Perona had taken a completely different tactical approach from her earlier frontal assault. Using her Hollow-Hollow Fruit's ability to phase through solid matter, she had hidden her Negative Hollows within the floor itself, waiting patiently for the perfect moment to catch all the intruders in one devastating ambush.
"Horohorohorohoro! I told you fools not to come here and cause trouble!" she cried out triumphantly, her astral form floating above the three defeated pirates. "Finally caught you! Now try to stand up and show me that same arrogance!"
Several of her ghost projections danced through the air around the collapsed crew members, their translucent forms twisting and writhing as they mocked the pirates' current state of despair.
"Negative! Negative! Horohorohorohoro!" Perona continued her taunting, reveling in the sight of the once-confident pirates reduced to complete hopelessness.
"Kishishishi! I can always count on you, Perona," Moria's voice rumbled with satisfaction from his shadow construct. His massive form began to coalesce back into a more solid shape as he prepared to approach the helpless victims.
"Of course, Master Moria! Please accept these shadows as my gift to you," Perona replied with obvious pride. "Their shadows may not retain their Devil Fruit powers, but their strength and fighting spirit will make excellent additions to our zombie army."
Moria felt genuinely pleased by this turn of events. After all, Fire Fist Ace had just destroyed dozens of zombie soldiers that had taken considerable time and effort to create. Fresh, powerful shadows would help replenish his forces nicely.
The Shadow Doppelganger began moving forward with predatory intent, shadow tendrils extending toward the three motionless figures. "Kishishishi! Your shadows will serve me well in—"
"Wow, this is really something. What a spectacular show you've put on here."
The new voice cut through Moria's gloating like a blade. Jerry emerged casually from the shadows near the hall's entrance, his timing impeccable as always. In his hands, he held a small video Den Den Mushi, its eyestalks focused on the defeated crew members.
"Hey, thanks for the material," Jerry said with a grin, carefully tucking the snail-camera into his jacket. "As your guest, I hope you don't mind me collecting some exclusive footage. This is definitely going in my personal archives."
Before either Moria or Perona could react to his sudden appearance, Jerry launched himself forward with explosive speed. His leg swept through the air in a devastating arc aimed directly at Moria's shadow construct.
Moria reacted with surprising quickness for such a large figure. His corpulent shadow form immediately dispersed into countless bat-shaped fragments that swarmed toward Jerry like a living tornado.
"Kishishishi! Another one? Fine then—I'll take all your shadows together!" Moria's voice echoed from the swarm as hundreds of shadow bats dove at Jerry from every angle.
"You're pretty greedy for an onion, aren't you?" Jerry replied with his characteristic smirk, completely unfazed by the overwhelming assault.
"Fishman Karate: Torrential Rain!"
Jerry's technique had evolved significantly since his early days. No longer requiring proximity to large bodies of water, he could instantly gather moisture from the air itself. Countless water projectiles materialized around him, each one perfectly aimed at the incoming shadow bats.
The sound of impact filled the hall—bang, bang, bang—as Jerry's water bullets met Moria's shadow swarm in a spectacular mid-air collision. Despite not having the distance to build maximum velocity, the water projectiles were perfectly suited for countering Moria's numerical advantage. Each bat that was struck dissolved back into harmless shadow fragments.
While maintaining his assault on Moria's attack, Jerry kept his Observation Haki active, constantly monitoring Perona's position. He knew from his foreknowledge that her Negative Hollows were genuinely dangerous—not only could they completely incapacitate opponents temporarily, but in extreme cases, the overwhelming despair could actually be fatal.
"Ugh... Gah! I'm going to kill you! Damn ghost!" Ace groaned, finally shaking off the effects of Perona's attack. The realization that Jerry had witnessed their moment of complete emotional breakdown filled him with murderous embarrassment.
Deuce and Skull were also climbing to their feet, their faces flushed with humiliation and rage. All three immediately turned their attention toward Perona, clearly intent on revenge.
"Come on then! You can't do anything to me!" Perona taunted fearlessly. In her current astral projection form, she was completely immune to physical attacks, making her effectively untouchable. "Horohorohorohoro! Try to hit me, I dare you!"
Jerry watched their futile attempts to attack the incorporeal ghost princess with obvious amusement. After letting them exhaust themselves for several minutes, he finally spoke up with casual authority.
"You're never going to hurt her fighting like that. Go find her real body—if I'm not mistaken, she's in the room just past that corridor over there."
