According to the World Government's official statement, Oguro's group had been forced to retreat by Kuzan and barely managed to escape a Buster Call with their lives.
Because of that, Sith Oguro's bounty had risen to four hundred million Berries.
But all of this was just for the sake of the World Government's pride.
The real upper echelon knew the truth. Oguro and Kuzan had fought to a stalemate.
If the bounty were assessed based on the actual battle…
Oguro would be at least over one billion Berries.
No one knew whether Moria would start cursing his ancestors if he learned the truth.
For now, he was full of confidence, already dreaming of turning Oguro into his strongest zombie general.
Just then, one of Perona's ghosts drifted into the room and whispered into her ear.
Perona's expression instantly changed.
"Moria-sama! They killed Absalom!"
The moment he heard this, Moria's face went cold and twisted.
For Moria, his subordinates were the last things he cherished.
And now one of them was dead.
"Sith Oguro…" Moria's hair shot upward as rage poured off him in waves. "I'm gonna slaughter you!"
On the other side, Oguro and the others continued deeper into the castle.
Along the way, every trap in the castle had been activated. Moria clearly wanted to separate them and take them down one by one.
Unfortunately, these little tricks were nothing but jokes in front of Oguro's group.
Zombies blocking the path?
Purify them.
Mechanical traps in the way?
Punch straight through.
With overwhelming strength, these contraptions didn't even qualify as time-wasters.
They had barely walked any distance when a furious roar echoed through the halls.
"Sith Oguro! Die!"
A shadow suddenly shot out from the corridor ahead like a spear aimed directly at Oguro.
Shadow Asgard: Shadow Spear!
It was only a shadow, yet its piercing power was comparable to a famed sword.
Clang!
Oguro didn't move. Rukia stepped in front of him and used Sode no Shirayuki to cleanly block the attack.
The shadow tide receded and Moria stepped out of the corridor.
Nearly seven meters tall, he looked like a giant looming over them all.
His distorted face was twisted with rage as he glared at Oguro.
"You dare kill my subordinate. Do you have any idea how dead you are?"
Who was he?
A Warlord of the Sea personally recruited by the World Government.
A legal pirate with the authority to pillage.
And someone had barged right into his own lair and killed one of his people.
This wasn't just stepping on his face. This was grinding his nose into the dirt.
Before Oguro could respond, Moria thrust both hands forward and roared.
"Shadow Spear Formation!"
Every shadow in the room erupted upward, forming countless black lances that shot toward Oguro's group.
Oguro stepped in front of Nami and Robin. His right hand swung downward as Armament Haki flowed over his Zanpakuto. The blade flashed cold light and shattered every shadow spear near them.
As for Soifon and the others, these shadow spears posed no threat at all. The moment they appeared, they were chopped cleanly in half.
Brook was weaker, but his experience was solid. After blocking two shadow spears with his cane sword, he flipped out of the spear formation.
Just as the spear formation collapsed, a humanoid shadow shot out of a corner, rushing toward Nami and Robin.
This body made of shadow looked identical to Moria's silhouette.
Shadow Doppelman!
A clone created by Moria's Devil Fruit.
Robin reacted instantly. She crossed her arms and activated her fruit ability.
"Treinta Fleurs… Flipper!"
Thirty arms sprouted across the doppelman's body and clamped onto its neck, limbs, and torso.
All thirty arms pulled back with full strength.
Normally, even if this didn't break someone's spine, it would immobilize them completely.
But this time, Robin miscalculated.
The moment the thirty arms exerted force, they passed straight through the doppelman's body like smoke.
There was no resistance at all.
Moria's doppelman was a shadow. It had no physical body.
Robin's completely physical techniques had no effect on it.
Instead, the shadow doppelman raised its palm like a falling mountain and slammed it toward Robin.
The terrifying pressure made cold sweat break out on Robin's back.
"You killed my subordinate. You're gonna feel the same pain!"
Bloodlust gleamed in Moria's eyes.
"Courting death!"
Oguro growled and vanished with Shunpo. In a blink, he appeared above the doppelman's head.
His Zanpakuto rose high. Armament Haki surged around the blade, dyeing it black like a bottomless abyss.
"Armament… Dragon Slayer!"
A savage slash fell like divine judgment, tearing everything in its path.
Boom!
Armament perfectly countered the shadow body. The massive doppelman cracked from the top, shattered by the sword pressure, and burst into drifting black dust.
Moria froze for a breath.
"Armament Haki? Someone like this in Paradise?"
He had once fought Kaido. He knew Haki better than most pirates.
People like this were common in the New World, but in Paradise they were rare treasures.
For the first time, unease flickered in Moria's heart.
Maybe these people wouldn't be as easy to handle as he'd thought.
"You bastards dare act wild on Moria-sama's ship. I'll show you something fun!"
A crisp young girl's voice echoed from above.
Perona hovered near the ceiling, surrounded by several floating ghosts.
She pointed at the closest target, Brook, and shouted.
"Negative Ghosts!"
Several ghosts darted toward Brook.
Brook dodged frantically and stabbed with his cane sword.
Unfortunately, the ghosts had no physical form. His sword passed through them uselessly.
One ghost finally slipped through his chest.
Brook froze, then dropped to his knees.
"I'm sorry! I'm just a useless skeleton. I should crawl into a hole and bury myself…"
"Damn it!"
Oguro's expression finally turned grim.
On this entire Thriller Bark, he'd always believed the most terrifying person wasn't the captain, Gecko Moria…
It was this Ghost Princess Perona.
Her Devil Fruit was straight-up a bug.
A ghost touches you and you lose all willpower. It was a concept-level ability.
And everyone knew concept abilities were ridiculous.
"Everyone be careful! Absolutely do not let her ghosts touch you. The moment they do, you'll lose all fighting spirit!"
Oguro warned sharply.
Everyone tensed up immediately.
There was no danger to life, but seeing Brook collapse while mumbling about wanting to become a worm…
That was pure social death.
***
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