Chapter 63

"Man, fuck this place."

Ace was muttering to himself as he explored the island they were on. Similar to Soma, he wasn't feeling excited about where they were.

The air felt heavy and it was quiet… too quiet. It was as if nothing existed in the forest.

The more Ace ventured deeper into the island's dead forest, the more he realized the extent of the death he was seeing.

Enel wasn't kidding when he said there was no one here. Ace hasn't even seen a single insect or animal. Just snow and dead trees.

Then, Ace found something strange. He walked to the tree that had strange marks on it.

"Claw marks?"

Ace traced the strange marks with his hand. Five large gashes ran along the trunk of the tree.

"What animal could this be?"

…

"Stop talking in poems, old man," Soma said to the emaciated old man in front of him.

"Best to heed my advice, young one," the old man said, reciting in what seemed like a poem. "You shall live longer if you run."

"Can't do that, sorry." Soma relaxed from his stance. "I'm a pirate! Only my captain can tell me what to do."

"Such a free man, what a rare sight. Those I've seen all shivered in fright."

Soma was about to ask more regarding the island they were on when he was interrupted by a shout. It was an unfamiliar voice. It sounded sickly and raspy, but felt much stronger than the old man's.

"Elder, Elder, this you must see! Four men wounded, dead as a tree!"

Soma and the old man turned to the one who shouted. It was a man wearing similar black robes.

With the man's arrival, Soma saw many more. People started peering out from inside the dilapidated houses. They stepped out as if greeting the man.

Soma took the chance to get a proper look at the people of the village. At first glance, there were more women than men in the village.

The strange thing was most of the women were pregnant despite being almost as emaciated and sickly as the old man that first appeared in front of Soma.

"Herald, Herald! You have returned! Speak now of the news so disturbed!"

Soma turned his attention to the man that just arrived. He looked to be the healthiest and strongest man in the small village, but it was a very low bar. The man was pale and thin with barely any muscles.

At the same time, the man who was called Herald noticed Soma. He looked at Soma from head to toe and seemed to come alive before turning to the old man.

"Elder, Elder, is he the one? Bringing an army, have we won?" Herald asked the old man.

"I'm a pirate," Soma said before introducing himself. "I am Soma! Who are you people?"

Soma watched Herald deflate from disappointment. The old man walked to Herald as did some of the other men in the village.

"Herald, Herald, go take us there! Check for food, get what we can spare!"

Herald started walking away. The others followed. Soma chose to do so as well. If he understood what Herald said, there were four corpses of men that didn't belong in their village.

"I'm coming with you," Soma said.

"No, no, you must not! 'Tis unsafe! Go away, run where it is safe!" the old man said to Soma.

"I wasn't asking for permission," Soma said with a slight glare to the old man. In truth, he was worried that the corpses were his crew…

…

Vash stood over the four corpses he found. At first glance, they were undeniably dead. They were dressed like soldiers with their armor made of fine leather. Their skins were a blueish gray with patches of dried red blood here and there.

Looking a bit closer, Vash realized they didn't die from the cold. They died from the deep wounds they sustained.

Vash knelt beside the corpses and examined them. With careful hands, he first tried to look for clues that can tell him how long they've been dead for.

"These wounds… with this kind of climate, I'd say they've been dead for around three days."

Vash's skill as a doctor allowed him to make accurate judgements. Next, Vash checked their belongings to see if it would give him some clues.

The first thing Vash found was a letter and a journal. He first read the letter. Most of its contents were unreadable due to it being soaked in blood, but there were still a few parts Vash could make out.

"Mine… Ebony… No locals… Blackwood Island… the Blessed Kingdom of Espa graces you," Vash mumbled out as he read the legible parts of the letter.

From what little he gathered, Vash understood that the four corpses in front of him were voyagers of the Espa Kingdom that were sent to this island - that was apparently named Blackwood - to mine some kind of metal named Ebony. One of them was the highest ranking among the officers that were sent.

