At that moment, Kuro felt as though every frustration in his life surged back to him at once.
First, his crushing defeat at the hands of the Captain… then his failed scheme to seize Kaya's inheritance… and afterward, his loss to Smoker and Tashigi in the battle at Reverse Mountain…
The despair was overwhelming. Just like Buggy, he dropped to the floor, prostrating himself.
"A wretched schemer like me doesn't deserve to follow Captain Davy Jones. I should just die…"
The two of them bowed toward each other in misery. After a while, they suddenly snapped out of it.
Wait—what are we doing?!
They scrambled back to their feet. Meeting each other's eyes, both wore an awkward expression, then quickly turned their wary gazes toward the white ghosts drifting in the air.
"They have no physical form. When they pass through us, they affect our emotions." Kuro's voice was calm as he analyzed the situation. "This must be the power of a Devil Fruit user."
Buggy nodded rapidly, like a pecking chick. "But what do we do? We can't hit them, and they can hit us. Doesn't that make them invincible?"
"There is no such thing as an invincible Devil Fruit ability." Kuro narrowed his eyes, every rustle and shadow within range falling under his awareness. "The user hasn't shown themselves. That means they're nearby."
"The weakness is the real body?" Buggy followed his reasoning.
"Just a hypothesis. We confirm it by finding them."
"And how do we find them?" Buggy glanced nervously between the looming mast castle and the circling ghosts. "Ah, wait—I forgot, you can use Observation Haki."
He flushed a little in frustration. He'd been one of the earliest crew members to learn about Haki, yet he'd never managed to use it himself—while Kuro and even Alvida had.
Kuro focused, searching, then locked his gaze in one direction. "Found her. A girl. Inside the castle across from us."
Buggy followed his line of sight—and sure enough, glimpsed a small pink figure darting past a window.
"It really is a girl…" he muttered in surprise.
"Doesn't matter if it's a man or woman. She's our enemy." Kuro gestured toward the floating ghosts. "Unless we deal with the user, these won't stop."
"Fine, let her see the price of messing with the great me!"
"Be careful of those ghosts."
"Yeah, yeah. Just don't let them touch me."
Kuro slipped Shusui into his satchel, then seized Buggy with one hand. Using Geppo, he leapt across the broken span of the bridge.
Buggy didn't mind being carried this way—he was used to it. They'd crossed the sea surrounding Thriller Bark like this before.
He even had time to look back—and when he did, his eyes widened.
"Kuro! The ghosts are chasing us!"
"I know!"
Kuro suddenly accelerated, his Geppo sharp and cutting like Soru, and in an instant landed on the other side, before the towering mansion.
The ghosts were still in pursuit.
Kuro dropped Buggy to the ground. "Forget them. Chase the user. The more she hides, the more it proves I'm right."
"Got it! Pound that brat into the ground!"
Cracking his knuckles, Buggy charged into the mansion. But as soon as he entered, he froze.
Kuro followed close behind. He sensed enemies ahead, but none with threatening power—so Buggy's hesitation puzzled him.
Then he looked up.
The corridor was blocked by a horde of patchwork animal plushies—yet these were zombies, stitched together from corpses.
And beyond them—Kuro's eyes involuntarily locked onto a giant figure.
It was the same girl he'd seen earlier—but enlarged, as though she'd become a towering giant in an instant.
She sat curled up in the hallway, hugging her knees. Her long pink twin tails were crowned with a tiara, and her black-and-white striped thigh-highs stood out vividly.
"Horohorohoro—" she chirped in a childish, tsundere-tinged voice. "Glasses-boy, who did you just say was running away?"
Buggy's face drained of color. "Kuro, this isn't what you said would happen! Why's she so huge?!"
"Something's off…" Kuro stayed composed, extending his senses again. He quickly confirmed his suspicion. "Don't worry. That isn't her real body. Likely another power of hers."
"Huh?" Buggy blinked in confusion.
