"Truly astonishing… a corpse that been dead for over a hundred years can still retain a portion of its memories from when it was alive, and even resist the power of a Devil Fruit…"
Purah Meow stared at the now-incinerated zombie Ryoma and couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
"Such a shame he been burned to ashes, meow! Otherwise, I'd really want to study him, check it!"
(ゝω)~☆
"..."
Brook, who had just reclaimed his shadow and watched a passionate, blood-pumping battle, was about to join in the sentiment—until Purah Meow words that followed made him instantly fall silent.
They also reminded him of the miserable time he'd been "studied" by two cats before.
" look! We helped Skeleton Uncle get his shadow back—he so happy he crying, meow!"
The naturally airheaded Klee Meow stood with her hands on her hips, shaking her little head proudly.
Sherwin scratched her chin, kindly choosing not to shatter the child sweet fantasy, and then walked over to Ryoma ashes to pick up the black blade, Shusui.
The current environment wasn't suitable for checking the Hunter Notes, so after putting Shusui away, Sherwin looked around.
The remaining soldier zombies and animal zombies had already fled when Huamei Meow sliced the general zombies in half.
As for the last member of the three Weirdos, the so-called genius surgeon Hogback—Sherwin hadn't seen him even once from beginning to end.
So now, everything around was completely quiet. Even those who had been secretly observing from a distance—the ones whose shadows had been taken—could no longer be sensed through Observation Haki.
"Strange… why hasn't Moria shown up yet?"
Sherwin scratched his head in confusion. They had already taken down more than half of the zombies, and two of the three Weirdos under his command were captured. Was that guy Moria really not anxious at all?
Unable to figure it out, Sherwin decided not to bother thinking further and turned toward the other Felynes.
"How about… we just head back?"
During the break, Sherwin had already taken out the Hunter Notes after obtaining Shusui and successfully acquired his third weapon fragment.
So now, he was more interested in going back to summon new Felynes. Beating up that fat slob Moria didn't seem all that appealing anymore.
"No way! Klee wants to go play inside that castle, meow!"
(=`н=)
Klee Meow protested, clearly not done having fun.
Shermie, who had a similar playful nature, quickly chimed in, "Meow~ I haven't played enough either!"
"I'm actually quite interested in that doctor who assembles zombies, meow," Haibara Meow added, also unwilling to leave so soon.
Even Huamei Meow, who had recovered some of her strength, pointed toward Perona and said,
"If we just leave her like this, won't her body slowly start to rot away?"
"No! I don't want to rot away!"
Perona, who had just been shocked by the defeat of all the general zombies, was instantly terrified by Huamei Meow words and burst into tears.
"Don't worry," Sherwin comforted her, "Hogback is still around. He'll probably turn your body into a zombie, so it shouldn't rot."
"Even though I love turning cute things into zombies, I don't want to become one myself!"
Perona cried even harder.
"Well, I think you're pretty cute too, so wouldn't that make it perfect?" Robin joined Sherwin in comforting her.
"Uwaaaaah! Lord Moria! Help meeeeee!" Perona kept wailing nonstop.
After teasing her for a bit, Sherwin used the Longsword to lift the seastone handcuffs from her wrist, then continued heading toward Moria castle with the Felynes and Robin.
Since several of the Felynes didn't want to leave just yet, Sherwin had no choice but to go along with them.
After all, he already had the summon ticket in hand—there was no need to rush.
In truth, if Brook hadn't been tagging along, he could have just done the summoning right here.
"Though I may not be very strong, you've helped me reclaim my shadow—I can't just walk away now!" Brook declared firmly.
Since Brook had said that much, Sherwin couldn't very well send him off. With a helpless sigh, he decided to postpone summoning his new Felyne.
Since most of the zombies had already been wiped out by Sherwin and his group, and the remaining ones were scared out of their wits, Sherwin and the others easily made their way into the eerie castle at the center of the island — which was also the "cabin" of the florian triangle ship.
Speaking of which, wasn't Moria reacting a bit too slowly this time? In the manga, he never seemed like the patient type… so why hasn't he shown up yet?
Sherwin muttered to himself in confusion while casually observing the furnishings inside the castle.
However, what he didn't know — or perhaps didn't remember — was that among the zombies, there were three small ones about the same size as the Felynes.
Their job was specifically to wake Moria and report any incidents. The rest of the zombies were not allowed to enter Moria bedroom without permission.
Those three little zombies had managed to survive since they didn't need to participate in combat and usually stayed inside the castle.
Although they had escaped being burned to ashes by Klee Meow fire, the zombies responsible for notifying them had already been reduced to cinders.
Moreover, among Moria three main subordinates, only the panicked Hogback was still around. As a result, no one even thought to go wake up the still-sleeping Moria.
That why having a bloated organization with complicated procedures isn't necessarily a good thing.
By the time Hogback finally calmed down and remembered to go wake Moria, Sherwin and the others had already been wandering around the castle for quite a while.
Along the way, they ran into quite a few creepy zombies disguised as wall paintings, carpets, and other interior decorations.
At first, those zombies had shown some loyalty, launching a few surprise attacks in an attempt to rescue their superior, Perona.
But after getting burned several times by Klee Meow, they quickly gave up.
"Why aren't those zombies coming out anymore? It getting boring, meow…"
(=｀3=)
The little plush doll sitting on Sherwin shoulder kicked her legs lazily and pouted.
"If Klee had known this would happen, she wouldn't have burned them all, meow."
Now, not only did the zombies stop causing trouble, but most of them even fled before Sherwin and his group arrived.
What was once a haunted, eerie castle now looked completely looted and deserted.
(ω≡ω)
Bored, Klee Meow kept turning her little head, looking around in every direction.
Before long, the lucky little plush spotted a deer-head decoration in a remote corner—one that hadn't managed to escape in time, or perhaps couldn't move easily because of its design.
Klee Meow immediately leapt off Sherwin shoulder, scampering over with quick little steps. Tilting her head up, she called out to it:
"You're a zombie too, right? Hurry up and move, meow!"
The deer-headed zombie didn't even dare move its eyes, stubbornly continuing its act as a wall decoration.
"If you don't come down, Klee going to burn you, meow!"
(=`н=)
The little plush doll raised both of her tiny paws, threatening fiercely in her soft, childish voice.
The deer-headed zombie: "…"
Just as the poor creature found itself trapped between staying still and risking flames, a massive shadow loomed before Sherwin and his companions.
"So it you… the ones who destroyed my zombie army?!"