Chapter 178Golden Lion?!Admiral?And so many unfamiliar terms.Brook's jaw nearly fell to the deck, his hollow eye sockets seemingly filled with symbols of shock.He never expected that this pirate crew, which looked quite young on average, would possess such terrifying strength and combat records!Can these words even be put together?He had even initially thought this group wasn't a pirate crew because the atmosphere of drinking tea and chatting here was so pleasant."But, but I have nothing to repay you with.""Helping you take back your shadow is just a side task." Luffy slapped his chest and flashed a smile, "But since you've said that, how about you agree to one condition of mine once you get your shadow back?"Brook looked at Luffy's mischievous smile, and his skeleton felt a strange chill.But he thought about it; besides an old set of bones and a life, he really had nothing else to offer, so he nodded and said:"If you all can truly help me take back my shadow, allowing me to stand in the sun again and fulfill my promise with Laboon, then no matter the condition, as long as I can do it, I will surely agree!""Deal!"Vivi watched as Luffy and Brook shook hands, unable to resist the urge to complain about this trade. Luffy's intentions were so obvious, yet Brookwas being so cooperative.Not long after, the thick fog in front of the thousand sunny began to dissipate, revealing the massive silhouette of Thriller Bark."Wow, what a huge ship!" Merry couldn't help but exclaim.It was larger than the thousand sunny and the going merry combined.On the left, a gate appeared with red lips and white teeth, shaped like a giant mouth. As the thousand sunny entered, the gate slowly closed, and the seawater stopped rushing in."Ooh, nice, this place is full of the scent of adventure." Luffy was a bit excited; he could let himself go for these two days without worrying about anything outside the plan. He loved Companion Day so much.From the ship, they could see a gloomy island landscape opposite them, filled with ruins and debris, with a dark, shadowed forest deep within where faint red glows flickered, as if countless dangers were lurking.At the end of the forest, a massive Gothic-style castle stood tall, emitting a bone-chilling aura.This didn't look like a ship; it looked like an island!Nami looked at the log pose on her wrist, which showed no reaction, and said in shock, "The log pose isn't reacting at all. Is it really a ship?""This is indeed a ship, no mistake about it,"Brook said with certainty, "It is named Thriller Bark, a giant sailing ship that drifted over from the West Blue. It later became Moriah's territory.""Everyone, the target is decided."Luffy was already standing at the bow, impatient and rubbing his hands together: "Defeat Moriahand take back Brook's shadow. Who wants to go with me first?""I want to go! I want to go!"Little Merry couldn't resist this kind of thing at all, being the first to cheer and rush over, skillfully climbing onto Luffy's back and hooking his arms around his neck."There's one more spot!"Luffy's gaze swept over the others.Usopp and Chopper shook their heads like rattles, hugging each other tightly, indicating they wouldn't set foot on the island first even if it killed them.If possible, they didn't even want to go onto the island at all!Nami quietly shifted her steps, trying to move closer to Vivi and Robin; she had already decided to stick with them!However, just as her hand reached for Vivi, her waist suddenly tightened, firmly coiled by Luffy's elongated arm."Waaah! Let go of me, Luffy! I didn't want to go!" Nami screamed in despair, kicking and flailing, but she couldn't break free at all."Heehee, I know you want to go. Let's go."Luffy didn't care about any of that. Carrying Namihanging on him and Merry on his back, he kicked off hard, his Rubber arms retracted, and the three of them shot like cannonballs toward that gloomy and terrifying island."Will they be alright?" Vivi asked worriedly."Isn't Mr. Luffy with them?" Brook asked in confusion.The group fell silent.It's exactly because Luffy is with them.Brook didn't yet know the iron rule of this ship: when there is no danger, the Captain is the greatest danger; otherwise, why wouldn't Namiwant to go?...As they landed, a patch of thick fog happened to drift by. The ground beneath their feet gave way, and the three of them cried out as they fell into a hidden deep pit."Ow, ow, ow... Luffy, you idiot!"Nami complained while rubbing her sore bottom. Before she could finish, she suddenly froze, pointing in terror at a massive dark shadow slowly emerging from the mist ahead, "What is that!"From within the mist, a giant three-headed canine creature stepped out. Six crimson eyes were exceptionally prominent in the gloom, and a low growl emanated from all three throats simultaneously.The place it stepped out from was actually piled with a large amount of bleached bones, both human and from various animals.It looked like a wolf, yet also like a dog.Was it a wolf or a dog?"It's a dog!"Merry wasn't afraid; instead, he shouted with excitement."What kind of dog looks like that! This is clearly a monster!"Nami was scared out of her wits, scrambling to hide behind Luffy, but in her panic, she ended up wrapping herself around Luffy instead.Luffy was already used to this posture. He propped up Nami's backside and then walked over.Just as Nami thought a human-dog battle was about to