Everyone continued to walk forward, the thick fog around them making it feel as if they were in another world.
They didn't know how long they had been walking, the scenery around them was the same, and time itself seemed to have slowed down.
Sanji shouted Nami's name while twisting his neck, constantly complaining, "We really should have left that Mosshead on the ship; he's such a troublesome guy."
His voice echoed in the silent forest.
Hearing Sanji's words, Zoro's shark-like face quickly turned, a hint of anger flashing in his eyes: "Is that my fault?!
Bastard."
His tone was full of displeasure and protest.
Just then, Luffy suddenly stared intently ahead, then froze completely, an astonished expression on his face.
It turned out that not far ahead, a large tree was sitting there, looking like a drunk uncle, with a zombie horse beside it.
Even more surprisingly, the tree was holding a wine pot and pouring wine, while the horse, like a person, raised its glass.
The horse and tree, not expecting humans to suddenly appear, looked terrified at Luffy, who was riding a Three-Headed Hellhound, and the wine in their pot spilled onto the ground.
This scene was too bizarre; the group blinked and observed carefully.
"A tree that looks like an uncle and a unicorn drinking wine..." Luffy muttered, his face full of disbelief.
After a while, the startled birds in the forest scattered, and Luffy snapped out of it, excitedly raising his bug net and chasing after the tree, shouting, "Stop!!!"
Meanwhile, Franky alone chased after the unicorn, running wildly through the jungle.
"Stop! Stop!!
Bastards!" Their shouts echoed through the forest, making the whole scene incredibly chaotic and absurd.
"Strong Right Hand, (Rubber, Rubber, Bug Net)!"
As he spoke, his two hands suddenly extended and wrapped around the two zombie animals.
"Got 'em!!!"
Sanji and Zoro looked at Luffy, who was hugging the big tree and swaying back and forth, studying it, with question marks all over their heads.
Sanji was a little puzzled, "You're not Orochimaru; why are you catching them? Speaking of which, why hasn't Orochimaru come out? That's not right!"
Luffy grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth: "I want them to be pirates with me, hehehe!"
Robin stood to the side, one hand crossed over her chest, the other supporting her cheek, tilting her head, her expression becoming haughty.
"Ah... Orochimaru said: 'These things are too inferior; they don't deserve my research... Most likely, it's some Devil Fruit ability... And... they smell so bad, a rotten stench from inside out.
They must be items modified by some third-rate doctor; my standards are very high.' Orochimaru said so."
Robin cooperatively relayed Orochimaru's words, and after speaking, she even mimicked Orochimaru's disgusted expression.
(∩ᄑ_ᄑ)⊃
Zoro's veins bulged as he looked at Robin, whose expression was identical, and Orochimaru, who was leisurely watching the show from his backpack.
"So tell him to come out and speak for himself!!!
Is he some baby who needs care?!
You guys are going to spoil him rotten!"
The group looked at Zoro disapprovingly, as if he had said something heinous.
Luffy pouted and scratched his head ｢(ﾟﾍﾟ) "Tch... as if you could beat Orochimaru."
Zoro, exasperated, wanted to draw his sword and slash Luffy.
The group continued to move forward, with the mischievous Franky and Luffy riding together on the Three-Headed Hellhound.
Sanji frowned at the foolishly grinning Luffy.
"So, Luffy! You shouldn't always find all sorts of strange things as companions; we already have raccoons, robots, Orochimaru, and the like!"
"Hey! I'm not a robot!!!
I'm a cyborg! Idiot!" Franky looked down at Sanji, displeased.
"No matter how you look at it, you're not human!!!"
"I'm essentially still human! ...m"
"Essentially, you're a pervert!!! (乂｀д´)"
"Ah... (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)✧ If you can understand that point," Franky smiled somewhat bashfully.
"(๑ŐдŐ) Ah... I wasn't complimenting you!" Sanji was a bit speechless.
Luffy ignored the bickering duo, narrowed his eyes, sang a song, and patted the dog's head.
"What will we encounter next~ I'm really looking forward to it~" The melody was still the familiar one, but the lyrics had changed.
Robin carefully examined the dog. "The unicorn and the tree just now also had them, the same stitched marks, bandages, and branded numbers on their bodies."
Zoro's expression grew serious upon hearing this. "Numbers... Does that mean someone is managing them? It's indeed deliberate modification."
The group continued to walk forward when suddenly an ethereal voice, mixed with a hint of playfulness, came.
"Gloomy~ Gloomy~ Gloomy~" A cute-looking ghost sang as it floated over from ahead ๐•ᴗ•๐.
Soon, one became three, lining up, singing and dancing.
"I'm going to catch them and make them pets!!" Luffy looked at the ghosts, his face excited, and lunged with his bug net, but couldn't touch them at all, passing right through their bodies.
Franky breathed a stream of fire at them, but there was no reaction. "It's no use at all."
One ghost stuck out its tongue, with a cute, slightly eerie laugh, and passed through Franky's body ੭ˊᵕˋ੭.
Franky instantly became negative and bent at the waist. "I'm so useless... This week I'm really no good, can't do anything right, I've lost the confidence to live."
Finally, he knelt on the ground, radiating a gloomy aura.
ORZ "The whole world is laughing at me... Wuwuwuwu."
Luffy lunged at the ghost and was also passed through.
ORZ "If there's a next life, I'd like to be a seashell... Wuwuwu, I'm truly terrible, if there was a hole, I'd really want to crawl into it."
Orochimaru silently coiled an picture transponder snail with his tail and placed it on Robin's shoulder.
Sanji roared with a shark-like face, "So!! What exactly are you guys playing at!"
Robin looked at the ghosts dancing in the air and sighed, "Perhaps anyone who touches that ghost becomes gloomy."
"How is that possible?" Sanji was speechless.
Zoro crossed his arms and scoffed disdainfully, "Hmph... Useless guys, it's only because your wills are usually not firm that you get played with by these strange ghosts."
No sooner had he spoken than a ghost instantly floated past.
"ORZ, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have been born into this world."
Sanji looked at the Mosshead, speechless, and took a cigarette between his fingers. "It seems Robin-nee was right."
Robin watched the dancing ghosts, provocatively spinning 360 degrees in the air.
"Not only do they have no physical form, but touching them makes your mind and body collapse; if they were enemies, it would be troublesome."
Robin tried to maintain her expression, watching the ghosts, now five of them, holding hands, her expression slightly nuanced... She had an impulse... She watched the ghosts drift away with some reluctance, a slight smile on her lips.
"What an incredible island."
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