Chapter 340: Chonghao the Frog

"What did you just call me?" Bell stared at the giant frog in utter disbelief.

Whatever the situation was, this creature had clearly called him by his actual name.

"Just who on earth are you?"

"Uh... Young Master Bell, would you mind setting me down first?" the frog asked cautiously.

By now, its sheer terror had evaporated, the visible tension in its posture loosening significantly.

Bell eyed the creature suspiciously before releasing his grip.

He wasn't particularly worried; he could sense that this frog posed no real threat.

Moreover, Im's presence had completely vanished from the island, with not even a lingering trace of her aura left behind.

Even if an unexpected ambush occurred, with Drake standing right there, nothing could go wrong.

"Hehehe... Young Master Bell, this is actually my first time meeting you in person! Since it's our first meeting, please allow me to introduce myself."

"My name is Chonghao, but you can just call me Haozi," the frog said, flashing an earnest, goofy smile.

"I'm a member of our Dark Clan, and I was assigned to this specific island on duty."

"You're from the Dark Clan?!" Bell's eyes widened in surprise.

The Dark Clan was supposed to be operating in the New World.

Why would one of their operatives be all the way out in the East Blue?

"Heh, Young Master, you might not know this yet, but our Dark Clan is expanding its influence across the globe! We've already completed our operational deployment across the Grand Line."

"Now, our focus has shifted toward expanding into the Four Blues."

Saying this, Chonghao chuckled heartily. "Hehe, if I'm not mistaken, everyone standing here must be the renowned crew of the Dragon Flag Pirates! To think I'd have the immense fortune across three lifetimes to witness the entire legendary crew in the flesh..."

As he spoke, the giant frog became so overwhelmed with emotion that tears actually welled up in his eyes, weeping from pure, unadulterated joy.

The expressions on Kenshin and the others' faces grew increasingly colorful. They truly hadn't anticipated running into such a complete eccentric in the middle of a wasteland.

Even Drake stood there, momentarily at a loss for how to handle the situation.

The heavy, suffocating tension that had gripped the crew instantly turned bizarrely subtle.

"Your name is... Haozi, right? I have several questions for you. Tell me everything you know without holding back a single detail, understand?" Drake inquired after a brief moment of contemplation.

GASP!

The giant frog sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, his eyes bulging wide as he stared dumbly at Drake. His webbed hands furiously rubbed at his eyes over and over again.

It was as if he were trying to verify reality multiple times. In the end, his massive mouth dropped so wide it looked capable of swallowing a person whole.

The sheer theatricality of his reaction was ridiculous.

"Y-Y-You... Are you Lord Drake?!"

Drake blinked. "Drop the 'Lord' business. I'm Drake. Now listen closely, I have—"

Before Drake could finish his sentence, the giant frog vaulted into the air and dropped straight onto his knees before Drake.

This sudden display completely threw Drake off balance. Not just him—the entire crew was utterly stunned.

What is wrong with this guy?!

"Ahahaha... I... I actually have the celestial honor of speaking directly with Lord Drake! I can't take it... I'm practically dying of pure bliss!" Chonghao sobbed uncontrollably, his webbed hands clutching desperately at Drake's pant legs.

Drake stiffened entirely.

What the hell is going on here?!

Wait a minute... could this guy be a full-blown, hardcore fanboy? I actually have one of those now?

A wave of bewildered amusement washed over Drake's mind.

He had never imagined the grim investigation would take such an absurd detour.

Their somber, vengeful mindset upon landing on the island had completely derailed—what kind of bizarre encounter was this?

"Ahem! Haozi, I understand your enthusiasm, but I have critical business that requires your assistance right now," Drake cleared his throat, forcing a mask of flawless, unshakeable composure.

He carried himself with absolute solemnity.

After all, this was the very first time an ardent fan had worshiped him like this. In moments like these, he had to excommand the effortless majesty befitting an Emperor of the Sea.

A casual wave of the hand that commanded mountains and rivers.

