The group carefully searched every corner of the Sleepy Hollow.
In particular, areas that might contain dark rooms or underground structures were thoroughly searched.
However, after searching the town for two days, turning almost the entire town ruins upside down, the Vampire Fruit was still nowhere to be found.
Sleepy Hollow at sunset.
As the autumn wind blew, a considerable number of bats hovered in the air, catching moths and mosquitoes.
A wisp of smoke rose from the chimney.
Noah and Wyper were grilling Sea Kings meat patties.
Ray and Laki looked at the map on the table with worried expressions. On the map, the various areas of Sleepy Hollow had been marked with crosses, indicating that the areas had already been searched.
"Let's eat first!" Noah cut the steak into several pieces and handed one to each of Ray and Laki.
The two ate the crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside pork chop.
Noah then rekindled his Observation Haki, which enveloped the entire Moon Island.
With the aid of electromagnetic waves, he carefully scanned the terrain of Moon Island.
Moon Island is not just Sleepy Hollow Town, but four towns, as well as a palace ruin that resembles an altar, located on the hillside in the middle of the island.
Logically speaking, if Moon Island was destroyed by the Celestial Dragons, then the treasures on the island must have been completely looted by the Celestial Dragons and the World Government.
The Vampire Fruit was able to survive means it must have been hidden in a very secluded location, which is why it managed to slip through the net.
Their current search for Sleepy Hollow is actually Noah being influenced by memories of his past life.
However, in his past life memories, it was only said that Red Count found the Vampire Fruit in Sleepy Hollow, but no details were given. It seems that Robin needed to decipher the ancient text to unlock the hidden location of the Vampire Fruit.
After all, the outskirts of Sleepy Hollow are also part of Sleepy Hollow, and the palace ruins on the hillside less than two kilometers away from Sleepy Hollow can also be considered part of it.
However, Noah did not intend to continue searching in this manner.
The next day, very early in the morning.
Noah borrowed the power of the Float-Float Fruit.
His palm touched the ground, and in an instant, the entire Moon Island floated more than ten meters. Then he began to violently tear the ground apart, peeling away all the places where there might be underground ruins.
In less than two hours, a relic hidden in the nearby mountains was uprooted and revealed to the public.
Tearing open the outer layer of rock of this ruin reveals the treasure inside.
Noah and the others didn't pay much attention to the treasure, which was worth less than tens of millions of Beli, but a huge obsidian coffin caught Noah's attention.
The lid of the stone coffin was ripped open, revealing a richly dressed corpse inside, its hands still clutching a small box.
Upon opening the small box, a dark red fruit was revealed.
"Is this the Vampire Fruit?"
Ray looked at the Mythical Zoan Fruit with curiosity.
Noah picked up the parchment book placed next to the corpse's head, opened it, glanced at it for a while, and found that it was all written in ancient scripts he did not understand, so he quickly lost interest.
As for the Vampire Fruit, Noah planned to give it to Vic.
After all, among the core members of the family, only Vic did not eat a Devil Fruit. However, at this moment, Vic, relying solely on his physical skills and Haki, was already able to contend with Marine Headquarters Commodore.
Of course, Noah was well aware of Vic's potential; even with an inexhaustible source of life force, Vic could at most reach the level of Admiral Candidate.
Therefore, eating the Vampire Fruit is the fastest way for Vic to break through to the Admiral level.
After putting away the Vampire Fruit and treasure, the group did not stay on Moon Island for long before embarking on a new voyage.
This time, Noah is going to the West Blue.
Considering safety concerns, he did not intend to cross the West Blue directly via the Reverse Mountain Canal, but instead planned to detour through the South Blue and then cross over to the West Blue from the Red Line on the South Blue side.
Actually, you can also go to the West Blue from Angel Island. Just follow the Westward Sky Route, reach the last stop, the High West, and then go down to the sea surface from the High West to reach the middle of the West Blue.
However, Noah did not choose this route.
Because traveling to the South Blue was also one of Noah's goals.
After leaving Moon Island, the Nautilus did not remain submerged in the ocean, but instead surfaced periodically at intervals.
During this time, Noah and his companions witnessed firsthand the bizarre weather of the Grand Line.
One second it's sunny and calm, the next it's a raging storm—that's barely tolerable, but a sudden tornado, Hail, or giant wave—that's a deadly situation.
Ships that can sail the Grand Line either have skilled navigators or powerful crew members.
Noah and his crew dared to speed across the Grand Line without Lilith's company because of their strength; that's what you call skill and daring.
After bypassing Lodestar Island, where Alabasta is located, they entered the area of the fifth route of the Paradise.
Just then, Noah, who was reading the newspaper on the deck, suddenly frowned.
" Ray ready to descend?"
Although Ray was unsure of Noah's intentions, he quickly took Laki and began piloting the Nautilus to descend.
Half an hour later.
A huge sailboat appeared in the nearby waters.
" Yasopp! Didn't you say there was a ship nearby?"
The man with the ramen-noodle hair standing on the mast was also completely bewildered.
"What do we do now?" Raki Lu asked anxiously.
First mate Ben Beckman immediately made the decision. "Abandon the plan to Drum Island and return to Twin Capes immediately."
"No problem, it's just the captain's illness..."
Ben Beckman is now quite frustrated. "We have no way to go on an adventure to Drum Island."
They had planned to "borrow" a compass from a nearby ship to reach Drum Island, but the ship unexpectedly disappeared.
Faced with the unpredictable weather of the Grand Line, even while on the route, Beckman couldn't guarantee that he would encounter other ships in the next few days, nor could he guarantee that the other ships would have the compass for Drum Island.
Shanks ' illness means he can only last about ten days at most.
If they exert all their efforts, they can indeed return to Twin Capes within ten days.
This time they were careless. They thought their opponent was a nobody, but they didn't expect that the opponent's ship doctor was Devil Fruit User. Before he died, he released a hidden virus, and Shanks and three other crew members were infected and are now in a coma.
Just after the Red Hair Pirates left.
The Nautilus slowly rose to the surface of the nearby sea.
" Red-Haired Shanks? Has he been poisoned?" Although Noah was underwater, his Observation Haki, enhanced by the electromagnetic field, allowed him to hear Beckman and the others talking.
Of course, Noah did have the idea of killing the other party just now.
However, after sensing the presence of Beckman and the others, he abandoned the idea.
Although the Red Hair Pirates only became Emperors of the Sea around 1514, their strength at that time was already formidable.
Furthermore, the Red Hair Pirates are known as the Ironclad Imperial Crew, and their crew members are almost all masters of hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, and swordsmanship, making their strength relatively balanced.
At this point, Beckman was at the Admiral Candidate, and with the other dozen or so crew members equivalent to rear Rear Admiral or Vice Admiral, even if Noah went all out and mobilized other family members to provide support, he was not 100% confident that he could kill them here.
Moreover, he didn't know exactly how serious Red-Haired Shanks' illness was.
Noah wouldn't act rashly unless he was confident he could wipe out the enemy. This would not only expose his purpose but also alert the enemy, making his next move less surprise.