A Matter of Life and Death: Fire Release Falling from the Sky!!

Meanwhile, the group of four, traveling by carriage, had arrived near the castle.

"Everyone, we're almost at the castle!" Hilton said with a smile.

But behind that smile lies a terrifying murderous intent.

Merry glanced at Hilton, instinctively sensing that something was off about his smile, and subconsciously moved closer to Nami, trying to gain some sense of security.

Nami looked at Merry with a puzzled expression and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Yes, little girl, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing..."

Nami didn't think much of it, assuming the little guy was just scared because of what had happened earlier, which was why he was getting so close to her.

Thinking of this, Nami reached out and hugged Merry, whispering, "Don't be afraid, we're here."

"Um..."

"Please don't worry, everyone, we'll be at the safe castle soon," Hilton said with a smile.

"That's right, we'll even get to see the great Doctor Hogback!"

"Do you admire him that much?" Nami asked curiously.

"Of course!" Chopper said with a smile, looking at Usopp. "He's a genius surgeon!"

"He has saved tens of thousands of lives with his miraculous surgical skills!"

"Don't you think this is an incredibly skilled doctor!"

As he spoke, Chopper's eyes sparkled, clearly showing his great admiration for Hogback.

"Look how excited you are..."

"Is it because I'm about to meet my idol? Hehe~" Chopper said shyly, scratching his head. "Before I set sail, I always kept an eye on his news."

"But for some reason, Doctor Hogback disappeared one day, and no one could find a trace of him."

"Some people thought he was dead, and I was heartbroken for a long time..."

Usopp nodded in understanding. The sudden death of an idol would be a huge blow to anyone.

"It's wonderful to meet Doctor Hogback here again!" Chopper said happily.

The little guy's face was beaming with a happy smile, and his two little feet were swinging back and forth under the seat; he was having so much fun.

"Then why is this Genius Doctor here?" Nami asked, puzzled.

This place doesn't even look like a human dwelling. Why would they come here?

It can't be because they like the scary atmosphere...

"Because Doctor Hogback is conducting research on this island that surpasses human intelligence," Hilton said with a smile, "That's why we came here."

"I see, he really is a great doctor!" Chopper said. "Can I get an autograph?"

"Oh, I think there won't be any problems."

"That's great!"

Seeing Chopper's happy face, Hilton smiled even more broadly. These people were easier to fool than he had imagined.

"The fog outside is really thick..." Usopp said, opening the curtains and peeking out. "I can't see anything..."

Before he could finish speaking, he noticed a lion standing on a cliff in the distance, seemingly gazing at something.

Just as Usopp was wondering what was going on, the lion turned around, revealing a human face!

"Ah!!"

"Ah?!!"

"Wha... what happened?!"

Nami looked at Usopp with a frightened expression, wondering why this bastard had suddenly screamed in terror.

"A lion! A lion!" Usopp cried out in terror. "And it has a human face!!"

This island is definitely not normal; it even has such terrifying creatures.

"How is this possible?!" Nami exclaimed, "How can there be a lion with a human face?"

"Usopp, are you hallucinating?"

Merry looked at Usopp with concern, thinking he was hallucinating from fear.

"If you don't believe me, see for yourselves!"

Nami and her two companions, not believing in such superstitions, opened the window and looked out, but didn't see anything amiss, which left them somewhat puzzled.

Where is it?

"No?"

Usopp approached suspiciously, but saw nothing amiss, which puzzled him. "What's going on? Am I really hallucinating?"

That shouldn't be the case. As a sniper, his eyes are the least likely organ to deceive him.

"My dear guest, you may be overreacting," Hilton said with a chuckle. "While this forest can be quite eerie at night, it's not to the point where something like what you're describing would appear."

"Really? Maybe I'm just too tired," Usopp said.

However, despite saying that, Usopp's doubts did not disappear.

"Hehe, we'll be at the castle soon, don't be nervous," Hilton said. "Just take a hot bath and wait for your companions to come find you."

