【Ma Ai】Island of Illusion

Ace is falling to the ground in a standard headlong posture.Below is a row of large ferns with thick tentacles criss-crossing, and further down is a large field of rampant wild brambles.

"That idiot Harta!"

While frantic, he freed up a quarter of his brain space to think about whether the void turned into fire.Of course he doesn't mind turning himself into a furnace and setting the whole island ablaze in midsummer--but only if his companions don't mind either.

So after much deliberation, the captain of the second team finally decided to smash his head against the surface.

Marco leaps the cliff in style, but soon realizes that something is wrong.The scene in front of him began to distort, and everything was as crooked as he saw when he was drunk.Space becomes a flowing vortex.He rubbed his eyes to make himself see clearly, but as soon as he withdrew his hand, he saw that the surroundings around him turned pale.

He immediately realized that he might have entered an illusion, there was no way in front of him, and he didn't know where to fall.

"But what does blank mean?"

Marco rubbed his chin thoughtfully.Just like Harta's playground and Yizang's cosmetic box, everyone can see what they want in their hearts through illusions, so a blank means that he has nothing he wants?Before he could overthrow the conclusion, two figures suddenly flashed in that white and outrageous area, followed by a third and a fourth... More and more figures gathered together, even more outrageous What's more, they also have different poses and expressions.

Marco knew who these shadows were without using his brain.

"If you have time to conjure up these messy things, why not bring me the real one!"

Although the person who came out of the illusion looked no different from a real person, Marco didn't have any mood to appreciate it.He aimed at a certain direction when the phantom did not appear, and almost rushed out with his eyes closed.

"So, Ace was hit by you?"

Thatch double-checked in disbelief.Harta lowered his head, his shoulders kept shaking.

"Halta, laugh as hard as you want, or you won't be able to cry next time. So how do you know that you hit Ace and not a tree or something? If you see a vision, what about Ace ?”

"I don't know if he saw it or not, but I did hit him. He was very close and I heard him cuss—"

Harta was finally willing to raise his head, but the repeated replay of the absurd memory made him laugh hard.

"So you knocked him away with more force, is that right?"

Vista drew conclusions slowly.Sa Qi and Yi Zang glanced at each other, wondering if they were on the wrong boat.

"Ah, that's about it, and he's on top of my carousel..."

"Then can you still see the illusion now?" Sage continued to ask.Harta shook his head and looked up at the incident.But it has been covered by lush trees.

"It's really strange. Although we also encountered the same thing just now, it was not as large as what Harta saw at that time. Obviously, the illusion this time is much more real than ours, and the most important thing is , it seems that once the illusion appears, even his own people will not be able to see it." Saqi rarely thought seriously.

"But the real environment still exists, otherwise Harta wouldn't hit Ace." Yizang said.

"So the problem is our eyes? Since the environment has not changed, it can only be our eyes. There is also sunlight, and the phantoms appear and disappear with the sunlight, but the sun was more abundant during the time we went ashore, But there is no phantom, why is that?"

Saatchi said.The surrounding crew members stared wide-eyed, but no one spoke.The atmosphere is a bit gloomy under the shade of trees.Thatch's face suddenly contorted, he put his head in the center of the circle, and said in a low voice, "I think...the island may have ghosts."

"...Saqi, soaking your donkey's head in water will really make it better. Believe me." Yizang felt that the veins on his forehead were bursting out one by one.

"Don't mess around anymore, I'll lead the team now... Bista, don't look at me like this, the 5th team is not far from the 16th team... Then, now all the members hide in a place that is not exposed to direct sunlight , stay until the evening gathering and come out for activities. Harta and I went to find Ace, and if you meet other companions, remember to let us know."

Sakilar pulled Yizang's sleeve: "What about me?"

"You'd better jump in the sea right now... Harta, stop laughing if you don't want to get your ass kicked by Marco, get serious."

He put on his coat, looked up and looked around.

"Looks like we'll have to punch a hole down there."

Marco instinctively plunged into what seemed to be the crown of a tree.When he opened his eyes, the illusion had disappeared, and he was dangling on a tree vine.

"strangeness."

He squinted his eyes and muttered to himself, his bare arms were reddened by the sun.According to the previous situation, if the sunlight does not dissipate, the illusion will not disappear.But now he can be sure that he is in the real environment, and the sun is still shining overhead.