occur, Luffy nonchalantly reached out and patted the middle dog head, saying: "It's fine, they are Cerberus.""Cerberus?" Nami blinked."Yeah, basically hellhounds."Luffy explained. Under his hand, all three dog heads comfortably squinted their eyes, even rubbing against his hand in a fawning manner while making whining sounds.Nami watched this discordant scene with a speechless expression.This wasn't a hellhound at all; it was clearly three oversized lapdogs!Wait, why did Luffy know this information?"Luffy, you're not Chopper, why can you communicate with animals?!"Faced with Nami's surprised expression, Luffygrinned with full confidence but didn't answer.His [Animal Language Ability] was LV2; communicating with animals was super easy!Merry observed curiously, "They're sewn together, aren't they? It looks like there are two dog heads and one is a fox head."Cerberus felt very aggrieved; it wasn't its choice to have a fox head installed.If it were any other zombie saying this, Cerberuswould have bitten them already. But Merry didn't look like someone it could bite, so it wagged its tail with a fawning expression. Yes, it was that kind of dog that bullied the weak and feared the strong!Luffy patted Cerberus's head and gave an order: "Take us to find Moriah.""Woof woof woof!""Do you want to get down, Nami?" Luffy asked as he climbed onto Cerberus, "The feeling of a mount is pretty good."Nami looked at Luffy with some suspicion, but looking at the giant dog beneath them, she got goosebumps all over.No thanks, no thanks. Compared to riding Cerberus, she'd rather just ride Luffy!Chapter 258: One Punch Per PeronaLed by the three-headed dog, they hadn't walked long along the deep trench before they encountered a set of stairs leading up.Next, they passed through a gloomy cemetery filled with tombstones of various shapes.This looked exactly like one of those eerie and terrifying places. Nami asked nervously, "There won't be zombies here, will there?"Eh?"Nami, has your Observation Haki awakened too?""No.""I see."Luffy said as if giving a preview: "Watch out, a large wave of zombies is about to attack."These words made the already high-strung Namilose her soul in fear, and she almost completely shrunk into the crook of Luffy's neck, not daring to look up.Merry, on the other hand, was full of interest, looking left and right.Sure enough, as they went deeper, the soil in the cemetery began to loosen.Not long after entering the cemetery, rustling sounds came from all around. Withered arms burst through the earth, followed by hideous heads and stiff bodies. One by one, zombies crawled out of their graves and began to surround them."Aaah! There really are zombies!" Nami took one look and was scared out of her wits, not even daring to open her eyes, "Quick, send them flying!"The impression of zombies is that they rush straight at you, baring their teeth to bite, like some zombies who love brains most. If Sanji were here, he would definitely have rushed over, because there were zombie girls here too.Who wouldn't love zombie girls who go 'nom nom nom'?But the clothes on these zombies were tattered, the expressions on their faces were slightly hideous, and their movements were jerky, as if they were trying very hard to create a terrifying atmosphere."You guys are here for comedy, right?" Luffycouldn't help but complain.He didn't feel any desire to attack from these zombies; it seemed they were purely out to scare people.But Nami was truly afraid of these things.Besides, what girl isn't afraid of ghosts and monsters?If Robin were here, she might have raised her hand to disagree.Mature women don't count as 'girls'!Luffy really wanted Nami to show her aura as the Ship's Tyrant!But as Nami's chest rubbed against his, he fell silent.Damn!Nami actually really brought them out!However, before Luffy could act, several semi-transparent white ghosts suddenly drifted over and passed through the bodies of those zombies.The originally aggressive zombies instantly seemed to have all their fighting spirit drained. One by one, they knelt on the ground, beating their chests and stamping their feet, starting to repent with tears streaming down their faces:"I'm just a piece of trash; I can't even scare anyone as a zombie.""I shouldn't have stolen and eaten my companion's brain, even though I don't have a brain myself.""I'm sorry for being born a human—no, for being born a corpse."Nami was a bit dazed by this bizarre scene, "What's going on?"Just then, a Negative Hollow changed direction and drifted toward Luffy and the others."Ah! A ghost! A ghost is coming!" Nami screamed.Luffy raised an eyebrow, and a fist coated in Armament Haki swung out without hesitation.Bang!With a dull thud, that Negative Hollow was sent tumbling several times in the air. After it stopped, a giant question mark seemingly appeared over its bald head as it humanistically scratched its head, appearing confused:Why was he able to hit me?Then all the ghosts drifted over, preparing to launch an attack on Luffy.Are they afraid of Haki?Luffy was quite interested in the existence of these ghosts, but because of them, Nami was constantly trembling in his arms.He couldn't let her keep shaking like that."You scared Nami!"Buzz.Conqueror's Haki swept through. All the floating ghosts seemed to enter vibration mode, shaking before falling straight to the ground, their body colors slowly fading until they disappeared.
