OPTC Chapter 198 Sharp-Tongued Cindolly
After that nightmare, Moria couldn't sleep again. Instead, he summoned one of his spider mice to report. Not all spider mice had joined the battle; a few were always kept for observation and relaying information. Those few were the only ones that survived.
"Master," the spider mouse said nervously, "Lord Absalom's troops were wiped out. He's the only one who made it back, and even he was blasted away. Doctor Hogback's plan didn't work out either. The zombies he sent may have all been defeated."
Moria's eyes widened in shock. "What? So this time the prey is actually strong? Call the three freaks immediately."
Meanwhile, Absalom was planted headfirst in the floor of Perona's room, legs sticking up straight like a fencepost.
"Who are you, and why did you smash my window and ruin my floor?" Perona demanded. She had been sipping hot cocoa, waiting for Moria's men to bring her a cute little cat, when suddenly someone crashed through the glass and landed upside down. The fright nearly made her spill her drink.
"I'm Absalom! Hurry and pull me out!" Absalom's muffled voice came from the floorboards. His head was buried, and since his mouth had already been scorched by an explosion earlier, his words came out slurred and unclear.
"Bearsy, help him out." Perona wasn't nearly strong enough to manage it herself, so she ordered her stuffed servant.
"Yes, Lady Perona," Bearsy replied.
"I told you a hundred times, you're not allowed to talk!" Perona smacked his belly. "Did you hear me? Do you remember it now? Why aren't you answering?"
"…I remember."
"No talking!"
"Enough already, just pull me out!" Absalom yelled.
Looking miserable, Bearsy grabbed his legs and yanked him free like pulling up a turnip.
"Perona, you're way too strict with Bearsy," Absalom said, rolling his neck. Almost every time he saw the poor bear, it was being scolded, always for the same reason.
Absalom didn't realize his face was completely blackened, and his lips were swollen like sausages from the earlier blast.
"Who are you? Why are you pretending to be Absalom?" Perona didn't even recognize him and instinctively launched an attack. "Negative Hollow!"
"I'm just a worthless pervert who only knows how to use his powers to peep! I'll never be King of the Graveyard!" Absalom dropped to his knees, overwhelmed with despair. A few seconds later, he jumped back up, furious. "Damn you, Perona! What did you just do to me?!"
"Oh, so it really is you." Perona giggled. "What a pitiful sight. Did you get caught while peeping again? Hekekekeke!"
Embarrassed, Absalom rubbed soot from his face. Thinking about how others had seen him like this made his cheeks flush. "Damn it! I'll make those people pay!"
At that moment, a spider mouse crawled through the broken window. "Lord Absalom, Lady Perona, the master wants you now."
"On my way." Absalom stormed out of Perona's room.
Perona, perched on Bearsy's arm, followed after him. "Did they catch that adorable kitty already?"
Absalom muttered to himself: not a chance. The ones guarding the ship had been tough enough—those who went ashore must be even stronger. As if Hogback could capture them.
Sure enough, when they met Hogback in the corridor, his face was equally sour.
"How'd it go, Hogback? Success?" Absalom asked.
"Huhhh… well… I just need a little more time," Hogback forced a smile, trying to cover up.
But the maid behind him exposed the truth mercilessly. "It was a complete failure. His pathetic plan was useless."
"Don't say that, Cindolly!" Hogback whined. "If you put it like that, you'll ruin my reputation!"
"It's dessert time. Today's pudding." Cindolly held a plate, then dumped the pudding directly into Hogback's hand.
"You should've given me the plate too!"
Cindolly's expression turned terrifying. "Plates should not exist in this world."
"Y-yes, of course… lucky I've washed my hands plenty of times." Hogback didn't even flinch anymore. He simply started licking pudding from his palm.
Cold sweat formed on Absalom's forehead. This was why he only liked gentle, cute girls—he would never want someone like Cindolly. He greeted her casually anyway. "Still hating plates, I see, Cindolly."
She smashed the plate to pieces on the ground and told him flatly, "No one will ever marry you."
Absalom nearly exploded. "I was just saying hello! Why do you have to say something so cruel?"
"Perverted voyeur," Cindolly replied without blinking.
"That's enough!" Absalom shouted, frustrated.
Perona, meanwhile, patted Bearsy's head. She decided once again that mute Bearsy was the cutest. She'd never accept a maid like Cindolly. Just imagining her dumping hot cocoa onto the table—or worse, straight into her hand—was horrifying.
When they finally stood before Moria, both Absalom and Hogback were nervous. They'd lost so many zombies and hadn't captured a single person.
But to their surprise, Moria wasn't angry at all. In fact, he looked delighted. "Heeheeheehee! The stronger they are, the better their shadows! With this, we can make more general zombies—maybe even revive that special one!"
Hogback raised the obvious problem. "But people that strong… they won't be easy to catch."
"I don't care! Just figure it out!" Moria barked. Ever since his crushing defeat by Kaido, he'd been left with two deep scars in his mind.
One: he feared losing companions, so he surrounded himself only with zombies. No living crewmates meant no more loss.
Two: he no longer trusted his own strength. Everything he said became, "Leave it to you" or "You figure it out."
"Let me take the general zombies. I'll bring them back for sure!" Absalom clenched his fists. Thinking it through, his earlier failure wasn't just because of the strange hose or someone spotting him—it was because ordinary zombies were simply too weak. General zombies would be different.
"I'll help too, but I don't want to fight the drummer or that terrifying swordswoman," Perona said. Just thinking of Artoria gave her chills. Still, she had some scary zombies and animal zombies under her command.
The scary zombies were the portraits and taxidermy beasts hanging in halls and rooms—not convenient to send outside. But the animal zombies could be dispatched.
"The most useless one here is you," Cindolly told Hogback coldly.
"Hey, that's too much!" Hogback protested. It was true he didn't command any zombies of his own, aside from Cindolly. For anything else, he always had to borrow authority from the others.
"I'll focus on repairing damaged zombies," he muttered. "But Cindolly can also help in combat."
As Hogback's most beloved creation, Cindolly's body had been modified far beyond that of an ordinary human.
"Heeheeheehee~" Moria laughed. "Now go! Bring me their shadows—for the sake of our dream!"
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