Chapter 472: The White-robed Illusionist and the Fierce Battle in the Mist

After everyone took a short break, the atmosphere became a little heavy. Ling Tian looked at Hancock with doubts in his eyes and asked, "Hancock, why are you on this island?"

Hancock frowned slightly, with a trace of worry in her eyes: "Our soldiers were captured by those men in black, and we tracked them all the way here. These hateful guys dared to attack my people!" She clenched her hands into fists, showing her inner anger.

Ling Tian frowned, thought for a moment and said to everyone: "The situation is more complicated than we thought. We are all a little tired now, and the injured companions need better treatment. I think we should return to the ship first and make a long-term plan."

Luffy stood up from the ground and dusted himself off: "Okay, let's go back to the Sunny first! We have to recover as soon as possible, and then settle accounts with those black-robed men."

Zoro and Kuina also nodded in agreement, and the Nine Snake Warriors had no objections. So, everyone packed up their things, supported their injured companions, and walked towards the shore where the boat was moored.

Along the way, everyone remained alert. Although the black-robed men had just been repelled, no one knew whether they would have other ambushes. The forest was filled with the silence after the battle, with only the sound of their footsteps echoing in the woods.

Finally, they arrived at the shore, but the scene in front of them stunned everyone. The Sunny and the Nine Snake Pirate Ship that were supposed to be docked at the shore were gone, leaving only an empty coast, and the waves hitting the beach, as if laughing at their astonishment.

"This... what's going on?" Luffy widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief.

Zoro frowned and tightened his grip on the knife in his hand: "It seems that we have been tricked. Those black-robed men may have accomplices."

Hancock's face turned very ugly: "My ship... How dare they!" Her eyes were burning with anger, and she wished she could find those men in black robes and take revenge immediately.

Kuina looked at the calm sea, feeling uneasy: "What should we do now? We are trapped here without a boat."

Ling Tian took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down: "Everyone, don't panic. Let's look along the coast. Maybe there will be some clues."

So, everyone split up into several groups and searched along the coast. Luffy, Zoro, and Ling Tian were in one group, and they walked towards the east. Luffy muttered as he walked, "Who did it? If I catch them, I'll make them pay!"

Zoro carefully observed the traces on the beach: "Look here, there are some new footprints, and they are very messy. There must be a lot of people moving things here."

Ling Tian squatted down and looked at the shape and size of the footprints: "These footprints are somewhat similar to the footprints of the black-robed man we saw before, but not exactly the same. There may be other people involved."

Kuina and the Nine Snakes warriors who were searching in the west also made a discovery. Kuina shouted, "Everyone, come quickly, there are some strange symbols here!"

Everyone rushed over and saw some complicated symbols painted on the beach. These symbols looked like some kind of ancient writing, but no one could understand them. Hancock frowned and said, "I have never seen these symbols before. Could they have been left by the man in black robes?"

Just when everyone was puzzled, a melodious flute sound suddenly came from the woods in the distance. The sound of the flute was ethereal and strange, as if there was an invisible force that attracted people's attention.

"This flute sound... isn't right." Zoro looked towards the woods vigilantly.

Luffy scratched his head, "Whatever it is, let's go check it out! Maybe it has something to do with our ship."

Everyone walked towards the direction of the flute sound. The closer they got to the woods, the stronger the strange atmosphere became. The air around them seemed to become colder, and the branches and leaves of the trees trembled slightly in the absence of wind.

When they walked deeper into the woods, they found a clearing shrouded in mist. The sound of the flute came from this clearing. In the middle of the clearing, a man in a white robe was playing the flute. His face was covered by a hood, so his appearance could not be seen clearly.

"Who are you? Did you take our ship away?" Luffy asked loudly.

The man in white did not answer, but continued to play the flute. As the sound of the flute continued, the surrounding fog began to roll and surge, gradually transforming into various terrifying shapes, including monsters with bared fangs and claws, and hideous evil spirits, rushing towards everyone.

"Everyone be careful!" Zoro shouted, and drew his sword to meet the enemy. He used the "Three Swords Style? Xihui", and the three swords slashed at the monster in the fog like a whirlwind, but the sword light passed through the monster without any substantial effect, and the monster still rushed towards them.

Luffy turned on the third gear and rushed towards a huge demon: "Rubber rubber? Giant fist!" His huge fist hit the demon, but it felt like hitting cotton. The demon just shook slightly, then stretched out its long claws and grabbed Luffy. Luffy quickly stepped back with a surprised expression on his face: "What's wrong with this guy?"

Kuina and the Nine Snakes were also in a tough fight, their attacks had no effect on the fog monsters. Hancock used "Sweet Sweet Wind" to try to freeze the monsters, but it didn't work either.

Ling Tian's eyes shone, and he realized that ordinary attacks were useless against these monsters. He closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, and felt the breath around him. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and cast "Spectral Phantom Sword? Breaking Illusion Slash", and a sword energy containing powerful spiritual power slashed at the monsters. After the sword energy hit the monsters, the monsters let out a shrill scream, and then turned into wisps of smoke and dissipated.

"These monsters are created by illusions. We must break the source of the illusions!" Ling Tian shouted.

After hearing Ling Tian's words, everyone understood. They rushed towards the man in white. Seeing this, the man in white stopped playing the flute and waved the flute. A white light curtain appeared in front of him.

"You guys always ruin my plans." The voice of the man in white was low and hoarse, full of resentment.

Luffy shouted angrily: "Give us our ship back!" He threw a punch at the man in white, and his fist hit the white light curtain, emitting a burst of light.

Zoro, Kuina, and Lingtian also used their strongest moves to attack the white light curtain, while the Nine Snake warriors shot arrows at the side, trying to find a flaw in the light curtain.

Under the combined attack of everyone, cracks began to appear on the white light curtain. The man in white's face changed. He didn't expect these people to be so powerful. He muttered something, and the surrounding fog surged again, gathering towards the white light curtain and repairing the cracks.

"We can't let him succeed!" Hancock shouted. She used her "Heroic Haki", and the powerful Haki swept towards the man in white like a surging wave. The man in white was hit by the Haki, his body trembled slightly, and his movements to repair the light curtain also slowed down.

Luffy seized the opportunity and launched another attack: "Rubber rubber? Shoot like a gun!" His arms attacked the white light curtain like raindrops, and finally, the light curtain was completely shattered by his attack.