Suspicious Boss

The two of them exchanged a glance, then walked in with cautious steps.

Maybe this was just a feint.

There could still be some trap set up at the entrance.

After the two of them entered the city gate, still nothing happened.

"Could this really be an empty town? How are we supposed to buy ingredients then?"

Did they have to go catch those animals in the forest?

Looking at the gloomy expressions on those animals, Moyun lost all appetite.

"There are people. Look ahead, there are quite a few people, it's just that..."

There was not a shred of human warmth, just like walking corpses.

Moyun glanced in the direction Olvia pointed.

Holy shit, could there be zombies here?!

Was it really that magical?

Yet wasn't Moria over at the Florian Triangle? Could it be because they entered a bit earlier than Luffy, so Moria hadn't had time to head over yet?

Wait, wasn't Moria the one who made zombies?

Besides, these people simply lacked warmth; their movements were neither bizarre nor sluggish.

The two slowly walked onto the street, secretly and quietly observing everyone's expressions.

Everyone was expressionless, and not a single person had a smile on their face.

"How much for this thing?"

"Thirty Beli."

"So expensive."

Even during transactions, everyone remained expressionless, without bargaining or showing anger.

Moyun wanted to grab someone and ask what on earth was going on.

"Hey, what is wrong with this island of yours?"

That person didn't speak either, just quietly stared at Moyun.

Moyun felt a bit creeped out by being stared at by this person, and it wasn't just him watching Moyun—everyone on the street had stopped what they were doing and was staring at Moyun expressionlessly.

"Moyun, maybe you should let go first."

Olvia tugged on Moyun's sleeve. They didn't understand the situation of this island yet and couldn't afford to stand out too much.

"What on earth is wrong with these people? Why are they so creepy? Isn't there even one normal person?"

Moyun slowly let go of the person, and everyone resumed what they were doing as if a play button had been pressed.

That person also brushed past Moyun as if nothing had happened.

They had walked for so long without seeing a single normal person.

"There's a meat shop over there. Let's go buy some meat first."

Olvia pointed to a shop in the distance. Since there wasn't a single normal person here...

Then they had better finish their business quickly and leave this place right away.

To save any trouble from popping up later.

The two walked side by side into the butcher shop. The shop owner was a two-meter-tall, muscular man.

He had a very masculine appearance, a buzz cut, and a scar on his eyebrow. Just like the people outside, he was expressionless.

"Give us ten catties of meat."

The man gave Moyun an expressionless look, then walked into the back storage room.

A moment later, he came back out dragging a dead pig that looked quite fat and robust, placed it on the cutting board, and started chopping away.

Moyun raised an eyebrow in surprise. Did he understand what they said?

To test his hypothesis, Moyun deliberately grabbed the man's wrist just as the man handed the meat to him.

"Isn't this stuff of yours not enough?"

"Impossible!"

The man spat out a few words mechanically. If you looked closely, you could even see that his lowered hand was trembling slightly.

Moyun curved the corner of his lips. It was just as he had guessed.

"You're different from the people outside. You don't have to put on an act."

The man didn't speak, maintaining his previous posture. If Moyun didn't take the meat, he wouldn't lower his hand.

It was thanks to this man's thick arms; otherwise, holding the meat up for so long would definitely have made them sore by now.

"Are you still going to pretend? Although I don't know what's going on, you are definitely different from them. I grabbed someone just now too, but that person wouldn't speak—he just stared at me."

Moyun didn't voice the rest of his thoughts, but he could tell the man probably understood what he meant.

"Take your meat."

The man persisted until Moyun took the meat, and only then did he lower his hand.

Moyun crossed his arms and looked up at the man.

He hated his own height; why did this man have to grow so tall?

And just when would this man be able to speak? His neck was getting a bit sore.

The man had single eyelids and a broken eyebrow, so when he furrowed his brow to look at people, he appeared somewhat fierce.

"You figured it out."

His voice was hoarse, low, and deeply magnetic, not as mechanical as before.

The moment Moyun heard this voice, he knew this man had finally stopped pretending.

Not gonna lie, this voice was really nice.

"What on earth is going on with your island?"

"It's a long story. You're outsiders."

The man's statement was definitive. He had come here a year ago and had never seen any new outsiders.

"Yeah, we just arrived on this island and found that everything here is very wrong."

"Normal."

The man nodded, walked to the door, and closed it, not even sparing the windows.

Seeing the man's cautious demeanor, Moyun knew something really had happened on this island.

Just what kind of person made this man so cautious?

From Moyun's perspective, this man's strength was definitely not weak.

"My name is Palo Cruz. I came to this island a year ago."

Palo extended his hand and introduced himself with a serious expression.

Moyun hadn't seen such a handshake greeting in a long time, so his expression became somewhat absent-minded as he watched.

When he came back to his senses, he noticed Palo hadn't pulled his hand back yet.

"Hello, hello. My name is Moyun, and my partner beside me is named Olvia."

Moyun hurriedly reached out and shook hands with Palo.

Olvia also learned from him and shook hands with Palo.

Right as they shook hands, Moyun's sharp eyes noticed that when this man shook hands with a lady, he only used half his palm!

Could he be a transmigrator too?!

"You, you, you—do you know Teacher Guo!"

"What?"

Moyun specifically brought up a meme that only people in his world would know.

Yet Palo scratched his head in some bewilderment.

Who was that? Was that someone he should know?

"Never mind. It seems you probably aren't."

Moyun let out a sigh. He had gotten a bit too excited—wait, it was also possible he just didn't know this meme.

"Do you know of a thing called a smartphone?"

"What kind of thing is that?"

As Moyun asked a few inexplicable questions, Palo looked even more baffled.

What on earth was this guy trying to ask?

"Never mind. You might as well just explain what's going on with this island."

Moyun sighed. It seemed he had been a bit impulsive.

Still, why would Palo have that kind of habit?

"I came to this island a year ago to escape being hunted down."