"We did invade, after all." Alvida crossed her arms and nodded.
"Are we going to start a fight?" Mikita actually sounded excited. Since signing her contract with the captain, she hadn't really had the chance to use her ability.
"That's for the captain to decide. But I'd say he definitely will." Alvida already had a good read on Davy Jones' temperament. "The captain craves fear and horror. This place is practically tailor-made for him—a battlefield prepared in advance."
Porche could only shake her head helplessly. Even Alvida was saying that, so the captain's decision was as good as made.
Mikita planted both hands on her hips. "So what if it's a Warlord? Crocodile used to be one too. Fighting Warlords is exactly what we do."
She clearly held little respect for her former boss—even if he was now aboard the same Black Pirate Ship.
Hildon, the man-faced bat, stared at them in shock.
Was the Davy Jones Pirates completely insane?! Even after learning that Lord Moria was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, they were still intent on declaring war? Were they not afraid of total annihilation?
That was Lord Moria!
Alvida paid no mind to the storm of thoughts racing through the bat's oversized head. She simply jerked her chin. "We'll take him back to the ship. The captain will want to hear what he has to say."
Mikita and Porche both nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, on a distant hillside, a shadowy figure stood silently, his greedy gaze sweeping across the faces of Alvida, Mikita, and Porche one by one.
"The intruders are all beauties… Which one should I choose? Which one first? But they don't look easy to handle. Better send the Soldier Zombies and General Zombies to test them… ideally split them up…"
At the same time, a man wearing a spotted round hat and carrying a long sword—Law—was making his way down a forest path, wreathed in ghostly shadows.
"Maybe coming alone wasn't the best idea." He pulled the brim of his hat lower, sharp dark-ringed eyes carefully scanning his surroundings. "I should have stuck with Boss Alvida, Boss Kuro, or Boss Buggy."
He turned a corner—and spotted a carriage parked by the roadside, half-shrouded in mist.
Two figures stood before it. They turned at the sound of footsteps, and when their eyes landed on Law, both froze in surprise. Clearly they hadn't expected an outsider to appear at this hour.
Law studied them calmly.
One was a dwarf-like figure shrouded in a black robe, perched atop a hunting hound.
The other wasn't even human—more like a centaur, with the torso of a man fused to the body of a horse.
Both shared the same grotesque traits: bandages wrapped around their bodies, and visible stitch marks at the joints where flesh had been sewn together.
The "residents" here are… strange. Law thought silently.
"Well, well, a 'guest'… heh, heh."
"Welcome, welcome. Please, step into the carriage. We'll bring you to our master."
Together they lifted the heavy drape of the carriage, revealing an empty interior.
"Who are you?" Law frowned.
"We are but nameless servants. If you wish to know more, you must ask our master yourself."
The centaur placed a small step stool for him.
Law knew full well something was wrong, yet still he stepped up onto the stool, entered the carriage, and took a seat.
Fine. He'd meet their so-called "master" and uncover the truth of this place—otherwise he'd have nothing concrete to report to the captain.
The drape fell shut, and with a creak and groan the carriage turned and began rolling down the forked road.
Law sat tensely, one hand never leaving the hilt of Kikoku, ready to strike at any moment.
After three or four minutes, the wheels suddenly slammed into something with a heavy bang—and the whole carriage flipped violently.
But Law had anticipated it. With a single slash, he split the carriage apart and leapt free.
He landed on the path and saw the wreck of what he'd just been riding. The carriage had smashed headlong into a bizarre tree by the roadside—one whose trunk bore a grotesque face, grinning at him.
The carriage lay overturned, its wheels scattered. The dwarf and centaur were nowhere to be seen.
"Two freaks…" Law muttered.
He adjusted the brim of his spotted hat—then turned, only to notice the mist-shrouded roadside revealed… a graveyard.
Countless tombstones glimmered cold under the moonlight.
From between them, a figure staggered forth, one hand braced on a headstone, the other pointing straight at Law.
A person?
It was a gaunt figure, bandages wrapping its entire body, with dull vacant eyes. Rotting purple flesh peeked out as though its skin had been stripped away.
It pointed at Law for a moment… then slowly moved its arm, finger extending toward the end of the road.
Law followed its direction. At the far end of the fork loomed a massive castle.
So—that carriage had indeed brought him close to the destination. The method of "dropping off" the guest was just… unconventional.
When he looked back, the strange figure was gone.
"Not human… More like… the 'zombies' I've read about in books?" Law frowned. "This place is bizarre. I'd better stay wary of Devil Fruit powers."
He approached the castle doors and grasped the handle.
After a moment, the heavy doors creaked open—revealing the cold face of a woman.
She had short blonde hair, skin an unnatural ashen white, and her body was covered with stitch marks.
The instant her eyes fell on Law, murderous intent filled them. She raised a stack of white plates in her hands, and with a motion like a knife-thrower, hurled them straight at him.
"Dishes like these… should not exist in this world!" she cried nonsensically.
Law reacted instantly, drawing Kikoku. With a twist of his fingers, a semicircle Room bloomed into existence.
In a flash of steel, the plates shattered—and the woman's head and limbs were severed clean from her torso.
Clatter—
They tumbled across the floor, yet her head never stopped glaring at Law.
A shrill scream rang out from deeper within the mansion.
A short, fat man with a sharp nose came barreling down the staircase.
"What did you do to my Cindry?!" he roared, equal parts shock and fury. "She's mine!"
From the moment the man appeared, Law's eyes had been locked onto his face—because it was one he knew all too well.
"The genius surgeon… Hogback." As a student of medicine—especially surgery—Law had pored over this man's many works. His name left a strong impression.
"You… know me?!" Hogback, wearing tiny sunglasses, squinted at Law in confusion. He couldn't recognize the stranger, but soon dismissed him entirely. Instead, he crouched down to cradle Cindry's severed head.
"My dear, I'll just have to sew you back together again. Thank heavens you can't die a second time."
Cindry glared at him coldly. "Let me go."
But Hogback ignored her words. "Be quiet, Cindry. That's an order."