"Perona..."
Moria saw Perona jump out on her own and arrogantly claim she would defeat Reddy. He was so angry that his voice cracked.
Then a clone punched him, cutting off the rest of his words.
"Moria-sama!"
Perona was startled and immediately glared angrily at Reddy. "Let Moria-sama go, and Absalom too..."
As she spoke, she glanced at Hogback, who was also unconscious, paused for a moment, and finally decided to forgive him. "And Hogback!"
"You're very brave."
Reddy smiled, his hands in his pockets.
Behind him, a portal silently opened in the air. With just one step back, he could disappear into the alternate space created by the Door-Door Fruit.
"Horo horo horo horo... How amusing."
Perona, seeing the air door appear behind Reddy, wore a confident smile and pointed her right hand.
Three Negative Hollows immediately flew toward Reddy.
Reddy took a step back, retreating into the portal.
The portal then vanished.
The three Negative Hollows missed their target.
A drop of cold sweat rolled down Perona's forehead as she directed the Negative Hollows to attack the other clones.
The three Negative Hollows scattered cheerfully, passing through the abdomens of three different clones.
"Horo horo horo horo... Huh?"
Perona was completely confident that the Negative Hollows could defeat any opponent. When she saw the three clones remain expressionless, she froze.
"Perona, run! He's the infamous scientist Reddy with a 3 billion berry bounty!"
Moria, seizing the moment while the three clones were distracted by the Negative Hollows, finally managed to shout.
"Eh..."
Perona was so shocked she could barely speak. "Th... Three billion berries?"
In her limited experience, Moria's 320 million berry bounty before becoming a Warlord was already an astronomical figure for a pirate.
Three billion berries... Perona felt like she must still be dreaming.
Did pirates with bounties that high even exist?
"Moria-sama, you... you must be joking, right?"
Perona forced herself to stay calm, another drop of cold sweat forming on her forehead. She hoped Moria would suddenly jump up and proudly shout "Surprise!"
"Shut up!"
Moria was so furious at his rebellious subordinate that he nearly fainted.
Did this look like a joke?
At that moment, one of the clones suddenly disappeared.
Perona panicked, looking around frantically, only for the clone to reappear behind her and throw a punch... that passed right through her body.
"Whew..."
Perona, seeing the clone's fist go through her, sighed in relief.
She had almost forgotten she was in spirit form, immune to all physical attacks.
Immediately, Perona regained her haughty attitude and taunted, "Is this the infamous pirate with a 3 billion berry bounty?"
...
"Let's go."
Reddy, observing from the alternate space as the clone's attack passed through Perona, smirked slightly. He then used the Door-Door Fruit's power to search the castle for Perona's real body.
Moria's castle wasn't particularly large, but it wasn't small either.
However, with the Door-Door Fruit's ability to ignore obstacles in the alternate space, the castle held no secrets for Reddy.
Before long, he found Perona's real body in a room on the third floor.
A portal appeared in the air.
Reddy stepped out.
Kumacy, seeing a stranger intrude, immediately pounced like a bear.
Mid-air, another figure emerged from the portal and punched Kumacy, sending him flying into the wall before bouncing back to the floor.
"Take her away."
Reddy snapped his fingers.
The clone hoisted Perona over its shoulder and opened another portal.
Kumacy, desperate, lunged again to stop them.
The portal vanished.
Kumacy missed and landed on the floor, bouncing twice.
Meanwhile, Reddy returned to the first floor.
"Horo horo horo horo..."
Perona, relying on her spirit form's immunity to physical attacks, summoned Mini Hollows and launched Ghost Bombs, bombarding the clones with explosions.
The deafening blasts filled the hall, engulfing the clones in smoke and dust.
Perona was exhilarated, brimming with unprecedented confidence.
I can turn this around!
I can save Moria-sama!
I can defeat a pirate with a 3 billion berry bounty!
"Ah!"
Amid the explosions, a scream suddenly came from within the smoke.
Perona froze. "Absalom?"
Another explosion followed, and another scream rang out.
Perona froze again. "Hogback?"
She hastily stopped her attack.
As the smoke cleared, Perona saw two clones holding Absalom and Hogback in front of them as shields and was stunned.
They could do that?
Absalom, covered in soot, exhaled a puff of black smoke and yelled furiously, "Perona, you should have rescued us first!"
As a Devil Fruit user modified by Hogback, he could still muster the strength to shout after a few explosions.
But Hogback wasn't so lucky.
Even just one explosion left him on the verge of death, barely clinging to life.
"Why didn't you run?"
Perona retorted defiantly. That had been the perfect chance, you idiot.
Absalom raised his hands, showing the seastone cuffs on his wrists, too exhausted to argue.
"You didn't say anything!"
Perona guiltily looked away but quickly regained her composure, proudly declaring, "Don't worry, they can't touch me. I'll save you soon!"
"But you can't hurt them either."
A voice filled with obvious amusement suddenly spoke up behind her.
"You... how did you find my body?"
Perona whirled around, about to launch a Ghost Bomb, but when she saw the clone behind Reddy carrying her real body, she was stunned.
"Why couldn't you find her?"
Reddy gave Moria a strange look. She was easy to find—why pretend Perona had run away?
Moria, panting heavily, replied matter-of-factly, "How was I supposed to know where she was hiding?"
Reddy glanced at Perona, then back at Moria, briefly describing the room where he'd found her.
Moria was shocked. "Perona, why didn't you come out if you were in your room the whole time?"
"Why should I?"
Perona stubbornly refused to back down.
Moria was so angry his voice cracked again. "Perona, you... you... you..."
"Moria-sama, don't panic."
Perona, feeling guilty, quickly changed the subject and smirked at Reddy. "Your biggest mistake was not using my body as leverage against me."
As she spoke, Perona pointed her right hand.
Unnoticed by Reddy, three Negative Hollows had hidden beneath the floor and now flew up, passing through his body.
"Horo horo horo horo... Moria-sama... Huh?"
Perona excitedly declared her victory, only to see Reddy looking down at his body thoughtfully, still standing. She was baffled. "You... why are you still standing?"
Reddy looked up at her with a strange expression. "You might not know this, but idealists are actually the most pessimistic people."
Idealists were those who, despairing of the world, chose to escape into fantasies that matched their ideals—the epitome of negativity.
As long as I'm negative enough, the Negative Hollows can't affect me.
Reddy snapped his fingers.
The clone lifted Perona's body with one hand and raised its other fist, aiming at her face.
Perona, seeing this, burst into tears, crying pitifully.
"Uh..."
Reddy fell into deep thought. Should he comfort her?