One Piece: From Ninja To Pirates

Meanwhile, the foursome riding in the carriage had already arrived near the castle.

"Everyone, we’ll be reaching the castle soon~" Hilton said with a cheerful laugh.

Yet behind this smile lurked terrifying murderous intent.

Merry glanced at Hilton, instinctively sensing something off about his grin. She subconsciously moved closer to Nami, seeking some sense of security.

Nami looked at Merry curiously and asked, "What’s wrong?"

"Yeah, little girl, what’s the matter?"

"N-nothing..."

Nami didn’t think much of it, assuming the child was just frightened by recent events and seeking comfort.

With that in mind, Nami pulled Merry into a gentle embrace and whispered, "Don’t be afraid, we’re here with you."

"Mhm."

"Please don’t worry, everyone. We’ll soon arrive at the safe castle," Hilton chuckled.

"That’s right! And we’ll get to meet the great Dr. Hogback!"

"You really admire him that much?" Nami asked curiously.

"Of course!" Chopper beamed at Usopp. "He’s a genius surgeon!"

"He once performed miraculous operations that saved tens of thousands of lives!"

"Don’t you think that makes him an incredible doctor?"

As he spoke, stars practically shone in Chopper’s eyes, his admiration for Hogback plain to see.

"Look how excited you are..."

"Is it because you’re about to meet your idol? Hehe~" Chopper scratched his head sheepishly. "Even before setting sail, I used to follow news about him all the time."

"But then one day, Dr. Hogback suddenly disappeared without a trace."

"Some thought he’d died, and I was heartbroken for ages..."

Usopp nodded understandingly. Having one’s idol vanish like that would be devastating for anyone.

"But being able to meet Dr. Hogback again here is just wonderful!" Chopper said joyfully.

The little guy’s face radiated happiness, his tiny legs swinging excitedly beneath the seat.

"Then why would such a genius doctor be in a place like this?" Nami wondered aloud.

The area hardly seemed fit for human habitation. Why would he come here?

Surely not because he enjoyed this creepy atmosphere...

"Because Dr. Hogback is conducting research here that surpasses human wisdom," Hilton said with a smile. "That’s why he came."

"I see! He truly is a remarkable doctor!" Chopper exclaimed. "Do you think I could get his autograph?"

"Ohoho, I don’t see why not."

"That’s fantastic!"

Watching Chopper’s delighted expression, Hilton’s grin widened. These fools were even more gullible than expected.

"The fog outside is really thick..." Usopp remarked, pulling back the curtain to peer outside. "Can’t see a thi—"

His words cut off abruptly as he spotted a lion standing on a distant cliff, seemingly gazing at something.

Just as Usopp was puzzled, the lion turned around—revealing a human face!

"Ahhh!!"

"Huh?!!"

"Wh-what’s wrong?!"

Nami looked at Usopp fearfully, unsure why this idiot had suddenly screamed in terror.

"There’s a lion, a lion!" Usopp shouted in horror. "And it has a human face!!"

This island was truly abnormal, harboring such terrifying creatures.

"That’s impossible?!" Nami snapped. "How could there be a lion with a human face?"

"Usopp, you must be hallucinating."

Merry gazed at Usopp with concern, thinking fear had made him see things.

"Fine, see for yourselves!"

The skeptical trio opened the window to look, but nothing seemed amiss, leaving them confused.

"Where is it?"

"Nothing there?"

Usopp leaned in doubtfully but found nothing unusual. "What’s going on? Did I really hallucinate?"

That couldn’t be. As a sniper, his eyes were the last organs to deceive him.

"Sir, you might just be overly tense," Hilton said with a chuckle. "Though the forest gets scary at night, it doesn’t have the things you described."

"Maybe... I’m just tired," Usopp conceded.

Yet, despite his words, his suspicion lingered.

"Ohoho, we’ll reach the castle soon. No need to worry," Hilton reassured. "Just relax with a hot bath and wait for your friends."

