"I don't like talking nonsense, Ryback."
Sitting on the stone bench, Ron relit his cigar and blew out white smoke: "Tell me everything you know."
"Don't even think about it!"
Rebek's voice sounded a little rough, and his head was facing the ground, causing him to open his mouth and swallow a mouthful of gravel.
"Bah... bah!"
He turned his head with difficulty, revealing his profile, his red eyes fixed on Ron, his teeth as sharp as wild beasts.
Combined with the wrinkled, shriveled old face, it looked like a mummy crawling out of hell, ferocious and frightening.
"Ignorant mortal! You have no idea what's in it!"
"When our Lord comes, you heretics will confess your sins in the River Styx!"
"oh… "
Rebeck swore fiercely, and received a nonchalant response from Ron. The latter turned around and asked after listening.
"Is Rebeck a member of any sect?"
"This... I'm sorry, sir."
The leader of the excavation team thought for a moment and shook his head: "Although Mr. Rebeck has settled in Alabasta for more than ten years, he is devoted to studying knowledge and rarely shows up, so we locals know very little about him."
Seeing Ron's disappointed look, the captain immediately added.
"But I know some clues that should be related to him becoming like this."
"Oh? Tell me."
Ron regained his energy, put another foot on Rebek's head, and signaled the captain to continue speaking.
"Yes! It's like this..."
The squad leader began to tell.
The desert no man's land is always full of mysterious stories.
Its difficulty in conquering has created as many legends as the stars in the desert. Even the Neferutali family, which has ruled here for hundreds of years, dare not claim to know every sand dune.
The story of the team leader is the legend of the River Styx in the desert.
Legend has it that there is a River Styx underground in the desert. The souls of the dead will sink into the sea of sand, cross the River Styx, and go to the kingdom of the dead.
Hundreds of years ago, there was a small town that was severely eroded by yellow sand. A large number of livestock were submerged by the yellow sand, the water wells dried up, and the people struggled to survive.
Looking at the withered and broken town, the mayor of the town decided to move and lead everyone to find a new home.
This kind of thing is common in the desert kingdom of Alabasta.
It happens sometimes even now.
Because the desert is not always the same.
Like the ocean, it has ebbs and flows.
The closer you get to the uninhabited land, the more unpredictable the environment becomes.
When the yellow sand begins to swallow up the living space, migration becomes people's only hope for survival.
However, whether it was due to bad luck or something else, the mayor led the residents to walk for ten days in a row, but none of the oasis recorded on the map was found.
On this day, there was a water shortage, and the elderly and children with weak constitutions were dying. Facing the residents' eyes for help, the mayor felt very painful.
At night, everyone gathered together to rest, and suddenly someone outside exclaimed.
"It's a river! There's water!"
"It's such a big river, we can save it!"
Wow!
At the same time, the sound of rushing water was earth-shattering, waking up the men, women, and children in the camp.
The mayor led his people to the sand dunes and lost the ability to speak as he looked at the giant black python that was rolling and churning in front of him.
He didn't understand why a river suddenly appeared here. Their location was an unknown number of kilometers away from the coast. Even the seawater couldn't flow here, and they would be swallowed up by the desert halfway.
But this did not hinder the joy in everyone's heart. They took drinking utensils and ran to the river to get water.
That night, everyone rarely had a good sleep.
The next day, the mayor got up and immediately ran to the sand dunes. Looking at the river that still existed, he was ecstatic and announced that he would build a new home here.
No matter how rivers appear, in deserts they depend on water, and no living thing can survive without a water source.
Nowadays, with a freshwater river nearby, only a fool would change places.
The reconstruction work is going very smoothly. With water source, there is life. Seeing the dying residents slowly recovering and the livestock full of energy, the mayor breathed a sigh of relief.
but.
Good times don't last long.
That day, someone woke up and found that the blood vessels under his skin had become very dark, black like ink running through the skin. He was shocked and rushed to see a doctor for treatment.
However, the doctor didn't have much to do about it. After asking some questions to make sure there was nothing wrong with his body, he reported the matter to the mayor.
Faced with this strange disease, everyone is at a loss.
Fortunately, the strange disease only changed the color of the blood and had no adverse effects on the body, so everyone gradually relaxed.
Until one day…
At night, the mayor had just fallen asleep when he suddenly heard an inhuman roar coming from outside. The town suddenly fell into chaos, with screams and weird "chi~chi~" sounds everywhere.
When the mayor went out to take a look, he found a group of dark monsters chasing the residents.
They have an upright posture similar to humans, but their eyes are red, their bodies are covered in thick black liquid, and their palms turn into sharp blades.
After trying his best to kill a monster, the mayor was horrified to find that when the mucus faded away, what was revealed was a normal human corpse!
And he knew that person.
It's the blacksmith in the town!
The sword used to kill the "monster" was still made by this blacksmith.
Monsters are what people become!
This earth-shattering news caught everyone by surprise. Everyone was suspicious and wary of each other, fearing that their companions would turn into those terrible monsters next moment.
What happened next in the town no one knows.
Anyway, only a few survivors escaped in the end and brought the news out, adding such a legend about the Styx to the desert.
"I've heard that story too!"
A young man in the excavation team raised his hand and said: "My mother used to use this story to lull me to sleep when I was a child, telling me that those people had actually died long ago. The reason why they did not find the oasis was because they were in the kingdom of the dead, which is not the real world at all."
Ron: "..."
Your mother is really talented!
Is this a horror story
However, this intention also has a meaning, warning people that although the water source in the desert is important, they cannot drink it at will.
The townsfolk in the story turned into monsters, apparently because they drank water from a large river that suddenly appeared.
This is also a very important enlightenment education for children.
"That's right, Styx!"
At this time, Rebek suddenly raised his head in reverence: "Great Lord of the Styx, controller of the Kingdom of the Dead! Please show your great power and take away these blasphemers!"
“…”
There was silence all around, except for the sound of people breathing one after another, echoing in the quiet underground space.
A few seconds later…
Boom!
The violent vibrations startled everyone. The workers looked back and looked at Rebeck who was stepped on the ground again by Ron. The corners of his mouth twitched wildly.
Well…
I almost forgot again, the scariest guy here right now is "Cang Long" Ron! ! !
"Bullshit Lord of Styx!"
“If it’s so awesome, what’s wrong with the World Government?!”
"You idiot who has the temper to rule the world!"
Ron blew out white smoke with disdain, stepped on Rebek's head and knocked him away a few times, completely gagging him.
All gods that do not manifest themselves are paper tigers!
The "Lord of Styx" in Rebek's mouth at most has a special ability to turn people into monsters, maybe some strange parasitic virus.
And compared to the "god" exaggerated by legends, Ron believed in his fists more.
If there really is a Lord of the Styx, Ron would like to challenge him to see if his awakened strength really makes him stand at the top of the world.
After hearing Ron's speech, the excavation team was speechless.
All right.
It seems...that's really the truth.
There are a lot of living legends in this world, but you, the Lord of the Styx, have nothing to do with them.