Chapter 318 - 176

Chapter 176"This fog is so thick, you can only see things when you're very close.""It's easy to get lost, isn't it?"Vivi said worriedly, looking at the almost identical grey-white surroundings.As a former undercover agent for Baroque Works, she had read a lot of intelligence about various sea areas of the Grand Line, and a guess had already formed in her mind."This sea area, if I'm not mistaken, should be the so-called Florian Triangle.""That's right,"Robin confirmed Nami's guess, her voice carrying a hint of imperceptible tension. "This is it, the legendary place where over a hundred ships mysteriously disappear every year, and there are all sorts of terrifying rumors about ghost ships and monsters..."Ghost ship?Monster!Nami's face turned pale at the mention. She was already timid, and instinctively clung to Luffy's arm like an octopus.Little Merry also let out a scared cry and hugged Luffy's waist from behind."Whoa, whoa, whoa, is this the haunted sea area Granny Coco talked about?"Usopp and Chopper huddled together, trembling, "Why are we coming to a place like this?!"Just then, Luffy's passive talent, Information Derivation, was triggered, and information about this sea area flooded into his mind."I see,"Luffy's eyes lit up as he looked at the cold mist around them. "This place is actually the territory of Gekko Moriah, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Many of those missing ships were his doing, his goal is to steal people's shadows to create a zombie army!""Z-z-zombies?!"Nami and Merry shrieked simultaneously, clinging even tighter, while Usopp and Chopper were completely petrified."Why are there zombies in this place?!" Nami's voice was tearful.Luffy explained, "It should be Moriah's Shadow-Shadow Fruit ability. He can cut off other people's shadows and then stuff them into corpses or specially made dolls to create obedient zombies."To be honest, this ability is quite interesting.More importantly, this is a Shichibukai's territory.Franky rubbed his chin and asked, "What happens to the people whose shadows are taken?""They die if they see sunlight. They can't be exposed to the sun, or they'll turn to ash.""Why are we so unlucky? We just finished fighting Golden Lion, and now we've run into a Shichibukaiagain?!"Nami's teeth started chattering uncontrollably, and her body was almost completely hanging on Luffy. "And why do you look so happy?!"Luffy hugged Nami's slender waist and smiled sheepishly.Of course he was happy.His thoughts were actually very simple: opponents of the Shichibukai level are rare in this great sea.Now that he'd finally encountered one, how could he do justice to this adventure without having a good fight?Luffy just hadn't expected that Gekko Moriah might be considered the weakest among the Shichibukai.Thinking about it, he'd actually encountered quite a few Shichibukai already.Hawkeye of the East Blue.Behind Arlong the Fishman, there was possibly a Shichibukai, Jinbe.Crocodile of Alabasta.Had a conflict with Doflamingo's subordinates in Mock Town.And now Moriah.Two more and they'd all be connected.A Shichibukai killer, perhaps?Sanji took a puff from his cigarette and calmly asked, "Doesn't the World Government know about this? Using Devil Fruit abilities to rob passing ships and causing a large number of disappearances, that's a very serious crime, isn't it?"Vivi said somewhat angrily, "The World Government definitely knows! But the Shichibukaihave legal rights to plunder; that's the privilege the World Government grants them!"The previous Seven Warlord of the Sea, Crocodile, was the mastermind behind the war in Alabasta, so she was filled with disgust for the Shichibukaisystem and those Shichibukai who abused their privileges."Then Luffy,"Robin turned her gaze to the Captain and asked, "What do we do next?"Luffy grinned, his eyes burning with fighting spirit: "Since we can't leave this sea area, and the log pose points inside, then let's go beat up that scheming Moriah!"Vivi immediately agreed: "I support it! We absolutely cannot let go of such a guy who abuses privileges to harm the innocent!"She had already transferred her anger towards Crocodile to all Shichibukai who behaved similarly.And so, the thousand sunny maintained its course, steadfastly sailing into this legendary foggy sea area, said to be full of monsters and ghosts."Is this fog naturally formed? I can't see anything."Luffy stood at the bow, barely able to see the stern.Moreover, the fog was very dense, and before they had gone far, they were covered in a fine mist.Nami stayed close to Luffy, as if it brought her some sense of security, and she couldn't help but ask, "Luffy, don't you need to train?"Luffy grinned: "No, the next two days are Companion Day."Nami froze for a moment, suddenly having an ominous premonition: "Companion Day? Are you thinking of inviting someone else onto the ship again?"Seeing Luffy nod, Nami was on the verge of tears, but this guy was the Captain, and a Captain's orders on a ship were absolute."Just don't invite any strange characters onto the ship!"Like that Golden Lion from before, just thinking about it was terrifying!Heaven knows who Luffy would take a