"Tch." The last of the Mysterious Trio—the Ghost Princess Perona—realized her bluff had failed. She bit her nail in frustration. "You're the worst! Kumashi, Hippo Gentleman—grab them! I'll make them prisoners, just like that dark-eyed man!"
At her command, the zombie plush army lunged toward them.
At the same time, the white ghosts swirled in, cutting off their retreat.
Kuro frowned, thinking. Dark-eyed man?
"We're surrounded!" Buggy shrieked. "And you're still thinking about some 'dark-eyed guy'—wait… dark-eyed guy?"
It clicked for him too.
Kuro's focus sharpened. A realization struck. He charged into the horde of plush zombies, claws flashing.
With a vicious slash, he tore open the belly of a masked stuffed-bear zombie.
"Kumashi—!" Perona cried out in anguish.
From the shredded zombie tumbled a limp figure. Kuro caught him at once.
It was Trafalgar Law.
His eyes were shut, but his chest still rose and fell faintly. His sword, Kikoku, was gone.
"So it really is you…"
Kuro tapped at his cheeks, trying to rouse him.
Then he noticed something: on the floor, there should have been two shadows—his own and Law's. But there was only one.
Law's shadow had been stolen.
At once, Kuro recalled Ryuma's earlier words about "shadow bodies" and "flesh vessels." The puzzle clicked into place.
So this was how zombies were animated.
Which meant—Law's shadow now resided in some other corpse.
"Kuro!" Buggy was barely holding out, fending off both plush zombies and ghostly ambushes. He couldn't last.
Kuro understood—this wasn't the time to unravel mysteries. He laid Law down and leapt into the fray.
Fighting together, Kuro and Buggy made short work of the zombie army.
With a final slash, Kuro ripped apart the last hippo zombie, scattering its remains, then exhaled.
The giant Perona, still seated in the corridor, was stunned. One by one, her subordinates had fallen.
Since retreating with Moria-sama, she hadn't encountered enemies this fierce in a long time.
And worse—her ghosts no longer worked. With their guard up, Kuro and Buggy refused to be caught off guard again.
Perona had only managed to fell Law with her Negative Hollows because she ambushed him while Moria's Brick Bats kept him occupied.
But once the trick was known, it was far harder to repeat.
She'd need a new tactic.
Her eyes sparkled with mischief. The ghosts hovering above swirled, then dove down once more.
Kuro scooped up the unconscious Law, dodging with Buggy.
But strangely, the ghosts didn't strike—they only circled overhead.
Then they split, multiplying into dozens of smaller white ghosts, darting to block every path of escape.
"Trying to win with numbers?" Kuro frowned. With Law in his arms and Buggy at his side, he was weighed down by liabilities. "Be careful. They feel… different. More dangerous."
Buggy shrugged it off. At worst, they'd just make him act pathetic again. Embarrassing, yes, but survivable.
So when the miniature ghosts dove in, Kuro darted aside with Law. But Buggy, a moment slower, tried to split his body apart—
—and then saw the ghosts glow.
The next instant—
BOOM BOOM BOOM—
They exploded in a chain of blasts.
Though intangible to touch, they could self-detonate—tiny bombs of spiritual force.
A storm of explosions engulfed Buggy, reopening his half-healed wounds from Water 7.
He collapsed, bleeding heavily.
"Buggy!" Kuro realized the true threat too late, trying to rush to him, but more mini-ghosts barred the way.
Half-conscious, Buggy's vision blurred with regret. He watched Kuro being forced further away, while the massive pink-haired girl drew near. His breath quickened in panic.
"Horohorohoro—" Perona laughed. "No one can save you now."
Buggy's heart sank. Despair weighed heavier than even the touch of the Negative Hollows.
Then—
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump—
A heartbeat.
Perona heard it too. She froze, glancing around in confusion.
And from the floor, the fallen clown suddenly burst into wild, arrogant laughter.
"Hahahaha—! You're finished! The Captain is here!"