"Eh, what do you mean by that Captain? We've only been on this island for a few minutes, and we haven't walked far, not to mention we've been walking in a straight line." Asked Trenza in confusion as she glanced at Diddy before looking back, though the thick vegetation concealed the coast.
"Heh, if you can't even sense it, that alone is enough reason why you shouldn't attempt to return to the ship; you'll get lost and probably end up dead somewhere." Said Diddy with a grin while scanning his surroundings as he continued walking forward, his words starling Trenza, who decided to stay closer to him.
"Um, Father, do you mind elaborating what Captains means by that?" Asked Scar with a raised eyebrow while looking around, though just like Trenza, he too was confused, and Grand was no exception.
"From the instance we stepped onto this island, there has been an invisible energy that's been hampering and disrupting our senses; Freyja, Captain, and I have been able to resist it, but that doesn't seem to be the case for you three. Which means you'll trip on that root right there." Replied Sebas with a slight frown as he looked up at the night sky before pointing towards a thick tree root exposed from the ground.
"Huh? What roo-" Said Sebas as he looked down, only for him to trip through before he face-palmed into the ground; he managed to catch himself.
"I suggest you follow in our footsteps lest you trip again since, unlike you, we can ward off this weird energy." Said Freyja lightly as she glanced at Sebas and Grand, who both nodded before closely following behind her, mimicking her every step.
I couldn't tell whether the island itself was producing this weird energy that was attempting to disrupt our senses or if it was something or someone else's doing; the thought that it might be a possible devil fruit user crossed my mind, but I don't have enough evidence to draw a reasonable theory. So, with that in mind, we continued walking through the forest while I was in the lead, moving trees, bushes, and other forest life out of our way; this continued for some time, which was a little tedious, but It was still fun in my opinion as it reminded me of horror games.
'Hehe, c'mon, pop out; I'm ready for you!' Thought Diddy with a smirk as his beastly eyes scanned his surroundings, his ears twitching at every sound and his nose sniffing and analyzing every new scent.
Unfortunately, for a solid forty minutes, nothing happened, but I did start to notice that the plant life was becoming more sparse; we even began to see seemingly trunks of previously chopped-down trees.
"Looks like we're heading in the right direction." Muttered Sebas as he once again spread his psionic energy, searching for any active minds, though just like before, he came up empty-handed, causing him to frown.
"Or at least a direction; it feels like this island has been abandoned by all wildlife." Commented Freyja blandly as she folded her arms and walked beside Sebas while glancing at him.
"Hehe, speaking of abandoned, Freyja; look what we stumbled across." Said Diddy with a smirk as he turned around while ripping a thick bush from the ground, revealing what seemed to be a village.
"A town? It looks quite old." Remarked Grand with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the small, desolate village.
Approaching the town, village, or whatever this is properly called, we noticed several houses and what looked to be a few gathering spots, possibly bars or something else; however, everything looked not only old but desolate and abandoned.
"It looks more like a village rather than a town, but yeah, it's old, very old at that; the wood on these houses are rotting away." Said Scar as he approached a house and gently pushed open the door, only for it to collapse into several pieces.
"Who do you think used to live here?" Asked Trenza, observing the village while carefully following behind Diddy since she didn't wish to possibly trip or something worse.
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"Why don't you use your brain for a second and think? Is that such a hard task for you to do, Trenza? Humans lived here, obviously; other than that, we know as much as you." Replied Diddy with a grunt of annoyance as he looked at Trenza, who was angrily glaring back at him.
"Tch, I knew that; I was just seeking more input." Said Trenza, clicking her tongue while folding her arms as she ignored Diddy, though she didn't leave his side.
The village wasn't that big at all, and in a matter of a few minutes, we'd already walked through the place; some of us did attempt to search through the buildings, but they were far too damaged to do so, just a few steps inside and the whole place would come collapsing down. None of us had any desire to search through a pile of wood for a clue that may or may not even exist, so we just left it be, and just when we were about to leave this village, on the complete other side of the village, Trenza and I spotted a much larger building, that looked to be practically brand new, which stood out amongst the other deteriorated buildings.
