The one thrown to the ground by Marika grabbing his collar was a very bizarre person.
He wore a tall round hat, with a high-collared long coat draped over his shoulders. On his human-like face, only his eyes and cheeks appeared normal; the positions of his nose and mouth were replaced by a lion's snout, with signs of stitching.
Underneath the shirt collar pulled open by Marika, at the neck near the shoulder, there were also strange muscle tissues, likewise stitched together.
"Let, let me go!" The lion-man hybrid tried to struggle, but with Marika's hand pressing down, his throat was constricted, leaving him breathless and powerless.
"Are you kidding! How does a woman like you have such strength!"
The lion-man hybrid hoarsely shouted, "I weigh three hundred kilograms!"
"Three hundred kilograms... that's quite light."
Marika said with a smile, casually releasing the lion-man hybrid.
Once freed, the lion-man hybrid quickly got up. His form was about to fade away, but at that moment, a figure flashed in front of him, gripping his shoulder and forcibly stopping him from vanishing into the air.
"An ability user?"
Gin coldly said, "A mere ability user, daring to board our ship alone, you're quite a bold fellow."
The lion-man hybrid grimaced, feeling as if his shoulder would shatter, but no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't break free.
Not only the seemingly frail woman but even this man could restrain him.
"Impossible!"
The lion-man hybrid said incredulously, "I possess the skin of an elephant and the wild strength of a bear and a gorilla, how can I not break free!"
Gin said, "Just an ordinary lackey, yet possessing so much power, no wonder you're bold."
"I am one of Moriah's 'Three Monsters', Absalom, not some lackey!" Absalom roared, "Don't underestimate me!"
"A cadre?" Gin said in surprise, "So weak?"
Setting aside that strange invisibility ability, purely in terms of strength, this guy was too weak.
Are cadres this weak?
It made him think of Krieg back in the East Sea, if he had successfully entered the Grand Line, he would surely have made a name for himself.
After all, even such a weak guy can be a cadre of the Seven Warlords of the Sea...
Sage glanced sideways at Absalom, "Are you alone? Where's Moriah? Isn't he coming to see me?"
"Why would Master Moriah come to see you? I'm here on my own, just gathering intelligence."
Absalom glared at Marika, "If it weren't for you, woman, I wouldn't have come to this ship, I would have reported back to Master Moriah already!"
"Oh, what did I do?" Marika asked.
"You're just too beautiful!"
Absalom shouted, "There are actually two beautiful women on this ship, that blonde woman, whatever, she's overbearing, looks serious and old-fashioned, not my type."
"But you're precisely the gentle type I like, so I couldn't resist! Turns out, you aren't at all; that strength, you're just a strong-willed woman! I hate strong-willed women the most!"
"If what you mean by 'couldn't resist' is trying to lay a hand on me while invisible, that's called sexual harassment." Marika politely smiled.
"Eh? A perverted ghost?" Renedia asked.
"How am I perverted!" Absalom's eyes turned white, angrily shouting with sharp teeth.
Renedia stood in front of Absalom, clicked her tongue, "Why with only two pretty women, you stupid ghost with no taste? I'm also very attractive!"
"Sorry, having a thing for little girls is a crime..."
Absalom solemnly said, "Even though I'm a pirate, inherently committing crimes, pirates have a code too!"
"A perverted ghost with a code?" Renedia said in surprise.
"I'm not perverted!"
"You're actually quite interesting..."
Sage grabbed Absalom by the back of his collar, dragging him as he jumped off the ship, landing on the pirate ship as large as a town.
He glanced around, seeing a few round black bats in this eerie town, curling his lips, "I've captured your subordinate; you will come, won't you?"
With that, he dragged the man, heading straight for the direction of the castle.
Lily and the others also disembarked from the ship, walking alongside Sage.
"Is this really a pirate ship? It feels livable in here..." Renedia marveled, looking around, "Can such a ship sail fast?"
"Of course not, it's slow-moving, suitable only for hiding in this fog; once outside, it's a sitting duck."
Sage shook his head, "Better to occupy an island directly, at least an island can be developed, less likely to sink, unlike this ghostly place, fitting for that hidden fat shut-in."
"Master Moriah is not a fat shut-in!"
Absalom protested while being dragged, "He's just waiting for the right moment, you simply don't understand Master Moriah!"
"Waiting for the right moment?"
Sage looked ahead, seeing a strange gathering of figures in the pitch-black town.
As they approached, those figures gradually took shape.
A group of odd corpses, all bearing stitching scars.
Sage chuckled, "Relying on these figurines?"
"Stitched corpses?"
Hawkins stepped forward, drawing his long sword, "They can move, it seems through an ability, but as for their strength..."
Straw began coiling around the blade, and as Hawkins swung it forward, the straw lashed out like a whip, striking across the group of corpses, slicing them in half at the waist.
"Too weak."
Hawkins said indifferently, glancing at the fallen corpses, surprised, "Still moving?"
"Corpses are inherently dead, nothing alive about them, just moving."
Sage said, dragging Absalom over the corpses, shaking his head, "That fat shut-in seems to have noticed, but doesn't want to come out personally... too lazy? Or looking down on me?"
He looked up toward the castle, a chilling tone, "Too lazy, even if you became one of my subordinates, you'd be at a disadvantage. Oh well, the distance is enough, let me teach you, external things are ultimately external, only inner strength is true..."
He released Absalom, stomping heavily on the ground, making the surrounding corpses tremble.
"Strength!"
Bang!
Sage instantly soared into the sky, shooting like a meteor toward a part of the castle, instantly landing on the outer wall.
Boom!!
A hole blasted in the castle wall, Sage stood on the edge of the hole, overlooking the fat shut-in sitting on the floor, hands on his head, staring wide-eyed, revealing a sinister grin.
"If you won't come to me, let's be direct, I'll come to you... Moriah."