"Yeah, you’re right."

"Ah~"

"A hot bath~"

Seeing their attention diverted, Hilton sighed inwardly, then glanced at the window, narrowing his eyes.

’Why are they so quiet this time?’ he wondered.

Usually, the forest creatures would revel wildly, sometimes even scaring their prey. But tonight, it was eerily calm.

Was it... because of that explosion earlier?

"Wait!"

"What is it, sir?"

Hilton eyed Usopp curiously. Had he actually noticed something?

"I still think something’s off," Usopp insisted, frowning. "That wasn’t a hallucination. I trust my eyes."

The others tensed. If Usopp was this certain... then that terrifying creature might really exist.

"So, you want to..."

"We’re not going to the castle," Usopp declared. "Let’s turn back and find Meiser."

This last part was directed at Nami and the others.

After a moment, Nami nodded. "Alright."

"But... Mr. Hilton, could you take us back to the shore?"

They might encounter the Hell Cerberus again, but... that was better than facing unknown horrors here.

Without their strong companions nearby, she felt utterly unsafe.

"But... then we won’t get to see Dr. Hogback," Chopper said tearfully.

He desperately wanted to meet his idol, yet now they had to leave, which made Chopper extremely upset.

"Chopper, after we regroup with Meiser and the others, we can still come back to visit," Merry said.

"Huh?!"

"Oh right..."

Hearing Merry’s words, Chopper immediately realized they didn’t necessarily have to go find him now. They could always visit after reuniting with their crewmates.

With this thought, Chopper stopped crying instantly.

’Tch... Not so easy to fool after all. No matter, we’ve arrived anyway.’

Hilton sneered inwardly while maintaining a cheerful expression. "Please wait here for a moment while I inform the coachman," he said.

"Alright, thank you."

"Don’t mention it~"

Lifting the rear curtain, Hilton stepped out and exchanged glances with the two zombie coachmen before the three silently departed.

As they left, all three wore sinister grins—their objective had clearly been accomplished.

Inside the carriage, the four waited in silence, but the oppressive atmosphere grew increasingly unsettling.

If no one spoke, the fear would only intensify.

Ahem. Usopp cleared his throat. "Do you think Meiser might be searching for us in the forest?"

"That’s possible," Nami nodded.

While Luffy and the others might take time to disembark, Meiser was different—a Ninja capable of running across the ocean. A little seawater wouldn’t stop him. It was puzzling why he hadn’t found them yet.

"Let’s just hope they search toward the castle," Usopp sighed.

A minute passed, yet no sounds came from outside—not even Hilton’s voice. "It’s too quiet..."

"What’s going on?" Nami frowned. "Where’s Hilton?"

"Hey, Mr. Hilton?"

"He... he didn’t just abandon us in this terrifying forest, did he...?"

At Usopp’s words, Nami’s face turned pale.

Abandoned?

Did that mean they’d have to walk back to the coast through this nightmare?

"I refuse to walk back!" Nami panicked. "What if that three-headed dog catches us?!"

"Me neither!"

Usopp still vividly remembered that human-faced lion. Who knew what kind of monstrosity that was? And the island had terrifying ghosts too. Damn it—the more he thought, the scarier it got!

"Hey... why are we in a graveyard?"

Chopper peeked outside through the curtain and froze.

"Graveyard?!"

Usopp shuddered, cautiously moving closer.

When he saw the scene outside, cold sweat drenched his face.

"Gulp..."

Swallowing hard, Usopp muttered, "This eerie atmosphere... there wouldn’t be Zombies here, would there?"

As he spoke, he stared fixedly at the distant tombstones, terrified of seeing Zombies emerge.

"Idiot! Don’t say scary things like that!" Nami roared with shark-like fury.

She was already scared enough, and now that jerk Usopp had to bring up those terrifying creatures—was he deliberately trying to frighten her?!

