Chapter 46: Entering the Haunted Ship

The ship loomed ahead like a nightmare brought to life, its silhouette massive against the foggy horizon. Thriller Bark was no ordinary ship; it felt more like an island—a rotting fortress adrift in the Florian Triangle, where countless souls had been lost. The atmosphere was thick with tension as Vulcan, Smoker, Hina, and the rest of the crew approached, their expressions a mix of awe and wariness.

"Yohohoho! Welcome to Thriller Bark!" Brook called cheerfully, his bony hand gesturing to the haunted ship as they approached the side. "I must say, it hasn't improved much over the decades. Still as spooky as ever! Yohoho!"

The crew wasn't laughing. Smoker took a long drag from his cigarette, blowing smoke into the mist as he eyed the towering structure before them. "This place doesn't feel right," he muttered.

"We're being watched," Hina said, her voice calm but sharp. Her pink hair fluttered slightly in the breeze, but her eyes were fixed on the shadowy ship. "Hina doesn't like this."

Vulcan, however, was grinning. "This is exactly the kind of challenge we came for," he said, gripping his naginata. "The bigger the mystery, the bigger the adventure."

The recruits, who had started the day full of energy, now seemed less certain. They whispered amongst themselves, eyeing the thick fog that clung to Thriller Bark's decayed wooden hull.

With a final creak of the ship's boards, they docked. Vulcan led the way, hopping onto the deck with a confidence that only he seemed to have. The rest of the crew followed, albeit more cautiously.

The moment they stepped aboard, the temperature seemed to drop. The air was thick with the smell of mold and decay. Every creak of the wooden planks beneath their feet echoed in the unnatural silence. The ship felt abandoned, yet the feeling of being watched never left them.

"This place gives me the creeps," one of the recruits whispered, clutching his sword tightly.

"Stay sharp," Smoker grumbled. "This isn't some training exercise."

Vulcan led the way deeper into the ship, peering down long, dark hallways lined with creepy statues and dust-covered portraits. Each step felt heavier than the last, the air growing colder the further they went.

"Something's wrong with this place," Hina muttered. Her eyes darted around, taking in the rotting walls and shattered windows that lined the corridor. "It feels... dead."

"Because it is," Brook said, his voice eerily cheerful. "Thriller Bark is full of zombies, you see. Moria loves to bring the dead back to life—though I must say, it's not as fun as it sounds! Yohohoho!"

Before anyone could respond, the floor beneath their feet began to rumble.

"What was that?" one of the recruits yelped, gripping his weapon tighter.

Suddenly, zombie hands burst through the floorboards, grabbing at the crew's legs. The deck around them seemed to come alive as rotting corpses emerged from the walls and floors, their decayed bodies pulled together by Moria's dark magic.

Zombies—filthy, rotten, and grinning with twisted glee—crawled from every direction. Their hollow eyes glowed faintly in the dark, their limbs jerking unnaturally as they surged forward.

"Ah! Here come the zombies!" Brook exclaimed, his skeletal face looking almost happy. "Don't worry—at least they're not after my bones! Yohohoho!"

Vulcan's grin widened. "Now this is more like it!"

He swung his naginata in a wide arc, cleaving through several zombies at once. Their decayed bodies collapsed to the floor in pieces, but more kept coming, crawling out from beneath the ship's wooden planks.

"Hina doesn't like this," Hina said flatly as she kicked a zombie aside. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers. "Cage-Cage: Iron Binding!"

With a flash of her Devil Fruit powers, iron bars materialized around several zombies, trapping them momentarily. But they soon began phasing through the bars, their twisted grins never fading.

Smoker was already in action, smashing zombies left and right with his jitte. "Stay together!" he barked. "We can't let them overwhelm us!"

The recruits, despite their initial panic, followed Smoker's lead. They formed a defensive line, slashing at the zombies as they came. But for every one they defeated, two more seemed to take its place.

"These things just keep coming!" one of the recruits shouted, backing away as a particularly large zombie lumbered toward him.

"Focus on the head!" Smoker called, slamming his jitte into a zombie's skull. It crumbled to dust instantly, the magic animating it broken.

Vulcan spun his naginata, cutting down more zombies with swift, fluid movements. But even he could tell that something was wrong. "They're not just attacking randomly," he muttered, eyes narrowing. "They're pushing us somewhere."

As if in answer, a deafening crash shook the entire deck. The walls trembled, and the floor beneath them cracked. From the darkness of the ship's depths, a massive figure emerged—a giant zombie, towering above the rest. Its body was a grotesque patchwork of rotting flesh, its red eyes glowing with an unnatural, sinister light.

"That thing's huge!" one of the recruits shouted, his voice trembling.

The giant zombie let out a guttural roar, shaking the entire ship. Its massive fists slammed into the ground, splintering the wooden floorboards as it charged toward them with surprising speed.

"Now this is a challenge," Vulcan said, his grin returning.

"Kid, stop grinning and focus!" Smoker barked, already charging at the giant zombie. "This thing's not like the others!"

The zombie swung one massive fist at Smoker, but the Marine captain dissolved into smoke, avoiding the attack effortlessly. He reappeared behind the zombie, slamming his jitte into its leg, but the blow seemed to barely faze the creature.

"Too tough," Smoker muttered, dodging another swing.

"Hina will trap it," Hina said, her hands glowing as she prepared to summon more iron cages. "Cage-Cage: Steel Barricade!"

The iron bars appeared, forming a massive cage around the giant zombie. For a moment, it seemed trapped, but with a growl, the zombie tore through the bars like paper, its rotting muscles bulging with unnatural strength.

Vulcan's eyes gleamed with excitement. "We need a plan."

He darted forward, using Soru to close the distance between him and the giant. His naginata struck the zombie's side with full force, but the blade barely cut through the decaying flesh. The giant roared in anger, swinging its massive arm down at Vulcan.

Vulcan dodged, rolling out of the way just in time. "This thing's tougher than it looks," he muttered. His mind raced as he analyzed the situation. The giant was too strong for a head-on attack, and its rotting body was surprisingly resilient. They needed to take it down strategically.

"Hina, Smoker, keep it distracted!" Vulcan called out, already formulating a plan.

The two Marines nodded, charging at the zombie from opposite sides. Smoker used his smoke abilities to disorient the creature, while Hina trapped its legs with more cages. The giant struggled, roaring in frustration, but Vulcan wasn't done yet.

He glanced up at the ceiling—at the crumbling wooden beams holding the ship together. "We'll bring the whole thing down on it."

With a burst of speed, Vulcan leaped into the air, aiming his naginata at the weakened ceiling beams above the giant. His blade struck true, slicing through the wood with a sharp crack. The beams groaned, and before the zombie could react, the ceiling collapsed, burying the giant under a pile of debris.

For a moment, everything was silent. The dust settled, and the giant zombie's glowing red eyes flickered once… twice… then dimmed as its body crumbled beneath the weight of the wreckage.

Vulcan landed gracefully, grinning as he surveyed the damage. "That should do it."

The recruits cheered, clearly relieved that the battle was over. Smoker and Hina approached Vulcan, both slightly out of breath but unharmed.

"Well, that was fun," Vulcan said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Fun?" Smoker grumbled, though there was a hint of a smile on his face. "You're insane."

"Hina thinks that was reckless, but effective," Hina added, her arms crossed.

Brook strolled over, clapping his bony hands together. "Yohohoho! Marvelous teamwork! Though, I must say, it's a good thing I'm already dead—I would have been crushed! Yohohoho!"

Vulcan laughed. "Come on, guys, we're just getting started."