Luffy, furious that most of the food from the ship had been stolen, and Sanji, enraged at Absalom for peeping on Nami while she was bathing, went on a rampage, cutting down the zombies. Their onslaught was so fierce that the salt they had prepared seemed utterly unnecessary.
That said, the zombies couldn't be defeated by mere punches and kicks. Feeling neither pain nor anything at all, they simply got back up again. When their spirits were broken by Perona's ghosts, even the weakest zombies, the Soldier Zombies, had no trouble capturing Luffy and Sanji.
Usopp, Chopper, Nami, and Robin hurriedly provided cover and pushed forward. However, just as they passed through a staircase and into the next room, Oars leaped down from the mast, destroying the stairs and sending Usopp, Nami, and Sanji plummeting to the floor below.
Luffy's group stopped in surprise, but knowing it was pointless to stand there, they pressed on and encountered Hogback. While Chopper and Robin dealt with Hogback and Cindry, Luffy went ahead, finally reaching the freezer where Moria was supposed to be—only to find copious bloodstains and the freezer itself smashed to pieces.
"Hah, hah… where are you, you giant onion!!"
Luffy caught his breath, scanning the area, but he couldn't find Moria anywhere. Looking down from the railing, he saw that the bloodstains continued below. Though there was no proof they were Moria's, he figured it was better than searching aimlessly, and so Luffy leaped down, following the trail of blood.
The bloodstains led at regular intervals into the forest behind the mansion. Though it was nearly morning, visibility was still poor due to the night's mist. He thought the trail might continue deep into the forest, but to his surprise, Moria was near the entrance. Though he was far more bloodied than when Luffy had last seen him, Moria stood tall and imposing, showing no signs of exhaustion.
"There you are, you giant onion!!"
"Hah…? What do you want, you bastard?"
"'What do I want'!? Give us back our shadows!!!"
"…Ah, that from before. Hmm…"
Moria moved his body lightly, as if to check his condition, and then his gaze fell upon Luffy. It was not the gaze of someone pondering the demand to return their shadows, but rather one considering how to dispose of the problem.
"…Total annihilation, perhaps?"
To silence him, that would be the fastest way.
The moment Moria decided, he instantly punched Luffy square in the face, sending him flying. Given the size difference, it was a punch from a crouching position, but Luffy took it head-on and was blown away. However, being a rubber man, he was surprised but unharmed.
"Damn, that surprised me! Your punches don't work on me!!"
"Punches don't work? An ability user?"
Moria stopped Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Gatling by grabbing his arms, then swung him around and slammed him headfirst into a forest tree. Of course, Luffy was not damaged, but Moria clenched and unclenched his hands several times, checking his condition, and in the next instant, both his hands were dyed black.
It was Armament Haki.
As Luffy charged in again without a plan, Moria countered with a punch to the face. Luffy, who had not expected to take damage, writhed in pain.
"I-It hurts~~~~!! Damn it, you can use that Haki thing too!?"
"Hoh, so you at least know of Haki's existence. But if you can't use it, it's all the same."
Dodging Moria's follow-up punch by a hair's breadth, Luffy managed to escape and activated Gear Second. Moria looked suspiciously at the steam rising from his body, but before he could question it, he was sent flying by Luffy's attack.
"I know you're strong. I'm not holding anything back!!"
He knew from the start that his opponent was one of the Royal Seven Warlords. Remembering his fight with Crocodile, he knew this was not an opponent he could afford to hold back against. Indeed, Moria, who should have been sent flying, was perfectly fine, standing up as if nothing had happened and glaring at Luffy.
Luffy used Soru to move at high speed to Moria's side and launched an attack. But Moria, without even looking, dodged it by ducking slightly and grabbed at Luffy. However, Moria's arm missed without Luffy even needing to dodge, and Luffy, seeing an opening, sent it flying with an attack.
"What are you trying to do!?"
"Tch. With such a difference in physique, this is difficult…!"
Luffy didn't hear Moria's whispered complaint. He focused his Haki to meet Luffy's charge.
Dodging Luffy's bullet-like fist at the last possible moment, Moria slammed a punch into the side of Luffy's face, knocking him to the ground. He followed up with a punch from his other arm, but Luffy rolled on the ground and avoided it. He then used a JET Stamp to kick Moria in the stomach, creating distance and regaining his posture.
"This should be good for a warm-up… but it's not what I should be prioritizing right now."
"What are you talking—whoa!?"
Several arrows rained down like a bombardment from Luffy's blind spot, felling the trees. In the instant he was distracted, Moria closed the distance. An arrow pierced the ground at Luffy's feet, and as he hesitated to move, Moria's fist had already been swung.
