The remaining members of the Black Cat Pirates stood in shock as their acting captain Jango and the elite combatants, the Meowban Brothers, were defeated one after another—so fast, they didn't even have time to react.

How could this be?

That was Captain Jango, and the Meowban Brothers, Buchi and Sham!

How could they lose to just two people?

The pirates looked at each other in panic. Cold rain pelted their faces, each drop hammering on the drum of fear in their chests.

Then they noticed the three strange figures aboard the enemy ship all turning their gaze toward them—as if beasts had just locked eyes on their prey.

Rumble rumble—

Thunder growled through the heavy clouds overhead like a signal. Without a word, the Black Cat pirates dropped everything, turned tail, and scrambled for the ropes—swinging frantically back to their own ship.

The moment their feet hit their deck, someone shouted, "Set sail! Set sail, now!!"

In their frantic rush, they fumbled about as if wishing they had more hands and feet—desperate to flee this haunted ship as fast as possible.

BOOM—

Too late.

Their pirate ship was slow, and in the blink of an eye, the black ship had caught up, slamming hard into the rear.

With a loud groan of wood and metal, the Black Cat Pirates' ship began to split apart—falling to pieces like all the others before it, becoming yet another meal for the Terror Ghost.

Splash. Splash.

One by one, the pirates jumped into the sea, hopelessly awaiting their demise.

Davy Jones stood aboard his vessel, harvesting every ounce of terrified emotion, strengthening both himself and the Terror Ghost.

His stormy gray-blue eyes gleamed—now imbued with a new ability: Target Lock.

Once this ability was activated, no matter how fast the enemy moved or even if they turned invisible, as long as they didn't immediately leave his field of view, his eyes would lock onto their exact position.

Additionally, the Terror Ghost's storm-following feature evolved from passive to active.

Now, storms would only form when Davy Jones willed them. On top of that, a new tool joined his arsenal: dense sea fog, which could also be summoned at will.

Here was Davy Jones's latest intel:

---

"Davy Jones The Dread Lord of the Deep"

Gray-Blue Eyes:

Target Lock

Crab Claw (Left Arm):

(1) Hard as Iron

(2) Charged Smash

Tentacles (Right Arm):

(1) Three Tentacles

(2) Extend and Retract

Pistol (Right Arm):

(1) Single Bullet Only, No Rapid Fire

(2) Bullets Formed by Fear

(3) Gun Parry

Teleportation:

(1) Short-range Blink

(2) Can teleport with one person

Undying Regeneration:

(1) Can heal all wounds except the heart

(2) Increased healing speed

Fear Harvest:

(1) Expanded range of emotional collection

(2) Amplified fear value

(3) Fear energy can strengthen self or the Flying Terror

Terror Ghost:

(1) Mind-controlled navigation

(2) Devours ship fragments

(3) Can summon storms and fog

(4) Hidden auto-firing cannons

(5) Faster sailing speed

(6) Reinforced hull

(7) Expanded cargo space

(8) Temporary ghost ship form

---

As the Terror Ghost creaked and groaned, devouring the shattered remnants of the pirate ship, a thick sea fog began to rise around its hull. Meanwhile, the storm weakened, fading away until the sky was calm again.

Buggy and Alvida watched the strange phenomenon, puzzled—but when they saw how unsurprised their captain was, they kept their questions to themselves.

Then, a strange noise shattered the eerie silence.

Breeeh-bleeh-bleeh, breeeh-bleeh-bleeh…

Davy Jones cocked his head. The sound was coming from Jango's corpse.

He reached down and rummaged through Jango's coat, eventually pulling out a strange little creature.

It was a snail—but fitted with a mic and buttons.

"What is this?" Davy Jones asked, puzzled.

"That's a Transponder Snail," Alvida explained, resting her giant iron club on the deck and leaning over it. "It's a living creature that can communicate via radio waves. People tamed and modified them to use as communication tools."

So this world even had such bizarre life forms… Davy Jones was intrigued.

The snail kept repeating the "breeeh-bleeh" noise, signaling an incoming call from another Transponder Snail.

Davy Jones picked up the receiver. The moment he did, the snail fell silent.

Then—click.

The call ended abruptly.

It seemed whoever was on the other end had realized something was wrong and immediately hung up, not even bothering to speak.

Cautious… very cautious.

Davy Jones raised an eyebrow. He wasn't particularly interested in the caller and was about to hang up when the snail buzzed again.

The same caller?

He picked it up a second time.

This time, long silence.

Then, a low and cold voice came through.

"…Who are you?"

The first time, when the call took too long to connect and Jango didn't answer, the man on the other end had immediately suspected something was wrong—and cut the line.

But after thinking it over, he called again, determined to uncover the truth and avoid walking blindly into a trap.

"Who are you?" Davy Jones replied coolly.

Alvida and Buggy held their breath, not daring to make a sound.

Silence again.

Then came the voice:

"You're not the Marines. If it were them, Jango would have been captured alive. He would've had time to destroy the Transponder Snail. The fact that you're holding it… means he died instantly."

Smart. Very smart.

But who was he?

Davy Jones pieced together scattered fragments of information in his mind—then came to a surprising but logical conclusion.

"You're their captain… Kuro?"

The moment those words left his mouth, dead silence returned.

Alvida and Buggy's eyes widened in shock when they heard the name exchanged.

Captain Kuro?

Wasn't he the former captain of the Black Cat Pirates? Wasn't he supposed to have been captured and executed by Morgan?

But now that they thought about it… it didn't add up.

Davy Jones had fought Morgan himself.

Even without knowing how strong Kuro was, just getting past Jango and the Meowban Brothers would've been impossible for Morgan.

So how could Morgan have captured Kuro alone?

Did Kuro have no crew, and was weaker than his subordinates?

Ridiculous.

Once Davy Jones saw Jango's hypnosis in action, he understood the truth.

And the voice on the other end—so cautious, so careful—it practically screamed I'm hiding something.

Eliminate all other possibilities, and what remains must be the truth.

Captain Kuro wasn't dead. The incident from years ago had been a carefully orchestrated lie.

This was Davy Jones's deduction.

Just as he was about to hang up, the snail spoke again.

"…Seems you know more than I expected."

The man's voice had turned grim.

"In that case," he said, lowering his tone, "we'll settle this the pirate's way. 2 a.m., at the northern cove of Syrup Village. Come, and I'll give you the treasure you desire."

Buggy's eyes lit up at the word treasure.

Davy Jones wasn't moved by riches—but he had become quite interested in this man called Kuro.

"Fine," he replied.

Click.

The call ended.

Davy Jones turned and asked, "Where is Syrup Village?"

Neither Alvida nor Buggy—despite being longtime pirates—knew every village in the East Blue by heart.

They pulled out a sea chart and studied it carefully. Finally, their expressions turned odd.

It was Alvida who answered.

"If the map is correct… it should be southwest of our current position. About an hour's sail."

So close?

That meant Kuro had never gone far—and had remained in close contact with the Black Cat Pirates all this time.

"Then let's go visit Syrup Village," Davy Jones said, nodding.

His tentacles curled back, coiling atop his shoulders.

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