Why Is Nobody Talking?

On the way down the mountain, Lu Bian had been chatting with Shi Tianwu through their shared consciousness about the story of Master Bruce Wayne.

When he was a child, Lu Bian had watched Batman for the first time. He knew nothing about the character's various traits; he had simply been drawn in by the story. By the time he was in middle school, a new series of Batman films, the Dark Knight movies, had come out, and the style had changed dramatically. The humor he remembered was gone.

As he grew older and the information age exploded, Lu Bian gradually came to understand the existence known as "Batman" in depth.

An utterly ordinary man, who had pushed himself to the limits of human strength through grueling training, used his own strength and wisdom to stamp out evil and uphold justice.

During their mental conversation, Shi Tianwu had "seen" all of Lu Bian's memories of Batman.

Bruce Wayne was also a man worthy of his respect.

They reached the foot of the mountain.

A lush bamboo forest came into view from their shared perspective.

"Such a heavy yin aura," Lu Bian remarked.

It was still broad daylight, yet not a ray of sunlight could be seen in the bamboo forest. Stepping into its shade felt like taking one step into a bleak, bitterly cold late autumn.

But this deep bamboo forest was the only way out of the mountains, and faint traces of a path laid down by those who had come before could still be seen among the trees.

"Let's go. Don't hesitate." Shi Tianwu took control of their body and strode forward.

Shi Tianwu sensed that something bad was lurking in the bamboo forest.

"Huh? Will-o'-the-wisps?" Lu Bian spotted something in the corner of his eye.

Flickering green flames drifted eerily through the shadowy bamboo forest. Among the yellow, withered bamboo leaves on the ground, there seemed to be something bone-white.

Lu Bian and Shi Tianwu communicated only through their minds. The only sound in the forest was their footsteps crunching on the dry leaves.

"Crack..."

"Crack, crack..."

At the sound of their footsteps, the pale bones actually "awoke." One bone after another reassembled, and they stood up.

Even Shi Tianwu opened his eyes wide and studied the dead thing that had come back to life.

"Let's move, Brother Tianwu!"

"The bones have become a spirit!"

"...Don't be afraid. I don't think it's very strong."

Shi Tianwu walked straight toward the skeleton monster.

"Brother Lu Bian, you've also learned the techniques of Ultimate Boundless Qigong. Why don't you use them to get some practice? I'll hand control of our body over to you."

"..."

His mind briefly went blank. When Lu Bian came to, he realized he was in control of his body.

He was as thin as a rake, while his opponent was nothing but bones.

The two of them both looked as if a gust of wind could knock them over.

"All right, then. Bring it on!"

Lu Bian mustered his courage, spread his legs, and raised his hands into a fighting stance.

Ultimate Arhat Fist: Left Thrusting Elbow!

The skeleton monster seemed to have no intelligence at all. Driven by some primal instinct, it attacked the living.

With one elbow strike, Lu Bian knocked the skeleton apart, scattering its bones across the ground.

"Crack, crack..."

The ghastly white bones trembled on the ground, trying to piece themselves back together.

He had scattered his opponent with a single blow. All fear vanished from Lu Bian's heart.

"So that's all there is to it."

Lu Bian kicked the monster's skull away. The headless skeleton wandered around blindly, unable to figure out where it was—and no longer able to attack the living man right in front of it.

"Clatter, clatter!"

The bone monster's skull went rolling far through the bamboo forest, and its flight stirred up even more of its kind.

"Huh?"

"Brother Lu Bian, I think you're celebrating a little too soon," Shi Tianwu remarked.

The first skeleton monster they had faced had been made of human bones. But the ones now rising deeper in the bamboo forest barely looked human at all.

"Is that a snake's skeleton? With human bones added?"

At any rate, looking at the newly risen skeleton monsters, Lu Bian could tell that the skulls on their necks were definitely not human. He could only classify them as some kind of aberration.

Their upper bodies had the skeletal structure of snakes, while their lower bodies were made up of human bones. Each half-snake, half-human skeleton monster stood over two meters tall.

"Be careful. These things are tougher than the first one."

"I can see that."

The human skeleton monster had no green will-o'-the-wisp beside it, but these half-snake, half-human skeleton monsters had flames drifting around them. Faint green mist could even be seen among their snake skulls.

"Run for it!"

"Who said I wanted to fight you?"

Lu Bian held his breath, then dashed forward in one burst of speed, determined to cross the entire bamboo forest.

The bone monsters had only skeletal joints, so they couldn't move like living people. When Lu Bian ran, they could only wobble after him, looking as if they might fall apart at any moment.

The Deep Bamboo Forest wasn't especially large. It was just easy to lose your way and become lost among the trees.

The bamboo forest at the foot of the mountain was a maze. Living people who entered couldn't find their way out, and even after they died, their souls still couldn't escape.

But Lu Bian had Shi Tianwu with him. Shi Tianwu's powerful spirit allowed Lu Bian to see through the forest's illusions with ease, and he made it out safely.

"That was close!"

Standing in the sunlight, Lu Bian felt warmth return to his body.

Back in the bamboo forest, he had felt half-dead.

"What an ordeal."

Lu Bian found a large rock and sat down to rest. The soles of his feet hurt badly now, and he didn't know what had cut several small gashes in them.

Because he wasn't wearing shoes, he had sprinted through the bamboo forest on tiptoe.

[Edward Newgate has joined the Chat Group]

"Huh? At this time?"

Lu Bian hugged his feet, looking for something he could use to stop the small wounds on his soles from bleeding.

Lu Bian (focused on his feet): [Welcome, newcomer...]

Shi Tianwu: [Welcome, newcomer!!]

The sea...

Aboard the Moby Dick, its figurehead shaped like a whale,

Whitebeard Pops, Edward Newgate, furrowed his brow.

Pops really wasn't very good at operating the Chat Group's interface and features.

After years of sailing the seas, when the Chat Group's messages appeared in Whitebeard's mind, he had thought some Devil Fruit User had issued him a new challenge.

After agreeing to join the Chat Group, he first furrowed his brow, then scrunched up his entire face.

How was he supposed to talk with everyone else in this Chat Group?

As Whitebeard Pops pondered the Chat Group's message box, his thoughts turned into text and appeared inside it.

Edward Newgate: [How do I talk?]

Edward Newgate: [So that's how you talk!]

Edward Newgate: [Gurararara! It's been many years since anyone called me a newcomer!]

Edward Newgate: [Hmm, there are only four members? That's way too few!]

Edward Newgate: [Why is nobody talking?]