"Where am I...?"
Brook, who was lying on the ground regaining consciousness, felt somewhat dazed.
Why was he lying on the ground?
And... who were these people running back and forth on their pirate ship?
"Why is this pirate crew so poor?" a man said, speechless. "Aside from some scattered Berries, I haven't found anything of value."
Could it be that this group had just been robbed by someone else?
It wasn't impossible.
"If there's no money, so be it. Anyway, our need for money isn't that great," a companion nearby shook his head and said. "Let's first move the food we found in the kitchen back."
In a place like this, food was much more important than money.
The others nodded; that was indeed the case.
"Hmm?"
Just as the men intended to take away the food they had gathered from the kitchen, Brook stood up from the ground, clutching his arm, and said, "This weather is too cold. It's so cold my skin hurts."
"Ah~"
"Though I don't have any skin to feel the cold with~"
"Yohohohoho~!"
"?"
"!!"
Seeing Brook stand up and speak, the men wearing protective suits were all dumbfounded.
"Why did a skeletal corpse stand up and start talking?!"
Why?
Why!
Why could this guy, who had already become a pile of bones, stand up and talk?
Was this guy a demon?
Brook, taking in everyone's reactions, smiled and then asked, "By the way, have you seen where my friends went?"
"After I woke up, I found..."
Before Brook could finish his sentence, he saw the men in the distance raise their flintlocks at him.
"Fire! Kill him!"
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
"He... he disappeared?"
Seeing Brook suddenly vanish from where he stood, the men's pupils dilated to the limit.
Could it be that what they saw just now was merely an illusion?
"How troublesome."
Hearing a voice from behind, the men were startled and intended to turn around to attack Brook.
But before they could turn, they felt an incredibly terrifying force acting upon their bodies.
"Three-Point Hummingbird Tail Slash!"
Squelch!
"Ah!!"
Feeling the pain, the men screamed out and then collapsed to the ground, eyes rolling back.
"Honestly, you just had to make me take action," Brook said helplessly as he sheathed his cane sword. "Couldn't we just sit down and talk peacefully?"
He really meant no harm.
Then, as if remembering something, Brook looked stunned. "Oh no!"
"I forgot to ask them where this place is!"
Looking down at the unconscious men, Brook fell silent. Would these guys even wake up again?
"Hey, you guys, come over here and look at this."
"Hmm?"
Hearing the voice, the group looked back at Zoro, and then Luffy asked, "What is it?"
"Did you find the samurai and the person who was cut?!"
With that, Luffy quickly ran toward Zoro's direction.
The others exchanged looks and followed suit.
"I didn't find the people," Zoro said, staring at the icy landscape in the distance. "But I found something much more interesting."
"Something more interesting..."
A look of doubt flashed in Usopp's eyes. What could be more interesting?
Thinking this, Usopp ran to Zoro's side.
Immediately after, a look of horror appeared on his face.
"?"
"!!"
"An... an ice mountain?"
Why would there be something like a snow mountain in a place so full of flames?
Could he have fallen under an Illusion Technique?
Thinking of this, Usopp immediately looked at Meiser, asking if he was trapped in an illusion.
"It's not an Illusion Technique," Meiser spoke up. "The opposite side is indeed an Ice Island."
His Sharingan could see clearly that the other side was a genuine world of ice and snow.
"So it's not an illusion..."
"But that's still not right!"
Usopp snapped back to his senses and said with a shocked expression, "Why would icebergs and snow mountains appear in a place like this?"
Separated only by a river, one side was an active volcano with extremely high temperatures, while the other side was an incredibly cold world of ice and snow...
No, just what kind of island is this, hey!
"I finally understand why that person from before said it was cold," Nico Robin pointed her finger at the snowy landscape across the river. "That person should be over there."
Only by being in that environment would someone say the word "cold."
"In that case, both the killing samurai and the victim are over there," Usopp said, eyeing the distance.
"Over there..."
Merry, floating beside Meiser, stared intently at the distance and then said, "I don't see anyone."
She didn't see any human silhouettes.
Hearing this, Usopp said somewhat helplessly, "Of course you can't see from this far away."
That river must be at least several hundred meters wide, and combined with the complex terrain of the snow mountains...
It's only normal not to see anything!
"Is that so?"
Merry blinked and then turned to look at Meiser. "Then did you see anything?"
"I didn't either."
Meiser shook his head. "They're probably blocked by the snow mountains."
There were many peaks over there, so it was normal not to be able to see.
This time, Merry only nodded and said nothing more.
"This island really is interesting," Luffy said with a grin. "One side is a Fire Island, and the other is an Ice Island..."
"Hey, everyone, how about we go over there and eat some shaved ice?"
As he spoke, Luffy's drool began to flow.
He really wanted to eat some cool shaved ice so his body temperature could go down!
