Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

"Oh no... this is terrible! I didn't expect we'd wasted so much time here!" Anies, who had also realized what had happened, turned pale.

He doesn't care if he dies here, but Ace and the others absolutely cannot die here; they are the only hope to fight the demons.

"Ace... light up my head!" Reina shouted at Ace after kicking away the giant gorilla's claw.

He knew he couldn't continue like this. What he thought would be a piece of cake was starting to become dangerous. Retreating now and coming back during the day was obviously the best option.

"Alright!" Upon hearing Reina's shout, Ace immediately understood his meaning; they were planning to retreat.

"Fire Fist!" Ace punched the giant gorilla, stopping it from continuing its attack on Reina, while also illuminating the space above Reina.

"Powerful Strike - Light and Shadow - Thousand Feather Slash!" Countless slashes flew towards the trees above the giant gorilla's head.

Light and Shadow: Thousand Feather Slash was Hansen's move. After confirming Hansen's death, Reina began to learn his moves. He wanted to find a promising swordsman and pass on Hansen's swordsmanship.

"Pfft, pfft...!"

"boom!!!"

Countless slashes all struck the same spot, and finally, the trees could not withstand it, and Reina blasted a large hole in them.

"Go!" Reina arrived at Ace's side in a few leaps, picked up two savages with one in each hand, and used Moonwalk to dash into the air.

Meanwhile, Jingudo and Lakyo also forced back their respective opponents, and following suit, they carried two savages who had come with them and left behind Reina.

"Firefly, Fire Daruma, Blazing Flame!" Ace, who was covering the rear, unleashed countless green flames from his body, grabbed Gremory, and followed Rakuyo and Kingdo toward the large hole above.

"Boom boom boom..."

Just as the giant gorilla and the ordinary gorillas were preparing to give chase, the small green flames suddenly began to explode, directly blocking their path.

"I was careless this time, let's go!" After rescuing Ace, Reina stood on the top of the huge tree, looking down at the sea of ​​fire, and said softly.

"I never expected their strength to increase so much after dark! Even we would suffer if we were surrounded!" Lakyo said with lingering fear.

"Let's go, or they'll catch up soon!" Reina said after looking around.

After finding the right direction, the group immediately ran back in the direction they had come from, but they hadn't gone far when they suddenly saw a patch of fire.

"Huh... what's that?" Lakyo, who was walking at the front, pointed to the firelight in the distance and asked in surprise.

“That is…” Ace and Anis exchanged a glance, a guess forming in their minds.

On this island, apart from Ace and his friends who are outsiders, the only people who know how to use fire are Murat Village, where Ace taught them.

So that patch of fire ahead... is very likely from the people of Murat Village.

Rewinding to a short time ago, Murat led all the gathered warriors toward the mountaintop. Along the way, Murat taught the rest of the people the fire-making techniques that Ace had taught them.

This surprised and delighted the people in the other villages, and also made them even more convinced of Murat's words.

So even though it was getting dark, they decided to keep going.

Soon when they reached the woods at the top of the mountain, they heard the sounds of a battle taking place inside.

"Lamut, what do we do now? It seems those people you mentioned are fighting with demons!" A village chief asked anxiously after hearing the commotion.

"Don't panic. Without the help of those powerful individuals, we can't fight the demons at all. So, our first priority is to find a way to reunite with them," Murat said, shaking his head.

"Then what should we do? If we go in..." The other leader clearly did not want to go in, because although they had a large number of people, if they went in, they would surely be wiped out.

"And we can't let those demons discover our flames, because once they do, they'll try to extinguish them," Murat sighed.

“Hmm? If that’s the case… then we…” Upon hearing this, one of the leaders immediately lit up and said, “If we set this place on fire… wouldn’t that attract all the demons? That would also be a signal to your people, and maybe they’d know we’re here!”

"That's right! It's a great idea!"

“Yes, yes, we’ll set this place on fire, then hide in the shadows. It’ll be safe, and we can keep an eye on those demons.”

The other leaders all agreed, so they set fire to the woods on the mountaintop, which led to the scene that Reina and the others saw when they came out.

"Let's go!" Ace took the lead and rushed towards the fire. Soon, the two sides met in the clearing in front of the forest on the mountaintop.

"Hurry up!" Ace shouted immediately upon seeing Murat.

"Ace, what's going on with you guys?" Murat was overjoyed to see Ace and quickly asked.

"Now is not the time to talk about this. Those demons are about to come out. Let's get out of here first!" Ace shook his head and said.

Seeing these people risking their lives to climb the mountain, Reina was somewhat moved.

"Ace, you take them down the mountain first, we'll cover the rear!" Reina said softly, glancing at the savages who were carrying wooden weapons as they went up the mountain.

“Yes, First Mate!” Ace nodded and replied.

Now that they had emerged from that dark environment and were in a much wider world, even if they couldn't win, they could escape at any time. So Ace wasn't worried about the safety of Reina and the other two and planned to leave with all the savages.

"Dong dong dong..."

But at that moment, a series of tremors came from the forest, clearly indicating that the demons had caught up.

"Hmph! They really think we're food?" Reina turned around, looked at the woods, let out a cold snort, and softly called out, "Hyourinmaru!"

A blue light flew from the shore, and Reina leaped into the air, grabbing Hyōrinmaru in his hand.

"Bankai! Hyōrinmaru!" With Reina's voice, dark clouds began to gather in the sky, which had already fallen into darkness. A cold wind blew by, and a huge ice dragon soared into the sky, floating above Reina.

"What...what is that?"

The savages who witnessed this scene were terrified and wished they could just kneel down.

"Hurry up, the first mate is about to make his move!" Ace urged everyone to leave immediately upon seeing this.

At this moment, Murat began to believe Ace's words; his first mate... was indeed stronger than him.

