【Ma Ai】Island of Illusion

"Hey, I hope I didn't bother you." Thatch came out of the fire disheartened, alone.Although he had a smile on his face, it could be seen from his tone that he was in a bad mood. "However, I still trouble you to find a suitable time when you are in heat next time. Of course, if you just want to hug each other to death, I promise not to interfere."

Riding on the night wind, the fire intensified, and the scattered fluorescent lights regrouped outside the fire circle.The reason for the light makes them look like a layer of transparent glue, hazy and thick.They came menacingly, with the momentum of killing each other.

The plant at the core let out another shrill cry.

Sach quickly covered his ears tightly, and was hit in the face by a straight punch from Marco who jumped up.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Thatch yelled.His mouth was covered with blood, and his tongue was bitten by himself. While the blood was flowing, the unbearable screaming in his ear was obviously relieved a little.

"Don't thank me, we are companions, this punch will be given to you by me." Marko said with a half-smile.Thatch glared at him and couldn't help but reach out and gesture obscenely at him.

"You're blatant revenge! Just wait and see." He ignored Marco, but shouted at Ace, who was slowly getting up behind him. "Ace, if you haven't been eaten by this beast, roast that thing immediately."

"I think so too, but I can't move my hands." Ace supported his knees, feeling blurred in front of his eyes. "I can't use..."

He clenched his fists tightly, but the force that was surging just now was completely pulled out of his body, and his body was as shriveled and powerless as a balloon that had been drained of hydrogen.Marco took a breath, and also found that the power disappeared without a trace.

"What are you kidding? Don't forget who set the fire on such a large scale just now."

"He's not kidding, and my power is gone. It seems to have a dampening effect on the power of the devil fruit."

"... Are you talking about that voice or this one?"

Thatch pointed to Marko's shoulder.There is a green glowing object moving slowly.Marco was taken aback, the thing seemed to be planted firmly on him, and it couldn't be shaken off no matter how hard he shook it.Not only him, the same thing appeared from Ace's neck to his collarbone.

None of them seemed to have noticed this.Sage rolled his eyes and said, "I just told you not to be in heat..."

"Sarge, watch out!"

Marco kicks Sage away suddenly.The latter rolled a few times on the ground, looked up and saw a huge branch crawling out of nowhere hovering above Marco's head. It had a milky white appearance, and the outer layer was still bubbling with sticky liquid.

"How did you do it?"

Marco found that while there was no change in his body, his strength was gradually weakening.He immediately thought of Hailoushi, but his father clearly said that there is no navy on this island, but this feeling of being forcibly locked in his body is too similar to that thing.Within a few seconds of his doubts, the branch wrapped around his waist, and then his whole body was lifted up.

"I said what the hell are you doing? Are you making a game for me? You are too weak to be so fucking funny!"

Sach said incredulously.He was already wondering whether the kick that almost cracked his ass just now was done by the guy in front of him.

"Do you think I'm playing a game? The strength of me and Ace has been suppressed, hurry up—"

Before he could finish speaking, he heard a crisp sound of "嗤", and the top of the branch wrapped around him was chopped into two pieces.A knife was scraped across his neck, as long as there was a slight deviation, the first captain would probably be able to write his own epitaph today.

"Ace, don't use a knife when you're not [-]% sure next time, just obediently let it be your decoration."

Marco, who was sweating from the shock, gave Ace a chestnut immediately after jumping down.Ace gasped, his strength almost exhausted.The jump also pulled his injury, and the unhealed wound was bleeding out after struggling forward.

"Don't worry, I'm confident that I won't hack you to death, at most you will be seriously injured."

He grinned reluctantly, feeling that his hands were so sore that he could hardly hold the knife.

"Sage, this thing can be chopped off with a knife." Ace pointed to the core plant not far away and shouted to Sage, "That guy is the source, go and cut it off."

"Shut up, I don't need a half-baked guy to show me how to do it."

Sach jumped up in an unnecessary but chic enough posture, the two knives in his hands flashed a sharp and smooth blood red under the reflection of the raging fire.

