Negative Hollow!

A ghost floated in midair behind the man, seemingly out of nowhere.

Its round head was dotted with a pair of ink-speck eyes and a sausage mouth. Altogether, it resembled a teru teru bozu and looked rather adorably clueless.

None of those present felt afraid except Hina.

"So this is it, the ghost of legend."

Looking somewhat excited, the man couldn't help reaching toward the ghost:

"These ghosts are very friendly. They don't hurt anyone. At worst, it's a little embarrassing, like this."

His hand passed through the ghost's body, and then his knees slammed to the ground. He pitched forward, pounding the ground incessantly with both hands.

"I'm such a failure! Nobody has complimented my monocle for nine days straight! I really am a loser!!"

Tears and snot splashed onto the ground as he sobbed despondently:

"If there's a next life, I want to be a maggot."

Robin and Hina stared dumbfounded. He had called it a little embarrassing, but this was far too embarrassing.

The adorably clueless ghost in midair scratched its head and floated away.

Robin hesitated for a moment, but ultimately refrained from using her ability to try to capture the ghost.

She didn't want to kneel on the ground and weep like the man.

The man's negativity didn't last very long. He wiped the tears from his face, straightened his clothes, and returned to his earlier gentlemanly appearance.

"Sorry you had to see that. They say touching a ghost brings good luck. It's just that the process is a little embarrassing."

"Where exactly did that ghost come from? Hasn't your country sent anyone to investigate?"

Robin found it rather strange. According to the man, the ghosts had appeared two years ago. How could they not send someone to get to the bottom of such a strange phenomenon?

"Investigate? Why would we investigate?"

The man spread his hands and said as though it were perfectly obvious:

"Ghosts are ghosts, of course. They take form from people's souls after they die. If you insist on finding a source, I suppose they come from the underworld."

Not only the man, but even his wife and daughter beside him looked entirely accustomed to it. They even seemed to consider themselves rather lucky.

Robin narrowed her eyes slightly, understanding their view-or rather, the view of all of Thriller Bark.

She believed ghosts didn't exist, so upon discovering such a strange phenomenon, she would naturally investigate it thoroughly.

Conversely, everyone on Thriller Bark believed in ghosts and monsters. Of course people became ghosts after they died.

A few ghosts in a cemetery were perfectly normal.

As for people overseas, they would probably just treat the ghost rumors as another ghost story from Thriller Bark.

But Robin was different from them.

After seeing the man's family off, she immediately brought Gunpowder and Boren along, deciding to search the entire cemetery.

Everything had a source, and ghosts were no exception.

Whether it was an entrance to the underworld or an unfamiliar ability user, she would find the source of the ghosts.

A light touch alone could make someone utterly negative. The old king's confidants and the like couldn't compare to these unknown ghosts at all.

If she could control this power, no matter how many soldiers Tia had, they would be nothing to worry about.

"Hina, if you're scared, go back first. You don't have to force yourself."

"I... I'm not scared! I'm going to protect you."

Hina held Robin's arm with one hand and pointed at the gravestones with the other.

"Look at these severed gravestones. There must be more than ghosts here. There are other monsters that can directly harm physical bodies!"

"That's Hina's guess."

Looking in the direction she pointed, Robin saw a gravestone with its upper right corner sliced off.

According to the man, the ghosts had appeared two years ago, while the severed gravestones were a recent incident.

She didn't know exactly how recent, but there were definitely other strange occurrences.

Still, Robin wasn't particularly worried. It was only an ability to cut objects. Didn't they have Gunpowder, who was immune to cutting?

If they really encountered a cutting monster, they could have Gunpowder stall it while they hurriedly ran away.

At that thought, Robin couldn't help quickening her pace and staying beside Gunpowder.

Fortunately, a day passed without the four encountering any cutting monsters.

Several more locals came to pay their respects along the way, and Robin learned the precise timing of the cutting incident from them.

At around yesterday afternoon, people who had come to mourn discovered the gravestones damaged by cuts.

The news soon spread throughout the island, and the Public Security Bureau had sent people to investigate, but unfortunately, they found nothing.

Unfortunately, the four once again watched a ghost slip away before their eyes.

These ghosts had no physical bodies and could even burrow underground or vanish into thin air, making them very troublesome to pursue.

After a busy day with nothing to show for it, the four could only return to the inn first and report their information to Dill.

Things weren't going particularly well on Dill's end either.

From the zombie constable, he learned how the island's forces were distributed.

"You're saying there are three types of forces on the island, and your Zombie Force is the worst of them?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose with a headache. Three forces meant three commanders. Infiltrating them bit by bit would clearly take quite some time.

"Tell me the specifics of these three forces first."

"Yes, boss!"

The zombie constable knelt on the floor and pointed at himself.

"First, there's us at the Public Security Bureau. Our uniforms are zombie costumes, and we're responsible for dealing with crimes committed in town;

"However, since the atmosphere on the island is fairly good, there's very little crime, so our Zombie Force doesn't have many members."

"Next is the Kappa Force at the port. Their uniforms consist of a dish on top of the head and a pointed-beak mask, and they're responsible for fighting off pirates from outside;

"As you know, ever since Pirate King Roger said those words, the Great Pirate Era began, and the number of outlaws at sea skyrocketed;

"So the Kappa Force has the most members and the best weapons. They're the strongest of the three forces."

"Lastly, there's the palace's Blood Descendant Force. Their uniforms are red armor, and those at squad leader level are equipped with red capes;

"They number around two thousand. Their main responsibility is guarding the palace. They normally patrol inside it and protect the royal family when they go out."

The zombie constable looked toward Vlad beside them and reminded him:

"The men following His Highness the prince earlier were members of the Blood Descendant Force."

"That doesn't matter!"

Dill waved a hand. They couldn't even find him anymore, so saying anything now was useless.

"Head back first. Will it be a problem that you've been gone this long?"

The zombie constable shook his head.

"Our daily work is pretty lax. Members often disappear for an entire day to scare tourists."

"Good, then. Go back and bring someone else here."

"Yes, boss!"

Over the course of the day, Dill had taken control of three zombie constables and one kappa port soldier.

He guessed that Tia's main force was probably the two-thousand-strong Blood Descendant Force.

The Zombie Force had little combat strength and didn't count.

The port soldiers had a degree of autonomy. Whoever became king would have to rely on them, so they had no reason at all to rebel;

"Besides, most of their weapons were cannons fixed in place at the port. Not only would transporting them be inconvenient, but a cannon suddenly going missing would also arouse suspicion.

"Two thousand members of the Blood Descendant Force. How many of them are enemies?"

Click~

The door swung open, and Hina walked at the front with her head held high and her chest puffed out:

"We encountered ghosts today!"