The horrifying scene before her made Perona's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets, her jaw hanging so low it almost scraped the ground.
Even the four cartoonish negative ghosts she had summoned acted human-like, shrinking back behind her and peeking out with terrified expressions.
Perona could hardly believe it—her entire zombie army had been obliterated in a single strike.
How could the so-called minions of the enemy be this terrifying? They were even scarier than that lightning man!
Behind her, Absalom, who had just finished marching out five hundred zombie soldiers and generals, froze in shock as well.
If Perona's four hundred animal and horror zombies had been destroyed instantly, how many strikes could his own undead troops possibly withstand?
This time, the enemies who had boarded the Thriller Bark were absurdly strong—far beyond anything they had prepared for.
"Papa Kuma, why'd you act so quickly?!" Bonney—shrunken back into her nine-year-old form—pouted, but her eyes sparkled with excitement when she noticed that more undead were still swarming toward them.
Fortunately, there were plenty left. She loved dealing with these bizarre playthings.
"Zombies, huh? What an interesting ability," Trafalgar Law muttered, examining the grotesque, half-rotted figures. His face remained impassive—after all, he was a surgeon who enjoyed dissecting people.
"Disgusting creatures," Capone Bege sneered, pulling out a spotless white handkerchief to cover his nose. For a mafia don with a streak of fastidiousness, the stench of rotting corpses was unbearable.
"One can kill a man once. But a zombie?" Lafitte's pale theatrical mask stretched into a sinister grin. "You can kill them twice." His sword, the Elephant Blade, extended unnaturally as he prepared for slaughter.
"I think I've seen them before…" Kuma's deep voice rumbled as he studied the figures of the zombie generals pushing forward. Some of them looked eerily familiar—like Captain John and the great pirate Silver Axe, whom he'd glimpsed during the God Valley incident.
"That samurai… his blade is a black sword?" Law's eyes gleamed as he noticed the undead samurai Ryuma drawing the legendary Shusui. He hefted his own cursed blade, Kikoku, his heart quickening. Perhaps Shusui's grade surpassed even his own sword.
"Yoho! Those zombies look strong!" Bonney's tiny fists clenched with eagerness. She couldn't wait to test herself against these powerful foes.
"Many of those zombies… they resemble infamous pirates who once bore bounties." Lafitte chuckled coldly. It seemed Moria had been collecting the corpses of legendary pirates for years.
"Destroying them won't help. Their shadows don't return to their owners… they're being pulled back into Moria himself," Kuma observed grimly. The shadows of the three to four hundred zombies he had already blasted apart had been drawn straight into Gecko Moria, absorbed by the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.
The only way to free them was to knock Moria unconscious.
With a sigh, Kuma gathered another compressed air cannon in his palms.
"Papa Kuma! Leave the strong ones to us!" Bonney shouted, her eyes fixed on Ryuma, Captain John, and Silver Axe. "You can deal with the fodder, but let us play with the generals!"
"…Fine."
Kuma launched another massive Paw Cannon into the swarm, obliterating the zombie soldiers numbered 400–799.
Absalom panicked, shouting orders for his remaining undead to scatter and fight independently. He quickly cloaked himself in invisibility, retreating into the shadows like Perona had done earlier.
"Wahoo! Let's go!" Bonney charged at an armored zombie general wielding a colossal battle axe.
"I'll take the samurai!" Law lunged toward Ryuma, hungry for his black blade.
"Then I'll handle Captain John!" Lafitte swooped forward, eyeing John's Western saber and ornate flintlock pistol—legendary relics of the New World.
"Kuma, my friend," Capone Bege muttered, exhaling smoke with exasperation, "I really wouldn't mind if you just blew them all to pieces…" Still, he released a horde of mafia underlings from his body, their machine guns chattering as they riddled the zombies with bullets.
"Don't worry. I'll handle what remains." Kuma smiled faintly and pushed forward, protecting Bonney as she gleefully engaged in battle.
At that moment, a massive crimson dragon descended from the sky, its claws clutching a skeletal figure. The dragon shifted into a human form—Souta Kiryuu—placing the bones gently upon the deck.
"We'll help you reclaim your shadow," Souta said calmly. "In exchange, serve under me for five years."
The skeleton adjusted his top hat, bowing respectfully. "I accept. You have my gratitude."
It was none other than Brook, the Soul King, wielder of the Revive-Revive Fruit.
For forty to fifty years, he had wandered the Devil's Triangle, unable to leave. Four years ago, his ghost ship had crossed paths with the Thriller Bark. Moria had stolen his shadow, dooming him further—without it, sunlight would kill him instantly.
Alone and powerless, he had tried countless times to reclaim it, but even Ryuma the zombie samurai had been far beyond him.
If this young man—this dragon—could return his shadow and lead him out of this cursed sea, five years of servitude was a small price to pay. What was five years compared to the endless decades he had already lost?
"Welcome to the crew, Brook," Souta said with a warm smile. But in truth, his curiosity burned. The secrets of the Revive-Revive Fruit might hold keys to realms beyond—perhaps even the underworld itself.
One day, when Souta Kiryuu ruled this world, he would go beyond the obsessions of past emperors seeking immortality. His aim was higher: to explore not only the seas and stars beyond this world, but also the mysteries of life, death, and the realms that lay between.
"Thank you, Captain." Brook's voice was earnest. Decades of solitude had nearly driven him insane, forcing him to converse only with himself. Now, he was overjoyed to speak with real comrades once more.
BOOM!
Explosions rocked the Thriller Bark as lightning split the skies.
"It seems our allies are doing well," Brook said, hollow eye sockets gleaming with new hope.
"Let's go. Let's see how they're faring," Souta replied with an easy smile. To him, this fight against Gecko Moria was little more than a training exercise—a chance to temper his crew.
He trusted Kuma, the ever-reliable guardian, and Enel, the vanguard lightning god.
At the Gothic castle's gates, the battle was fierce. Enel and Moria clashed in a storm of thunder and shadows.
Moria, having absorbed hundreds of zombie shadows, unleashed his terrifying Shadow's Asgard giant form.
Enel, however, had fully embraced his Raijin state, his body blazing with divine electricity.
Old might versus new blood.
But the years had dulled Moria's edge. Even with six or seven hundred shadows coursing through him, he faltered under Enel's relentless lightning strikes, shrieking as the bolts burned him again and again.
The tide of battle had turned.