"Yes, that's true."

Ah~

"A hot bath~"

Seeing that he had temporarily diverted the attention of the group, Hilton breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to look at the window, his eyes slightly narrowed.

'These guys are actually behaving themselves this time?' Hilton wondered to himself.

You know, every time people come, these guys in the forest go wild, sometimes even scaring their prey. But this time, why is it so quiet?

Was it because of... the explosion just now?

"Wait a moment!"

"What's wrong, guest?"

Hilton looked at Usopp curiously, wondering why he had suddenly asked him to stop. Had he really discovered something?

"I still think there's something wrong," Usopp frowned. "That wasn't a hallucination; I trust my eyes."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the other three also changed. If Usopp firmly believed that he hadn't misjudged... then there might really be such a terrifying creature!

"So, what you want to do is..."

"We're not going to the castle," Usopp said. "Let's hurry back to find Xi Yan and the others."

That last sentence was addressed to Nami and the others.

Nami thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay."

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

Although there's a chance of encountering that terrifying Cerberus again, it's still better than meeting some horrible creature here.

Without a strong person by her side, she always felt insecure.

"But... then we won't be able to see Doctor Hogback anymore!" Chopper cried.

He really wanted to meet his idol, but now he had to leave, which made Chopper very sad.

"Chopper, we can come and see them after we meet up with Xi Yan," Merry said.

"Huh?!"

"Oh right..."

Hearing what Merry said, Chopper immediately realized that it wasn't necessary to go find her right now; they could go after reuniting with their friends.

Thinking of this, Chopper immediately stopped crying.

'Tch... I wasn't so easily fooled after all. But it's alright, we've arrived anyway.'

Hilton sneered inwardly, but said with a smile, "Please wait here for a moment, I'll go tell the driver."

"Okay, thank you for your help."

"Not at all~"

Hilton opened the back curtain and went out. He gave the two zombies pulling the cart a wink, and then the three of them quietly left.

However, as they left, all three wore sinister smiles, clearly indicating that they had achieved their goal.

Inside the car, the four waited silently, but the silence was rather eerie in this environment.

If I don't say anything, I'll only get more and more scared.

"Ahem." Usopp coughed lightly and said, "By the way, I hope Xi Yan and the others aren't looking for us in the forest."

"That's possible," Nami nodded.

Luffy and his crew might need some time to reach the shore, but not Xi Yan; he's a Ninja who can run on the sea.

The seawater alone could not possibly stop him; he just didn't know why he hadn't found them yet.

"I just hope they'll search this way," Usopp sighed.

A minute passed quickly, but there was no sound outside, not even Hilton's voice.

It's too quiet...

"What happened?" Nami asked, puzzled. "Where's Hilton?"

"Hello, Mr. Hilton?"

"He... he wouldn't have abandoned us in this horrible forest, would he...?"

Nami's face turned green upon hearing Usopp's words.

Were you abandoned?

Does that mean they'll have to hike back to the shore from this terrifying place?

"I don't want to walk back like this!" Nami exclaimed frantically. "What if that Cerberus catches me?"

"I don't want to either!"

Usopp still remembers that Human-faced Lion; Who Knows what it was?

And there are terrifying ghosts on this island, what if... Damn it, the more I think about it, the scarier I get!

"Hey, how did we end up in a cemetery?"

I opened the curtains and glanced at Chopper outside; I was completely stunned.

"Cemetery?"

Usopp shuddered and cautiously moved closer.

After taking in the situation outside, a cold sweat broke out on his face.

"Gurgle..."

Subconsciously, Usopp swallowed hard and said, "This terrifying atmosphere... could there be zombies?"

As he spoke, Usopp stared intently at the distant tombstone, fearing that a zombie might appear there.

"Damn it, don't say such scary things!" Nami roared, opening her shark-like mouth.

She was already scared enough, and now that bastard Usopp is talking about some terrifying creature—is he just trying to scare her?!

