The jungle was more silent than the beach. Without the rushing water, the green wild felt like it was dead. Another reason Lucy’s skin crawled more.

"Strange," Ivy whispered behind her captain. "I don't hear any birds or crickets."

"A cursed place would never allow life to flourish," said Byron.

“Then how can this jungle survive without them? This place should be a desert?”

Tashina stepped over a tree root covered in mushrooms. “Dis island isn’t normal, gyal. Di god of thunda freeze dem yah wilds inna time. No plant or rock wud eva age or wear away. Any cursed place wi neva change.”

“Bloody hell,” said Ivy under her breath.

Lucy approached the long vines in her path. She pulled out her cutlass and slashed at them.

The further she strode, the more trees clouded her. The jungle shouldn’t be endless, or else she and her friends could be trapped on the island forever.

“If the god froze this jungle in time, are we affected too?” Ivy asked.

Charles shrugged. “It could be worse. Time might move faster outside the island. And I’ll be damn if we find my sister as an old woman.”

Ivy glanced at Charles. “When did she sail to this island?”

“A year ago. Too long, in my point of view.”

"Too long indeed …"

Charles grimaced. Although Lucy made a promise to him, he still grieved about his sister. He truly cared about her survival.

Down the slope, the party reached a clearing where dome-shaped huts rested like tall mounts. Tall grass covered most of the ground, but not tall enough to touch Lucy’s knees. Each hut has dark stone bricks and green mold at the bottom.

Lucy peeked into one of the ancient huts. She only found two empty pots and a mat. Nothing worth looting.

"Is this the Zootec city?" Ivy asked.

Tashina glared at her. "Does dis luk like a city tuh you?"

Ivy widened her eyes and glanced around. Her mouth slowly dropped. "Ooooooooooh!"

If the ancient village was the hidden city, Lucy’s notification would have popped up. The cat girl acted as if she had never seen a city before. Perhaps because she sailed to many islands before without cities.

Everyone checked each hut, but they all found the same empty domes without life. The village was a complete ghost town.

Charles sniffed one hut and grimaced. "These shelters look fine. Why isn't my sister hiding in them?"

Lucy shrugged. "Anything could sneak here and attack her."

"But there's nothing here, and the huts are quite cozy."

"I don't know what to say. Charles. Maybe she found a better shelter in the jungle."

Charles glanced at her with his hands on his hips. "Then we must keep looking."

Ivy glanced at the sky. "Hey! It's getting dark now!"

The sky faded to dark blue through the tree branches, and the stars twinkled.

Lucy remembered the island's notification warning her not to stay on the island at night. Her life might depend on it.

"We should return to the ship now," she suggested.

Byron chopped a bush in half and glanced at Lucy. "But we just got here."

"I know, but-"

Lucy paused when a ghostly whisper echoed through the jungle. A mist drifted across the ground, covering the grass, and the dark sky turned gray.

Lucy’s skin instantly turned cold as her bones rattled. The smell of mown lawn and flesh decay drifted around her like a creep. It almost smelled like a graveyard.

"What's going on!?" Ivy cried as her body shivered.

Tashina sniffed the cold air and widened her eyes. "Death pan us!"

Ivy glanced at the hyena priestess. "What?"

From the mist, white mounts formed around Lucy’s party. The pirates huddled, back to back, with their weapons out. Tashina’s paws glowed green, ready to blast anything with her spells.

The mist mounts changed into skeleton figures with lizard skulls on their legless torsos. Their bony tails hung below their torsos, touching the invisible ground as if to keep the figures standing.

"Are those… lizards?" Ivy asked while her lips trembled in fear.

The spirits glared at the pirates. They raised their claws and hissed like snakes. Their bone-cracking cries struck Lucy like cold sharp daggers.

Zootec Ghost Level: 01 HP: 10

One ghost charged toward Lucy through the air, hissing loudly. She swung her cutlass through the spectrum. To her surprise, the spirit vanished like smoke.

Ghost immune!

"Huh?" Lucy gasped.

Another ghost appeared behind her. It could be the same one, but Lucy couldn’t tell. All of them looked the same.

She swung her cutlass through the spirit, and it vanished too.

Ghost immune!

How is that possible? Lucy thought. Her legs rattled nervously.

Each ghost has the same weak stats, and they should be easily killable. So why Lucy couldn’t kill them and receive their experience points?

Of course! They're ghosts! Ghosts can’t die again.

"They keep coming!" Ivy shot two ghosts before they reached her. "Why won’t they die!?"

Tashina tossed one green fireball at a charging ghost. It vanished before her attack exploded. “Wi cyaa kill wah it aready dead!”

Charles ducked as a ghost flew over his head, missing him. "No wonder this place is called Ghost Island! I think we should retreat to the ship! Now!"

“Agree! Retreat!” Lucy placed her cutlass back into her sheath and dashed into the jungle. Her friends’ running feet followed behind her, kicking through the brush beneath the mist.

The ground was so cold; it felt like Lucy was running through the snow. The ghosts might be following her party too, but Lucy only focused her eyes ahead. Returning to the rowboat depended on her party’s survival.

“Is this the right way?” Lucy stopped and glanced back. “Hello?”

The mist thickened around her, past the tall tropical trees and bushes. None of her companions were behind her.

“Hello!” Lucy was sure her party caught up to her when they escaped from the village. How did they disappear? "Where is everybody?"

Maybe she ran too fast, or the mist split everyone apart. She might have lost them in the maze of trees.

Something whispered close by, twitching Lucy’s ears. Another ghost appeared from the mist and charged her with a screaming hiss. Its eerie cry rang through Lucy’s ears.

She pulled out her sword and spread out her feet into her battle position. The moment the ghost reaches her, she will force it to vanish before it dares to touch her. That should give her time to retreat once the ghost disappears.

She raised her sword, ready to strike. However, a tiny rock smacked the ghost through its face. It stopped and vanished into a puff.

Lucy spun around and beamed her eyes at the direction which the rock flew from. “Who’s there!?”

A figure stepped out from behind a tall tree. It wore a white hood and a rope around its waist.

Someone else might mistake it for a ghost, but Lucy couldn’t see through the fabric. The figure held up a black figure to its hood and sheesh quietly.

"Follow me for your life," it whispered with a feminine voice.

Definitely a woman, but who was she? To find out, Lucy has to listen to her.