After retiring from the Navy, I became a doting husband.

He saw the waves splashing up by the Little Harem ship in the distance, which seemed to float on the water's surface, showing no intention of falling back into the water and merging back in.

"That's incredible."

Martin rubbed his eyes and said.

"Open the door, I want to go out!"

Upon hearing Martin's words, the doors to the entrance and exit of the Little Harem were opened.

Martin took a step out and put one foot on the water. Just as his foot was about to touch the water, it was pressed down by a strange force. No matter how hard Martin tried, he could not step down.

The other foot didn't stop either, and stepped out as well.

"Hahahaha, I'm actually standing on the water!" Martin laughed as he ran across the water.

After playing for a while, Martin lost interest. Although running on the water was fun, it didn't help him get away from there.

Upon returning to the Little Harem, Martin discovered that it was also floating on the surface of the water, not actually submerged. This made him realize that the strange force above the water had its limits; breaking those limits would allow it to touch the water, though that was ultimately meaningless.

After several attempts, Martin and his companions reluctantly gave up on leaving the island, as they could not leave it, whether by air or underwater.

Now Martin can only place his hopes on others, hoping they can find some useful information and a way to get off the island.

"Let's go back!"

After Martin finished speaking, he stepped into the Little Harem, which then slowly rose and eventually flew back to its original location.

Not long after the Little Harem was docked, the sailors were all in a dilemma.

Martin looked at the sailors: "No way up or down. What about you? Have you found anything?"

One sailor said, "I haven't found any useful information. There are only some shipwrecks and human remains on the island, nothing else. But Captain, we discovered that the center of the island is empty, with a very large cavity."

“Empty? What emptiness?” Martin asked hastily.

"I can't really explain it either. The entrance to the cave is all fogged up, and we can't see what's down there at all."

“Let’s go take a look. Maybe this hole is our hope of getting off the island,” Martin said impatiently as he headed outside.

Soon the group passed through the woods and arrived at the cave. Good heavens, this cave was huge! Martin looked towards one side of the cave and couldn't see the end. Although the fog obscured the view, it was still possible to see several kilometers away.

"Have you gone down there?" Martin asked Bonal.

"No, the situation down below is unclear, so we didn't dare go down," the sailor replied.

"Let's go down and take a look." Martin said, preparing to use Moonwalk to fly down, but after several attempts to land, he couldn't fly up on his own.

"Captain, you don't need to try. It's very strange here. You can't even use a physical technique like Moonwalk."

One of the sailors who could walk on the moon spoke up, saying that he had just tried to climb to a higher vantage point for a better view.

Martin stopped when he heard what the other person said. This island was strange in every way. You couldn't fly in the sky, you could walk on the sea, and now even physical skills were no longer possible.

"Let's look for a way down, see if there's any path. We'll walk down," Martin said, and started walking around the edge of the cave.

Strangely enough, Martin and his companions searched for a long time but couldn't find a way down, although the trees around the cave were growing very well.

"I'll jump down and take a look. If it doesn't work, you can pull me up," Martin said to the group of sailors.

"Wait, Captain, let's go down together. In case anything happens, we can look out for each other."

Martin nodded and ran into the woods. A short while later, the sailors heard the sound of the Little Harem's propeller and followed it to the cave.

As soon as Martin finished speaking, a flat panel extended from the Little Harem, stretching out into the air above the hollow space, with a final row of pulleys with ropes appearing on the panel.

"Alright everyone, stop looking. Tie a rope around yourself, and we'll go down into this hole together. Remember, if you encounter danger, pull the rope. If you pull the rope a few times in a row, the people on the boat will pull you up."

After Martin finished speaking, he picked up a rope and tied it around his body.

After the rope was tied, Martin jumped into the hole for the first time, and the others followed suit.

The walls of the cave were covered with towering trees, each dozens of meters thick. It was unknown how long the new, enormous trees had been growing.

As Martin slowly ventured deeper, he was surrounded by mist, and his whole body felt damp.

"Captain, Captain, something terrible has happened!"

Just as Martin was carefully observing the hole, he heard the sailors shouting overhead.

"How is it? What happened?"

Martin looked up and shouted.

His Observation Haki was fully activated, and he could foresee a danger approaching...

Chapter 205 Mysterious Land

Martin looked up anxiously and shouted into the sky, "What's wrong with you?"

After Martin shouted, the sailor did not respond, which made Martin even more worried.

The fog inside the cave was too thick; Martin's eyes couldn't see very far, and although his Observation Haki could sense things, its range wasn't very large.

Yes, this strange fog also has the ability to obscure Observation Haki, reducing Martin's Observation Haki to a minimum.

Martin grabbed the rope and began to climb up.

Where are you?

Martin shouted as he climbed up.

After climbing a little further, Martin heard a few faint voices: "Captain, Captain, we're here."

Martin looked in the direction of the sound and saw himself being pulled by a rope and hung not far away, swinging back and forth as if he were being hung up and beaten.