"Just treat it as a favor to you. Remember to find a place with a gate next time you want to mess around."

He licked his chapped lips.

Marco and Ace watched this luxurious performance side by side.Sach's white figure interspersed among those branches that had completely run amok, and the green liquid splashed on him, forming black holes one after another.But these can't stop him at all. He closed his eyes to slaughter, and all his energy and energy were concentrated on the knife in his hand.The plant was still screaming heart-poundingly, but the wings that guarded it became props in the hands of the magician, and were arbitrarily cut into pieces of independent and neat wreckage.Liquid rained down on the ground, then was consumed by fire.

"Oh……"

Marco wanted to say something, but couldn't.He seldom watched Sage fight, and he seemed to be born to do things that had nothing to do with combat.Telling cold jokes, telling some nasty jokes, and pretending to be a hypocritical prodigal son reciting poems on the bow of the boat.

Rather than calling him a pirate, it would be more appropriate to call him a half-baked artist.

"Marco, don't forget that he was a chef." Ace stroked his lips, staring at the big white butterfly. "Do you know what he is best at?"

"Pepper on your meat?"

"No, it's cutting carrots." Ace pressed the brim of his hat habitually, only to remember that he wasn't wearing a hat today.

"Ace, look at what you've done!"

Yizang and the other two finally arrived safely.It's just that the price was a bit high, and all three of them were smothered by the fire.Bramank even had a clump of hair burned off, still smoking from it.

"No problem, it will grow back soon, don't worry! Are you all in good shape?"

Bramank hugged Ace happily, then saw him bend over in a bit of pain.His back and abdomen were covered in blood. Although it was only a skin trauma, it was no joke to lose too much blood.

"team leader!"

Tiki yelled.Ace thought he was going to pounce on him too, but in fact God Qi just yelled—and then he bounced off like a hot ass, running towards Thatch.

"What's up with him?"

Ace looked at his back, a little puzzled.

"It seems that your status in the hearts of the team members is not very good. If it were me, they would desperately rush up to hug me and cry."

Marco said to Ace with his arms crossed.

Marshall Titch rushed to the destination like crazy.Everything was ruined by the dagger in Thatch's hand, and there were still wriggling remains of branches all over the place.Thatch's white figure was still flying on the top, and he still had a stubborn branch to deal with, and the purple fruit was already in sight.

"Wait, captain four!"

Tiki was out of breath.His huge body was clinging to the bottom of the plant—it was its roots, and the rough surface was covered with strange black patterns.

"What the hell is that guy trying to do?"

Yizang asked in surprise.He thought that Tiki was rushing over to help, but the reality was completely different.He hugged the base of the strange plant and shook it vigorously.Sage above was dealing with the last branch. He sliced ​​it into neat chunks like a radish, but because of the shaking, he had to slow down to balance his body.The green liquid began to entangle him crazily, causing most of his body to sink into darkness.

"What are you crazy about?" Sage shouted dissatisfied.He didn't have many footholds in the first place, and now he could only step on the depression on the main trunk whose branches had been cut off.

"Tiki, let go!" Ace wanted to stop his stupid behavior, but Yizo took the first step.He fired a shot at Tiki who had no intention of stopping, and the bullet brushed the latter's beard and shot into the plant precisely.Then another shot.Blue smoke rose from the muzzle of the gun, covering half of his face.

"Next shot." He said coldly, "If you don't stop, the next shot will go into your donkey's head, Tiki."

"Captain Ace!" Tiki didn't dare to move anymore, he shouted at Ace with sweat profusely, "Captain! I'm just here to help! Don't you believe me? I just—"

His hands started moving again.Yizang pulled the trigger almost at the same time without even frowning.The gun rang, but the bullet flew past Tiki's face again.Marco's big hand gripped his gun firmly, deflecting the muzzle just a little.

"That's enough, do you want others to see the joke about our infighting? Calm down." Marco said, "Ace, put down the knife!"

Reluctantly, Ace put down the knife and said, "He's my team member, Yizang. Don't go overboard." He and Yizang glanced at each other. This unfriendly atmosphere made Marco decide that both of them had to Get punched.

