Luffy's voice rang out through the cavernous foyer, echoing off cracked marble pillars and tattered banners. His grin was impossibly wide, eyes sparkling with unrestrained excitement.
"Hello! Is there anyone called Gecko Moria here!?"
Lucas leaned against a shattered suit of armor, arms crossed, tone dry. "Yeah, sure—why don't you yell louder and let every enemy on this island know we've arrived?"
Zoro scoffed, one hand resting on the hilt of his blade. His voice was low but amused. "Suddenly getting cold feet about facing a Warlord."
Lucas shrugged, glancing at Luffy's impatient stomp. "I'm trying to tell our captain that situations like this should be dealt with caution." He waved a hand as if brushing dust off his shoulder. "Oh, never mind."
Zoro eyed the dusty halls. "You'd think a mansion this size would have at least one servant."
Sanji drifted forward, cigarette ember glowing in the dim light. "Looks like there was a fight in here. I hope Nami didn't get hurt."
A soft, sinister chuckle crackled above the roaring fireplace. The stuffed boar's head that hung there sprang to life, its hollow eyes gleaming. "Buhihihihi! You know the master's name!" The tapestry behind it rippled—and dozens of painted soldiers and a giant bear-skin rug shuddered and leapt from their frames and floor.
"Let's properly welcome our guests!" they howled in unison, charging forward.
Sanji flicked ash from his cigarette, calm as ever. "Zombies, right?" With a flamboyant kick, he sent a painted pikeman crashing back into its gilt frame. The wood splintered under the force.
the Straw Hats burst into motion. Zoro dashed in, a blur of green blades, cutting through another zombie painting with two simultaneous slashes that sang through the air.
Luffy's arm shot out, stretching ninety feet across the room, delivering a thunderous "Gomu Gomu no Gatling" that rained fists on the animated bear rug.
Franky whooped, launching himself into the fray with mechanized limbs blazing. "Super!" He detonated a Franky Radical Beam, searing through a charging horde.
Amid the chaos, Luffy yanked the boar's head from its hook. It flipped and snarled, revealing that the pig was wearing the stuffed disguise. Luffy's eyes gleamed as he prodded it. "Where are you hiding our friends?"
The pig squealed, pointy teeth chattering. "Upstairs… asleep… hehehe…"
Before anyone else could move, Lucas stepped forward in a ripple of emerald light. His form elongated, ears tapering into graceful points; fancy elven robes materialized around him. He raised a hand before the pig's snout. A glowing circle spiraled into being on the stone floor, tendrils of light binding the pig's gaze. The creature's eyes grew huge under the spell.
Lucas's voice was calm steel. "What are you truly plotting?"
Under the hypnosis, the pig muttered, voice trembling, "To lure you here, trap you… so our master can steal your shadows and make more unstoppable soldiers…"
Franky whistled, eyes wide. "Woah, that is one twisted plan."
Robin's arms folded as she analyzed the pig's words. "It must mean Gecko Moria can steal shadows and implant them into corpses, animating them as his personal army."
Zoro spat out a chuckle. "What a strong Devil Fruit, that is." turning around he then muttered "Say where'd Curly-Brows go?"
The pig, still glazed-eyed, cackled. Lucas narrowed his gaze. "Is there any way to reverse the zombification?"
The pig squeaked, "Salt… eat salt, and the shadows escape…"
Luffy whipped out a bottle of salt and dumped salt into the pig's mouth. Instantly, a living shadow burst free, twisting and darting skyward like a wisp of smoke.
Zoro growled, "You could've at least waited until we finished asking questions!"
"Oops," Luffy grinned sheepishly, stuffing the empty flask away.
Franky scratched his head. "Where'd you even get that much salt?"
Lucas's eyes glittered with excitement. He conjured a handful of salt from thin air—and scattered them over the fallen, reanimated corpses scattered across the floor.
Franky leaned over to Luffy. "What's he doing now?"
Luffy shrugged, as they left Lucas going ahead. In a swirl of midnight-black energy, Lucas's body transformed again—this time into a skeletal lord in ebony robes, his eye sockets glowing pale blue. He let out a hollow laugh that echoed off the walls.
"Part of me wanted this form to create… Death Knights," he declared. Three reanimated corpses at his side cracked bone and rattled chains, rising into hulking, armored figures.
"Now, follow me, my Death Knights," Lucas commanded, stride regaining confidence following after the others.
Moments later, distant clangs and battle cries reached them. Lucas raced down the corridor, the Death Knights stomping in lockstep behind.
He burst into the main hall just as Luffy, Robin, and Franky were surrounded by eleven zombie knights.
Lucas raised his gauntleted hand and roared, "Death Knights! Attack those eleven!"
Three Death Knights charged in perfect formation—The first swung a massive greatsword that unleashed rippling shockwaves, cleaving through three undead knights in a single arc. The second leapt skyward, ghostly chains flailing, snaring another knight and yanking it into the ceiling with a bone-crushing crack. The third ground its spiked mace into the marble floor, sending fissures racing toward two more zombies and shattering them into dust.
Luffy stretched up, grabbed a spear mid-flight from one of the zombie Knights, and yanked his opponent into a "Gomu Gomu no Rifle" salvo that sent the knight's helmet spinning off down the hall.
The first Death Knight swung its blade in a downward spiral, leaves of spectral flame carving a circle that immolated two collapsing figures.
The second trotted forward, slamming its chain-shackled fists into the ground—earth and bone splintered in a radial explosion, finishing off another.
The third hurled its mace like a boomerang; it arced through the air and returned, smashing the final knight into a hail of fragments.
Silence fell. Dust motes spun in shafts of torchlight. The Straw Hats and Death Knights stood victorious. With that, they pressed deeper into the dark heart of the mansion.
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