"One Piece:The True Codex"Chapter 353: The Mind
William leapt from the tall building, diving through the air toward Moria. When he was only a few meters above Moria, he kicked out forcefully.
JET: Tempest Kick!
The slicing shockwave, infused with scalding steam, swept toward Moria, whose body was covered in bat-like shadow creatures. Moria, now completely powerless to block or evade, let out a scream as the shockwave dispersed the shadows on his back. His massive body crashed heavily into the ground below.
A cloud of dust rose as Moria's impact left a crater in the ground. William landed lightly in front of him.
The once-dominant Warlord of the Sea, who had ruled over the Devil's Triangle for years, now lay in a pitiful state. Blood gushed like a fountain from the horrific wound on his neck, and his oversized head drooped weakly to one side. Seeing William approach, Moria's remaining consciousness and pride compelled him to try and prop himself up. But it was futile. After two feeble attempts, he barely managed to lift his upper body before collapsing again.
"I never thought... I'd meet my end at your hands," Moria said weakly. Even uttering this short sentence seemed to drain all his strength.
"Are you begging for mercy?" William asked coldly.
"Mercy? Ha!" Moria chuckled, as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke. Even though the laugh tugged at his wound, causing him visible pain, he still managed to speak in a broken, disdainful tone, "For the sake of survival? Do you think death is a threat to a true pirate?"
"Well said!" William grinned. In the next moment, he stepped forward swiftly and stomped on Moria's chest. His right hand formed a claw, and the intense heat radiating from it distorted the air around his fingers. "For that, I'll grant you a swift death!"
William's claw plunged into Moria's chest, piercing through his body with ease. His fingers dug deep into the flesh, and five white, sword-like jets of steam erupted from his fingertips, shooting through Moria's back and into the ground below, scattering debris in all directions.
Moria's eyes widened abruptly, locking onto William's face as if he were trying to etch it into his memory in his final moments. With a sudden burst of clarity, he rasped, "I'll be waiting for you in hell!"
As he finished speaking, Moria's lips twitched as if attempting a final laugh. But before the expression could fully form, his face froze, his eyelids drooped uncontrollably, and the light in his eyes faded rapidly.
"How much worse could hell really be?" William sneered at Moria's lifeless body.
As he finished his remark, he suddenly sensed something and turned his head. In the distance, near the graveyard, a tattered zombie stood frozen in shock, staring at William and Moria.
William's sudden gaze startled the zombie, who snapped out of its daze and turned to flee toward the graveyard. As it ran, it shouted at the top of its lungs, "Lord Moria has been killed! Lord Moria has been killed!"
William glanced at the fleeing zombie, frowning slightly, but he did not pursue it. Instead, he turned and leapt back into the room through the opening he had created earlier.
Inside the room, the floor was littered with dismembered corpses. Generally speaking, most Devil Fruit abilities cease to function when the user loses consciousness or dies. The Shadow-Shadow Fruit was no exception. Shadows stolen by Moria would instinctively try to return to their original owners, as if drawn by an invisible magnetic force. However, Moria's power had suppressed this natural inclination. With Moria dead, he could no longer control the shadows, and they would normally return to their rightful owners.
But there was a catch: this only applied if the shadows had not been implanted into other bodies.
Shadows represented souls, while corpses were empty vessels. When a shadow was implanted into a living person, the host's own soul would repel the foreign shadow. But corpses lacked this resistance, making them perfect containers for shadows. At the same time, this also turned the corpses into prisons for the shadows.
Although Moria was dead, the shadows trapped within the corpses could not escape. Worse still, these zombie bodies felt no pain and could continue fighting even after sustaining injuries that would be fatal to normal humans. Gin and Selkirk had to dismember the zombies completely to free the shadows and allow them to return to their original owners.
The crew of the Starlight, still bound by webs, huddled fearfully in a corner of the room.
Moria's three main subordinates had all been dealt with: the invisible man Absalom had been killed by William with overwhelming force, the "Ghost Princess" Perona had been knocked out by Selkirk, and the brilliant surgeon Hogback, who had no combat ability, had been cowering in a corner since the conflict began, desperately trying to avoid drawing attention.
But his efforts were in vain.
The battle in the room had already ended. When William returned, Hogback heard the commotion and peeked out from under his arms. Seeing William alone, with blood-stained hands, Hogback immediately felt a sinking dread.
Sure enough, William walked straight toward him, kicking him lightly to get his attention. "Moria is dead. If you're loyal enough to follow him to the grave, I'd be happy to help you reunite with him."
"Don't—don't kill me! I'm just a doctor; I don't know how to fight," Hogback stammered, raising his head cautiously and lying through his teeth. "Actually, I wasn't even that close to Moria."
"He's lying! He's not just any doctor; he's Hogback, and all the zombies on this island are his doing!" shouted one of the Starlight crew members.
The sailor, who had accompanied Miss Portia and the ship's doctor ashore, had spent a considerable amount of time interacting with Hogback before being captured. Now that the situation was clear, anyone who had been present during those interactions could piece together Hogback's identity and his connection to the zombies and Moria.
"Hogback? The genius surgeon?" William raised an eyebrow.
"You've heard of me?" Hogback asked, a hint of pride flickering in his eyes.
Noticing this, William responded with mild interest, "When I was studying navigation and maritime survival skills, I came across your name in some medical books."
William wasn't lying. During his time at the Isshin Dojo, he had not only practiced swordsmanship but also read many practical books about life at sea. Navigation and medicine were among the most important topics, and Hogback's name had appeared frequently in medical texts, given his reputation as a renowned authority in surgery.
"You know medicine?" Hogback seemed surprised, but then he relaxed slightly, as if relieved. Speaking hurriedly and incoherently, he said, "If you understand medicine, then you must realize how valuable my mind is. I can't die! My death would be a tremendous loss—not just to medicine, but to the entire world!"
Watching Hogback's frantic display, William gave Gin a meaningful look. The two had a strong rapport, and Gin immediately understood William's intent. Grabbing Hogback by the waistband, Gin hoisted him into the air like a sack of potatoes.
"If you keep running your mouth," Gin said coldly, "I wouldn't mind testing what happens if I smash that precious brain of yours. Let's see if the Red Line explodes along with it."
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