Ghostly Revelry, Skeleton Song

Crackling and popping

Rumble—

Lightning flashed and thunder roared, and the waves surged to the sky!

Five minutes later, the storm arrived as expected, leaving Franky immediately impressed by Nami's seafaring abilities. And in this storm:

"This is bad, the wind direction is very unfavorable for us! Let me change it—"

"Hey, big sister, don't just think about using Devil Fruit powers to solve everything," Franky pushed his sunglasses up to his forehead and tilted his head to signal to Usopp next to him.

"Fold down the sails and let 'that' out."

"This... Roman Luffy?"

Meeting Nami's questioning gaze, Roman calmly nodded. And Luffy, of course:

"Listen to Franky!"

Although he had no idea what Franky was planning.

"Alright, furl the sails—"

As the sails were lowered, Usopp went down into the cabin, his voice carried on the deck through the loudspeaker:

"Channel Zero - Exterior Ship, start!"

"Ohhhhhhhh!!"

Under Luffy and Chopper's excited gaze, two rapidly spinning paddle wheels appeared on either side of the Thousand Sunny! The powerful engine immediately propelled the ship beneath their feet against the wind.

"How about that? Even without Devil Fruit, technology can still make waves!"

Roman nodded in agreement in response to Franky's bold statement.

"That's right, technology is the ladder to progress for ordinary people. Devil Fruit can only create strong individuals, not powerful people..."

"Hey, we're just a bunch of pirates."

Nami interrupted Roman impatiently. All this blockhead does all day long is improve his strength and spout empty platitudes. He's so boring.

"What you should be concerned about is the abnormality around us—"

Powered by the Sunny Merry, the Straw Hat crew quickly broke free from the storm and entered a fog.

"It was already pitch black before nightfall..."

Zoro crossed his arms and looked around. "Have we stumbled into that sea area?"

"Hey, hey, we've arrived at Fish-Man Island so quickly?"

"No, it's the one that's rumored to devour everything—" Franky pushed up his sunglasses, his face sinister.

"The Thriller Bark!"

!!

"Oh... it's... it's... it's... ghosts... ghosts..."

In an instant, Usopp and Chopper broke out in a cold sweat, while Luffy remained oblivious.

"Hehehe, the thought of ghosts gets me excited!"

"Roman,"

Nami crept closer to Roman, "There really are zombies, skeletons, ghosts and stuff like that..."

Yes, there are.

Roman nodded without hesitation, which surprised Sanji and the others who were playing with Usopp and Chopper.

Hey, hey, we were just kidding, why are you suddenly saying it's all true...?

"Don't panic,"

Roman waved his hand, "As the saying goes: Devil Fruit are a basket, you can put anything unreasonable into them! - When things are unclear, Devil Fruit ability are always a safe bet."

Ah, this...

"And--"

Roman grabbed Luffy and pulled hard on his neck.

"Ahhh, I died so tragically~~~"

A 'Rokurokubi' with a neck that winds like a snake makes a dazzling appearance!

?

"And Robin— "

As Roman snapped his fingers, Robin smiled and closed his eyes. Immediately, countless waving arms appeared out of thin air on the deck, swaying like seaweed! At the same time, countless eyes opened and rotated on the surrounding ship's sides, instantly transforming the scene into a 'Lovecraftian' art.

??

"Roman— "

Faced with Usopp's trembling voice, Roman ripped off his own face, and a mask fell into Usopp's hands!

"You're shouting this angry 'Roman',"

As Roman swung his sword left and right, several 'faces'... or rather, masks, with different expressions were torn off and floated around him.

"Still this sorrowful 'Roman'?"

???

"Hehehe... Hahaha..."

The human head, with its long neck dangling in the air, emitted a chilling (or perhaps silly) laugh.

Sway, sway, open and close~

Arms were waving and grabbing wildly everywhere, like demonic claws from hell! Between the opening and closing of those eyes, who knows what expression each eye could hold?

Faces flew in and floated away.

Fukujin noodles symbolize joy, mask of Zenmaru symbolize sorrow, the monkey represents fear, and the mask of Daifutsu represents anger.

