"Moria! Get people over here now!"
Luffy had just stepped ashore when he spotted Moria, who'd rushed to the coast under the lead of a bat zombie. He waved frantically and shouted toward him.
As Luffy waded through the water and drew closer to the beach, Moria's eyes began to glow like lanterns. The greed swirling in them was unmistakable.
Luffy was hauling the severed head of a colossal Sea King with one hand, dragging it step by step toward the shore. Bit by bit, the rest of its massive body emerged from the water.
Just from the size of its head alone, Moria could already imagine the enormity of this Sea King. This was no mere common specimen, it was on a whole different level.
But then,
"Hey!!! Moria!!! Call Hogback here right now!!! I might've gone a bit overboard, it's about to die!!!"
In Luffy's defense, when he saw how huge this Sea King was, he figured it must be pretty powerful too. And it was already retreating into the deep sea.
So, he didn't hold back.
Well... maybe just a little extra strength.
Just a tiny bit!
Honestly, the energy he used wasn't even half of what he'd spent during that fight with Moria.
Who would've thought this Sea King was so flammable? It ignited instantly and ended up being tortured by his Storm Flame underwater for a full minute. In the end, the poor creature passed out from the sheer pain.
By the time Luffy found it, its eyes had rolled back, and its charred flesh gave off the distinct scent of grilled fish, even deep under the sea.
If the system hadn't stayed silent with no EXP notification, Luffy would've thought for sure it had already kicked the bucket.
Hearing Luffy shout, Moria finally snapped out of his daze. The Sea King's blackened appearance wasn't its natural color, it was burned to a crisp.
For some reason, Moria suddenly felt a sense of kinship. He looked at the giant Sea King being dragged ashore and sighed in sympathy before scurrying off toward the castle on his stubby little legs.
No way was he going to let such a prime shadow specimen go to waste.
Soon, every idle zombie on the island was summoned. Those with hands helped lift; those without pitched in however they could. Together, they hoisted the massive Sea King out of the water.
Even Hogback was at a loss facing a creature over 1,500 meters long. After hearing Luffy's explanation, though, he eventually came to a conclusion, severe burns.
But with a body this size, there was no way he could treat it inch by inch.
So he focused on the Sea King's head, performing a few minor surgeries and applying burn salves. Even that kept him working nonstop until nightfall.
"Haa~chew!"
Luffy let out a yawn. He'd eaten dinner and was now waiting nearby for Hogback to finish.
As soon as Hogback stepped down from the creature's charred body, Luffy hurried over. "So? Can it still live?"
If it couldn't make it, Luffy figured he might as well put it out of its misery. If too much time passed without the system awarding him any EXP, that would be a major loss.
Hogback, looking thoroughly exhausted, nodded weakly. "It should be fine. I checked the muscles under the skin, turns out the internal burns aren't too serious. It mostly just burned through fat, so its life's not in immediate danger."
Luffy let out a relieved sigh. "Good! No wonder it looked so much thinner, guess it lost weight from all that fat burning."
"Actually… Luffy," Moria spoke up, his tone serious. "We've used up all the corpses on this island. The next one is still several days away."
He glanced over the massive Sea King from top to tail.
"If it wakes up before then…"
It was clear the island didn't have many places sturdy enough to contain a rampaging beast of this size.
Luffy frowned. He hadn't thought of that.
It would be tough to manage. Should he purify a zombie early just to free up a shadow? But this shadow was far too good to let go.
Just then, Hogback, who'd been about to leave, suddenly stopped in his tracks. A spark lit up in his eyes, and he turned back toward them with renewed vigor.
"My lords… perhaps you've forgotten something important."
"Hm?" Luffy and Moria both looked at him, puzzled by his cryptic tone.
"Have you forgotten, Luffy-sama," Hogback said, rubbing his hands together with a devilish grin, "the zombie you personally designed?"
"Ah!?" Luffy suddenly remembered. "You mean the Tailed Beast project? But didn't you say it was too difficult and the plan had to be shelved?"
"Hufufufu…" Hogback chuckled smugly. "It's true that creating a creature over a kilometer long from scratch, by fusing muscle cells, is extremely hard. But your capture of that giant sea-otter-type Sea King gave me new inspiration.
"I noticed its head was a perfect match for the design you described. So I thought, what if I detached it and mounted it on the body we'd already built for the Tailed Beast? It would save us a ton of work.
"After several days of experimentation, I developed a special osmotic membrane tissue. It prevents salt from transferring between organs, and it mimics the properties of muscle fibers.
"I used land beast muscle fibers to construct internal organ walls, connecting them directly to the throat to prevent the otter head's fluids from mixing with the rest of the body. Then I encased the entire thing with that osmotic membrane, used alloy and beast bones to build an internal skeleton, and voila,
"After a full month of labor, I've completed the Tailed Beast you envisioned!"
Hogback delivered his entire progress report in what he considered the most concise manner possible.
His eyes sparkled with pride the entire time. He smiled like a scientist who'd just made a revolutionary breakthrough, presenting his findings at an international conference, radiating excitement and satisfaction.
Even if Moria and Luffy couldn't fully appreciate his giddy mood, they definitely understood the implications.
The two exchanged glances… and then both broke into wide, borderline maniacal grins.
Moria knew all too well what this meant.
With this technique, he could start mass-producing giant zombies.
He, Gecko Moria, would soon command a terrifying army of undead titans.
Luffy, meanwhile, was just as thrilled. If they could start making zombies out of Sea Kings, that would massively ease their corpse supply issue. That meant one thing,
Farming EXP would be back on the menu.
"HAHAHAHA! Excellent! No time to waste, let's go witness Hogback's masterpiece!" Luffy shouted, already itching with anticipation.
"No no no! That's your masterpiece, Luffy-sama, fufufufu!"
"Gehihihihi! Let's go see the monster created by the strongest man and the smartest man working together!"
The three burst into mutual praise, laughing like maniacs as they made their way into the castle's core.
Time slipped quietly by.
The next morning, a giant warship docked at the harbor of Thriller Bark.
A pair of elegant, delicate legs stepped onto the coast, skin fair as snow, with a soft, radiant glow like polished jade.
Suddenly, another voice rang out from behind, this one belonging to someone with considerably thicker legs.
"Big Sis, I think the fire from yesterday came from this place…"
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From Naruto Onwards, I Control Time — Up to Chapter 337
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