With a deafening roar, Luffy was sent flying deep into the forest and fell into a waterway that had been built within the island. Luffy was a Devil Fruit user. If he fell into the water and there were no crewmates to save him, his life was forfeit.
As if his business was done, Moria turned his back and began to head back to the freezer where he had been.
"I have acquired a fine ability. Fufufu… oh, I'm sorry, Kishishishi! Was it?"
The thing that was undoubtedly in Moria's body muttered this and then vanished.
…
The separated members of the Straw Hat crew were each fighting their own battles. Usopp had defeated Perona, and Zoro had defeated the samurai Ryuma, who held Brook's shadow. Hogback, accompanied by several zombies including Cindry, was still in the midst of his fight.
And with the exception of Franky, who was rescuing Brook, the remaining Sanji and Nami—were currently being chased by the General Zombies.
They were zombies of wanted criminals who had once made a name for themselves on the sea. The shadows within them were from equally skilled individuals, making them extremely troublesome opponents, combined with the zombie trait of feeling no pain.
"Hey, Sanji-kun!! Do something about them!!"
"I'd love to do anything for you, Nami-san, but this is a bit much!!"
They were already outnumbered. On top of that, they couldn't find their target, the invisible man. Sanji had fought valiantly to make him pay for the crime of seeing Nami naked, but if he wasn't careful, they would be captured again. He wanted to avoid that at all costs, and with Nami so close, he also had to devote his attention to protecting her.
He had to rendezvous with the others and then do something—or so he thought.
The zombies had stopped dead in their tracks.
"…? What's wrong with them?"
"I don't know what's going on, but this is our chance, Nami-san! Let's meet up with Moss-head and Usopp's group while we can!!"
Though Nami found the zombies' behavior suspicious, for now, escaping was the priority. She ran to meet up with the others as Sanji had said, and the zombies' strange actions soon slipped from her mind.
…
"Fosfosfosfos!!! How pathetic, Dr. Chopper!!"
Hogback, with several zombies at his command, had pinned down Chopper and Robin and was laughing triumphantly. He himself was a man who had pledged his loyalty to Moria in exchange for being able to forcibly command the corpse of Victoria Cindry, the woman who had rejected him, by his side. No matter what Chopper said, it would never reach the man who could not bear the fact that the woman who was supposed to have found happiness after rejecting him had died in an accident.
As he had done until now, he would likely spend the rest of his life modifying corpses and offering them to Moria.
—Or so it should have been.
"W-What's that!?"
The mansion shook with a rumbling sound. It was probably Oars, moving about in a big way. With a frame more than twice the size of a giant, his weight was considerable, and if he were to land nearby after jumping, it was entirely possible for the mansion to shake.
"Is he still having trouble controlling Oars…? I think Moria-sama will be fine, but…"
It was the first time he had manipulated such a giant monster with a shadow. It wouldn't be surprising if something unexpected had happened. If anything were to happen to Moria, Hogback would be in trouble as well. He judged that he should quickly finish things here and go to Moria's aid, and turned his gaze to Chopper and Robin.
"Unfortunately, this is where we part ways. I'll turn you into Marionettes and use you as this genius's assistants!! Get them, Jigoro!!"
He ordered Jigoro, the zombie containing Zoro's shadow, to kill the two. But Jigoro seemed distracted and showed no signs of carrying out the order. Hogback, with a suspicious expression, gave orders to the other zombies, but they were all similarly distracted.
Of course, Cindry, who was beside Hogback, was no exception.
At the sudden turn of events, Hogback grew flustered, while Chopper and Robin, at the unexpected opportunity, moved to restrain him.
"I don't really get what's happening, but this is our chance!"
"Yes, let's restrain him while we can."
"Damn it! What's going on!! You useless thing, won't you listen to me!!"
Hogback struck Cindry down with a powerful blow. Cindry did not resist; in fact, she was muttering something with vacant eyes.
"…Order received."
"Hah!? Are you going to listen to me now!? Then get on with it and finish them off!!"
Cindry slowly rose to her feet, a plate in her hand, and used it as a weapon—to smash it against Hogback.
The hard sound of the plate shattering echoed through the room, and then she smashed the plate in her other hand against him again.
As Chopper and Robin stared wide-eyed at the sudden turn of events, the zombies behind them charged. Their movements were different from before, when they had been trying to capture them. They were clearly trying to kill them.
As for Hogback, he had likely been knocked unconscious by Cindry's attack to his head, and he lay on the ground, not moving a muscle.
"What's going on!? Aren't these zombies supposed to listen to them!?"
"…We should assume something unexpected has happened."
"Something what?"
"I don't know. But I don't think it's anything good."
Robin pointed, and the zombies were muttering to themselves.
"Order received from Moria-sama… 'Annihilate all living beings on this island.'"