Zzzzt zzzzt zzzzt.
"Ahhh, I'm going numb, I'm going to be roasted!"
"Spare me, I didn't mean it!"
"Run, that maid is a devil!"
After passing through the small grove, Yami and the others entered a graveyard.
Like the trench with the Cerberus hellhound, the graveyard was another trial point, guarded by large numbers of zombies.
Outsiders who could not defeat the hellhound and these zombies would still have their shadows cut by Gecko Moria, but they were not worthy of mobilizing the three weirdos or the higher-grade zombies.
The zombies had just rushed out menacingly when, in the next instant, they scattered in panic.
Nami's body blazed with scorching blue-white lightning. Her small hand turned into living thunder and unleashed a mass of branch-like arcs that drowned the zombies ahead, charring them black and dropping them to the ground screaming.
Yet kind-hearted as she was, Nami had held back, and their shadows did not separate from the zombies' bodies.
Seeing this, the zombies outside the strike zone fled in all directions, opening a path to the castle.
Thus, Yami and the others reached the castle smoothly.
"Nami, give that great pirate a greeting."
Just as Nami was about to stride openly into the castle, Yami spoke with a smile.
Nami immediately grasped what he meant and nodded.
Her palm turned into blue-white current again. The current did not discharge at once, but began to compress.
If one quantified the electric heat, the value was skyrocketing by the second.
Before long, Nami finished charging and her palm flashed out of sight.
Thunder boomed above the castle.
A swath of dazzling blue-white light appeared out of thin air, flooding the dim sky with brilliance.
Then a colossal pillar of lightning roared down from the curtain of light, striking the castle from above.
The pillar carried astonishing destructive power. The massive castle had no ability to resist and half of it was blasted away.
Moreover, the pillar bored into the ground, gouging a vast hole that nearly pierced through Thriller Bark.
When the lightning faded, dozens of black shadows flew up out of the crater.
These were the zombies inside the castle that had been struck by God's Judgment.
Every Devil Fruit has weaknesses and counters.
Gecko Moria's zombies could be called undying in a sense, but they feared several things.
First, if a shadow was strong enough, it could break free of the zombie body on its own.
Second, salt. Zombies that consumed salt would have their shadows leave automatically.
Third, seawater. Being submerged in or ingesting seawater had the same effect as salt.
Fourth, flame. Burn the zombie to death and the shadow would return of its own accord.
The Logia Flame-Flame Fruit and the Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit were both nemeses of these zombies.
"Ow ow ow, it hurts. Who ambushed me?"
As the shadows flew up from the crater, a distinctive pained voice reached Yami's group.
The shadows split into bats, which hauled a gigantic figure up from the depths of the hole.
That giant was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a super rookie at the dawn of the Great Pirate Era like Crocodile, once bounty 320,000,000 Berries, known as the Hero of the West Blue: Gecko Moria.
"Lord Moria, are you okay?"
At the same time, a young girl in spirit form flew out of the ruined castle, asking with worried eyes.
Gecko Moria's nearly seven-meter-tall, bloated body was covered in scorch marks.
Since growing up, Perona had never seen a captain like her father in such a sorry state.
Perona's eyes were full of worry, while Nami's gaze was heavy.
Although Gecko Moria looked battered now, his body was only covered in char; there were no bleeding wounds.
And that God's Judgment just now had been Nami's full-power strike.
Even at full power, it had failed to break through.
So this was the strength of a great pirate recruited by the World Government.
A pirate of this caliber should also have Haki.
With that, Nami abandoned the idea of engaging Gecko Moria in close quarters.
"I'm fine. Perona, help me take these pests down. I'm going to cut their shadows."
Gecko Moria had noticed Yami's group and concluded they were the ones who destroyed the castle and left him this humiliated for the first time in years.
He dispensed with his usual flippant attitude and decided to finish them together with Perona.
"Yes, Lord Moria."
At his words, Perona shot a hostile look at Yami's group and, with a casual wave, created several negative ghosts.
Yami stepped to Nami's side and murmured, "Focus on Gecko Moria. Leave that girl and the others to me."
"Yes, Master."
Nami's expression hardened. She produced a folding three-section staff and snapped it into a golden staff.
Lightning flared. Nami became a bolt of living thunder and vanished.
An instant later she reappeared not far behind Gecko Moria and whipped out a thunder strike with the golden staff.
"A Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit user?!"
Gecko Moria did not react at once. Only after hearing the crackle of converging current did he turn in haste, his expression changing drastically as he shouted.
He did not scramble to dodge.
His shadow automatically became a shadow avatar and blocked Nami's lightning for him.
A shadow avatar could ignore any damage and would not vanish so long as Gecko Moria remained conscious and alive.
Even so, his delayed reaction made Nami's eyes flash.
Did this man not have Observation Haki, or did he fail to activate it in time?
Nami decided to keep testing.
She turned into lightning and disappeared again.
Unlike the previous long-range strike, this time Nami appeared right behind Gecko Moria and raised her hand, unleashing a torrent of current.
"Ahhh!"
The lightning was impossibly fast. Gecko Moria once again failed to react and screamed under the shock.
But in the next second, Gecko Moria vanished, and the figure being electrocuted became the shadow avatar.
It was clearly a spatial shadow technique that instantly swapped the positions of his body and his shadow.
Meanwhile, two negative ghosts flew toward Nami.
Maintaining her Observation Haki, Nami noticed but ignored them.
First, she had great confidence in her own strength and did not believe such ghosts could harm her.
Second, Master had said that the girl who looked about her and Carina's age, and the others, were his to handle. She only needed to focus on Gecko Moria.
As expected.
Before the negative ghosts could approach Nami, a reassuring voice sounded at her ear.
"Black Hole!"
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