Drip. Drip. Drip.
The ice crystals, no longer sustained by magic, soon began to melt. Thin streams of water ran down the wall and dripped into the skull of a middle-aged man slumped in the corner, making a crisp splashing sound.
Rocky had thought the man's blood had long since drained away. He hadn't expected the drops to make such a clear sound.
The man had been killed that morning. His wife and daughter had been brought here, and he had come alone to try to negotiate for their release.
Instead, he had found their still-warm remains. Rocky had gouged the bloody holes in their bodies while they were alive.
The man had met the same fate.
The upper half of his skull had been sliced off, starting at his forehead.
Now, as Rocky followed the dripping water with his eyes, he saw the long-dead man staring straight at him, eyes wide, grinning with a strange, heh-heh-heh laugh.
Goose bumps rose across Rocky's skin. He shuddered, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.
The corpse was still a corpse, its eyes tightly shut.
"Was I seeing things?" Rocky let out a breath.
For some reason, despite being the great pirate Beard's second-in-command, he had just been frightened by a civilian's corpse.
Crunch!
Footsteps stopped at the entrance, jolting Rocky back to his senses.
He pressed himself against a pillar to reduce the chance of being spotted. Silently, he prayed the newcomer wasn't the person he feared.
Whoever was lurking out there was strong!
Loa frowned and stopped walking.
He had yet to train in Haki, so only when he drew close could he sense the thick stench of blood that seemed to roar from the man without pause. It was a scent that came from killing many people.
Alarm bells rang