Werther immediately coated his body in Armament Haki, and the strange sensation vanished.
Looking over at Aokiji and Garp nearby, he saw that they had done the same.
He paid them no more attention and walked to the Blood Sacrifice Pool. At its edge, he dipped a hand into the water.
The water was nowhere near as scalding as Werther had imagined. It was merely warm.
But the moment he touched it, that strange pulse came again.
Werther quickly pulled his hand back, his expression darkening.
The pulse was far stronger in the water than in the air. He would have to strengthen his Armament Haki to withstand it.
Just then, someone called out from behind him.
"Gentlemen, please don't enter the Blood Sacrifice Pool! It's extremely dangerous. Many explorers have disappeared in there."
Werther turned and saw a middle-aged man standing in the distance, wearing clear-lensed glasses.
The man's clothes were immaculate, and every hair was neatly in place.
"Who are you? Do you know what's going on here?"
At Werther's question, the man gave a gentle smile before answering.
"Hello, Mr. Werther. I'm the Town Chief of this town, Cole Black."
"I don't know much about the Blood Sacrifice Pool, but I do know it's extremely dangerous."
Werther ignored Mayor Black after that.
Anyone could see the Blood Sacrifice Pool was dangerous. The man had said nothing useful.
Seeing that Werther had stopped paying attention to him, Mayor Black did not seem bothered. His smile remained, though the fleeting chill in his eyes hardly matched his mild appearance.
Werther felt that diving into the pool alone might be difficult. That pulse could be shared among several people; he had sensed as much when the three of them approached it together. He turned his gaze toward Aokiji and Garp.