Tiki shook the creature vigorously, his heart beating as fast as a rabbit.But the hidden bullet bought Saqi a decisive time.He hugged the sticky branch with his left hand, while the knife in his right stabbed hard into its middle.

"Man, it's time to peel the scallions," said Thatch.

The knife went all the way down the cut gap, the speed of the knife was accelerated by the falling weight of Sachs, and the cut branch made a hissing sound.The end of the branch is the cradle of the fruit, and a large number of tentacles extend from the main trunk. These tentacles not only provide nutrition for the fruit, but also wind the fruit into an oval pupa.It seems to be invulnerable.

Thach's knife is not afraid of these.After cutting open the huge branch, Sachi, who almost turned into a dense black mist, faced the complex nutrition plate with his blade.He has only one eye left to see the surrounding situation, but the knife does not need vision, it is its own eye.

The blade quickly cut through a large group of tangled tentacles.The plants let out an even more frightening scream, and the sound even made the ground roll up dust.Thatch ducked his head to avoid the onslaught of dust, slowing his movements.At this moment, he suddenly saw Tiki on the ground looking at him with an indescribable expression.

Thatch's hand had already reached out to the purple fruit, but he stopped suddenly - the strong sense of uneasiness at noon swept over his heart, making his head spasm like a pain.He hesitated for a moment - Tiki was still looking at him with that strange look, as if he was a prey with nowhere to escape, and the best time to hunt was now.Still suffering from a headache, he had to hold on to one of the writhing tendrils to keep himself from losing his footing and falling.It's no big deal if you fall down, just climb up again.It's nothing to be nervous about.He comforted himself in his heart, calm down Sach, do you think that if you fall, you will be caught by (who?) and—

be hunted.

The headache suddenly stopped.He regained his sobriety.What did I do?he asked himself puzzled.He felt that he was probably affected by the sound of the plants, his heart was beating wildly, and even his hands and feet began to tremble.

Marshall Titch's voice came through the flying dust.

"Captain Sage, hurry up," he shouted.The uneasy look had faded from his face.It was replaced by the usual rude and honest face.

"You will miss the best time to escape." He said with a smile.Thatch was surprised to find that his hand had already grasped the fruit.The surface covered with swirl texture conveys the curse from the deepest part of the sea.He pulled it out with just a little effort from his wrist, and sticky liquid came out from the bottom of the fruit.

"I got it."

But who was he talking to?He was out of breath, he just felt tired, not happy at all.

Just when the fruit left the nutrient plate and even the whole plant, the green liquid that had been entangled with the fire suddenly had large-scale wrinkles like the ebbing sea water, and the fluorescent lights flying in mid-air began to gather. In just a few seconds, Within a short time, a large green wave gathered in mid-air, they were surging irregularly, the scene was unforgettable for the people underground—it was like entering the deepest part of the sea, and could only look at the flickering lights above their heads like ants. Waves could do nothing.

The "sea area" quickly lost its original transparent green color and turned into jet black, and then gradually turned into thick fog. Finally, the thick fog became thinner and almost invisible under the raging fire.

Ace felt that his strength was slowly recovering. He squeezed his fist and saw sparks burst out between his fingers.He looked up and saw the stars in the night sky that he had not seen for a long time, and realized that this grand performance was coming to an end.

"Okay, before the fire burns, we have to leave quickly." Marko said.

There was a creepy scream from the ground.The plant with only a truncated root on the surface twisted violently.At Diqi's feet, countless black tree roots broke through the ground and began to expand around aimlessly.Saqi hugged the fruit, and was entangled tightly by the swarming tree roots before reaching the ground, while Tiki was thrown to the far side.Sage raised his head vigorously to look at his companion, and found that there was no one there.

"Well, is this the price for missing the opportunity to escape?" he said through gritted teeth, as his body was drawn further into the pile of roots.

At this moment, he felt a sharp pain at the root of the hair on the top of his head-someone grabbed a large clump of hair on his forehead and pulled it up hard.