"Zom... zombies..."

Merry clung tightly to Nami, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.

"Creak~"

The next moment, a hand suddenly burst out from the graveyard, turning Usopp’s face pale with fright.

"Ahhh!!!"

"Zombies!!"

As if it were a signal, one after another, zombies crawled out from the graves, emitting terrifying low growls as they slowly advanced toward the carriage.

"!!"

"Ahhh!!"

"Nooo!!"

The four of them huddled together tightly, tears and snot streaming down their faces.

Why did they have to face such horrifying creatures?!

"Eat... eat!!"

One zombie clawed at the carriage, staring excitedly at the group inside. "Humans... eat!!"

"Ahhh!!"

"Nooo!"

"Don’t eat us!!"

Nami kicked out in terror, but she couldn’t shake the zombie off—instead, it only made the creature even more excited.

"Quick, get out of the carriage!" Usopp shouted.

Hearing this, Nami immediately grabbed Merry and leaped out through the window, with Usopp and Chopper close behind.

But once outside, they froze—there were far too many zombies surrounding them!

"Humans, we’ll eat you!" the zombies roared.

"Ahhh!!"

"Someone save us!!"

Just then, Meiser leaped down from above, descending like a divine savior!

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!!"

"Boom!!"

A massive fireball crashed down from the sky, slamming into the horde of zombies and instantly setting a large group ablaze!

"Whoosh~"

"Ahhh!!"

The scorching flames reduced half the zombies to ashes in an instant!

The sight left the remaining zombies utterly stunned—this was fire, the kind that could burn them to death!

"Ahhh!!"

"Fire!!"

Terrified, the zombies scrambled back, desperate to avoid the deadly flames.

The next moment, countless shadows emerged from the ashes, swiftly rising into the sky before vanishing.

Witnessing this, the zombies grew even more frightened.

"Swish~" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Thud~"

Meiser landed gracefully on the ground, his crimson eyes sweeping coldly over the zombies, exuding an overwhelming pressure.

Under his gaze, the zombies shuddered and instinctively took a step back.

"Scram!"

"Run for your lives!!!"

As if facing some monstrous beast, the zombies fled in a frenzy, each wishing they had an extra pair of legs to escape faster—lest they be burned to death by that terrifying man.

Once the area was cleared, Meiser turned to Merry and the others, offering a gentle smile. "It’s alright now. You’re safe."

"Meiser!!"

The four of them immediately rushed over, clinging to his arms and legs, bawling their eyes out.

Meiser: "..."

These four... might as well call them the Cowardly Quartet from now on.

Sighing inwardly, he reassured them, "The zombies are all gone. There’s nothing to fear anymore."

"I thought I was going to die just now," Merry sobbed.

"Yeah, zombies are terrifying."

"I almost thought I was done for."

Listening to his companions chattering about their recent ordeal, Meiser reassured them, "It’s alright. With me here now, they won’t dare lay a finger on you."

As if they had found their pillar of strength, the four gradually stopped crying, their emotions quickly stabilizing.

However, Chopper and Mei continued clinging tightly to Meiser, refusing to let go.

"Meiser, how did you find us?" Nami asked.

"I came across a few living people while searching for you in the forest," Meiser explained. "They told me you’d come to the castle, so I followed."

"Living people?"

"Yes, living people." Meiser glanced back toward the forest. "A rare few, at least."

"This forest is teeming with all sorts of grotesque Zombies."

Though it was strange—he hadn’t encountered any of those zombies on his way here. Where had they all gone?

"So what I saw earlier wasn’t an illusion..." Usopp gulped. "There really are lion-faced humans."

"Ah, I also came across a horse with a human face."

"Please stop talking about it..."

They didn’t want to imagine such horrifying creatures, or they’d have nightmares tonight.

Meiser sighed helplessly. This place was crawling with Zombies—fear wouldn’t solve anything.

Well, they’d just have to get used to it.

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