Vice-captain of Whitebeard pirates

It can't be said that they are somewhat similar; they are exactly the same. Everything looks identical, all of them completely black, making it impossible to tell the difference.

The reason why the people rushing out resemble that black shadow is because they are black shadows!

"This is it!!!"

Marco's dive abruptly halted in mid-air. He looked at the dark mass ahead, his mouth twitching: "Why are there so many of these..."

If anyone has been most affected by the black shadow, it's Marco. While others only saw it from afar, Marco was hit by it three times.

The third strike was undoubtedly the most fatal. The black figure ignored Larson, Whitebeard, and the others. Even though the road was rough, it finally reached Marco.

If someone didn't know better, they might think it was true love.

After experiencing those three encounters, Marco had developed a lasting sense of dread. The moment he saw the shadows, he would instinctively shut his eyes, bracing for the familiar feeling.

It was no different this time. Seeing the black shadows approach, Marco reflexively closed his eyes.

'It's over, it's over!'

Marco felt regret. He didn't understand why he had followed them into the forest. Wouldn't it have been better to stay outside and wait?

Why was he facing this again? It was so difficult. Too difficult.

When others entered the forest, they were protected by strong allies like Larson, almost as if they were on a leisurely trip. But him?

He faced the hardship of each encounter alone, with each trial feeling different.

Only Marco truly knew the pain in his heart. Just as he gave up and braced for the familiar impact, after a few seconds, he realized nothing had happened.

He gathered the courage to crack his eyes open. In the next instant, he saw several familiar figures standing before him, and beyond them, a large number of dark figures were lying on the ground.

"They're all black shadows."

Larson's face was serious.

"How are there so many?"

"How did these things form? We obviously didn't break any rules this time."

As Rayleigh spoke, his gaze wandered towards Marco, not so subtly.

It had been Marco's shadow that appeared before. This time, Marco had again asked to deal with these people, and yet the black shadow returned. What was going on? Did he have some strange connection to these black shadows?

Larson said, "These black shadows seem different from the ones we encountered earlier."

At the very least, they could be defeated now, and they had actually fallen quite easily. If you think about it, these shadows were only slightly stronger than ordinary pirates.

But the shadow they faced earlier was able to completely ignore the attacks of Larson, Rayleigh, Whitebeard, and even Roger.

Looking at it from this perspective, the strength of the two shadows seemed vastly different.

"But even though they're different, they must both be creations of this island."

Larson's gaze shifted toward the depths of the island.

The first black shadow they saw seemed to only enforce the rules of the third level. When it encountered a situation the island deemed manageable, the shadow would appear, deliver a devastating blow, and then vanish after a single strike without further aggression.

But these black shadows were different. They seemed to exist solely to attack others. When Larson and the others had been at peace, these shadows suddenly grew excited at the sound of their footsteps and launched an attack.

If the first black shadow was like a guardian protecting the island, then these black shadows were like soldiers patrolling it.

Larson's eyes rested on the fallen black figures, deep in thought.

The first shadow had been visible but intangible. Even if Larson had wanted to grab it and study it, he couldn't. But this time was different. These shadows were both visible and tangible.

At this moment, Rayleigh looked over at Larson. Larson could see the excitement in Rayleigh's eyes, and their exchanged glance made it clear they were thinking the same thing.

"Come on, let's see what you are."

Larson stepped toward the dark figure lying on the ground in front of him.

The black shadows lay motionless, as if oblivious to pain. Earlier, Larson and Rayleigh, fearing these shadows might be as difficult as the first one, had not held back their attacks. Now, they weren't sure if the shadows were still alive. It would be interesting if they had wiped them all out.

"There's one still alive!"

Upon hearing Rayleigh's call, Larson walked over.

In the distance, Whitebeard and the others also began to approach.

After belatedly realizing that he was unharmed, Marco strode over confidently, exuding an aura of swagger. As he passed by several fallen black shadows, he couldn't resist giving them a hard kick.

"Take that for hitting me! Yeah, take that!" he muttered angrily with each kick.

Even though these black shadows might not have been the exact ones that attacked him earlier, Marco couldn't care less. To him, they all looked the same, and he was channeling all his pent-up frustration on them.

"Quit kicking them. No matter how much you do, they won't feel anything," Shanks remarked, passing by with an amused yet helpless expression.

After a few more kicks, Marco's anger began to subside. He then threw his arm around Shanks' shoulder and walked alongside him. "Just wait until I find the one that hit me. I'll show him who's boss!"

"Sure, sure," Shanks chuckled. "Funny how you weren't so tough when you got hit three times before."

Marco glared at Shanks after being called out, but quickly fell silent. Both of them, as if by unspoken agreement, stopped talking altogether. They had reached Larson, who was crouching over a black figure, focused and deep in thought, apparently studying something intently.

The area around them was eerily quiet, and nobody dared interrupt Larson as he worked.

...

Larson was feeling frustrated. If only he had the Byakugan instead of the Sharingan.

The Byakugan could see through things, allowing him to look beyond the surface and see inside a person's body clearly. The Sharingan, on the other hand, couldn't do that. Its strength lay in its ability to copy other people's movements at a glance, along with its specialized abilities from different chakra forms.

Right now, though, Larson's eyes were strained, practically aching from staring so hard, but he still couldn't figure out what was going on with this black shadow.

He could feel the expectant gazes from the others around him, and that only made the pressure worse. He was reluctant to stand up and admit to everyone that he hadn't discovered anything.

After some hesitation, Larson looked up at Rayleigh. "What do you say... should we try dissecting it?"