Before he can yell, he hears Ace's voice, saying, "I told you this must be him, I know his hair—but you don't believe me."

Then he was pulled out from the root of the tree with his body and hair.It was Ace who pulled him out, grabbing his hair in an upside-down position.Izang was holding Ace's feet, but his face cramped from laughing. Fortunately, there was Bramank behind him, which prevented the two people below from being buried in the roots of the tree because he lost his strength from laughing.

Marko's gigantic pseudobeast form is particularly spectacular in the fire.But it still seems a bit difficult to carry the weight of four big men with the newly recovered body.

"Quick... go up, I'm almost out of strength!"

Ace gasped and yelled.The four of them hung around Marco's neck like bunches of grapes, and Sachs at the bottom felt that his ass would be blown up by the manic tree roots if he continued like this.

"Marco, can't you push harder? What's the point of bringing me up like this?"

"I don't care! You'd better all fall down to save my neck pain the next day!"

A group of people cursed and heard Di Qi's call before flying a few meters away.He stood in the fire and waved his hands like the rescued people.

"I'm here." He yelled excitedly, "Help me, Captain Ace!"

In fact, I didn't want to save him at that time.

That's what Thatch told Ace later.He is a candid man, and he has a terrible aversion to insincerity.Ace looked very embarrassed, Sach knew how embarrassing it was for a young captain.But he really thought so at the time, and he didn't want to deceive anyone.

However, right now he still let Tiki grab his feet without hesitation.Tiki's honest smiling face looked unreal in the thick smoke.In Sage's own words, his soul is dead, but he still tries to make a smile, but there is no trace of real emotion on that smile.

They flew out of the area where the tree roots were rampant. Although there was no fluorescent light, the fire showed no signs of abating.The night wind and trees in midsummer are the best catalysts.They quickly returned to the old man's side, and found that the old man was sitting firmly on a giant beast, and there were two smaller ones beside him.

"You guys are too good at wasting time." The old man said condescendingly, "If you don't want to be burnt, hurry up and hold on, we're going back."

Marco threw all the people under him on the tapir next to the lemon, and dragged Ace towards the lemon.

"I told you to slow down, I'm hurt." Ace said.

"It's just a skin injury, isn't it?" Marco kissed him quickly, "And I can hug you if you can't run."

"That's why I hate guys who are in heat anywhere, especially those beasts who don't understand etiquette." Sach said looking at the backs of the two.He carefully lay down on the full-faced monster that he had beaten before, and was worried that this guy would throw him off halfway.

The fruit was wrapped by his coat and tied around his waist.Yizang pointed to it and asked, "Will you eat this thing?" Thinking of those green liquids, he couldn't help feeling a little sick.

"Eat it and you might turn into a green slug."

Saqi glanced at Tiki on the side.Tiki grinned at him, but didn't speak.

"I haven't figured it out yet, maybe I'll make it into a fruit platter to add to your afternoon tea." He paused, then continued slowly, "Anyway, this thing is mine now, let me dispose of it .”

The earth is shaking.Ya Ji used its long and sharp nose to dig a deep hole in the ground.It got in first, then the little brother of the lemon whose name was not yet known, and finally the lemon.

Ace took one last look at the roots and branches of the trees dying in the flames.They are still writhing and spreading wildly.Even if it is burned to ashes by the fire wall, it will not hesitate.The screams were still coming in wave after wave, but Ace didn't find it so unpleasant anymore.It became extremely weak, and its vitality continued to decline.It sounded more like an out-of-tune dirge, sung for someone.

Darkness loomed again.It's just that this time there will be no uneasiness and fear of entering an unknown space.It represents the beginning of hope, not yet here, but exciting enough.

Ace closed his eyes.Marco hugged him tightly.Dense soil fell on them, bringing a strong damp smell.

Ace felt his hair being grabbed in the dark, and Marco turned him around.No one can see the other, but the other's breath is so real on each other's skin.Marco leaned forward slightly to kiss his lips.

"It's over," he said.

But they are just getting started.