"And yet, here you are. A frozen corpse," Vash said to the corpse he just looted. "Again with this Espa Kingdom."

Next, Vash read the journal. There wasn't much written on it. Only the first few pages had writings. The rest were blank.

"Karakuri Island… to build a weapon? The birthplace of Doctor Vegapunk?"

Vash quickly read the contents of the small journal. It was written there that they received orders by messenger birds to go to Karakuri Island next to have weapons built for their army.

Weapons made of Ebony.

"This Espa Kingdom must be a warmongering one," Vash mumbled as he returned to reading. The next part caught his attention.

It said that along with the order, the messenger birds gave them an Eternal Pose to Karakuri Island.

Vash quickly went back to looting the corpses in search of the said Eternal Pose, hoping to find it with them. He wasn't disappointed.

One of the corpses had the Eternal Pose in his pockets. Its label read 'Karakuri Island'.

"Jackpot!"

…

"Jackpot!"

Doppol celebrated after seeing a ship moored on the beach in the distance. From where he was, the ship looked empty. Snow has piled up on it as well, meaning that there wasn't anyone taking care of it.

"That ship should have loot in it," Doppol said as he walked towards the ship he saw.

As Doppol got closer, he realized that the ship was neither a pirate ship nor a marine ship. Its sails held a familiar emblem, one that he saw back in Bounty Plains.

"Espa Kingdom?"

The flag was red in color. The main emblem was a black bird carrying a shield. That symbol was one that Doppol saw in the base that Ace and Vash attacked.

"At this rate, we'll make it on their list of targets," Doppol chuckled before going back to what he was about to do.

Doppol created around a dozen Doubles. Their task was to loot the ship.

"I swear, you really should find a solution to your seasickness," one of the Doubles said to Doppol.

"You're me. You don't need to tell me. I already know!" Doppol waved off the Double that spoke to him.

"Well, maybe hearing it out loud would give a stronger effect?"

"...yeah, sure."

The Doubles started looting the ship. The Doubles then quickly realized that something was wrong.

It wasn't very noticeable outside the ship since it was snowing and the ground was covered. But, the ship was a different case.

"What the hell happened here?"

The deck of the ship looked like a scene of harsh battle. Blood was splashed on the wooden walls. Some of the Doubles swept away the snow on the deck and saw that the wood was dyed red in blood as well.

Weapons both broken and functional lay scattered all around. Claw marks marred the wood that was also broken in some parts of the ship.

Overall, it painted a picture of a bloody struggle.

"What's going on over there?" Doppol shouted from land. He didn't go aboard the ship because of his seasickness.

"There was a fight here!" one of the Doubles shouted back at Doppol.

"A fight?"

"Yeah! A bloody one!"

"Creepy," Doppol said after a shiver crawled down his spine.

An empty ship where a deadly and bloody battle took place on a seemingly uninhabited island? The situation screamed horror for Doppol.

"Just focus on looting! Let's get out of here quickly!"

…

Meanwhile, Hepha was inside a mountain cave. It was a rather new one judging by the excavation tools lying around. But, those weren't the only things she found lying scattered in the cave she found herself in.

"Espa Kingdom. These guys again?"

Hepha recognized the emblem on the torn off and bloody breastplate she found lying on the ground. She was crouching over a dark patch of soil that was most likely caused by dried blood.

"This place gives me the creeps," Hepha said to herself before tossing aside the torn metal breastplate she found.

Hepha stood up and looked around. She wasn't deep into the cave yet, so her surroundings were still relatively bright.

"There should be a lamp here somewhere…"

Hepha looked around with what little light there was. Thankfully, she didn't have to look for long. She found an oil lamp lying on the ground. Soon, she had light.

"That's better."

Hepha walked deeper into the cave. The more she ventured, the more she realized that the cave was dug up for mining. Dead-end tunnels extended in seemingly random directions.

With calculated steps, Hepha made a mental map in her mind so she doesn't get lost. She didn't know what drove her to venture deeper, but she did.

