Sea Jinbe!"
Seeing the newcomer, the pirates were all terrified, retreating continuously, some even falling onto the ground in fright.
"Water Shot!"
Jinbe wasted no time. He gathered a large drop of water in his palm and flung it out violently. It moved so fast that it became a black blur, even creating a sonic boom.
ROAR!
BOOM!
A phantom of a roaring tiger seemed to appear. With a beast-like roar, the high-speed water droplet shattered instantly, turning into countless tiny splashes.
"Hmm?!"
Jinbe frowned, staring intently ahead.
"Knight of the Sea Jinbe, I've heard much about you! ROOOAH!"
A tall man, clad in a tiger-striped greatcoat, appeared in Jinbe's sight. Standing over three meters tall, his explosive muscles could not be hidden even by the loose coat, making him even taller and stronger than Jinbe.
"Enough talk! You're all staying here today! You'll be the first, Tiger Fiend Robert!" Jinbe suppressed his anger and adopted his Fish-Man Karate stance.