After the humiliating defeat of the curly-browed Oars, Gecko Moria could no longer sit still.
He realized that the Straw Hat Pirates weren't just lucky—they seemed to be actively toying with him.
Based on their actions since arriving on the island, it was impossible that they hadn't discovered his presence.
Why was he so sure?
Because the moment Oars was sliced in half, Nico Robin suddenly appeared beside him.
She covered her mouth with one hand, laughing as she mocked him.
"Hehehe... are you having fun? If you don't make a move soon, you'll be the only one left."
With that, before Moria could even react in anger, the Robin before him suddenly dissolved into a flurry of petals.
It was just a clone.
After Robin disappeared, Moria felt a chill run down his spine!
That woman was right—this was his current reality.
Think about it:
One of his top subordinates, Absalom who had eaten the Clear-Clear Fruit, said he was going to "harass" Nami and Robin.
But contact with him had been lost over half an hour ago.
And now this woman, Robin, had appeared before him unharmed.
Did the outcome for Absalom even need explaining?
The only question was whether he was dead or just crippled.
Another subordinate, the genius zombie doctor Hogback, had called him an hour ago saying he had successfully lured the "Tanuki" and "Longnose" into the dissection room.
Then, less than two minutes later, Moria saw a massive explosion in the direction of the dissection room.
Shortly after, the entire building collapsed.
Moria knew very well that with Hogback's limited combat abilities, he was either already dead or buried alive under tons of rubble.
His most confident zombie, the samurai Ryuma, had been defeated not long ago by that green-haired swordsman.
Another trump card, Captain John's corpse, was still wandering around, but the shadow used to animate the zombie was too weak.
Facing this terrifying group of bullies, it would be nothing more than a suicide mission.
Now, the only ones still obeying his orders were a bunch of weak, ordinary zombies and his one remaining trusted aide: the Ghost Princess Perona.
Thinking about all this, aside from feeling incredibly aggrieved, Moria seemed to sober up quite a bit.
"Sigh... I really have to use my trump card now."
So, he ordered Perona to try ambushing a few more people to buy time.
Moria himself headed out the door to face the invaders.
…
Present.
Why was Luffy the only one fighting in this earth-shattering battle against Moria?
Because Usopp and Chopper were still buried under that collapsed building and, for some reason, hadn't emerged yet.
And Zoro, Sanji, Robin, Nami, and Franky had fallen into Perona's trap.
While they were busy fighting the General Zombies, Perona had secretly extended her Negative Ghosts from beneath their feet.
So, although these five instantly defeated the zombies, they were subjected to the ultimate "punishment" of being repeatedly passed through by the ghosts.
Luffy, on the other hand, had chosen not to stick with the main group and ran off alone like usual.
So he luckily avoided Perona's ghosts and instead encountered Moria, who had just stepped out the door.
Thus, the battlefield ended up split like this.
…
On the "Negative" Battlefield.
Perona controlled her maximum number of ten ghosts, repeatedly passing them through the five people before her.
The high-intensity use of her ability severely drained her stamina.
But she didn't dare stop.
Because if she did, these five monsters would likely snap out of their depression instantly.
She absolutely couldn't withstand an attack from any one of them.
Before her, five pirates knelt on the ground, pounding their fists against the floor, endlessly spouting negative words:
Zoro: <(＿＿)> "I'm truly worthless... I couldn't even protect Kuina. I deserve to die... I should just be moss on a rock..."
Sanji: ╯︿╰ "A scumbag like me... always screwing over my teammates because of women... dares to dream of finding the All Blue? I'm guilty... I'm just organic garbage..."
Robin: ＞﹏＜ "This world doesn't need a hypocritical woman like me... How could I possibly be worthy of discovering the world's truths? I should just turn into dust..."
Nami: (T▽T) "I really am a money-grubbing woman who exploits my comrades... I should have died at Arlong's hands back then... waaah~~"
Franky: {{{(>_<)}}} "I'm such SUPER trash... I should be dismantled and sold to the scrap dealer for pennies... I'm not even worth recycling..."