Eventually, she spotted something that greatly interested her. It was a cart full of minerals she hadn't seen before. It was pure black. The light from her lamp was seemingly swallowed by the mineral. It was like looking at a dark void the size of your hand.

"This must be what they dug up this cave for."

Hepha went ahead and pulled the cart along. She was strong enough to do so. She decided to return to the ship with what she found.

…

Soma followed Herald along with the other men. They moved painfully slow for Soma, but much quicker than they should have judging by how unhealthy they seemed.

Everyone in the village Soma saw just now were deathly pale and emaciated. Their skin stuck so close to their bone that they looked like skeletons with skin.

'Why didn't Enel detect them with his Haki? They're clearly alive. Are they so close to dying that their presence isn't even perceived as alive?'

Soma shook off his thoughts and focused on the present. He was at the back of the group. He took measurements of the island's edges as they walked. That was how slow they walked.

Suddenly, the Transponder Snail on Soma's wrist started ringing. The villagers Soma followed were tensed and turned around.

"Puru puru puru puru…"

Soma quickly answered the call. Ace's voice was the first thing he heard.

"Yo! Did you guys find anything interesting?"

The next to speak was Vash.

"I found four corpses. High ranking officers of the Espa Kingdom's army."

"Four corpses? That's where we're headed right now," Soma said.

"What is that animal doing? No snail should be doing talking!" the Elder said.

"Who is that, Soma?" Hepha asked.

"Villagers. There are locals here," Soma answered.

"They avoided Enel's Mantra!" Ace said with a hint of curiosity. "Are they strong?"

"No, they're not," Soma said, not at all caring that the villagers were listening to the conversation. "Did you find anything on the corpses, Vash?"

"Yeah, I did. They had an Eternal Pose leading to Karakuri Island."

"Karakuri?" Hepha seemed to recognize the name of the island. "That's where-"

"Doctor Vegapunk was born." Vash finished Hepha's sentence. "You know about it?"

"I do," Hepha said. "It's a future island. Their technology there is rather advanced."

"Let's go there next, then!" Ace said. "What about you, Hepha? Doppol? Did you guys find anything?"

"Yeah. Vash said he found officers from the Espa Kingdom. I found their ship," Doppol proudly announced. "I'm going back to the Ashen Dragon. I looted their ship, of course."

"I'm going back, too," Hepha said. "I found an interesting metal in the mining cave I went to."

"That must be Ebony!" Vash said.

"You know what this is, Vash?" Hepha asked.

"I do. The Espa Kingdom sent men here to mine exactly that. They were going to Karakuri Island next to build weapons."

"Damn it, you guys!" Terzo said. "You sound like you're having fun adventures out there!"

"Not really," Ace said with a disappointed sigh. "It's creepy, honestly. I'm definitely not having fun."

"I hear you," Soma said. "This island feels… dead."

"By the way," Hepha interrupted the conversation. "Teach should be connected to this call, right?"

"He should be," Ace said. "Terzo, call Enel over. I can't sense Teach with the range I have right now."

"On it, Captain!" Terzo said. "Enel! Ace needs you!"

A few moments later, Enel's voice came from their Transponder Snails.

"Captain! How can I help?"

"You have more instant range with your Mantra than mine," Ace said. "Help us find Teach."

"Give me a moment, Captain!"

Enel was silent for a few seconds. It didn't take long for him to do what Ace asked of him. He had the strongest Observation when it comes to range in the crew, after all.

"I found him, Captain!"

"What's he doing? Where is he?"

"He's… dancing?"

"...huh?"

"Ahh, now he's running! He's close to you, Captain!" Enel said. "Face your left and run straight! You'll find him!"

…

"Shit! Shit! Shit!"

Teach was running away desperately. Beads of sweat ran down along the sides of his face. He held his wounded side as he ran. Blood gushed out of his deep wound.

"What the fuck are those things?"

Teach looked like he wanted to turn around. But he didn't. He focused on running as far as his legs can carry him.

The shrill scream from behind him only made him run faster.

"RAAAAAAAH!!!"