"What's wrong with you?" Martin quickly scrambled toward the sailor, grabbed him, and asked.

"Captain, I don't know what's going on. I was descending normally when I suddenly found myself completely weak, like I was soaking in water."

"Why do I feel so weak all over?!"

Martin thought of the fog; the thick fog here was the problem.

"Captain, I don't know what happened. I can't lift a muscle at all," the sailor said, shaking his head.

"Sailor, don't worry, I think I know what's going on. Wait a moment, I'll figure something out!" Martin tugged on the rope a few times.

Upon receiving Martin's signal, it quickly pulled the rope, pulling Martin back to the platform extended by the Harem.

"Let's bring everyone back!"

As soon as he climbed onto the flatbed, Martin began to call out to the harem.

"Okay, brother." Without asking why, the sailors on the ship simply pulled their ropes and brought everyone back.

Before long, everyone was pulled back. The expressions of those pulled back varied, all feeling that they had been saved. The feeling of being completely powerless was truly unbearable.

"Captain, why did you pull me back? I hadn't gone very deep, and I hadn't seen anything." A sailor stood up and said.

Martin did not explain, but said, "The mist beneath this cavity has a strange ability to make people weak and powerless, similar to how seawater controls Devil Fruit users, but this power also works on ordinary people."

The sailors suddenly realized what was happening and looked at Martin.

"What are you looking at? My physique is exceptionally special; this mist has absolutely no effect on me."

Martin then said to the sailors, "None of you should go down. Who knows what dangers might be in this cave. I'll go down first by myself. If I encounter any problems and need help, I'll contact you via Den Den Mushi. You stay here and guard the Harem."

"Alright, Captain, we'll wait for you here." The boatswain thought for a moment and then didn't insist.

Martin waved goodbye to everyone and jumped into the void once again.

Martin descended much faster this time, but after a long time he still couldn't see the bottom of the cave. What puzzled him even more was that the light in such a deep cave was surprisingly bright, just like up there, without any feeling of darkness.

"Captain, Captain, have you encountered any problems?"

Martin stopped descending on the rope, and a question came through the Den Den Mushi.

“I don’t see anything except trees,” Martin said to the Den Den Mushi.

"Impossible, Captain! The rope we just lowered was over a thousand meters long. How could you not have seen anything?" the Den Den Mushi exclaimed in surprise.

Martin heard that it was already more than a thousand meters deep, and looked down, but he still couldn't see anything except fog.

"Keep going down, I'll go a little deeper and see," Martin said to the Den Den Mushi.

"Understood, Captain!"

As soon as the sailor finished speaking, Martin, who had stopped, began to descend again.

Martin pulled himself down the rope and descended quickly. Suddenly, the rope snapped with a "crack," and Martin was thrown down like a stone.

The speed of the fall increased, and after flying for an unknown amount of time, Martin finally saw the bottom. The bottom seemed to be a dense forest. Finally, Martin crashed into a few large trees and plunged headfirst into the ground.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, a deep crater appeared in the ground, and a human-shaped depression was particularly noticeable at the bottom of the crater.

In the deep pit, Martin shook his head, trying to climb out, but he was as if he were being pulled to the ground by a magnet. He had used more force than usual, but he couldn't stand up at all.

"What's going on? The gravity here is wrong. It seems to be dozens of times stronger than other places." This thought suddenly flashed through Martin's mind.

Martin lay motionless on the ground for an unknown amount of time until his body finally adjusted to the gravity and he managed to sit up.

Although the gravity here is dozens of times stronger than outside, Martin's physique allows him to move freely once he adapts. What pleases him most is his robust body; he emerged unharmed from a fall from such a height.

When he watched anime, he often wondered what it would feel like if Kaido tried to commit suicide by freefalling from a height of 10,000 meters and survived. Now that he knows, he feels incredibly cool.

Martin slowly stood up, moved his arms and legs around, then slowly walked, and finally started running. He had completely adapted to the gravity here, just like outside.

Not long after Martin adjusted to the gravity, the Den Den Mushi rang. Strangely enough, in such a peculiar place, the Den Den Mushi did not lose its function at all, and gravity seemed to have no effect on it.

"Captain, Captain, are you alright?!"

Martin had barely picked up the microphone when the sailor's voice rang out.

"It's nothing, it's nothing, what could possibly happen to me!"

Upon hearing Martin's reply, the person on the other end laughed happily: "Thank goodness, Captain! I'm so glad you're alright! I was so scared when I suddenly realized the rope was empty, waaaaaah!"

"Why are you crying? I'm fine. Let me tell you, this incident has shown me that it'll be hard for me to die even if I want to. The rope just snapped, didn't it? I fell headfirst, I don't know how many meters, but I was completely unharmed when I hit the ground, hahahahaha!" Martin laughed loudly.

"Captain, you're still laughing! We were so worried about you! Waaaaaah!"

"Okay, okay, I won't, I won't, don't worry, I'm fine," Martin could only plead with a smile.

These sailors had been with him for several years and were considered his old subordinates; their bond was genuine.