Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

Everyone looked at her with utter astonishment, wondering why she was so certain.

The savage man who brought Ace in whispered an introduction of Gremory in Murat's ear, and Murat looked at him with great surprise.

"You're from the village of Gimori?" Murat's question surprised the others. They had heard of Gimori before; it was said to be one of the oldest villages in the area.

“Yes…the only survivor!” Gremory said with a hint of sadness.

"what?"

"Impossible! Has something also happened to the village of Gimori?"

The people around asked in disbelief.

Gremory nodded and briefly recounted the whole story once again.

“I never expected… that even the ancient Gimonri have already…” Lamut sighed, and didn’t continue.

"Captain Ace..." Just then, a shout came from outside the valley.

"Hmm? It might be one of my companions. I'll go out for a bit!" Ace said, getting up.

"Anis, take some men and go with Ace!" Murat winked nervously at the savage beside him and said.

“Yes, Chief!” Anis, the male savage who had brought Ace in earlier, nodded in response.

Ace did not refuse; he knew that the other party was afraid that he would abandon them and leave.

If he really wanted to leave, these people couldn't stop him at all.

"Captain Ace!" The Whitebeard Pirates, who had come looking for Ace, greeted him with some surprise as he emerged from the valley surrounded by a group of savages.

"What brings you here? Does the first mate have any orders?" Ace asked with a smile.

"Yes! The first mate warned you to be careful. The meat of these gorillas is poisonous and cannot be eaten. Last night, Captain Jinguduo and the men who stayed behind hunted down several gorillas that attacked us, and as a result, we were all poisoned. If the first mate hadn't returned in time, we might have really been doomed!" the crew member said with lingering fear.

“I understand. By the way… was it dark when you were hunting the gorillas?” Ace nodded and asked.

"Um...it seems to be evening! It's not dark yet!"

"Okay, go back and tell everyone that those gorillas become very strong at night, so be careful. I still have some things to take care of here, and I'll meet up with you all after I'm done!" Ace reminded his companions.

"Huh? They get stronger at night? We didn't think they were that powerful when we were hunting them yesterday! I heard the locals call them demons... So they get stronger at night!" The member replied in surprise, "Do you need our help?"

"Not for now, I'll call you when I need it!" Ace said after a moment's hesitation.

This time, his second combat squad members did not come with him; instead, they went to Fishman Island with Whitebeard's main force.

Chapter 343 Heading Towards the Summit

After saying goodbye to his companions, Ace and Anis returned to the valley.

"My companions told me that demon meat is poisonous and cannot be eaten!" Ace explained with a smile after returning.

"Edible?" Everyone looked at Ace with some confusion.

They never considered eating demons; the greatest fortune was simply not being eaten by them. As for eating them... that was something they probably never even dreamed of.

Ace scratched his head. To be honest, the demons these people saw were probably just food in the eyes of the Whitebeard Pirates.

However, after what happened last night, Ace also became curious about these demons.

After the discussion was completed, Gremory and Anis led a team of warriors to accompany Ace to the mountaintop to search for the demon's lair, while Murat ordered the valley to be tidied up again.

Moreover, their food reserves are running low, and they need to go out to find some food.

But when Ace and the others reached the summit, they discovered that it was indeed a huge forest, and the trees were quite strange, completely obscuring the summit, making it as dark as night and impossible to discern directions.

Even these large trees have very high resistance to fire, so Ace's flames couldn't destroy this place at all.

Left with no other choice, Ace led them back down the mountain, intending to ask Reina for help.

"Ace...does your companion really have a solution? You saw it yourself, that forest is terrifying!" On the way back, Gremory asked with some doubt.

"Don't worry, the first mate is very powerful, he'll have a way!" Ace said with a smile.

Although everyone was skeptical, they had no choice but to believe Ace since he had said so.

On the shore, after a night's rest, most of the members who were poisoned last night have recovered.

However, some of the recovered members were unhappy, especially Jin Guduo, who felt he had lost face and wanted to get revenge on the gorillas.

"First mate!" At that moment, Ace arrived with his men.

"Hey~ Ace! Have you finished dealing with things?" Reina asked with a smile when he saw Ace.

Ace shook his head and recounted everything.

"So, you're planning to... wipe out all the gorillas?" Reina asked after listening.

“That’s the idea. Those demons at night are too powerful; they can’t fight them!” Ace nodded in response.

"So have you ever thought about mining the iron ore and then teaching them how to make weapons?" Reina asked Ace.

“I thought so at first, but… the strength of those gorillas after nightfall is something they can’t fight off with weapons!” Ace shook his head and said.

“Alright! In that case, I’ll go with you!” Reina said, standing up.

"Are we going to cause trouble for those gorillas? I want to go too!" After hearing Reina and Ace's conversation, Jingudo immediately stood up and said.

"How about... we wait until tonight? I'd like to see just how powerful those gorillas can become!" Lakyo seemed intrigued and said with a smile.

Upon hearing Lakyo's words, Gimonli and Anis shook their heads frantically. They had already witnessed it last night, and they didn't want to witness it again today or in the future.

Reina looked up at the sky. It was only about afternoon, and there was still some time before evening.

