Chapter 45: Phantom Assault

The creaking sound grew louder, reverberating through the fog-covered deck. The once-quiet, ghostly mist now felt alive, as if it had a mind of its own, twisting and swirling unnaturally around Vulcan's crew. Shadows flickered at the edges of their vision—too fast to fully see, yet too real to dismiss.

Vulcan grinned, his hand tightening around the shaft of his naginata. He could feel the tension mounting among the recruits, their eyes wide as they scanned the fog for any sign of movement. Smoker and Hina stood nearby, both fully alert, their eyes fixed on the darkness that seemed to be closing in on them.

And then, from the mist, they emerged.

Phantom-like figures, cloaked in darkness and barely visible, floated toward the ship. Their movements were unnatural, silent and eerie, as if they weren't bound by the laws of the physical world. Each one carried long, jagged blades that glowed faintly in the mist. Their eyes—if they had any—were nothing but glowing slits of light, focused intently on the crew.

"Yohohoho… There they are!" Brook said from behind Vulcan, his bony hands raised to his skull as if in mock terror. "These are the phantoms I warned you about! I must say, they're quite terrifying, but fortunately, I'm already dead! Yohohoho!"

Vulcan chuckled at Brook's joke, but his focus never left the approaching phantoms. "Well, I'm not dead yet, so I'd better deal with these guys."

"Don't get cocky, kid," Smoker growled, his cigarette hanging from his lips as he unsheathed his jitte, the steel weapon gleaming in the eerie light. "These things don't fight like normal enemies."

"They're not even alive, are they?" Hina muttered, her sharp eyes narrowing as she observed the phantoms. "Hina thinks we'll need to figure out their weaknesses quickly. Attacking blindly won't work."

Vulcan nodded, twirling his naginata in his hands as the first phantom lunged forward, its blade slicing through the air with inhuman speed. Vulcan blocked it effortlessly, but the impact was strange. It didn't feel like hitting a solid weapon—it felt like cutting through mist itself.

"Interesting…" Vulcan muttered, his grin widening. "Let's see how you handle this!"

With a burst of speed, Vulcan launched himself at the phantom, using Soru to close the distance in an instant. His naginata swept through the phantom's body, but once again, it felt as if he was cutting through nothing. The phantom reformed, unharmed, and lashed out with its own blade.

"Yohoho! Careful!" Brook called from behind. "They can't be hurt by normal means! You'll need something more than brute strength."

Vulcan dodged the strike, spinning out of the way just in time. "Something more, huh?" His mind raced as he assessed the situation. If physical attacks didn't work, he'd have to think of another strategy.

Meanwhile, Smoker had engaged two of the phantoms, his Smoke-Smoke Fruit powers allowing him to dodge their attacks with ease. His body dissolved into smoke whenever the phantoms tried to strike, and he retaliated by using his jitte to disrupt their movements. Still, it was clear that the phantoms weren't going down easily.

"Hina will try something different," Hina said as she advanced toward one of the phantoms. With a swift movement, she extended her arms, forming iron cages using her Cage-Cage Fruit abilities. The cages snapped around the phantom, trapping it momentarily, but it quickly phased through the bars, reforming on the other side.

Vulcan, still dodging and weaving between attacks, frowned. "It's like they're not fully here…"

"That's because they're shadows!" Brook called out, his bony hands waving in the air. "They're not bound by the physical world. Only their blades are real—everything else is just a shadow brought to life by Gecko Moria!"

Vulcan's eyes lit up. "The blades are real, huh?"

In a flash, Vulcan darted forward, aiming not for the phantom's body but for the blade it carried. His naginata clashed against the glowing sword, and this time, the impact felt solid. The phantom recoiled slightly, surprised by Vulcan's tactic.

"Gotcha," Vulcan said, his grin returning. "If I can't hurt you directly, I'll just disarm you!"

He spun his naginata around, striking at the phantom's weapon again. The force of the blow sent the sword flying out of the phantom's hands, and the shadowy figure seemed to lose its form, fading back into the mist without its weapon.

"Yohoho! Brilliant!" Brook cheered from the sidelines, clapping his bony hands together. "I knew you'd figure it out! If you disarm them, they can't fight anymore!"

"Thanks for the tip, skeleton man!" Vulcan called back, already moving on to the next phantom.

The rest of the crew quickly caught on to Vulcan's tactic. Smoker used his smoke powers to confuse and overwhelm the phantoms, disarming them one by one, while Hina used her cages to trap the phantoms long enough for the recruits to knock their weapons away.

The battle was intense, but as more phantoms were disarmed, the tide began to turn in favor of Vulcan's crew. The recruits, though inexperienced, followed their leaders' example and managed to hold their own against the shadowy figures.

"These things are tough," one of the recruits muttered, panting as he watched the last phantom fade into the mist. "But we did it!"

Vulcan wiped the sweat from his brow, his grin never fading. "Tough? Nah. They're just tricky. Once you figure out how to deal with them, they're not so bad."

Smoker walked over, his cigarette nearly burned down to nothing. "Don't get cocky, kid. That was just a warm-up."

Vulcan chuckled, slinging his naginata over his shoulder. "I'm just getting started."

With the phantoms defeated, the crew gathered on the deck, taking a moment to catch their breath. The fog hadn't lifted—it still hung around them like a heavy curtain, but the immediate threat was gone. For now.

Brook, ever the cheerful skeleton, approached the group with a flourish. "Yohoho! That was quite a show! You all handled yourselves wonderfully!"

"Thanks to your help," Vulcan said, giving Brook a friendly pat on the back—though once again, his hand slipped through the skeleton's bony frame.

"Ah, yes," Brook said with a slight bow. "I do what I can. Though I must admit, I am a little… fragile. Yohohoho!"

Hina sighed, her arms crossed. "Hina thinks we should move forward cautiously. The phantoms are gone, but this fog is unnatural. Something else is waiting for us out here."

Smoker nodded in agreement. "We've got bigger problems than some ghostly swordsmen. If what Brook said is true, Gecko Moria is behind this, and we're heading straight into his territory."

Brook's skull rattled as he nodded vigorously. "Indeed! Moria controls this entire area, and his domain is none other than Thriller Bark, the largest ship in the world! Yohohoho!"

Vulcan raised an eyebrow. "Thriller Bark? That's where we're headed, right?"

"Yes!" Brook said, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "It's a massive ship, more like an island than a vessel. Moria has been using it to gather shadows from all the ships that wander into the Florian Triangle. He uses those shadows to create his army of the undead. And… that's where my shadow is, too."

Vulcan's grin returned, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Well then, looks like we're on the right track."

Hina, however, didn't share his enthusiasm. "Hina thinks this is a terrible idea. We're not equipped to deal with a Warlord of the Sea."

Smoker crossed his arms, his expression grim. "She's right. But we don't have much choice now. If we turn back, we'll just run into more of Moria's tricks. The only way forward is straight through."

Vulcan's grin widened even more. "Good. I wasn't planning on turning back anyway."

As the crew prepared to press forward, the fog parted slightly, revealing the looming shadow of a massive structure in the distance. It wasn't a ship—not in the traditional sense. It was far too large for that.

Thriller Bark had appeared on the horizon.