These five people appeared weak, yet they occasionally showed expressions and movements of resistance.
Their wills were fighting back!
Perona could only continuously strengthen her ghost energy, hoping that Lord Moria would quickly defeat Luffy.
Because if this dragged on any longer, the people before her would adapt to the Negative Ghosts.
And her stamina was depleting faster and faster.
As for why she didn't have other zombies come harvest the five people currently pounding the ground in despair?
It was because right after she successfully ambushed them, Moria had panicked and absorbed all the zombie shadows on the island into his own body.
Thus, there were no usable zombies left on the entire island to perform the harvesting.
As for whether Moria could live up to Perona's expectations?
The conclusion was.... Unlikely.
Because even this enhanced Moria—who had absorbed all the island's shadows, gained significantly more power, and grew to nearly Oars' size—was now locked in a losing battle.
Luffy swung his giant Gear Third 'Elephant Gun', furiously attacking the enormous Moria.
Moria blocked with his shadow fists, shocked to discover his strength wasn't superior to this Straw Hat Kid's.
The 'Shadow Spikes' he used to ambush Luffy were easily dodged by him.
This indicated the opponent's strength might genuinely surpass his own.
Moreover, maintaining this massive shadow absorption enhancement had a very limited duration. His mind was slipping.
He had to end this quickly.
...
Ten minutes later.
A skeleton, a longnose, and a tanuki appeared near Perona.
Brook, who had already arrived on the island earlier, first helped Chopper and Usopp clear away the rubble burying them.
Mainly because Chopper was still debating whether to take a Rumble Ball or not, and Usopp was worried his Pop Greens might hurt him if they exploded at such close range.
So the two were hesitating and dawdling under the rocks.
But Brook had seen the overall situation—he didn't feel confident handling Perona alone, so he went to pull these two helpers out.
After seeing the current situation, Usopp and Chopper immediately headed toward the direction of the kneeling five.
Thus, Perona found herself in dire straits.
Meanwhile, Luffy was growing bored with the fight.
Having become increasingly proficient with advanced Armament Haki, he decided to give Moria a thrilling experience.
"Gear Third... GOMU GOMU NO RED ROC!"
A gigantic fist, brilliant as a shooting star and wreathed in flames, came crashing down toward Moria's head.
Moria roared, concentrating all his Haki and shadow power into his arms to collide with the descending meteor.
"Damn it! Such immense power—it's destroying me from inside!"
"But I still have to challenge Kaido! How can I fall here?! AAAAAAH!"
To any outside observer, the events on Thriller Bark today would seem like the Moria Pirates exhausting every means just to resist the invading "Evil Straw Hat Pirates."
In reality, they got dismantled pretty easily!
...
Meanwhile, in the New World, at the ruins of Wano Country's Amigasa Village.
The woman who called herself Kozuki Oden had arrived before Ray.
Behind Ray, Cavendish wore the expression of someone who had done something wrong.
Like a dog that chewed up a slipper.
To show off, he had claimed that his Boss was Ray.
Upon hearing Ray's name, 'Oden' immediately became excited.
"Ray?! That person from the Straw Hat Pirates?! I never thought I'd run into him today!"
Afterward, this woman who called herself Oden demanded that Cavendish take her to meet Ray immediately.
She wanted to discuss a collaboration with him.
Cavendish thought it over carefully—since this woman was no match for his Boss anyway, he might as well take her along.
But as soon as they arrived on the scene...
"RAAAAAAAAAAY!!!"
The woman suddenly shouted Ray's name at the top of her lungs, shattering the silence.
Even though Ray knew Cavendish had brought someone with him, he was someone who always preferred peace and quiet.
Being startled by such a loud noise naturally irritated him.
As a result, Cavendish, who had been glared at by Ray's icy eyes, now looked like a child caught stealing cookies.
He nervously fidgeted with his fingers behind Ray, full of grievance.
'It wasn't me, Boss! She's crazy!'
Ray, meanwhile, calmly observed the woman before him.
He prepared to verify whether her purpose for coming was exactly as he had guessed.
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