He wrenched himself free from the tangle of branches, and it didn't take him long to see Ace stuck to the ground like a carrot, his head buried in the vegetation.It could be seen that he wanted to free himself, keeping his hands on the ground and exerting force, but it was all useless.

Marko flew to him speechlessly, the swinging butt gave him the urge to kick up.Then he grabbed Ace's feet and pulled him out with a little force.

Ace's face was flushed from being suppressed, and his face was covered with dirt and grass clippings.Marco didn't intend to put him down, he held Ace upside down, watching his face that had just recovered to normal breathing began to turn a maroon purple again due to brain congestion.

"Ahem, Ma... Boss Marco... Cough, thank you..."

"I remember you said before you set off that you shouldn't get your head hot for a while, right?"

"Yes... sorry... first... let me go... come on..."

The fall was a bit heavy, and Ace's forehead and cheeks were scratched to varying degrees, and blood continued to flow out.But the most serious punishment was the upside-down punishment given by Marco, which directly made him paralyzed on the ground and couldn't move.

"dizzy…………"

Marko noticed the dense and dry environment around him, and understood why he didn't blur his body.

"You are very confident in the hardness of your head."

He tore his coat and took out the softer part to wipe his wound.Ace managed to cough up all the grass clippings in his throat, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Marco staring at him with murderous eyes.

"Yo, captain—"

"Yo your head."

Marco punched him mercilessly on the forehead.Ace yelled and covered his head, his ears rumbling non-stop.

"Brains are about to fly out, bro!"

"Really? That's gratifying, it proves that your little head can still hold something. Then, Mr. Carrot, can you stand up by yourself?"

Marco helped him tie up the wound on the top of his head with torn strips of clothes, stood up and began to figure out how to get back into the big team.It's perfectly fine for him to fly back, the key is those strange illusions.

He wasn't sure if those things were offensive or not. The attack just now obviously transformed everything except himself. If he was attacked in the illusion, it would be impossible to defend against.He looked at the shadow under his feet, which had shrunk to a quarter of his body length, and it was almost noon.

Ace hasn't stood up yet, he's a little worried that he's hitting too hard.How strange, he murmured, since the moment he came to the island, there seemed to be a strange idea hovering in his mind.That invisible force has been controlling his subtle emotional changes.

"Ace, sorry, I seem to be a little too anxious."

He bent down to give him a hand, but Ace refused.

"It's okay, it was caused by my recklessness." He smiled and got up.The small wound on his forehead was still oozing blood, and his trousers were also torn by thorns.

"What happened to the head?"

"Don't act like you don't know what's going on! You are merciless... But thank you for coming to me."

Marco reached out and plucked the grass roots stuck to the corner of his mouth.He tried his best to suppress that weird anxiety, and if he allowed it to grow, he would definitely burst out uncontrollably.

"This place is not safe, we need to find a cool place to hide and think of a way."

Ace has been walking in front.This is his habit. Marco once warned him that if he encounters an enemy, it is best to give up the front position to a guy with a good head.But Ace never changed this habit because of it.Therefore, the first opponents encountered by the enemies of the Whitebeard Pirates are basically this high-spirited captain of the second team.

Marco kept following him at a distance of 2 meters.In just a little over two years, Marco already knew Ace's habits well.Ace is an honest guy, and in a way, he's almost completely defenseless.On the one hand, it stems from his confidence in his own strength, and on the other hand, it is probably because he thinks it doesn't matter at all.Everything about him is calm, like an open courtyard, allowing you to come and go freely.But only in the courtyard, his heart was locked in a dark hut, except for a very small number of people who had keys to get in and out, the rest were kept out.

Marko didn't know if he was one of those blocked, but he was pretty sure he didn't have the key.

Ace was humming some gibberish song as he walked, dangling lazily with a wooden stick in his hand.In fact, they seldom communicate in a pure sense of the word, and even spend very little time alone together.In Ace's view, Marco and himself are people of two generations. The latter is not only a senior, but also his mentor, an example for him to learn and surpass.

But Ace never really got to know him, any more than Marco never got into his inner cabin.

Two people who are completely unfamiliar in the inner realm will now support each other.In front of them was a mountain road leading to nowhere.

Marko cleared his throat, pointed to a large stretch of pine-leaved forest in front of him and said, "Let's take a rest there."