After his Bankai, Reina coldly looked at the massive forest beneath his feet, and with a flick of his Hyōrinmaru, an ice dragon immediately flew towards the forest.

"cut!"

The ice dragon crashed into the edge of the forest, freezing the entrance directly into the woods.

Countless gorillas trying to break free crashed into the ice wall, but failed to destroy it.

"Let's go!" After landing, Reina deactivated Hyōrinmaru's Bankai mode. He knew that the ice wall wouldn't hold the gorillas for long, but once the mutations subsided by the next morning, it would be their death day.

Everyone ran down the mountain, and when they reached the bottom, a series of sounds came from the top of the mountain.

"It's faster than I expected; it seems there are quite a few of them!" Reina said, frowning as he looked up at the mountaintop.

"Reina, what do we do now? If they all come out... we'll be in trouble!" Laqué said solemnly.

“It’s alright, we’ll guard this place tonight. It’s an open area, there won’t be any problems! Ace, surround the foot of the mountain with flames, don’t let those gorillas leave from somewhere else!” Reina said after thinking for a moment.

“Alright!” Ace nodded, then said to Murat, “Chief Murat, you take your men and leave first. We’ll take care of this!”

“Brothers Ace, don’t worry. Although we are not strong, we are definitely not cowards. Everyone… how about we stay and lend them a hand?” Murat said loudly, holding up the wooden spear in his hand.

"Oh~~~" All the savages raised their weapons at the same time, showing their determination.

“No need. If you’re here, we might accidentally hurt you. If you’re not afraid, you can step back and watch! It’s just a gorilla… nothing more!” Reina said with a light laugh.

The group looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

"Don't worry! Just follow the first mate's instructions!" Ace said immediately upon seeing this.

“Alright then! We’ll be waiting for your triumphant return from the rear! Everyone… bring out all the food from the village! We’ll treat our benefactor to a good meal!” Murat nodded in response.

After seeing that the savages had all left, Ace immediately started setting fires everywhere, while Reina, Jingudo, and Laco separated and surrounded the passage coming down from the mountain.

Chapter 346 Going Up the Mountain Again

"Oh ho~~~" When the gorillas arrived at the foot of the mountain and saw a sea of ​​fire, they stopped in their tracks with a hint of fear, and some of the more timid ones even retreated and ran away.

But perhaps the group gave them courage. Faced with the sea of ​​fire that Ace had prepared in advance, most of the gorillas, though afraid, did not turn around and run away.

"Reina, what should we do? Should we attack?" Lacjo asked upon seeing this.

“Observe them carefully, see their condition, and see why they mutated! These creatures are not common. We’ll see if we can tame them!” Reina said, stroking his chin.

"You're not planning to take back Xuan Yue Island, are you?" Jin Guduo glanced at Reina and asked with some surprise.

“Don’t you think they’re suitable to guard Xuan Yue Island? As long as we plant some of those strange big trees on Xuan Yue Island, they won’t run away!” Reina said with a smile.

“They’re cannibals!” Jin Guduo shook his head and said.

“Wrong, they eat meat, not just people! Lions and tigers don’t eat people, but they can still be tamed, right? We can keep them in captivity around Xuan Yue Island, which will be a natural defensive layer!” Reina shook his head and said.

“Let’s deal with the current situation first!” Laco interrupted Reina.

Although he felt that what Reina said made sense, he was still quite averse to feeding them on Crescent Moon Island.

“Just wait! If they don’t come, we won’t have to lift a finger!” Reina said with a smile.

He understood what they meant, but it wasn't practical to talk about that now, as the problems with these strange trees and their mutations hadn't been solved yet.

"Reina, look! Their fur..." Just then, Jingudo suddenly shouted to Reina.

Reina and the others quickly looked towards the gorillas in the distance, and saw that the moonlight shone on their fur, making their fur seem to change color.

"Could it be because of the moonlight?" Reina asked, frowning.

“That shouldn’t be! Before, when we were under those big trees, not even sunlight could get in, and moonlight shouldn’t have been able to get in either, but they mutated!” Lakyo shook his head and said.

“No, look closely at their fur… it seems to have a metallic color?” Ace suddenly said.

“Yes, it’s definitely the color of metal… Wait… Is that the mine below the mountain top? Could it be…” Reina looked at the entire mountain in disbelief and said, “This mountain… could it be an entire mine?”

Reina's guess made Lacjoo and the other two widen their eyes.

"No... that can't be right, can it?" Laqué said, somewhat uncertainly. "If this mountain is all mines... that's... that's too exaggerated!"

“That’s right! Even if this mountain is a mine, it has nothing to do with their mutation, right? Besides, their mutation only happens at night, so why is that?” Jin Guduo nodded and said.

“That’s why I’m guessing… there might be something wrong with this mountain. The iron ore is just what we’ve seen. Nobody knows what’s inside this mine. It’s very likely that the special minerals inside have been irradiating them for a long time, which caused these gorillas and those trees to mutate!” Reina said with a sigh of relief.

"Trees? You mean...those trees are also mutated?" Ace asked in surprise.

"Otherwise what? Do you think any plant can block your flames and my slashes?" Reina rolled his eyes and said, "That's why I thought I'd go check out the center of the forest; the answer might be there!"

“It seems we really need to explore this island more thoroughly. We thought it was just an iron mine, but it might actually give us a bigger surprise!” Laco raised an eyebrow, agreeing with what Reina said.

"Everyone, let's deal with the current situation first!" Jin Guduo suddenly said at this moment.

The group looked up and saw that the gorillas coming from the mountain were carrying huge stones, seemingly wanting to throw them over to extinguish the flames.

"Then... let's go!" With Reina's command, the four of them launched an attack on the gorilla horde simultaneously.