“Let’s go, let’s go check out the mountaintop! I’m quite interested in that forest, it’s so deep that even Ace’s flames couldn’t destroy it!” Reina said with a light laugh.

"Let's go, no matter when or where, I just want to find those guys and see if they get poisoned after eating that meat!" Jin Guduo said with a murderous look on his face.

Finally, Reina sent the crew back to the ship, while he, Jingudo, Laco, Ace, and the others went up the mountain again.

When they reached the mountaintop, they encountered a giant gorilla that had run out. Before Reina could even react, Jingudo went up and beat the gorilla to death, leaving Gimonri and Anis dumbfounded.

"Ace... are all your companions this powerful?" Anis swallowed hard and asked.

“Yes! Kingdo and Laco are both captains, just like me, while Reina is the first mate, second only to the captain in rank!” Ace nodded and said.

After hearing Ace's words, Anis and Gremory were both a little confused. How could a strong person like Ace not be the leader?

After dealing with the gorilla that appeared for some unknown reason, Reina and the others arrived at the edge of the forest.

“These trees… are a bit eerie!” Reina said, frowning as he tapped on a tree trunk beside him.

“That’s right, look… there’s not a single ray of sunlight in there, and it’s afternoon!” Lakyo pointed to the dark forest and nodded.

"Shall we go in?" Jinguduo was already getting impatient. He had already obtained the gorilla meat and now wanted to find one to experiment on.

Lakyo was also somewhat impatient. He had just witnessed the gorilla's strength, and to him, that strength was merely at the level of food, posing absolutely no threat.

However, Ace had already mentioned that the gorillas' strength increases dramatically at night. Now that the forest is completely dark, will the gorillas also be able to increase their strength?

“Ace…get some torches for lighting! Let’s go inside and explore…we might find some unexpected surprises!” Reina said with a smile.

Ace nodded and quickly made a lot of torches, which were carried by the savages who were following them. This gave them a sense of security and also helped them to light their way.

After they entered the forest, they hadn't gone far when they found a group of gorillas sleeping against a big tree. Perhaps the light of the fire startled them, because several of the sleeping gorillas roared and then ran away in terror.

"No way? They just ran away?" Laqué said, somewhat disappointed.

"Don't worry... They're afraid of fire, so they'll run away when they see it, but once they realize there's no danger, they'll come back and try their best to put out the fire!" Ace said calmly.

“Great, so does that mean we just have to wait for them to arrive?” Jin Guduo said eagerly.

“No need. Let’s keep going and see what’s inside!” Reina shook his head and said.

So the group continued forward, but before they had gone far, they were surrounded by the roars of countless gorillas. The sounds came from all directions, as if they had already surrounded them.

"Ace... I... I think... continuing forward... might not be a good idea!" Anis and Gremory, who were already hiding behind Ace, stammered in fear.

"Don't worry, there won't be any problems. Judging from the speed at which they ran just now... it seems different from when it was nighttime!" Ace reassured them.

"Is it different? So it's not the dark environment that caused their mutations, but some other reason?" Laco said, feeling somewhat disappointed after hearing Ace's words.

“Don’t worry, there are plenty here. We’ll leave once I figure out the secret of this forest and hunt the rest tonight!” Reina said with a light laugh.

Using his Observation Haki, he could already sense that many gorillas were approaching them.

“Ace…” Anis swallowed hard and patted Ace on the shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Ace turned his head and asked.

Anis pointed around and saw countless red eyes appearing in the surrounding darkness, staring at them from afar, sending chills down their spines.

"Hmph!" Reina snorted, drew Senbonzakura from his waist, and shouted, "Scatter! Senbonzakura!"

As Reina finished speaking, the blade of the Senbonzakura sword in his hand began to disappear, turning into countless petals.

"So...so beautiful!" Even in the darkness, the faint glow of the petals drifting around prompted Gremory to exclaim in admiration.

“The more beautiful something is, the more deadly it is!” Reina smiled slightly, and with a gentle flick of the hilt of his knife, the scattered petals drifted towards the surrounding gorillas.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

"Ahhh!"

Where the petals fell, countless drops of blood appeared, and the attacked gorillas immediately let out a series of mournful howls.

"What...what is this?" Anis and Gremory, who were seeing Reina's move for the first time, couldn't help but shudder and asked Ace.

"This is the first mate's move. He is an extremely skilled swordsman. His weapon is the famous sword Senbonzakura, a weapon that can transform its blade into flower petals. However, only the first mate can use it. It's incredibly powerful!" Ace explained with a smile.

"Let's go!" After shooing away the gorillas, Reina did not give chase, but continued walking deeper into the forest.

Such an aura of power filled Anis and Gremory with admiration.

As Reina made his move, the gorillas surrounding them were injured and fled. However, a little while later, many more gorillas surrounded them. Reina ignored them and continued on his way.

"Oh ho~~!"

But at that moment, a gorilla finally couldn't resist and pounced on them.

"I'll go!" Jin Guduo had been waiting for a long time. With a flick of his arms, he jumped directly towards the gorilla that was pouncing on him.

"boom!"