Grandma represents loneliness and confusion, Fox Face represents wisdom, and Kitsune mask represents rationality and self-awareness.

Seven faces, seven hearts, a person like a ghost!

Suddenly, chaos erupted aboard the Sunny Merry, with heads, arms, eyes, and masks flying everywhere, accompanied by laughter and whispers! The candles Sanji nearby only added to the eerie atmosphere, making it seem like a ghost town!

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!! No!!"

Usopp and Chopper hugged each other tightly before realizing that, if we're talking about 'horror,' their own ship was practically a group of living horror movie protagonists.

It's just that their usual joking and serious faces mask the fact that these guys don't need makeup at all when they're performing as ghosts!

"Haha, what's there to be afraid of about ghosts?"

Luffy, his head flying through the air in 'S' and 'B' shapes, Luffy Usopp with a playful laugh.

"I'd like to catch a few more to keep as pets~~"

"Awoo!!"

Franky tossed his pompadour and put his hands on his hips!

"A Halloween party? That's... super... terrifying! -- Watch this!"

After saying that, Franky spread his arms as if he were flying.

"Franky Centaur!"

Click-clack,

With a metallic clang, Franky split into a four-legged centaur-like posture from his feet—except that unlike a normal centaur, his feet were extended, making him appear as if he were an upside-down centaur.

This·····

Even Roman's brow furrowed; daring to perform modification surgery near his own 'brother'. Franky is truly ruthless!

However, this only made Usopp more devastated! He hadn't noticed before, but upon closer inspection, his friends were completely inhuman...

—Just then, something suddenly swelled up in my arms—it was Chopper, who had abruptly transformed into a roaring figure!

"Oh, oh, oh, the Reindeer Man are fearless!!"

Chopper, are you no longer human?

Usopp, kneeling on the ground, was dismayed to discover that he was the only normal person who felt afraid.

"Okay, okay,"

Nami patted Usopp on the shoulder, "Ignore those crazy guys, we—"

'Yohohoho~~Yohohoho~~'

A solitary song interrupted the merriment. When the Straw Hat crew Guotou, they saw a large, dilapidated ship! And standing by the ship's railing, holding a cane and a teacup:

Skull.

Or, to put it another way, an afro, a suit, and a skull.

—Dead silence!

Then:

"A ghost!!!"

"A ghost!!!"

?

The skeleton opposite them also looked 'greatly surprised,' almost dropping its teacup in fright! This brought the Straw Hat crew back to their senses, and they looked at each other.

Long necks, arms and eyes scattered across the ground, flying masked faces, four split legs...

Ah, maybe we're even more terrifying.

"Quick, quick, let's go over there!!"

Just as the two ships were about to pass each other, Luffy a Rocket Cannon and flew past them! Roman shrugged and waved his hand, and immediately a staircase was erected in mid-air between the two ships.

"Let's go."

"Hey, hey, hey, Roman, wait a minute!"

"What if we're cursed...?"

"That Luffy guy—"

"Don't panic, it's not a big problem."

As the group ascended Roman's steps to the dilapidated ship beside them, the skeleton on the opposite side, who had already regained his senses, elegantly removed his top hat and bowed in greeting.

"Oh ho ho, my apologies."

"I was so surprised that I didn't have time to say hello."

Amidst Luffy's cheers of "Look, the afro-haired skull is talking!", the other party gracefully turned around and pointed behind him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please come in. Please allow me, as your host, to entertain you—"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Sanji pointed at the other person seriously.

"Who are you? Why is only a skeleton still moving? What happened to this ship? What's going on with this sea area?!"

"Never mind those things,"

Seeing Sanji's normal way of thinking, Luffy forward and extended an invitation.

"Join us!"

??!

The skull with the afro on the other side answered without hesitation.

"OK."

!!?

... This... the Straw Hat crew got on the ship so quickly...

Yeah, right.

Roman's gaze fell on the feet of the afro-haired skull opposite him. Although it was always dark here, there was not a trace of the color darkening under the skull's feet.

Was the shadow really taken away?

It seems Moria deserved to be beaten.