liking to this time.It wouldn't be some strange fellow, would it?Wait, if they're not strange, would Luffy take a liking to them?!Wuwuwu~The sound of a gentle breeze rose as Vivimanipulated the airflow, carefully sensing ahead, then nodded to Merry: "No large obstructions ahead for now."Merry also closed her eyes, extending her perception into the current beneath the ship, then opened them a moment later: "No hidden reefs underwater either."In this weather, visibility from the crow's nest was extremely poor. Instead, at the bow, relying on Vivi's wind perception and Merry's water current perception, they could more effectively avoid risks.Thus, the thousand sunny sailed cautiously through the dense fog for half a day.The surroundings remained utterly silent, with only the sound of the ship breaking through the sea and occasional unknown dripping sounds.Chapter 255 Brook's Eyes Instantly ClearedThe sky gradually darkened, although in such dense fog, there wasn't much difference between day and night.These dense fogs also served as Gekko Moriah's natural barrier, ensuring that those whose shadows he had stolen could not easily escape or be killed by the sun. After all, if the original shadow owner died, the zombies would become ineffective, which would be a huge loss for Moriah.Just as the sky completely darkened and everyone was preparing to take turns on night watch, Vivisuddenly let out a surprised 'Huh'. She manipulated the air currents and carefully fished something out of the sea beside the ship.It was an old-looking wooden barrel."What is this?"Franky walked up in confusion and patted the barrel lid.The wooden barrel was well-sealed, and a small flag was stuck on top, with a few blurry words written on it.[Before Sea God's Treasure]"What does this mean?""Is there treasure inside?" Usopp and Choppertemporarily forgot their fear and gathered around curiously.Robin examined it and said lightly, "This should be a drifting barrel, an ancient custom. People would put offerings in a sealed barrel and dedicate them to the Sea God, letting them drift, to pray for a smooth voyage."Nami also knew a little about this. "It should contain wine and some well-preserved food.""What, so it's an offering."Usopp and Chopper were immediately disappointed; they had thought it was a treasure map or some valuable treasure.Zoro and Nika, those two drunkards, immediately perked up and walked over."Since it's wine, let's drink it," Zoro said as a matter of course."Great minds think alike." Nika licked his lips."Hey, you'll be punished by the heavens! This is an offering to the Sea God!" Usopp quickly tried to stop them.Oh heavens, this world is still quite superstitious about ghosts and gods.Usopp, for example, had already put on all his zombie-fighting gear.Things like garlic, glutinous rice, wooden swords, black dog blood, and so on.If they were going to encounter zombies, it wouldn't be good to provoke the gods as well.Better safe than sorry!Nami said, "Generally speaking, it's not strictly forbidden to take the contents after praying."Zoro snorted disdainfully, "I never pray to gods."Nika was even more direct, patting his flat chest: "I am a god!"Nami added, "It's said that wine blessed by the sea waves is exceptionally mellow."Zoro and Nika's eyes instantly lit up.Luffy grinned: "Sea God? Then we'll accept this snack!"Zoro couldn't help but retort, "What Sea God? I really wonder who it was that sent the God of Sky Island flying."Just as Zoro reached out to open the wooden barrel lid.Bang!With a slight pop, the barrel lid sprang open, and an extremely dazzling flash of light burst forth, instantly illuminating the dense fog around them!"Whoa, my eyes!""Is that a flashbang?!"Blinded by the sudden strong light, everyone cried out in alarm.Robin was the first to adapt, her face sinking slightly: "This is bad, this might be some kind of signal, our position has been exposed!"As if to confirm her words, a sound of old wood creaking suddenly came from deep within the thick fog.Creak~Creak~Everyone endured the discomfort of the lingering afterimages and looked up towards the sound.They saw a dilapidated, ancient ship slowly and silently emerging from the fog ahead, to the side and front of the thousand sunny.Its mast was broken, its sails tattered, and its hull was covered in damp mold and marine parasites, as if it had just been salvaged from the seabed.The sudden appearance of a dilapidated ship in this dense, foggy sea was, in itself, a terrifying thing.Gulp.Nami had buried her head near Luffy's neck, completely afraid to open her eyes; at this moment, she didn't care about being shy at all!"A ghost ship won't really have ghosts, will it?"As if to confirm her words, a song drifted from the ship."Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~"Everyone's hair stood on end, and they sharply looked up towards the source of the sound.It's called a ghost ship, so do you think it will have ghosts?"T-t-t-there it is, it's a ghost ship!" Usopp and Chopper huddled together, scared out of their wits.Looking in the direction of the song, they could vaguely see a strange figure in a suit and top hat appearing by the railing of the ghost ship.