"Hey, we've found something!" Yelled Trenza, her words causing everyone to stop what they were doing while quickly heading toward her location, which didn't take long.
"Now, an abandoned village isn't that odd, but this, this is definitely odd." Said Freyja with a slight frown as she viewed the building, which might as well have been a mansion compared to the other houses.
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock; do you want me to call you Freyja Holmes?." Remarked Diddy mockingly as he glanced at Freyja, who didn't bother responding since she didn't understand the reference.
"So, shall we enter the place then?" Asked Sebas curiously with a frown from having yet once again found no active minds in the vicinity besides the five around him.
"Obviously, I was merely observing it; I don't mind walking into traps so long as it's not going to kill me instantly." Said Diddy with a smirk as he took the lead, followed by Trenza, Freya, Sebas, Scar, and Grand, the six nearing the house.
Approaching the building, I leaned into the wall and sniffed it, taking note of the paint, which smelled a little new, meaning someone had been maintaining this place.
'And that means someone lives here.' Mused Diddy with a slight grin as he neared the doors, and like character, he busted through them, revealing a dark hallway.
"Hehe, after you Trenza." Said Diddy with a smirk as he picked up Trenza by the back of her collar before throwing her into the dark hallway.
"Y-You son a bitch, Captain!" Yelled Trenza in fear as she quickly stood up from the ground and ran towards him; despite her anger for him, the first thing she did was hide behind him.
"Haha, now that's funny." Added Diddy with laughter as he entered the dark hallway while Trenza, full of anger, pointed Sunaipu at him, though she stopped herself from shooting him.
"Dammit, if we weren't on this eerie Island." Muttered Trenza as she holstered Sunaipu, grumbling to herself as she chased after Diddy, passing the other four.
Despite this house being decently big, I didn't notice any pathways out of this hallway, no doors, hatches, or even secret paths. I did attempt to break through the wall, but all that did was reveal an iron wall with my fist imprint behind the wooden one.
"Hmm, I'm curious; we shouldn't have been the first pirates on this island, so why does that seem to be the case?" Asked Sebas with a thoughtful expression as he followed behind Diddy, who punched the iron wall with much greater force, causing the entire house to tremble and creating a deep imprint, yet the wall held firm.
"That's a great question, but your guess is as good as mine, Sebas; well, maybe yours is a little better, though either way, I don't know." Said Freyja with a frown as she shook her head.
"I'm willing to bet this place has the answer to your question, Sebas, so let's go and find it." Remarked Diddy as he turned and glanced at Sebas and Freyja before continuing forward.
While walking down the dark hallway, we eventually arrived at a set of stairs, and like any reasonable pirate, I first tried to destroy the stairs, though just like with the wall, underneath the wooden stairs, there were iron stairs; although I'm confident I'd be able to break through the iron with a few punches, I was curious about this house, so until I deemed it boring, I'd keep it intact.
Walking up the stairs, we eventually arrived at another hallway, annoying me, but luckily, It was short, and at the end of it was a single-lit candle with a door beside it.
"Now, if that's not inviting, I don't know what is." Said Freyja sarcastically as she followed Diddy, who eagerly approached the door.
Opening the door into a large room, which actually had lights, we entered and looked around, though it didn't even take a second for something to happen.
"Oh my goodness! Do you see that!?" Exclaimed Trenza in astonishment as she looked at the center of the room.
"My goodness, I've never seen so much gold in one place before! That must be at least 100,000,000 Beri's!" Stated Scar with wide eyes as he and Trenza looked at overfilling chests of gold.
"We've hit the jackpot!" Yelled Grand in excitement.
"Hmm? What are you three talking about? There is no gold, just an empty room with what looks to be a large trap door." Remarked Diddy, but by the time he had finished speaking, Trenza and Grand had already run forward while Scar stayed behind.