When Usopp heard Luffy's words, several question marks immediately popped up over his head.
How does this bastard just come up with one idea after another?
"Who would go over there, you idiot!" Usopp roared with a shark mouth. "We'll freeze to death!"
"Also, it's too far. We should head back to the ship first."
As he spoke, Usopp intended to turn around and leave.
But after taking only a few steps, he found his companions all standing still, clearly very interested in the distant snow mountains.
Usopp: ??
No, don't joke around!
"Those snow mountains over there do look a bit interesting," Zoro said, his lips curling up. "Might as well go take a look."
Maybe he could find that samurai he was so interested in!
"I agree," Meiser nodded.
He was also quite interested in an island that was both fire and ice.
Merry, meanwhile, said while drooling, "I want to eat shaved ice too."
"Then let's go," Nico Robin smiled.
"No, why are you all like this..." Usopp looked at his companions, dumbfounded. "That's an Ice Island with a samurai!"
"It's very dangerous!"
At a time like this, shouldn't they go back to the ship to regroup with their friends? Why were they going to such a dangerous place now!
They were going to die!
"Don't worry, Usopp," Merry said, tilting her head up. "I have winter coats for everyone, so we won't freeze."
With that, Merry giggled and chased after Luffy, who had already run off.
"Even if you say that, suddenly going from a hot place to a cold one..." Usopp said with a pale face. "Are we really not going to die?"
"I'm just an ordinary person..."
"An ordinary person?"
Meiser, who was walking toward Luffy with Zoro and the others, looked at Usopp with doubt. Where did this guy even border on being an ordinary person?
What kind of ordinary person can take such a beating?
A tanky marksman?
As if thinking of something amusing, Meiser shook his head with a smile and then said, "Alright, stop dazing and keep up."
With that, Meiser walked toward the distance with a chuckle.
Looking at the receding backs of his companions, Usopp hung his head in defeat. "Damn it, why do we have to go to a place like that..."
Even if they had winter coats, those things weren't omnipotent.
Besides, there was a dangerous samurai over there. What if they encountered that guy?
Thinking of this, Usopp felt a headache coming on.
The future looks bleak...
Right at that moment, Usopp heard a strange sound, sounding like some kind of bird flapping its wings.
"What's that sound?" Usopp frowned.
For some reason, his intuition told him that the owner of that sound might be very dangerous!
Thinking of this, Usopp instinctively reached into his bag and pulled out several explosive pellets.
Having done this, Usopp looked around vigilantly, searching for the source of the sound.
The next moment...
Whoosh!
The sound of flapping wings rang out again, which immediately caught Usopp's attention.
"There!"
Finding the target, Usopp immediately turned to look, only to freeze on the spot.
What did he see?
A... a winged monster?
"Hehe~"
As if noticing Usopp's gaze, Monet gave him a very "kind" smile.
"Yikes!!"
"A monster!"
Frightened, Usopp leaped up and ran like mad toward Meiser and the others.
Seeing this, Monet smiled even more happily, then spread her wings and flew toward the distant Ice Island at an extremely fast speed!
Hearing Usopp's voice, Zoro and the others instinctively looked back, clearly hearing Usopp's tragic scream.
"What's wrong with Usopp?"
Looking at Usopp running toward them in a cloud of dust, Merry's eyes were full of doubt.
Why was he running like he'd been thrown?
But there were no enemies behind him... Just what was wrong with him?
"Usopp, what's..." Zoro didn't finish before being knocked over by the charging Usopp.
Zoro: ??
"Hey!"
Zoro looked at Usopp, speechless. "What are you doing?"
What was the meaning of screaming and running into him for no reason?
"There's a monster! A monster!" Usopp grabbed Zoro excitedly. "I saw a bird with wings—no, wait, it was a person with the body of..."
Zoro: ...
"So what exactly are you trying to say?"
What was this about a bird with wings and a person with a body? What was any of that?
"I saw a monster!" Usopp pointed excitedly in the direction he had just looked. "There was a winged bird-person right there just now!!"
"A bird-person?"
Following the direction of Usopp's finger, a look of doubt surfaced in Zoro's eyes. "Where?"
Where was any bird-person?
The others also looked toward where Usopp was pointing with doubtful eyes, but they didn't see anything strange.
"You didn't just make up something non-existent just so you wouldn't have to go to the Ice Island, did you?" Meiser said, amused.
This was exactly the kind of thing Usopp would do.
"I didn't!" Usopp said excitedly. "I really saw a bird-person!!"
That guy even grinned at him, making his hair stand on end.
"You really saw a bird-person?"
"Yes!"
Seeing that Usopp wasn't lying this time, Meiser activated his Sharingan and observed the surroundings, intending to see if anyone was hiding nearby.
But after looking around, he didn't see anyone resembling a bird-person.
"Not in the vicinity..."
