Chapter 190: The Stolen Shadow! The Awakening of Demon Oars and the Shadow of Despair
The camera cuts abruptly, skipping past the intricate mazes of the castle.
"Bang!"
Accompanied by a massive boom.
Luffy rampaged through the trapdoors and secret maze passages like a headless fly.
Relying on his unreasonable animal instincts and unparalleled destructive power.
He actually managed to smash a path through by sheer force.
He found the core area of the castle—
Moria's spacious and luxurious giant bedroom.
Luffy kicked his way in, sending the heavy door panel and frame flying.
"Sorry for the intrusion!"
In the center of the bedroom, on a Gothic sofa as wide and soft as a small mountain.
A bloated, obese freak with two sharp demon horns and skin as pale as paper lay lazily.
One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Gekko Moriah.
Seeing Luffy burst through the door, Moria didn't seem flustered.
He shifted into a comfortable position, holding a glass of red wine, and on his face—which resembled a giant bat—he let out his extremely unsettling, sharp, weird laugh:
"Kishishishishi... Kishishishishi..."
"Straw Hat boy, I didn't expect a fly like you to actually make it all the way to me."
Moria swirled his wine glass, his narrow eyes filled with contempt and greed:
"However, your luck has run out.
"It's a pity, but your journey ends right here."
Facing the Shichibukai's provocation, Luffy's gaze instantly became sharp.
His legs spread slightly, hands resting on his knees; it was as if an engine was roaring inside him. His skin rapidly turned a scalding pink, and a large amount of steam rose from his body.
"Cut the crap! Onion-head old man!"
Luffy angrily activated Gear Second, his voice deepening due to the high-speed blood flow:
"Give back Brook's shadow, and everyone else's shadows, give them all back!!"
"Gomu Gomu no—"
Luffy's figure instantly vanished from where he stood, leaving only a sonic boom cloud in the air.
"Jet Pistol!!!"
A fist coated in Armament Haki smashed toward Moria's fat face at a terrifying speed that broke the sound barrier.
However.
Facing this seemingly certain thunderous strike, Moria, lying on the sofa, didn't even blink.
At the critical moment just as Luffy's fist was about to touch the tip of Moria's nose.
"Swish!"
The mass of black shadow at Moria's feet, which had been spread quietly on the floor, suddenly seemed to gain a life of its own and stood up instantly.
This black shadow, known as 'Doppelman', rapidly condensed and hardened in mid-air.
In the blink of an eye, it turned into an indestructible, thick black wall, blocking Moria's front.
"Boom—!!!"
Luffy's Gear Second heavy punch, powerful enough to split mountains, smashed violently into this black shadow wall.
Violent power exploded at the moment of contact, kicking up a fierce blast of air that made the curtains in the bedroom flap loudly.
But that seemingly thin shadow wall only dented slightly.
It completely neutralized all the power from Luffy's fist.
"Nani?!" Luffy was shocked and tried to pull his fist back.
"Kishishishi, too slow."
Moria sneered.
The shadow wall instantly dispersed like fluid, transforming in an eye-blink into countless sharp black bats and pointed spears.
They launched a fierce counterattack against the nearby Luffy like a violent storm.
"Gomu Gomu no—Jet Gatling!"
Luffy twisted his body rapidly in mid-air, his fists turning into countless afterimages as they collided intensely with the shadow bats and spears.
But no matter how hard Luffy attacked.
Moria's 'Doppelman' was able to automatically protect its master.
It was like a perfect shield with no blind spots that could change its form at will.
Not only could it block all physical attacks, but it could also launch fatal counterattacks at any time.
After a hard-fought battle, Luffy used his Gear Second's ultra-high speed to finally bypass Doppelman's defensive net and landed a heavy kick on Moria's fat waist.
"Got him!" Luffy rejoiced.
However, the 'Moria' who was kicked didn't cry out in pain; instead, he gave a weird smile.
The next second, under Luffy's unbelievable gaze.
The 'Moria' that was kicked instantly turned into a mass of pitch-black shadow.
And at the other end of the room, where Doppelman had originally stood, the real Moria appeared there completely unharmed.
An instantaneous swap between body and shadow!
Luffy's painstakingly planned attack ended up only shattering a mass of black shadow that felt no pain.
"It's useless, Straw Hat boy."
Moria stood not far away, looking at the panting Luffy like a trapped beast in a cage, mocking him ruthlessly:
"Before my 'Doppelman'.
"The simple physical attacks you're so proud of are nothing but a joke."
Moria's gaze became incredibly greedy, staring intently at Luffy's vibrant body:
"However, I have to admit, your powerful body and tenacious fighting will are simply perfect!
"This is simply the best sacrifice prepared for me!
"Kishishishishi!"
"Shut up!"
Luffy gritted his teeth, preparing to use Armament Haki to forcibly break this bizarre defense.
But.
Just as Luffy took a deep breath and was about to exert his strength.
He suddenly felt the ground beneath him vanish.
At some point, the originally hard stone floor beneath his feet had turned into a swamp-like, viscous black shadow.
Before Luffy could react, that patch of shadow surged up like a tsunami, rapidly climbing up his legs.
"Black Box!"
Moria's cold voice echoed in the room.
The shadows clinging to Luffy's body instantly condensed and hardened.
Ultimately, it turned into an enormous black cube-shaped box, locking Luffy inside tightly, leaving only his head exposed.
"Let me go!! You bastard!!"
