Chapter 212

Doc raised an eyebrow, turning to Thriller Bark's towering mainmast as he got off his horse after hearing a high-pitch feminine scream from its direction. However, he quickly shook his head, losing interest as he looked at the mansion ahead.

"This is the place..." Hildon remarked as he disembarked from the carriage, gesturing towards the enormous, gothic-styled mansion. "Feel free to knock on your own. Miss Cindry shall receive you," He added, spreading his wings wide.

"As for me, I will have to excuse myself as I still have some business to tend to," he added, flying into the air and disappearing into the foggy skies, the two strange creatures drawing to the carriage following suit as they left in a hurry.

"Do people really fall for such obvious traps?" Law muttered, unimpressed as he looked at the disappearing creatures. "I'm surprised Moria managed to steal so many shadows..." he added, shaking his head in disapproval.

"It wouldn't matter either because they can overwhelm most people with the immortal zombies even if they don't manage to trick them..." Doc replied, shrugging his shoulder as he walked towards the mansion's main gate, Stronger following behind as he strode into the front yard.

"Not to mention Moria himself can step in at any time and crush the opposition with brute strength..." he flatly added, walking through the front yard and into an empty hallway leading into an inner courtyard within the mansion's walls.

"I heard he even fought Kaidou at some point in the past..." he concluded, checking the surroundings and spotting a well that's weirdly situated right next to the gate leading into the mansion's interior to the side of the hallway.

"And miserably lost..." Law added with a scoff as he moved to knock on the door, suddenly freezing and jumping back to stand in front of Bepo while clutching the handle of his sword as he heard a strange noise from the well next to the gate, and a spotlight activated shinning a crimson light over the well.

The well's rope began moving, drawing something to its surface, and sure enough, a tall and slim woman with short, straight-cut blonde hair sporting a deadpan expression appeared from inside the well, standing on the wooden bucket and carrying a stack of plates between her hands.

Although the woman could be called beautiful, she had various stitches across her body and pale blue skin, her eyes appearing flat and dull, and it seemed she had never smiled in her entire life.

The trio looked at her and had varying reactions to her sudden presence. Law frowned, his grip over his sword tightening, while Doc merely smiled in amusement, and Bepo screamed in startled fright, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"Welcome," the blonde, stitched woman flatly said, and before the trio could speak one word, she continued. "One, two, three," she remarked, suddenly flinging three plates in Bepo's direction, much to the latter surprise, causing him to start screaming again.

However, Law was ready for the sudden aggression as he drew his sword, expertly shattering the dishes before they reached the polar bear mink and sending ceramic shards flying to the side.

"Four, five, six, seven."

The woman, however, was unphased, and she continued her onslaught of ceramic bowls, continuously slinging them toward Bepo, only for Law to keep shattering them before they found their target.

"It looks like she's targeting Bepo..." Doc leisurely remarked, still smiling in amusement as he watched the spectacle. However, his words caused the woman to stop her onslaught.

"That's right. The weird talking bear may not enter the mansion..." the woman said, pausing her attack as she pointed at Bepo with a pale index finger.

"I'm sorry for being a weird talking bear..." Bepo said in a sad tone, looking at the ground with depression all over his face as it turned blue, much to Law's bemusement as he visibly struggled to stop himself from smacking the polar bear mink.

"However, you two may come inside," the woman added, uncaring of Bepo's sadness as she turned to point at the two doctors. "Eight, nine," she exclaimed, throwing two more dishes towards Bepo, which Law shattered again.

"I've had enough of your nonsense, woman," Law remarked, his frown turning into a scowl as he prepared to cut the stitched-up woman in half and be done with her shenanigans.

"That's enough! Hold your hand!"

Just as Law was about to cut the stitched-up woman, a rough voice came from behind the mansion's inner gate, causing both the woman and Law to stop.

"I think we can make an exception this time, Cindry-Chan," the voice sounded again as the mansion's gate opened, revealing the speaker. He was a round man with surprisingly thin limbs that contrasted his protruding gut.

And despite the man's comical body shape, his most notable features were the half-circle, stitched-up scar on his forehead, and beak-like long nose.

"I'm sorry if I startled you guys. You see, this woman was engaged to a wealthy man long ago, and to test his love for her, she broke several expensive plates..." the round man said as he walked to stand beside the stitched-up woman.

"However, he tossed her out, and she developed an aversion to plates..." the round man added, shaking his head in sympathy. "At any rate, this is my servant, Cindry-Chan," he concluded, pronouncing the woman's name as sweetly as he could at the end of his sentence.

"Nobody asked, though," Law blankly said as he put his sword back into its sheath, giving the round man an unimpressed look.

"Ah, but it seems I've failed to introduce myself," the round man said, snapping his finger as he suddenly remembered. "I'm the world-renowned Dr. Hogback, also known as a genius doctor, fos-fos-fos," he remarked, opening his claw-like fingers and laughing strangely at the end of his sentence.

However, the round man's, Hogback's laughter promptly ended when Cindy threw another plate toward Bepo, which Doc snatched out of the air and tossed to the side.

"Hey! Wait a minute, Cindry-Chan! I already told you to stop!" Hogback exclaimed as he turned to face Cindy in annoyance. "It makes me look bad when you don't listen!" he added, suddenly freezing as Cindry's expression turned tense, shadows visibly creeping onto her face, the lights dimming in response to her change in mood.

"I wish all plates would disappear from the face of the earth..." Cindry remarked, her expression still blank as she spoke in a haunting voice as if cursing all plates in the world. her irises trembling as she spoke.

"I get it! I totally get it! But I was in the middle of a conversation, Cindry-Chan," Hogback exclaimed, sweat visibly pouring down his face as he faced Cindry, trying to calm her down.

"Is this guy really a genius doctor...?" Law said, giving Hogback a blank look, only to shake his head and turn to Doc.

"He doesn't look all that bright..." Bepo cautiously said, whispering as he looked at Law and Doc while covering his mouth from the side so the round doctor wouldn't hear him.

"Looks can be deceiving..." Doc replied, smirking as he shook his head. "Take our captain, for example. Looking at his smug face and how thuggish he acts, no one would think him remotely capable of playing an instrument or singing, for that matter," he concluded, chuckling in satisfaction at being the one hurling insults at others for once.

...

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