Ace groaned, turning around and waving at him.His unconscious action made Marco laugh secretly in his heart, and suddenly he understood why he had to go ahead.

Maybe there was a weak fellow who had been following him all the time, and that area was the safest he could give.

Not only can he tell the people behind him that he is always there, but he can also stand up to block all dangers at any time.

The sun was hidden in the corner of the clouds, but the temperature did not drop.The heat made everything appear to be steaming, the jungle was suffocated by the sun, and the place surrounded by darkness was very humid.

Marco's mood turned extremely bad again.And every heat wave and mosquito bites are deepening this unpleasant emotion.Ace didn't notice the subtle change in the atmosphere, he was studying the various strange fruits and animals he saw along the way with great interest.The torment value of the heat to him is zero, and if possible, he would rather venture under the scorching sun than hide like he is doing now.

They walked for nearly half an hour before reaching the dense forest.Although the sun is temporarily out of reach, the dense plants make the air more cloudy and humid.

"How long are we going to be here? Can you get in touch with Pop?" Ace asked.Marco touched his naked upper body only to realize that the little phone bug was gone. It should have been thrown out when he took off his clothes to bandage Ace.He shook his head and said, "I lost the phone bug."

Ace jumped on the tree and swayed around twice, but found nothing interesting.He ran back a little disappointed, and saw Marco sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed under a lush Selaginella.Ace thought about it, and decided to go to a farther place to have a look.Just as he turned to leave, Marco yelled at him to stop.

"You really can't stop at all, don't you think you're a little too active?"

Marco raised his head and asked.His slack eyes didn't focus on any point on Ace, making it feel like he was actually speaking into the air.This almost indifferent question made Ace feel slightly frustrated.But he obediently jumped down from the tree.

"You kept saying that I was not energetic, so I thought you would like me to be more lively."

"... Lively is not the same as nonsense."

When Marco said this in his mouth, he wanted to strangle himself to death.He understood that he lost his temper, and the anger surged out without warning at that moment, and he threw it at Ace before he could filter it.

"What's wrong..." Marco buried his face in his palms angrily, and took a deep breath to clear his chaotic mind.Ace thought he might have a bit of heat stroke, and Marco's complexion has been very bad since just now.

"It's too bad." He scratched the hair on his forehead a little worriedly, "I'll look around to see if there is any water source, you need to drink some water... Don't worry, I won't run around this time."

"I'm fine. Sorry, what I just said was too much."

"Marco, don't you really find it strange?" Ace couldn't help asking.

"Ok?"

"My brain is not working well, but I can still feel it. Like you said, I'm a little too active. In fact, I seem to be a little... a little unable to stop." He looked at his hand, clenched it and opened it again. Open, "...it's like clockwork, if you stop, you will feel very uncomfortable."

"why?"

"I don't know, it's just been uncomfortable."

Ace lowered his eyes.There were things he didn't talk about, some rotten things that had been growing deep inside him that he'd sealed away and never let himself touch.But they are always there, growing endlessly.And the island, like an invisible hand, opened the box without his consent.Every time he stopped the stuff came out like crazy and started wreaking havoc inside.

Marco intuited that the other party had hidden some important information, but he had no intention of getting to the bottom of it.Everyone has unspeakable secrets.

"Actually, I'm also a little... It seems that the whole person has become irritable. It seems that we have all got a little bit of the Tao of this strange island. Not only illusions, but also other forces have been hindering us."

The two looked at each other and received the same message from each other's eyes.

"It seems that Dad is not lying when he said that this island is very interesting, and it is not bad to go out to play." Marco resumed his usual indifferent expression, "But Ace, you have to get used to my temper. I won't apologize to the brat."

"If you can still find me later, then throw me a temper—" Ace could hardly hold back.Just get rid of the boring stuff quickly, he thought.

"So." Marco walked up to Ace, reached out and grabbed him into his arms.He did this entirely out of a strange sense of compulsion, as if his restlessness for so long was simply because the mission was not fulfilled.Now that he hugs Ace, he can feel his beating heart pulse at the closest distance, and the uneasy restlessness in his body is finally willing to stop.

"Let me borrow your strength first... let me last a little longer." He said with a smile in Ace's ear.

Ace didn't refuse, he hugged Marco back hard, and didn't even feel that there was anything wrong with this hug.