That was the grandmaster persona Drake was actively projecting.

"Yes, yes, of course! Lord Drake, please speak! This humble servant will reveal everything I know, down to the absolute last detail!" The frog immediately raised a round, chubby hand in a salute.

The sight was undeniably comical.

"Tell me: who butchered the people on this island?" Drake clasped his hands behind his back, tilting his gaze upward at a forty-five-degree angle toward the crimson sky, exuding the complete aura of a transcendent expert.

Watching him, golden stars practically exploded in Chonghao's eyes.

So damn cool!

This is the true supreme master of our Dark Clan, Captain of the Dragon Flag Pirates, Emperor of the Sea—the God of War, Lord Drake!

The frog felt as though he were ascending straight into paradise.

"It was a woman!" he answered without a shred of hesitation. "A ruthless, cold-blooded female devil! I witnessed the entire atrocity with my own two eyes."

"That lunatic woman appeared out of nowhere and demanded that every single woman on the island assemble before her. It looked as though she was evaluating them for something specific. In the end, not a single one satisfied her criteria. In a fit of volcanic rage, she reduced this entire island to the ruins you see now."

"If it weren't for my unique Devil Fruit ability, I would have ended up just another mangled corpse scattered across the dirt." At this point, the giant frog shivered involuntarily.

That nightmare had been permanently seared into his soul—a true living purgatory.

"Can you recount the exact details of what happened back then?" Drake exhaled a long, heavy breath. He knew that forcing anyone to relive such trauma was deeply cruel.

"Of course! No problem at all!" The frog grinned broadly.

At that moment, the crew of the Dragon Flag Pirates fell into a respectful silence. Though this frog seemed utterly ridiculous on the surface, his courage and resilience were undeniable.

He commanded genuine respect.

Bell parted his lips to apologize for earlier, but found the words catching in his throat.

Chonghao swiftly recounted every detail of the nightmare that had unfolded on the island, including several critical nuances.

Drake fell into deep silence. The account aligned almost perfectly with his prior deductions: Im was hunting for a new physical host.

Only by securing a compatible vessel could she unleash her full, unrestricted combat might without reservation. In her current spectral, drifting state, maintaining sustained exertion was impossible.

A host vessel was the ultimate cornerstone of her immortal existence—a parasitic method that essentially plundered another soul's vitality to fuel her own longevity.

Only under those conditions could she manifest her true destructive power.

Evidently, Im didn't just desire any ordinary human body; the vessel she required had to possess extraordinarily rare, specific physiological traits.

The reason she had slaughtered everyone instead of possessing someone on the spot was precisely to conceal this vulnerability.

And his mother, Yunshang, had satisfied those exact conditions twelve years ago.

Just what are those prerequisites...? Drake knit his brows in intense deliberation.

If he couldn't deduce the exact parameters of her selection criteria, predicting her next destination would be completely impossible.

And if they arrived a step too late next time, just like today, another innocent kingdom would be annihilated.

"Drake, she's coming out," Ain suddenly whispered, alerting him.

"Hm?! Get her back inside the Demon Warder immediately—she cannot be allowed to see this carnage!" Drake's eyes snapped open as he commanded urgently.

Without wasting another second on explanations, Drake extended both palms outward, warping the surrounding spatial fabric.

Spiderwebs of spatial fissures tore across the earth.

"Invert!"

Drake exerted a massive burst of spatial kinetic force. The bedrock groaned and shook violently as deep fissures split across the terrain, cleanly swallowing every scattered limb, bone fragment, and mangled remain into the subterranean depths.

Even the soil soaked in crimson blood was overturned and buried deep beneath the earth.

"May you all... rest in peace." Drake brought his palms together with a hollow clap.

The fractured ground seamlessly realigned and closed shut.

The macabre, death-choked purgatory vanished in an instant, the island seemingly regaining a breath of vitality as tender green shoots slowly pushed their way through the freshly turned soil.