"Oh my God!" Nami's face was pale. The scene in front of her was a bloody horror that could not even be described in her nightmares. The strange tentacles were like countless drooping yellow hair, greedily and strangely devouring the flesh torn from the scalp.
"Drip …"
A series of blood dripped onto Usopp's face. He held the flashlight stiffly and wiped his wet forehead with his other hand as if he was sleepwalking. Then his whole body shook as if he had been electrocuted. There was a retching sound coming from his stomach. He felt as if he had swallowed rotten meat in his throat. His mouth trembled as he screamed in horror.
The echo echoed in the silent underground, startling everyone again. Zoro glared at Usopp fiercely, bent down to pick up the flashlight on the ground, and raised the light to follow the tentacles above his head. After a while, he said, "It's transporting, those … well, those tentacles are transporting the corpses inside."
Everyone followed the direction of Zoro's light and realized that the corpses pulled out of the sea of sand were being transported deep underground.
"Doesn't it look like the tentacles of a monster looking for food and continuously sending the food back to the horrible nest?" Chopper's tongue was trembling. He felt that the scene in front of him was frighteningly familiar, as if he had seen something similar not long ago. "It feels exactly the same as the ice cave on Magnetic Drum Island. So, is there a monster in this underground cave?"
"Are these corpses being transported to eat them?" Luffy's way of thinking was very different from ordinary people. His observation was different from others, but he inadvertently said something close to the truth.
After Usopp finished retching, he wiped the blood on his face with his sleeve and hurriedly said, "I think you're focusing on the wrong thing. The most important thing is that these tentacles can move. They're living things!"
Usopp looked at the motionless tentacles disguised by yellow sand in fear. His Adam's apple kept squirming as he secreted saliva and said, "The ones above can move, which means that all of these tentacles can move as well. What if they suddenly attack us?"
Everyone's heart skipped a beat. When they looked at the crisscrossing tentacles around them, their eyes became vigilant. It was as if they were looking at countless demons living around them. Their expressions became serious and tense.
"They didn't move, which means we're safe for the time being. Although it's strange, the more strange it is, the more likely it is that Dr. Culeja is here." Sanji furrowed his brows. He looked at the shadows in the direction of the flashlight. "I think we should follow the direction of the tentacles."
The so-called "newborn calves are not afraid of tigers" was probably referring to the Straw Hats. Otherwise, if it was a group of experienced old pirates, their first reaction would not be to go deeper, but to quickly leave this place.
Choba didn't say anything. He followed Nami closely and looked at everyone with touched eyes.
"Let's do as Sanji said and continue to go inside. If there is any danger, Zoro and Sanji will protect Nami. Usopp and Chopper will escape to the ground, and I will cover them." As a captain, although Luffy's thinking was close to a single-celled product, he did not lack courage and decisiveness at critical moments.
Like an arrowhead, Luffy walked at the front while Zoro followed behind him. He held the hilt of his sword with both hands and stared sharply at the tentacles around him. He was ready to attack at any time. His face was solemn. He knew that to some extent, these tentacles were harder to cut than steel.
Usopp wore goggles on his face and held the flashlight high above his head. He carefully shone the dancing shadows above and guided the team forward.
Nami stood in the middle of the team. Choba stood upright, holding a few blue wave balls in his small claws. These blue wave balls were a special pill that he invented. It was developed by combining the characteristics of the Zoan Devil Fruit to control the wavelength of transformation. It increased the original single transformation point to seven, covering weight enhancement, fur enhancement, jumping enhancement, wrist enhancement, foot enhancement, horn enhancement, and brain enhancement.
Although the effect was only three minutes, it could increase Choba's brain power and combat power by several times within these three minutes.
Sanji was at the back. He only tiptoed when he walked to ensure that he could hug Nami the moment he was attacked. Usopp jumped up and dodged the attacks coming from all directions.
In the dead silence of the underground, there was the sound of heavy breathing. Even time seemed to have been weakened. After an unknown amount of time, a flowing sand wall suddenly appeared in front of them. It was a wall made of sand that extended and surrounded them, blocking their vision from all sides. The sand wall was tall and thick, and there were vaguely tentacles wriggling inside, as if they would shoot out and devour everyone at any time. It was also as if the sand wall would suddenly collapse and bury them in the next second.
"The tentacles above my head passed through. I feel that the body parts seem to be smaller and smaller. It seems that part of them was swallowed and decomposed." Usopp retracted his flashlight. His vision was blocked, and he could no longer see the specific direction of the body parts. The only thing he could be sure of was that the bodies must have passed through this magnificent maze surrounded by sand walls. He asked uncertainly, "This seems to be a maze. Do we still need to go in?"
Along the sand wall, there was a gap at every interval. These were the entrances that the broodmother had deliberately left behind in the sand maze. Rather than calling it a defensive mechanism, it was more accurate to say that it was a giant trap.
The broodmother fed on flesh and blood, and would not easily reject her prey. Instead, she would instinctively lead them into layers upon layers of traps to ensnare them. This was especially true when the prey wasn't dangerous and had good nutritional value. She would usually be exceptionally patient.
In fact, for the broodmother, time was an empty and meaningless concept. In her destined long life, patience was one of her best qualities.
Simple killing, swallowing, absorbing, and growing was a daily necessity. It was also boring and boring. Perhaps a few little mice that occasionally broke in would be a rare relief for the broodmother that was dormant in the depths of the ground.
"Let's go in!" Luffy chose an entrance almost without thinking and walked in. The concept of retreat and getting lost did not exist in his dictionary. This was exactly the same for Zoro.
It was impossible to get lost!
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