Only when the gray-white figure fell to the ground did the pirates see clearly that it was a leopard, but this beast's skin was festering and its color was gray-white.
Its head was charred black by Lex's blast, emitting green smoke.
One of its eyeballs was either missing already or blown away by the fireball, leaving an empty eye socket.
Its jaw was torn, connected by only a few muscles; its forelegs were twisted, with a section of bone piercing through the flesh; its ribs were exposed, the stark white bones no longer covered by skin, allowing one to see directly into its body.
Undoubtedly, none of the above were caused by the fireball; this leopard had already been in this state prior to the attack.
Lex narrowed his eyes slightly: "A Zombie?"
Edwina nodded gently: "A Zombie!"
Unexpectedly, they had just landed on the island and encountered a Zombie leopard. At this moment, the Zombie leopard shook its head and actually got back up.
Zombies were just that tenacious!
"Load demon-hunting bullets!" Iceberg Admiral called out softly, and she herself took out several silver demon-hunting bullets and loaded them into her hunting rifle's magazine.
As the most active adventuring group on the Sea, often dealing with various ruins or ghost ships, the pirates of Golden Dream were no strangers to demon-hunting bullets.
After quickly loading demon-hunting bullets into their firearms, they opened fire on the Zombie leopard, and within three to five shots, the leopard fell in the middle of its charge.
Just as the pirates breathed a sigh of relief, Lex heard a rustling sound and quickly made a defensive gesture.
One after another, gray-white figures emerged from the stone forest ahead. Most of these things were animals: monkeys, wild boars, rabbits, mongooses, etc.
Without exception, these things had turned into Zombies. They were either mutilated or had exposed bones, and some were even gnawing incessantly on their own intestines.
"This island must be contaminated by the power of death, otherwise, so many Zombies wouldn't appear," Edwina said softly, pointing her hunting rifle at a large Zombie wild boar.
These Zombie creatures were attracted by the scent of living people, emitting various strange cries, and then, like wild dogs seeing fatty meat, their eyes glowed crimson as they swarmed towards the pirates.
On the black ground, a gray 'Light' rapidly advanced, and the distance between the Zombies and the living people was suddenly halved.
Looking at the aggressively charging Zombie beasts, many pirates' eyes flashed with fear, and they couldn't help but retreat a little.
But at this moment, they all felt an invisible force, like a wave, surge past them, spreading rapidly.
In that instant, they felt as if they were basking in the warm sunshine of the South, instantly finding their courage, no longer feeling cold, nor afraid.
Even the charging horde of Zombies no longer seemed so unconquerable.
"Sun Halo?" Edwina, who also felt the warmth, looked at the 'Devil May Cry' in Lex's hand; the item had just flashed with a dark golden light.
"Don't panic, we have demon-hunting bullets, aim for their heads and shoot," Jodeson encouraged the surrounding pirates while raising his revolver and sending a demon-hunting bullet into the head of a Zombie monkey, making it fall to the ground and unable to get back up.
Edwina also raised her ornate hunting rifle, locked onto the Zombie wild boar, and fired continuously.
White flames spewed from the muzzle of the hunting rifle, and the demon-hunting bullets, imbued with a hint of Sacred Light, blasted into the wild boar's head one after another, creating a fist-sized hole and simultaneously stopping the wild boar's movements.
Gunfire echoed through the stone forest. Influenced by the Sun Halo, the pirates all displayed exceptional bravery, even Barrel yelled loudly, taking down two Zombie mongooses.
At this moment, in the densest area of the Zombie animals, clusters of golden flames suddenly appeared out of thin air. The flames spread densely, enveloping large numbers of Zombie animals, purifying them in the golden Light of Fire.
A sacred aura permeated the stone forest, and the Zombie animals let out mournful screams, finally turning into piles of powder in the golden flames.
"Light of Fire?" Edwina accurately named another ability released by the 'Devil May Cry', demonstrating her extensive knowledge. Before she could form any other thoughts, she suddenly heard a series of powerful footsteps.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A sound like war drums beating came from deep within the stone forest. Suddenly, a huge rock was thrown from somewhere, whistling as it plummeted towards the pirates' heads.
"Careful!" Danitz shouted, waving his hand and throwing a scorching white fireball, compressed multiple times, the size of an eyeball.
The moment it collided with the rock, a wave of flames erupted, and the huge rock was instantly shattered, but large and small fragments still fell.
Some unlucky pirates were hit by the fragments, immediately suffering bloody head wounds, but the injuries were minor.
And at this moment, a 'gray-white' mass emerged from the depths of the black stone forest. This was a gorilla over two meters tall. The gorilla was hairless, with gray-white skin, and white broken bones protruded from beneath its skin, exposed to the air like short spears.
Gray-white decaying viscous fluid flowed all over the gorilla, and as its mouth opened and closed, the decaying viscous fluid splattered out, landing on the ground.
Looking at the gorilla, Edwina said in a deep voice: "This is a medium. The 'Sun' Pathway's Beyonder abilities should be more effective against it. Rayleigh, does your item have even more powerful abilities?"
Lex nodded slightly, then drew the 'Devil May Cry' and forcefully slashed the greatsword at the charging medium gorilla.
Suddenly.
A thick, pure, scorching beam of light, as if from heaven, descended from the sky, landing on the medium gorilla's body, completely enveloping it.
The black stone forest was illuminated by a light as bright as day, and within that light, the melting medium gorilla let out a scream that ordinary people couldn't hear!
Lex only felt a headache, but it was within a tolerable range, while several nearby pirates fell backward, blood gushing from their mouths, nostrils, and eyes.
Danitz, who was further away, turned pale, as for Edwina, she was both further away and had the highest Sequence, so she showed no particular expression.
As for the medium gorilla, after the brilliant pillar of Sacred Light disappeared, it had turned into a puddle of bones and flesh, and then this pile of things quickly charred black.
Looking at the black remains, Jodeson wiped his sweat and said: "It's a good thing Rayleigh has a 'Sun' Pathway magical item, otherwise this medium would have taken us a lot of effort."
Although Edwina had means to deal with mediums, they were far from as swift and decisive as the Sacred Light. Hearing this, she nodded in agreement.
With the fall of this medium, the remaining Zombie animals quickly turned into a pile of true corpses. Without wasting time, Iceberg Admiral waved her hand, and the pirates continued to advance.
They quickly passed through the stone forest and soon arrived at the foot of the volcano.