I, Kizaru, only came to the chat group after I became invincible

Chapter 422 Reassessment
Indeed, the notice board displayed the bounty posters for all the Straw Hat Pirates members, and it was the latest version, with the bounties significantly higher than before.

"Luffy's bounty has reached 15 billion Berries," Nami said, looking at the bounty poster. "The combined bounties of all of us are astronomical."

"That just proves we're famous!" Franky said smugly. "A super famous pirate crew!"

However, besides the bounty poster, there were other notices on the bulletin board that caught Robin's attention.

“These are missing persons posters,” she said, pointing to some yellowed papers. “Judging by the dates, the earliest one is two months old.”

"So many?" Sanji leaned closer to look. "There are more than twenty missing person posters."

“And most of them are crew members,” Borsalino observed carefully. “Judging from their professions, there are merchant ship crew members, fishermen, and some pirates.”

As they were examining the missing person posters, an old man approached. He was dressed simply, and his face was full of worry.

"Young people, what are you looking at?" the old man asked kindly.

“We’re looking at these missing person posters,” Robin replied. “I heard there have been a lot of ships going missing lately?”

The old man sighed. "Yes, it's terrible. My son was one of them."

“Your son?” Chopper asked sympathetically. “When did this happen?”

“A month ago.” The old man pointed to one of the missing person posters. “He was the first mate of the merchant ship ‘Brave,’ and he was supposed to get married after this voyage.”

The old man's voice was filled with deep sorrow. "But their ship never returned after leaving the harbor."

"That's such a shame," Nami comforted him. "There will definitely be news."

“I’ve given up hope,” the old man shook his head. “It’s been so long, and there’s not even a single clue. The navy says the search has been fruitless.”

"Grandpa, can you tell us more about the disappearance?" Luffy asked earnestly.

The old man glanced at Luffy, seemingly considering whether to speak. Finally, he made up his mind and said, "Actually, there are some rumors..."

"What rumor?" Everyone perked up their ears.

“Some say that strange, thick fog was seen at sea before the disappearances,” the old man said in a low voice. “And several fishermen claim to have seen a mysterious giant ship in the open sea.”

"A mysterious giant ship?" Zoro's interest was piqued. "What kind?"

"It's said that the ship is very old, enormous, and always shrouded in thick fog," the old man continued. "Those who have seen it say that the ship gives off a very ominous feeling."

"Dense fog and a mysterious giant ship," Borsalino mused. "It certainly sounds suspicious."

“But the government doesn’t believe these rumors,” the old man said with a wry smile. “They say it’s all superstition and has no scientific basis.”

"Scientific evidence aside, anything strange can happen on this sea," Franky said. "We've seen far more strange things than you can imagine."

Just then, a commotion broke out in the square. A ragged man stumbled into the square, shouting something.

"Help! Someone help us!" the man cried out at the top of his lungs. "The boat has been dragged into the fog!"

Everyone's attention was drawn to this sudden turn of events. The man appeared mentally unstable, his eyes filled with fear.

“Sir, please calm down.” The town guard rushed over. “What happened?”

“I’m a crew member of the ‘Wind of Freedom’!” the man said, trembling. “Our ship… was towed away by that thing! I’m the only one who escaped!”

“The ‘Wind of Freedom’?” Someone in the crowd recognized the name. “Isn’t that the merchant ship that left port three days ago?”

“Yes! That’s the ship!” The man grabbed the guard’s clothes. “We’ve encountered that legendary thing! Dense fog! A huge fog has enveloped our ship!”

"And then?" the guard asked patiently.

“Then…then we were dragged into a terrible place!” The man’s voice trembled even more. “Ships everywhere! Dead ships! And…and those eyes…”

"Eye?"

“Red eyes! Red eyes are staring at us everywhere!” The man was almost crying. “My fellow sailors…”

Before he could finish speaking, the man fainted. The guard immediately called a doctor, who carried him aside to rest.

"Is what this person is saying true?" some people in the crowd whispered.

"That sounds like utter nonsense."

"But he did look very frightened."

"Perhaps we really encountered something terrible."

The Straw Hat Pirates exchanged glances. The survivor's description perfectly matched the rumors they had heard before.

“Dense fog, a giant ship, red eyes.” Robin summarized the key information. “It sounds like a connected event.”

“That man said he was the only survivor,” Nami said worriedly. “What about the other crew members?”

"Judging from his appearance, I'm afraid everyone else..." Sanji didn't finish his sentence.

"Should we go take a look?" Luffy suddenly asked.

"What?" Nami looked at him in surprise.

"Should we go find that mysterious fog?" Luffy asked seriously. "If anyone really needs help."

"Luffy, this could be dangerous," Borsalino warned. "Even a pirate with a bounty of 5000 million Berries has gone missing."

"So what?" Luffy grinned. "We're way stronger than them!"

"Furthermore, if someone is truly trapped somewhere, we can't just ignore it!"

Luffy's words silenced everyone else. Although it sounded dangerous, they couldn't stand idly by if innocent people truly needed help.

“Let’s gather more information first,” Nami suggested. “We need to find out exactly what happened.”

“Great idea!” Robin agreed. “We need to find more witnesses and understand the pattern of this phenomenon.”

“That old man should know more,” Chopper said, pointing to the old man they had just been talking to.

The old man hadn't left yet, and was quietly watching the unconscious survivor. When the Straw Hat Pirates approached, he spoke up.

"It seems those rumors are true," the old man said gravely. "That terrible thing really does exist."

“Grandpa, do you know anything else?” Nami asked gently. “I’ve heard the fishermen say that the dense fog always appears in a specific area,” the old man said thoughtfully. “About 50 nautical miles northeast of the port.”