Luffy struggled desperately inside the Black Box.
His rubber muscles bulged high, attempting to use his monstrous strength to break through the cage.
However, this 'Black Box' made of shadow was as hard as iron.
Not only could it not be destroyed, but as Luffy struggled, it began to tighten further.
Like a giant hydraulic press, it ruthlessly squeezed Luffy's body.
Accompanied by severe oxygen deprivation and the pain of his bones being compressed, Luffy's vision began to blur.
He gasped for air in large gulps, his struggling becoming weaker and weaker.
Finally, his eyes rolled back, he lost consciousness completely, and his head slumped down powerlessly.
"Kishishishi, I got you."
Moria walked up to the unconscious Luffy.
He reached out a large, pale hand and pulled out an enormous pair of black scissors from somewhere.
Then, Moria squatted down with extreme proficiency.
Like picking up a piece of black cloth dropped on the ground, he grabbed the black shadow connected to the body at Luffy's feet.
"Snip!"
Accompanied by the sound of the scissors biting together.
Luffy's vibrant shadow was completely cut off from its Root by those bizarre scissors.
At the moment the shadow was severed, Luffy's originally powerful body seemed to be drained of all its vitality.
He became like a soulless rag doll, collapsing limply onto the ground.
"Throw him back onto that pirate ship."
Moria kicked Luffy's unconscious body away like he was kicking trash.
He instructed several zombie subordinates who had just arrived to throw Luffy back onto the thousand sunny to fend for himself.
For someone who has lost their shadow.
Once they come into contact with sunlight, they turn to ash, posing no threat at all.
Moria gripped Luffy's still-struggling black shadow tightly with both hands, his eyes flashing with a feverish excitement.
"I finally got it... this perfect sacrifice! Kishishishi!"
He impatiently took Luffy's shadow and strode toward the giant freezer on the bottom floor of the castle.
Pushing open the heavy ice storage door, a bone-chilling cold air rushed out.
Inside a giant ice wall, a terrifyingly massive corpse was frozen!
The size of that corpse was several times larger than that of the ordinary Giant Race.
He had curved horns on his head, protruding fangs in his mouth, and knotted muscles all over.
He exuded a violent aura that remained chilling even after being dead for hundreds of years.
That was the remains of the legendary Continent-Puller Demon—'Oars', who once dragged an entire country away!
"Kishishishi! Awaken! My strongest warrior!"
Moria laughed wildly, walking beneath Oars' giant head.
Without hesitation, he shoved the black shadow belonging to Luffy into Oars' gaping, bloody maw!
The moment the shadow entered Oars' body, the remains of this demon who had slept for hundreds of years suddenly trembled violently.
"Kishishishi!
"With the combat instincts of someone at Straw Hat boy's level, combined with Oars' invincible demon body!"
Moria spread his arms and laughed loudly, his eyes full of desire for power:
"Even that monster Kaido... this time, I can crush him under my feet!!!"
...
Meanwhile, in a patch of ruins on the outskirts of the castle.
"Tatsuya!" An excited Nami rushed forward and hugged Tatsuya.
In this way, Tatsuya and Robin finally met up with Usopp, Nami, and the Animal Army, who had just escaped by water and were still shaken.
They set out on the journey to find their other companions.
After walking for a short while.
"Luffy?!"
Nami, being sharp-eyed, was the first to see Luffy, who had been discarded in the ruins' grass by several zombies like trash.
Everyone immediately gathered around.
Chopper quickly took out his medical kit to perform an examination.
"He has no obvious external injuries, and his vital signs are stable, but he just won't wake up..."
Chopper said anxiously.
Tatsuya stood to the side; he wasn't looking at Luffy's face, but instead stared deeply at the ground beneath Luffy's feet.
Under the moonlight, the area around Luffy's body was actually empty.
There was no shadow.
Tatsuya's face, which had always been calm and composed, instantly darkened, and his brows furrowed tightly:
"This is bad..."
Before he could finish his sentence.
"Rumble—!!!!"
An unprecedentedly violent earthquake erupted without warning from beneath everyone's feet!
The entire Thriller Bark seemed to have been hit by a magnitude ten earthquake; the ground cracked wildly, and giant stones fell from the sky.
"What's happening?!" Usopp squatted down, clutching his head in fear.
Immediately following.
Under everyone's horrified gazes, the grand dome in the very center of the castle was suddenly smashed to pieces from the inside by a red arm larger than a warship!
Accompanied by flying debris and a deafening roar.
A terrifying demon with horns on his head, a body that blotted out the sun, and who looked like a moving mountain, slowly rose from the ruins of the castle.
That massive frame even blocked the pale moonlight in the sky, casting a giant shadow of despair over the entire island.
The demon Oars lowered his giant head.
He reached out a palm large enough to crush the castle and rubbed his shriveled stomach.
Then, he opened his bloody maw and let out a roar that kicked up a wind.
And the content of this roar gave all the members of the Straw Hat Pirates present an incredibly familiar sense of strangeness:
"Meat!!!"
"I want to eat meat!!"
Looking at this demon who was as large as a monster but whose behavior was full of 'Luffy déjà vu'.
Everyone fell into a state of desperate shock.
The smile on Tatsuya's face had completely vanished.
He looked up at the monster that blotted out the sky, his voice low:
"Stuffing Luffy's combat instincts into the body of a legendary demon like that..."
"Moria, you've really... created a massive problem for us."
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