"Nico·Robin?"
In a dimly lit room, a tall figure that didn't seem human turned back in surprise, then sneered coldly: "Chī Chī Chīchī chī, truly Heaven has a path you refuse to take, yet you barge into Hell with no door."
"That Devil Child, after betraying me, has once again chosen the straw hat crew as her place of refuge this time, huh?!"
"What do we do, Moria Sama?"
Hearing this, Absalom, one of the three weirdos of the Moria pirate gang, couldn't help but ask, "Should I go capture that woman?! I'll make her fully experience what fear really is!"
There wasn't any hint of pursuit in his intentions; Absalom now only wanted to thoroughly take revenge on Nico·Robin.
Because of her betrayal back then, this body of his had been cut into several pieces by Law using the Operation-Operation Fruit.
Fortunately, before escaping, Moria had acted to take his head and heart with him, giving Hogback a chance to piece him back together.
That pain of having his body directly torn apart due to exceeding the ROOM space had caused Absalom immense psychological trauma, truly turning him into a beast in every sense.
In response, Moria remained silent for a moment.
"You can give it a try, and I'll have the zombie force assist you, but remember not to disturb the Monster in the Underground room… I still need a large number of shadows to fully control him."
"Don't worry, Moria Sama, I understand!"
Absalom said excitedly, then without waiting for a reply, turned and rushed out of the room.
"Perona, you go along too."
"Eh?! Why do I have to join you guys in this revenge game?"
In a corner of the room, Perona lay sprawled on the sofa, clearly unwilling.
She could be said to be the least hostile toward Robin because in that City fortress, she, who had never had a living friend, had only one female friend— Nico·Robin.
And she was also the first to exit without joining the fight.
Because she had mistaken Law's companion, the big White Bear Bepo, for the zombie doll Kumashi, and due to some unspeakable reason, she fainted from fright on the spot.
By the time she woke up, she was aboard Moria (Moria), drifting on the endless Sea.
At this, Moria wore an expression that seemed to see through everything.
"Perona…"
"You… you're not still afraid, are you? Of living things."
"Shut… shut up!!"
At those words, Perona immediately jumped up like a wild cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"I'm not scared at all, living… living creatures or whatever."
"I'm not even afraid of corpses, so how could I be afraid of living people… harreharreharre… Moria Sama, you really love to joke!"
Moria: "…"
(:3 」∠)
My heart is so tired…
I really want to die…
Why did I foolishly save these three back then?
Absalom, because of his psychological trauma, is becoming more and more like a wild beast; Hogback, because of losing Cindry, is dazed and mechanical all day, only knowing how to follow orders; even Perona, the most normal of them, has developed an indescribable fear of living things due to that incident.
Naturally, Perona, who likes turning cute things into zombies, isn't exactly normal herself either.
…
"None of them left?"
On the Qilin ship, Rowen raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you sure?"
"According to the daily Log from the patrol force, that's indeed the case!"
Koby flipped through the documents and continued reporting: "Whether it's pirates or Marines, anyone who ventured deep into the island's interior lands after this place was designated a mass graveyard to deter pirates has no record of leaving."
"According to rumors, someone saw corpses crawling out of graves at dusk and fled in terror."
Koby nervously swallowed his saliva.
"Could it be that there really are spirits haunting the island?"
After all, it's a mass graveyard!
Especially since those people were all vicious pirate wicked souls in life.
"Heh, there's no such thing as all that supernatural nonsense!"
Rowen laughed disdainfully: "Even if there is, it just means they didn't die thoroughly enough!"
"If crushing their bones and scattering their ashes isn't enough, then find the Soul-Soul Fruit and devour their souls completely too!"
No matter how bizarre things got in this world, Rowen wouldn't find it strange, because his very existence was the most bizarre thing of all.
"But you did remind me, Koby…"
Suddenly, Rowen put down his hand, flicking cigarette ash into the ashtray.
"Huh? Did I do something, Master?"
Koby looked utterly confused.
These events happened before he set out to sea, so Koby wasn't very clear on them, but any veteran who'd spent enough time in the Grand Line would have heard of them.
It was precisely because of the successive fall of those few that the Shichibukai system became a mere name without substance.
"So they're hiding there— truly worthy of someone who escaped Kaido's grasp, just like Caesar, understanding that the most dangerous place is the safest."
…
At the same time, on Thunder God island, inside a villa.
"This is bad!"
Zoro blocked a slashing sword, his gaze narrowing slightly.
"These guys aren't alive! There's no sense of flesh or blood when I cut them—their bodies are shriveled, like wood."
If they're not alive, there's no Vital Point to target, so the only option is the clumsiest method—chopping their joints to stop their movements.
"There really are ghosts, ahh!! Don't touch me, you Monsters!"
A shrill scream suddenly turned deep and powerful in the Second Half, as Chopper transformed from a tiny form not even reaching a normal person's knee into a nearly three-meter-tall muscular Robust Man, still screaming, grabbing a bewildered Caesar and using him as a weapon, smashing the approaching zombies and embedding them into the wall.
Zombie Army: "…"
You're the real Monster, asshole!!
Don't you see the guy in your hands is spitting blood?!
"Ó huò huò huò, I see, I remember now."
Brook said while swinging his cane sword: "Before I met you all, I was trapped in the Florian Triangle sea because my shadow was taken, and the original master there was the former Shichibukai 'Moonlight' Moria, the Shadow-Shadow Fruit Ability user."
"Eh? Wasn't it Trafalgar?"
"Trafalgar came later, defeated Moria, and then became the new Shichibukai."
"I see…"
Usopp nodded, then bared his fangs and roared: "Then why didn't you say so earlier?!"
"Sorry, it's been so long that my mind got a bit muddled… ah, though I don't have a mind!"
"I can see you really don't have a mind!"
Nami roared.
Then she turned: "Huh? Where's Luffy?"
"Sanji went after Robin, who was kidnapped, and then Luffy went after Sanji…"
"Huh??? Why? Couldn't they just leave it to Sanji?!"
"Because that guy said… 'Can you keep up with my wild SPEED, straw hat crew?'"
"Why does he care about something so trivial, that idiot!"
Just then, Chopper, who'd been swinging his Iron Fist ahead, suddenly went weak in the legs and collapsed to the ground.
"Sorry, I shouldn't even be alive in this world— let me die."
"Hey, what's wrong with you, Chopper?!"
Zoro jolted in shock, rushing forward to slash away the encircling zombies, but then he too fell to his knees right after.
"As a directionally challenged person, I'm so sorry to everyone—let me turn into a bug."
The remaining Straw Hats members were instantly horrified.
"This is… a Stand attack—no, a fruit Ability user!"
"Harreharreharre, negative ghost, good job!"
Perona floated lightly from behind the Zombie Army, and the zombies along her path knelt down, making way for her.
"Straw hat crew, if you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for becoming companions with that woman! Your heads will be claimed by me, one of Moria Sama's three weird subordinates, 'Ghost Princess' Perona!"
"Hm?"
At that moment, Perona noticed that the furry Monster from earlier had suddenly vanished, replaced by a small, upright reindeer standing there.
"Wow, what a cute tanuki!"
"Who are you calling a tanuki, you woman!!"
Chopper stood up angrily, roaring.
The others: "…"
Hey, weren't you affected just now?!
(End of Chapter)
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