After pondering for a moment, Meiser looked up at the sky and discovered a figure high above.
"It really exists..." Meiser narrowed his eyes.
"See, I told you!" Usopp said with an excited expression.
He didn't say that just to avoid the island ahead; he really saw that terrifying bird-person!
"Upper body is human, but the rest is a bird's body..." Meiser frowned. "What kind of thing is that?"
A Devil Fruit Ability User?
Or some new species?
"Where exactly is the guy you're talking about?" Zoro asked.
"There."
Meiser raised his hand and pointed above the lake ahead. "See that black shadow?"
"That's the bird-person Usopp was talking about."
Hearing this, Zoro narrowed his eyes to look at the distant object but found he couldn't see it clearly at all.
After all... his eyesight wasn't that good.
"It flew that far already?" Nico Robin said, surprised.
Isn't that speed a bit too fast?
Merry, meanwhile, thought of something and said, "Could that person be in league with that samurai?"
"Maybe."
"Should I shoot her down then?!"
While speaking, Merry summoned Xiao Qing, who was hidden on her person, signaling for her to turn into a bow so that she could use her ability to knock down the distant bird-person.
Thinking of this, Merry prepared to release a Wind Arrow.
But considering such an attack might completely destroy the target, Merry held back some of her strength.
She just didn't know if she could capture the person that way.
Meiser stared intently at the situation in the distance and then shook his head. "She's already flown to the other side of the river... At this distance, a light attack won't catch her, and a heavy one might not even leave a corpse. Let's forget it."
"We'll talk once we get over there."
Merry nodded upon hearing this and then put Xiao Qing away.
Since Meiser said so, she would let the other party off the hook for now.
"Let's go." Meiser glanced at Luffy, who was walking happily up ahead. "We won't be able to keep up with Luffy in a moment."
Usopp took a look at Luffy and then complained, "That guy's energy is really boundless."
Even though it's this hot, he can still run around here with a grin; it's truly incredible.
"He is Luffy, after all," Meiser said.
Forget just sweating; even if you sucked out half the moisture in his body, he could be fully resurrected just by drinking water!
So this bit of environmental influence meant nothing to Luffy.
"True..." Usopp sighed helplessly.
Luffy's constitution was monster-class, so having such boundless energy was normal.
"Let's go, hurry and catch up," Zoro said. "We'll use Merry's ability to fly over in a bit."
"No problem," Merry said with a giggle.
"Shaved ice, shaved ice~"
Luffy up ahead shouted with a laugh, "I want to eat cool shaved ice~"
Hearing Luffy's voice, Meiser shook his head helplessly. Sometimes this guy really was just like a child.
Right at that moment, a figure appeared behind Luffy, raising a spiked club and swinging it down.
"Eat this!"
Boom!!
"Who's that?!"
Having dodged the attack, Luffy looked dissatisfied at the dust behind him. "Why did you sneak attack me?"
"Hmph, obviously to take you out, intruder!" the leopard-leg man said. "I'll personally..."
He stopped mid-sentence and froze because he saw the pair of legs behind Luffy!
And Luffy, who was observing the situation, was also stunned.
"You... those legs... they're awesome!!" they said together.
In the end, the two of them started laughing together.
"I was originally looking for intruders, but I almost accidentally hurt one of our own..." the leopard-leg man said, rubbing his head. "I'm really sorry."
By the end, a trace of embarrassment even appeared on the leopard-leg man's face. He had almost made a huge mistake.
"So that's how it is."
Luffy nodded with a smile and then looked at the leopard-leg man's legs with shining eyes. "By the way... your legs are really cool!"
"They're alright."
The leopard-leg man nodded with a smile and then looked up at Kin'emon's lower half behind Luffy. "But your back legs are a bit strange."
Why are they a different color than the front legs?
Could it be that his master made them that way on purpose?
"Strange?" Luffy scratched his head. "I think they're great."
Even though these back legs didn't listen to him very well, it didn't stop him from thinking they were cool!
Right at that moment, Kin'emon's lower half spoke, "Damn it, where on earth is this place?!"
"?!"
Hearing the voice, the leopard-leg man was stunned for a moment and then looked at Kin'emon's lower half in shock. "Your lower half can actually talk?!"
"Yes!"
"This is too incredible..." the leopard-leg man swallowed his spit. "Just what kind of legs are these..."
"So amazing!"
In all his life, this was the first time he had seen back legs that could talk. Truly amazing!
"Really? Hahahaha~"
"This..."
Coming to Luffy's side, Zoro looked at Luffy with a speechless expression. "How did Luffy make friends with another weirdo?"
Seriously, what the hell is this guy with leopard hindquarters?
Usopp, also noticing the situation below, was dumbfounded. "Is that... a leopard-centaur?"
Do such creatures even exist in this world?
"Is this the New World!" Merry said with shining eyes. "So cool!"
