From a distance, Rosen and his group could only hear the sounds of gunfire and cannon blasts. Then, they saw an enormous human-like face open its mouth and take a bite out of a ship. A full third of the vessel, along with the people on board, was swallowed in an instant...
Survivors leapt into the sea, trying to escape, but they were quickly torn apart by swarms of small "sea demons" lurking beneath the surface. The ship was shattered into pieces and slowly sank into the ocean.
Everyone who witnessed the scene was terrified. If they had been even a mont slower in disembarking, they would have gone down with the ship, unable to resist the massive sea creature.
"What do we do now? Will we even be able to leave in five days?" a pirate asked anxiously. The others fell silent. They hadn't expected that their only ans of escape might be lost the mont they set foot on the island.
Even if they found valuable treasures, what good would it do if they couldn't leave? Would they be trapped here forever?
"Don't worry. The Bront rchant Association is reputable. There have been shipwrecks before, but as long as the association still exists, they will keep sending ships," soone with insider knowledge said, though his face still showed fear.
"Let's go," Rosen said to Pitas, his vigilance at its highest. He couldn't afford to be careless. The ship's fate didn't concern him much.
If things beca desperate, he would use Moonwalk to leave Lantis Island from the air, even if it ant clashing with the Marines. He had initially wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble, but the presence of surveillance Den Den Mushi made him uneasy.
"Damn it, I hope you're right. Otherwise, we'll have to build a raft ourselves," a pirate skilled in craftsmanship muttered in self-consolation. At this point, they had no choice but to press on. They couldn't leave empty-handed.
If all else failed, they could wait. Bront would eventually send more people to the island. If they kept a close watch, they might find another way off.
"But what's up with this island? Why are there so many hills and caves?" So pirates, instead of moving forward, began examining the island's landscape.
They stood on a sandy beach at the shore, looking inland. Their view was obstructed by nurous rising landforms—too small to be mountains but too large to be simple mounds.
These hills varied in height, so reaching tens of ters, others over a hundred. They spread out as far as the eye could see. From above, the entire island seed covered with these densely packed landforms.
Tall trees grew around the mounds, but the ground itself had little vegetation. In every direction, countless paths led into the island, but all of them inevitably passed through the hills.
"There are caves under these hills... Wait, they go straight underground? What kind of structure is this? Should we check it out?" A pirate's interest was piqued. Caves often ant minerals and precious tals.
That was Lantis Island's specialty—materials more valuable than gold. If they could get their hands on so, the trip would be well worth it.
"Let's go inside and take a look."
Rosen wasn't in a rush. The island was large. Where would Law be?
Originally, they planned to land at Zone E, where Law disembarked. But with the last-minute changes, they had no choice but to head toward Zone E now. If they followed the island's periter from Zone B, Rosen would pass through Zones B, C, and D.
The zones were arranged in alphabetical order, and Zone E was their originally planned landing site.
"This should be wilderness. There aren't any buildings, and the terrain isn't suitable for town developnt," Rosen said as he surveyed the area.
But Pitas looked stunned. "No, this was supposed to be a seaside resort. There weren't any of these hills before, and definitely no underground tunnels. What the hell happened?! Why has Lantis Island changed so much?"
"This wasn't its original landscape?" Rosen was surprised. From the treetops, he had seen an endless expanse of these mounds covering the island.
A Devil Fruit user, perhaps? Soone changed the terrain? But why?
"Aahh! A monster! Run! Don't block —damn it—!"
Suddenly, screams erupted from the pirates who had entered the cave.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire echoed, but the sounds quickly faded. Rosen extended his Observation Haki, but all he could hear from deep within the cave was the sound of sothing chewing.
"What's inside?" Pitas asked, his voice shaking.
"You want to go in and find out?" Rosen countered. The details didn't matter—what mattered was recognizing the danger and not letting curiosity get the best of them.
"N-No, I don't," Pitas stamred. "Shichibukai, sir, where do you need to go? I can take you there. The landscape has changed, but I can still recognize general landmarks."
He quickly backed away from the cave. Who knew what kind of monsters might co bursting out?
"Let's head to Zone E first and find so locals to get information."
"But didn't that captain say not to interact with the locals?"
"Never take words at face value. Investigate for yourself. You might find a different answer. And without locals, how do you expect to find one person on this entire island?" Rosen said calmly. That had been his plan all along.
"Fine, fine, let's just get out of here." Pitas, hearing faint footsteps from the cave, hurried forward.
Rosen followed. A map was useful, but having a guide was even better—that was Pitas' role.
"This way," Pitas said, consulting the map. Combining it with his mory of Lantis Island, he pointed out a route.
It was a path through uninhabited land. Regardless of how the terrain had changed or what kind of mutated creatures lurked, areas with fewer people should have fewer mutations. That ant they might be relatively safer.
"Strange… Almost every hill has a tunnel leading underground. It looks man-made. Hm? There's a Den Den Mushi here too?"
Rosen ford a massive sandblade and slashed down a distant tree. The tree crashed to the ground, crushing the Den Den Mushi and cutting off surveillance.
He refused to live under soone else's watch, no matter who they were.
Little did he know, his actions had enraged a Celestial Dragon.
"Warren! Who is this bastard?! This is the third ti! Every ti he shows up, the Den Den Mushi breaks! Damn it! Find him! Make him pay! A filthy commoner dares to destroy my surveillance!"
"Saint Desniere, he's a Shichibukai. I will report this to the World Governnt. For now, let's look elsewhere. See? The Marines are engaging the creatures," Warren said quietly, pointing to another screen.
He wasn't trying to protect Rosen. If Desniere kept focusing on the Den Den Mushi, he would soon realize that most of the island's surveillance network had already been wiped out. That would inevitably lead to accountability.
Better to distract him with sothing entertaining.
"Where?! Oh, they're fighting! The experint may have failed, but the citizens have beco this strong… It's not a complete failure, is it? Hahaha..."
Desniere watched the battle footage with excitent, his whole body tingling with pleasure.
For lowly beings to provide such an entertaining spectacle—even if they died, they should feel honored. They must, right?
His father had told him from a young age: as long as they pleased the "gods," they should feel joy in their deaths...
Rosen continued on his path. So far, aside from the giant sea monster he had seen at the shore, he hadn't encountered any mutated creatures.
As he walked, only four words ca to mind when thinking about Lantis Island:
A Wasteland World.
(End of Chapter)
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