Vice-captain of Whitebeard pirates

Larson pulled his hand out and frowned, looking at the sticky black substance on his hand.

"What is this?"

Whitebeard and Roger, standing beside him, sniffed: "Why is there a strange smell?"

"it's coming from this thing's body."

Larson looked at the black shadow in front of him. At this moment, the thing was like a pile of smelly garbage. The odor was thick and particularly unpleasant, making him want to vomit after just one whiff. It was emitting strongly from its body.

Larson looked at the hole he had made in the black figure's chest, where the smell originated.

It was hard to imagine what it was that could have such a stench inside!

Marco and others subconsciously covered their noses and stepped back, moving away from the shadow.

The others also retreated; the smell was too unbearable. Compared with their curiosity about the shadows, they felt that preserving their sense of smell was more important.

"Ahem, Larson, get rid of this smell quickly, I can't stand it anymore—I'm going to suffocate!"

Gaban said with a grimace.

Larson glanced at him: "What do you think I am, some kind of magician? If you want the smell to disappear, you'll need to get rid of this shadow itself."

"Then make it disappear quickly!"

Gaban exclaimed, almost in tears.

Rayleigh , standing nearby, raised his hand to his forehead helplessly: "There are so many people watching; this is important."

Only then did Gaban realize that Marco and the other crew members were looking at him with strange eyes.

It turned out that the people standing next to Larson looked calm, as if their sense of smell had shut down, showing no signs of being bothered by the stench.

Only Gaban kept crying out, making a scene. When compared to the others, the contrast was stark, and Gaban's image in everyone's eyes immediately diminished.

"Ahem, Larson, you continue, you continue."

Gaban quickly tried to regain his composure, but only he knew the discomfort he felt. He was now like someone eating bitter herbs, unable to express his pain.

Even though he was suffocated by the stench and wanted to block his nose, he had to maintain his image in front of everyone, pretending nothing was wrong.

Rayleigh, watching from the side, couldn't help but chuckle: "If you can't take it anymore, just step aside like the others."

"Can't take it? Who said I can't take it!"

Gaban raised an eyebrow: "Have you forgotten my original title?"

"Huh? You have a title?"

"It's a joke. Before I went to sea, others called me the Little Prince Who Endures Stink."

"Cough, cough."

Larson, who was preparing for the next step, almost couldn't hold back his laughter when he heard Gaban's words.

Whitebeard looked at Roger with a questioning expression, as if to ask, Are all the people on your crew like this?

Roger's answer was simple: No, he's the only one.

At this point, Rayleigh wanted to pretend he didn't know Gaban. It was embarrassing to be associated with him and to let others know they were on the same crew.

"Everyone, please stop arguing and let's focus on the task at hand."

Larson interrupted the two of them.

He resisted the urge to wash his hands furiously and took a deep breath, but the next second he coughed after inhaling a big gulp of foul air.

"These things are really disgusting. How can they be so repulsive?"

"Larson, after inspecting it, did you find out what caused these things?" Rayleigh asked.

Larson looked at the sticky black substance in his hand and squeezed it again. When Whitebeard and the others saw this, they couldn't help but admire Larson even more.

To hold such a revolting thing in one's hand without flinching—honestly, they were ashamed of themselves.

At this moment, Larson's eyes were fixed on the black substance in his hand. Earlier, his hand had searched through the black shadow's body and found that it had no internal organs.

It was like a plastic bag filled with this garbage.

And somehow, Larson felt a strong sense of familiarity, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

He was frantically thinking about where he had encountered such things before, so he didn't hear Rayleigh question.

Seeing Larson's serious expression, the others stopped talking.

After some time, everyone, including Whitebeard, saw Larson's eyes suddenly light up as a realization hit him.

"I see!"

Larson said with excitement.

He finally knew where he had seen these things.

These black substances, if you put aside the color and smell, were exactly the same as the people they encountered on the second level who had been resurrected from the dead and turned into dust!

Hearing Larson's words, Whitebeard, Roger, and the others were equally shocked.

"In other words, it's possible that these things were transformed by people who came back from the dead?"

"Yes."

Larson nodded. "It's very possible. We've always speculated on the purpose of those who have been resurrected. Are they brought back just to make up for the regrets of their lives and continue exploring forward?

But now, I think I understand. On the first level, those people were killed by wild beasts. They were then resurrected on the second level, and here, they were inexplicably transformed into these disgusting things.

Link by link, these should be the rules for the first three levels of Yale Island. The rules of each level are connected to the next, all paving the way for what's to come. I think if we reach the fourth level, what we will face may be directly related to these black shadows."

There was a moment of silence as everyone digested what Larson had said.

Rayleigh eyes showed shock: "That means the pirate ships we saw when we arrived here may become our enemies in the future!?"

"Well, theoretically, yes."

Because as soon as someone dies, their body is transformed—first resurrected, and then turned into a black shadow. After becoming a black shadow, they attack others.

"Their strength shouldn't be the same as when they were alive, right?"

Rayleigh asked, sounding uncertain.

Larson shook his head. "I don't know for sure, but whether it's determined by their strength in life or not, it doesn't matter to us."

In terms of power, they were already among the strongest in the world.

If these shadows were based on their strength in life, they wouldn't pose a threat to Larson and the others at all.

After all, those who were killed by the beasts on the first level must have been quite weak!