Kaido's Lackeys

As for why he had been hunted down, Palo did not say.

Moyun did not interrupt him, simply listening quietly.

A year ago, Palo had drifted to this island covered in wounds. He had remained unconscious for an entire day before waking up.

At first, Palo had thought this was a deserted island. From the outside, all he could see was dense forest; the town within was completely hidden.

Dragging his injured leg, Palo had made his way into the forest step by step.

Just as Moyun had seen, everything here looked wilted and lifeless.

A tiger had appeared before him, yet it had merely circled him a few times. It had not attacked him, nor had it even bared its fangs and roared.

Although Palo had escaped disaster, he had not let down his guard. Whenever he spotted suitable hemostatic herbs by the roadside, he picked some and applied them to his wounds.

Those herbs were everywhere in the forest, but not a single one had healthy green leaves.

They were all faintly yellowed.

As a result, Palo's wounds had healed very slowly.

So Palo had stayed in that forest for a month. His physical condition was quite good, and normally, with the help of herbs, he would have recovered within a week.

But the medicinal effects of the herbs here were pitifully weak, so it had dragged on for a whole month.

At first, Palo had remained in the forest for safety.

Now that his wounds had healed, he planned to continue exploring. Perhaps he could find something useful and escape this place.

"So you stayed in that forest the whole time and didn't even know there was a town inside?"

Moyun was somewhat surprised. Was this guy really that cautious?

Asked that by Moyun, Palo nodded somewhat sheepishly.

A faint blush even spread across his wheat-colored cheeks.

Moyun: "..."

What had he said? Why was a grown man blushing?

Interrupted by Moyun, Palo immediately coughed.

His face returned to its previous solemn, serious expression.

"Don't interrupt."

"Then go on."

Afterward, Palo discovered the existence of Sunshine Town. Like Moyun, he had also noticed that something was wrong here.

But before Palo could ask anyone anything, a burst of chaotic footsteps came from the distance.

"Hahaha! It's damn comfortable staying here!"

"Yeah, but Boss, how much longer do we have to stay here?"

"What's wrong with this place, Second Brother? You're so eager to leave? Are you scared?"

A small group suddenly appeared. Every one of them looked vicious and menacing, clearly not people to be trifled with.

They also had dragon tattoos on their arms.

"Fuck off!"

The man called Second Brother roared and stalked forward in a rage.

Palo hid behind a fruit stall and quietly observed them.

These people should all have been normal, completely different from the town's residents.

"Why are all these people such idiots? The side effects are way too severe!"

A woman with dyed red hair and a nose ring crossed her arms over her chest. Every time she saw these people, she felt uncomfortable.

Hearing their voices, the people on the street finally changed their expressions.

"Please, give me a little happiness!"

"I want happiness! Please, I really can't go on living like this."

"My lords! My lords, we'll behave!"

The townspeople wailed and sobbed. Some were in such agony that their faces twisted grotesquely.

"Get the hell out of my way!"

Second Brother kicked one of the townspeople squarely in the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"I told you, if you want happiness, bring money to trade for it! If you have no money, stop crying here."

What a bunch of troublesome peasants!

The people beside Second Brother seemed utterly used to this sight. Some even burst into loud laughter.

Hidden in the corner, Palo had no idea what was happening here.

Why did happiness have to be bought?

"It seems like the people on this island have lost all happiness. Shouldn't we be able to leave now?"

The red-haired woman pressed her tongue against her cheek. She was bored enough to get sick of this place.

When would the officers give the order for them to leave?

"Chigu, are you getting anxious too?"

"What nonsense. Of course I'm anxious. The other squads are out slaughtering their way through everything with the officers, so why do we have to guard this godforsaken place?"

Chigu, the red-haired woman, shot Second Brother a huge eye roll.

She was a woman known as the Witch.

Who would have thought she would be assigned to this place, forced to face these monster-like people every day?

"My lords! We really can't survive like this. Why don't you just kill us?"

A man suddenly rushed out of the crowd and grabbed Chigu's lower leg.

There was no happiness to be felt here at all.

Even when facing their own wives and daughters, they felt nothing in particular. Everyone seemed like a stranger.

Chigu's expression immediately darkened. "Let go!"

She hated it most when people came near her for no reason.

When the man still refused to release her, Chigu pulled a bone blade from behind her back and sliced off both his arms.

"Ah! My hands!"

The man's wife and daughter stood among the crowd. Seeing his condition, they showed no expression at all, as though he were someone entirely unrelated to them.

"What exactly is going on?"

Palo murmured. It seemed as if all these people had been stripped of their emotions.

Not entirely stripped, though. At the very least, they could still feel their own pain.

"Who exactly are those people?"

Moyun had never heard of a group like this before.

And if it was as Moyun had said, then there had to be someone above them.

But the previous Pirate King had never mentioned this.

Had he triggered another hidden storyline?

"I know. Do you know Kaido, one of the Four Emperors?"

"What did you say?!"

Moyun's pupils contracted. Those people were actually Kaido's men!

He had thought the first half of the Grand Line should be controlled by Crocodile or Doflamingo.

He had never expected Kaido's reach to extend so far!

"Aren't Kaido's three great commanders the Three Calamities?"

"These people should only be the squad of one officer, and they're very strong."

Palo spoke gravely. Over the years, he had kept hiding in this town. Fortunately, after those people had appeared a few times, they had never shown up again.

For the past year, he had been searching for clues. Then, two months ago, he discovered a factory in this town.

"A factory? Wait, are you saying those people aren't on the island right now?"

Moyun rubbed his chin. If that was the case, their actions would become much easier.

Although he did not want to clash with Kaido right now.

Still, since they were already here, it would be hard to justify ignoring this.

"None of them are here, but there's no guarantee they haven't planted spies among the townspeople."