"Choose the one on the left."
Davy Jones didn't hesitate at all. Once again, he made his choice purely on instinct.
Naturally, the crew had no objections. Maintaining their original formation, they entered the left cave, following the tunnel further in.
Along the way, they encountered more stray Jaw Worms, each of which Alvida smashed to death with a swing of her spiked iron club.
And so, Davy Jones' crew kept repeating the same cycle—entering one cavern, walking through tunnels, and emerging into another cave—while dealing with various monsters along the way.
Beyond the Jaw Worms, they also faced Fungal Beasts parasitizing dead rats, brightly colored Web-Spitting Mites, green or gray Slimes, and even swarms of energetic, mischievous Goblins.
They had to constantly fend off these monsters' harassment while also staying alert for hidden traps—arrows and darts would sometimes shoot at them from the dark.
Still, overall the journey went smoothly enough. They didn't encounter any insurmountable obstacle—
—until they reached a new cavern.
There, they saw a towering red Hobgoblin, gnawing on the flesh of a monster's corpse.
It had long bull-like horns jutting from its head. Hearing sounds behind it, the creature turned, its yellow eyes glaring ferociously at the intruders.
The next moment, it tossed aside the half-eaten carcass, stood upright, and roared at the crew.
Before their very eyes, a flame-like aura erupted from its body, making it visibly stronger and more robust.
"Careful!" Kuro warned. "This one's different from the others. It's dangerous."
Kuro's intuition was correct.
If the earlier monsters were nothing but small fry, then this was clearly an elite monster, in a completely different league of strength.
The Hobgoblin grabbed a massive bone club made from some beast's remains. With each heavy step it took toward them, the ground trembled.
Hatchan was the tallest among Davy Jones' crew, yet this monster, standing straight, was taller than two Hatchans stacked together.
Looking down on them from above, it raised its bone club high and brought it crashing down toward Alvida.
Boom!
Alvida swung her spiked iron club up to meet it!
She thought she'd smash the bone weapon in a single strike, but to her shock, the bone was unnaturally hard. Combined with the Hobgoblin's overwhelming strength, its power exceeded even her monstrous force, and she was sent flying.
Alvida tumbled across the rocky floor before finally managing to stop. Luckily, thanks to her Smooth-Smooth Fruit ability, her skin was unharmed.
But when she tried to get back up, her vision swayed, and dizziness overcame her.
"What's going on?"
She jammed her club into the ground for support, just barely keeping herself from collapsing.
The Hobgoblin thundered forward, bone club raised to crush her.
"Alvida?" Kuro called, noticing something was off. With a flash of Soru, he darted over and whisked her away.
Crash!
The club smashed into the ground where she had just been, blasting stone fragments into the air.
Thankfully, Kuro had already moved her to safety.
"What's wrong with you?" Kuro asked, puzzled. She wasn't the type to zone out mid-battle.
Alvida raised her left hand. Her palm trembled uncontrollably before finally calming down. She thanked Kuro, but said no more, still shaken by the sudden disorientation.
Davy Jones, with his Observation Haki, had already sensed it clearly—
This monster… possessed an ability similar to Armament Haki.
If Kuro hadn't pulled Alvida away, that strike might have left her gravely injured.
Normally, her Smooth-Smooth Fruit could deflect and nullify most physical attacks. But if the attacker used Armament Haki, it was a different story—they could bypass her defenses.
And the Hobgoblin just now had demonstrated exactly that trait.
This was not a skill it had learned—it was an innate gift, awakened as part of its nature.
Davy Jones quickly pieced the truth together.
Against an enemy with Haki-like abilities, this wasn't a foe Alvida or Kuro could handle. He would need to step in himself.
But before he moved, Buggy suddenly strode forward.
He shouted to the crew:
"Everyone, attack together—give me an opening to stab it in the ass!"
Crude though his words were, the meaning was simple. The crew, used to fighting in sync, immediately understood and launched their assault.
Kuro flashed forward with Soru, drawing the Hobgoblin's attention.
The monster instantly fixated on the tall man in a suit before it, raising its club to strike him. Clearly, its intellect was limited.
But Kuro's movements were swift and elusive. He danced around at close range, weaving left and right, slipping past every blow.
The Hobgoblin grew disoriented, unable to decide where to strike.
That was when Alvida and Hatchan seized the chance to close in.
One smashed its knee with a heavy swing of her iron club, while the other blasted its eyes with a spray of ink!
It was the pirates' version of justice by gang beating!
The Hobgoblin howled in pain, stumbling before finally crashing to the ground with a thunderous thud.
But falling only made it more frenzied.
Blinded, it swung its bone club wildly in all directions.
Kuro, Alvida, and Hatchan found no safe opening to land a finishing blow.
"Scatter!"
From above, Mikita, who had floated up to the cavern ceiling with her parasol, suddenly called out. Then, she dropped her weight to maximum—aiming straight for the Hobgoblin's head.
Boom!
Both her feet slammed onto the back of its skull. Ten thousand kilograms of force crushed it instantly, splattering gore until its head resembled nothing more than a pile of mush.
The Hobgoblin finally went still, its arms limp as its weapon rolled away.
The crew all exhaled in relief. This had been their toughest battle since entering the Spire. At least they hadn't embarrassed themselves in front of their captain.
The fight was over in moments, with nearly everyone joining the assault.
Ironically, Buggy—the one who had loudly declared he'd "stab the Hobgoblin's ass"—never got the chance to throw even a single knife. The monster had been taken down before his moment came.
He stood there, bewildered.
That's it? Already over?
Not such a tough bastard after all.
Though, glancing at his throwing knives, he couldn't help but feel relieved. If he had used them to stab that thing's rear, retrieving them afterward would've been… unpleasant. Even if he scrubbed them clean, he'd never feel comfortable using them again.
Then again—from an "enchantment" perspective—maybe stabbing the Hobgoblin's ass would've given his knives the added effect of causing infections in enemies.
Mikita, meanwhile, was busy shaking the filth from her shoes. But then she noticed something and pointed at the monster's shattered skull.
"Look! There's something in there."
The crew gathered closer. Amidst the mess of crushed flesh, they saw it—a green key.
It resembled an arrowhead, forged of emerald, engraved with the image of a curved dagger.
From beneath his robe, Davy Jones' tentacles slithered out like serpents.
The tips writhed and conjured water, which wrapped around the key, washing it thoroughly before placing it in his palm.
"This must be one of the three keys shown on the mural," Davy Jones said, running his fingers across its smooth surface. "One was hidden inside the skull of this red monster. Many Spirefolk (OC) must have tried to claim it, only to fail—and die."
He carefully placed the artifact, so crucial to the Spirefolk, into his pocket.
Its discovery also confirmed his earlier suspicions.
Through countless cycles of battle and defeat, the Spirefolk had never succeeded in gathering all three keys to open the topmost gate.
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