"Do you have a specific location?" Nami asked, pulling out a sea chart.

“This is it,” the old man pointed to a location on the nautical chart. “This area used to be called the ‘ship graveyard’ because ships often wrecked here. But it had been calm for decades, until recently.”

“Things have been calm for the last few decades, but recently things have started to look strange again,” Borsalino analyzed. “In other words, this phenomenon isn’t new; it’s just become active again.”

“Very likely,” Robin agreed. “Perhaps something has been awakened.”

“Or perhaps someone is exploiting this legend,” Zoro suggested another possibility. “Deliberately creating a mystery.”

"Whatever it is, we have to go see!" Luffy said resolutely. "Maybe we can save those missing people!"

Just as they were discussing this, the town's doctor came over.

“The survivor has woken up,” the doctor told the guard. “But his mental state is very unstable; he keeps saying strange things.”

"What strange thing did you say?" the guard asked.

“He kept repeating phrases like ‘Don’t go there,’ ‘They’re still watching us.’” The doctor shook his head. “It looks like he’s suffered severe psychological trauma.”

“Can we speak to him?” Robin pleaded. “Perhaps we can help him.”

The doctor looked at the group of young people and hesitated.

“We’re doctors,” Chopper stepped forward. “Maybe we can help him recover.”

Seeing Chopper's serious expression, the doctor nodded. "Okay, but please be careful. His condition is very unstable right now."

Led by the doctor, they arrived at a small clinic in town. The survivor lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, muttering to himself.

“Sir, we’d like to know about your experience,” Robin said gently. “Perhaps we can help you.”

Hearing the sound, the survivor slowly turned his head to look at them. When his gaze swept over the members of the Straw Hat Pirates, he suddenly became excited.

"Don't go!" he grabbed Luffy's arm. "Whatever you do, don't go to that place!"

"There...there's something terrifying there!"

“Please calm down,” Chopper said softly. “You’re safe now. Can you tell us exactly what happened?”

Seeing Chopper's kind eyes, the survivors calmed down a little.

“Our ship left port three days ago,” he began. “It was a normal voyage, but on the evening of the second day, we saw that thick fog.”

"That fog was strange; it was silvery-white and moved very quickly."

"And then?" Nami encouraged him to continue.

“We tried to avoid it, but for some reason, the boat was uncontrollably dragged in,” the survivor’s voice began to tremble. “When the fog cleared, we found ourselves in a terrifying place.”

"There are ships everywhere! Countless ships! Some are new, some are old, it's like a giant ship graveyard."

This description made the Straw Hat Pirates listen attentively.

"And then you saw red eyes?" Borsalino asked.

“Yes!” The survivors’ fear intensified. “At first there were only a few pairs, then more and more emerged from those dead ships, as if they were observing us.”

"My fellow sailors wanted to resist, but... but those things were too terrible."

"Did you see what those things were?" Zoro asked.

"I can't bear to look," the survivor shook his head. "I just jumped into the sea during the chaos, swam desperately, and I don't know how long I swam before the current swept me here."

"How did you escape from that space?" Robin pressed.

“I don’t know, maybe it was just luck,” the survivor said wearily. “When I looked back, that terrible place was shrouded in thick fog, and I couldn’t see anything.”

After hearing this harrowing account, everyone fell silent. The survivor's description provided them with valuable information, but it also demonstrated the danger of that mysterious phenomenon.

“Thank you for telling us all this,” Robin said sincerely. “Please get some rest; you are safe now.”

After leaving the clinic, the Straw Hat Pirates gathered in a quiet café to discuss the information they had just learned.

"Based on the information we have so far," Robin said, organizing his thoughts, "there's a mysterious space where a large number of missing ships are gathered. And it seems some kind of dangerous creature inhabits that place."

“And that space uses dense fog to lure passing ships,” Borsalino added. “It could very well be a trap.”

“But those missing crew members might still be alive!” Luffy insisted. “We can’t abandon them!”

“Luffy is right.” Sanji nodded. “If someone really needs help, we can’t just stand by and do nothing.”

“But the problem is, how do we get into that space, and how do we get out safely?” Nami asked worriedly. “The survivor said he was just lucky to escape.”

“Perhaps we need to be more prepared,” Franky suggested. “Learn more about the phenomenon and develop a detailed battle plan.”

“I agree,” Sauron said. “Acting rashly will only put us in danger as well.”

Just as they were discussing, the coffee shop door was suddenly pushed open. A man in a naval uniform walked in; his rank indicated he was a lieutenant colonel.

The naval officer glanced around, his gaze finally settling on the Straw Hat Pirates' table. Although they had all changed their clothes, he had just seen the Straw Hat Pirates' bounty posters on the bulletin board, and the officer quickly recognized them.

"Straw Hat Luffy," the officer said slowly. "I didn't expect to meet you here."

The entire coffee shop fell silent instantly. Sensing the tense atmosphere, the other customers quickly left.

"The Navy?" Luffy looked at the officer. "What do you want?"

“I am Lieutenant Commander Thomas from Naval Headquarters,” the officer introduced himself. “I am here to investigate the disappearance of the ship.”

"Investigating the missing ship?" Nami said in surprise. "Then we have the same goal."

"The same?" Lieutenant Colonel Thomas asked, somewhat surprised. "You pirates are also concerned about missing persons cases?"

“Of course!” Luffy replied matter-of-factly. “If someone needs help, we should go and save them!”

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas carefully observed the members of the Straw Hat Pirates, seemingly reassessing them.

(End of this chapter)