"Eh?! Damn it, why didn't you tell us that earlier?!" Ace, Deuce, and Skull all stopped their pointless attacks and turned to glare at Jerry in unison.
"Hey, I wanted to see more of your wonderful performance," Jerry replied with an unrepentant laugh. "That was some premium entertainment right there. Pure gold."
"Get lost!" all three shouted simultaneously.
Jerry's expression became more serious as he assessed the tactical situation. "Ace, come deal with onion-head's shadow. I'll handle finding Moria's real body myself."
Jerry had calculated that Deuce and Skull would be sufficient for dealing with Perona's physical form. As long as they used their speed advantage effectively, they should be able to reach her before she could mount an effective defense. Once they got close to her real body, defeating her would be simple—Perona was powerful at range but relatively helpless in close combat.
"Oh? Real body, you say?" Perona's voice carried a note of genuine concern now. "You talk like you know our abilities intimately. How interesting..."
"Negative! Negative!" Several more Negative Hollows materialized and shot toward the group.
"Not again! Everyone dodge!" Ace warned, and the crew scattered in different directions.
Skull attempted to counterattack with his pistol, but the bullets passed harmlessly through Perona's astral form. He exchanged a meaningful look with Deuce, and both nodded understanding—they would need to split up to increase their chances of reaching Perona's body.
"Kamikaze Ghost!" Perona called out, reading their intentions instantly.
A much larger, more ominous ghost materialized between Deuce and Skull just as they were about to separate. Unlike her regular Negative Hollows, this spirit crackled with explosive energy.
Both men reacted with split-second timing, placing their hands against each other's shoulders and pushing off in opposite directions just as the Kamikaze Ghost detonated. The explosion was massive, leaving a crater in the stone floor where they had been standing moments before.
"She's panicking! She's definitely panicking!" Deuce called out excitedly as he sprinted toward the corridor Jerry had indicated. "That proves Jerry was right about the location!"
"What?! You little—!" Perona's astral form betrayed her frustration as she realized her defensive reaction had confirmed the accuracy of Jerry's intelligence.
Cursing herself for losing composure, Perona watched helplessly as both men ran toward her location from different angles. Even if she scattered her Negative Hollows to pursue them, their speed and erratic movement patterns made it difficult to achieve solid hits.
Abandoning her position above the main battle, Perona's astral form flew swiftly back toward her physical body, simultaneously creating dozens of Mini Hollows to harass her pursuers. She began snapping her fingers rapidly, causing the small ghosts to explode in sequence.
But Skull and Deuce had learned from their earlier encounters. They ran in zigzag patterns, constantly changing direction whenever they detected incoming ghost attacks. Their straight-line speed suffered, but their survival rate improved dramatically.
As they approached the door to Perona's chamber, Skull took the lead and delivered a powerful kick. The wooden door exploded inward, splinters flying in all directions.
"Hahaha! Found it, just like Jerry said!" Skull called out triumphantly.
"Nice work!" Deuce replied, gesturing for Skull to take point. "I know you've got all sorts of weird stuff in that collection of yours!"
"Ah! Don't you dare come any closer!" Perona's astral form frantically tried to phase through the wall and return to her physical body before the intruders could reach it.
"Hey, I'm really reluctant to use this, but I guess you need to taste some of my special merchandise!" Skull announced, rummaging through his coat with a malicious grin.
"What exactly are you pulling out?" Deuce asked with genuine curiosity.
"Something sweet, fragrant, nutritious, and absolutely delicious," Skull replied with a sinister chuckle, producing what looked like a military-grade grenade decorated with skull motifs.
This was one of the more exotic items in Skull's extensive collection—an ultimate stink bomb crafted by a renowned military engineer. In addition to his display pieces, Skull always carried various practical collectibles for exactly these sorts of situations.
"Run for it! Close the door behind us!" Skull shouted to Deuce as he pulled the pin and hurled the device directly into Perona's chamber.
The two pirates slammed the door shut and sprinted away as fast as their legs could carry them.
Inside the room, Perona's astral form merged back with her physical body just as she regained consciousness. The moment her senses fully returned, she was assaulted by an indescribable mixture of the most horrific odors imaginable.
"What is that?! It stinks! Ugh! Help... help me... urgh!" Perona struggled to stand, desperately trying to escape the contaminated room. But after only two stumbling steps, the overwhelming stench proved too much for her constitution.
She doubled over, retching violently, her body rejecting everything in her stomach. The concentrated fumes continued to assault her senses until finally, mercifully, she collapsed unconscious on the floor, completely defeated by Skull's unconventional chemical warfare.
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