Would they encounter even more interesting creatures next?
"I feel like something isn't quite right," Meiser said with a frown.
"What do you mean?"
"You still remember whose territory this used to be, right?" Meiser said.
"Of course."
Usopp turned to look at the direction they had come from. "The big iron gates over there clearly had the words World Government written on them."
"What's the connection?" Zoro asked, confused.
"I suspect these centaurs and such aren't some special race of the New World." Meiser looked up at the leopard-leg man who was now buddy-buddy with Luffy. "They might be some kind of experimental product of the World Government."
"Experiments?"
Nico Robin was stunned for a moment, and then her expression turned grim. "Human experimentation?"
If that was the case, it was truly evil.
"It's a possibility," Meiser nodded. "Of course, it's also possible these guys were captured and brought here by the World Government, and later managed to escape because of some accident."
"Heh, the World Government really isn't anything good," Zoro sneered.
Hearing this, Meiser shrugged. "We've known that for years, haven't we?"
Having experienced so much, they already knew exactly what kind of existence the World Government was.
So saying the World Government wasn't anything good was certainly correct.
Right at that moment, the Den Den Mushi in Meiser's arms suddenly began to ring.
Puru puru puru~
Puru puru puru~
Puru puru puru~
"A Den Den Mushi?"
Usopp looked at Meiser upon hearing the sound and then asked in surprise, "You're still carrying a Den Den Mushi?"
"Of course."
Meiser nodded. "Having a Den Den Mushi makes it easier to contact the others."
"It's probably Nami and the others calling," Nico Robin guessed.
After all, they had been up here for a while, so it was normal to call and ask about the situation.
"Most likely them."
Meiser nodded and then picked up the Den Den Mushi.
Gacha~
"You guys finally answered the phone..." Brook let out a sigh of relief.
"Brook?"
Perhaps sensing that Brook's tone was a bit off, Meiser frowned. "Did something happen on your end?"
"Yes," Brook said. "Nami and the others are gone."
As soon as those words were spoken, the expressions of Meiser and the others shifted instantly.
"Gone?" Zoro said, "Why are they gone?"
Could it be that someone attacked Nami and the others after they left the Thousand Sunny?
"I don't know either."
Brook said helplessly, "I fell asleep for some unknown reason earlier and had no idea what happened."
"When I woke up, there were only a few people wearing Hazard Suits and gas masks around me, but I didn't see Nami or the others."
"Gas masks..."
Meiser frowned and said, "It seems someone secretly used something to knock you all out."
Could it have been those centaurs?
Thinking this, Meiser turned his gaze to the leopard-leg man who was racing with Luffy.
"Then why wasn't Brook taken away?" Merry asked in confusion.
"After this guy lies down, he looks just like a normal skeleton. Who would pay attention to that?"
"Meiser, you're really hurting my feelings..." Brook said, sounding a bit hurt.
What does he mean, who would care about a skeleton...
Skeletons need attention too!
"Enough nonsense, get to the point," Meiser said. "Quickly ask those people in Hazard Suits where Nami and the others went."
"That probably won't work..."
"Why not?"
"Because as soon as I woke up, they suddenly attacked me, so I cut them all down..." Brook said awkwardly.
So he had no way of asking where Nami and the others had gone.
Meiser:
That was some fast work.
"It seems someone was watching us while we were on the phone," Nico Robin said with a frown.
"If that's the case..." Usopp's expression changed. "Then this really is a trap!"
"From the current situation, it seems so."
Hearing this, Usopp's face immediately turned grim.
This really wasn't good news.
"Can you figure out where you are?" Meiser asked.
"Hmm..."
Brook looked around and said, "It's all ice and snow here, so it must be an ice island."
"That means you're on the opposite side," Meiser said.
As he spoke, Meiser glanced across the riverbank, guessing that Nami and the others had likely been taken there.
"I see," Brook said with a look of sudden realization. "No wonder Miss Nami said those things earlier. So there really is an ice island opposite Fire Island."
"How amazing!"
How did such a strange environment come to be?
A natural disaster?
Or man-made?
He was very curious~
"Go check if there are any strange buildings or people around," Nico Robin said.
"Let me see..."
Brook walked to the edge of the ship and looked into the distance before saying, "Hmm, I do see a huge building. It looks very grand~"
"Alright, we understand."
Nico Robin nodded and said, "Wait for us there for a bit. We'll be over soon."
Now that they knew their friends had been captured on the opposite side, there was nothing more to say.
Time to hurry over and rescue them!
"Alright, I'll wait for you," Brook nodded, then chuckled and said, "Ah... um, Miss Robin."
"When you get here, could you let me see your pant..."
"Kamin~"
Looking at the disconnected Den Den Mushi, Brook scratched his Afro and said, "It seems it's not possible~"
Well~
Then let's do it another time!
Yohohohoho~