"Zombie... zombie..."

Merry held Nami tightly, her teeth chattering.

"Click~"

The next moment, a hand suddenly emerged from the graveyard, scaring Usopp so much that his face turned green.

"Ah!!!"

"Zombies!!"

As if by signal, one zombie after another crawled out of the graveyard, emitting terrifying growls, and walked step by step toward the carriage.

"Aww!!"

"Ah!!"

"No!!"

The four of them hugged each other tightly, tears and snot streaming down their faces.

Why did they have to face such a terrifying creature?

"Eat... eat!!"

A zombie clung to the carriage, excitedly looking at the people inside, and said, "Humans... eat!!"

"Ah!!"

"No!"

"Don't eat us!!"

Nami kicked the zombie a few times in terror, but she couldn't kick it away at all; instead, it only excited the zombie more.

"Quick, get off the bus!" Usopp shouted.

Upon hearing this, Nami quickly grabbed Merry and rushed out the window, with Usopp and Chopper following closely behind.

But once they went outside, they were stunned, because there were just too many zombies outside!

"Humans, I'll eat you!" the zombie roared.

"Ah!!"

"Someone, please save us!!"

Just then, Xi Yan leaped over from a distance, like a divine warrior descending from the heavens!

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!!"

"Boom!!"

A massive fireball rained down from the sky, slamming into the horde of zombies and instantly igniting a large area of them!

"Phew~"

"Ah!!"

The incredibly hot fireball instantly incinerated half of the zombies into ashes!

This scene terrified the zombies; it was fire, a terrifying flame capable of burning them to death!

"Ah!!"

"Fire!!"

The zombies retreated in terror, fearing they too would be contaminated by the horrific flames.

The next moment, numerous shadows gradually emerged from the ashes, quickly rising into the air and disappearing from the scene.

Seeing this, the zombies became even more frightened.

"Whoosh~"

"Click~"

Xi Yan landed steadily on the ground, glanced indifferently at the zombies, and his blood-red eyes gave off a great sense of oppression.

That look sent a shiver down the spines of the zombies, who instinctively took a step back.

"Roll!"

"Run away!!!"

As if they had seen some monstrous flood, the zombies ran away in a frenzy, each wishing they had two more legs, fearing that if they were too slow, they would be killed by that Evil Star with fire.

After clearing the area, Xi Yan turned to look at Merry and the others, giving them a gentle smile, and said, "Alright, everything's fine now."

"Xi Yan!!"

The four of them pounced on him, some grabbing his arms, others his legs, crying their hearts out.

Xi Yan:...

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

After letting out a silent sigh, Xi Yan comforted him, "The zombies are all gone, there's nothing to be afraid of anymore."

"I was so scared just now," Merry said, sobbing.

"Yes, zombies are terrifying."

"I almost thought I was going to be eaten."

Listening to his companions recount their ordeal, Xi Yan comforted them, "It's alright, I'm here now, they won't dare do anything to you."

As if they had found a pillar of support, the four people's crying gradually subsided, and their emotions quickly stabilized.

However, Chopper and Merry still clung tightly to Xi Yan and did not let go.

"Xi Yan, how did you find us?" Nami asked.

"When I went into the forest to look for you, I found a few living people," Xi Yan explained. "I learned from them that you had come to the castle, so I came here."

"A living person?"

"Hmm, living people." Xi Yan glanced back at the direction of the forest and said, "A few living people, I suppose."

"This forest is teeming with all sorts of bizarre zombies."

I wonder where all those zombies went; I haven't encountered any along the way.

"So, what I just saw wasn't an illusion..." Usopp swallowed hard and said, "There really was Human-faced Lion."

"Oh, I even encountered a horse with a human face!"

"Please stop talking..."

They didn't want to encounter that kind of terrifying thing, otherwise they would have nightmares at night.

Xi Yan was somewhat helpless; this place was full of zombies, and being afraid wouldn't solve anything.

Oh well, I'll get used to it eventually.