Brooke's negative ghost effect gradually faded.
He watched Zoro chasing after Perona's spirit form and muttered under his breath:
"Every one of them is a monster… especially that other man. He feels even more terrifying than Moria."
A chill ran down Brooke's spine.
He had slipped into Thriller Bark only to reclaim his shadow — but today, the ones who came here were clearly not ordinary invaders.
Staying here any longer was asking for death.
He decided to run.
Before he could take a step, a sinister laugh echoed behind him.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Brooke stiffened.
When he turned around, a lion-faced man slowly appeared in thin air, materializing out of nothing.
"Absalom. The Clear-Clear Fruit user… just like that ghost girl Perona. One of Moria's top officers…" Brooke whispered in fear.
Absalom grinned, baring his fangs.
"You skeleton seem to know us well. Tell me — what's your relationship with those two weirdos? The swordsman and the other one."
He was referring to Roxing and Zoro.
He had been invisible nearby and had seen everything that happened.
The reason he hadn't shown himself earlier was simple:
he sensed the same terrifying aura from Roxing that Brooke did.
He hadn't dared to reveal himself.
Brooke shook his head furiously.
"I don't know them! This is my first time seeing them!"
"Hmph!" Absalom snorted. "We'll see if you still say that after facing Lord Moria. Come with me!"
Brooke screamed as Absalom dragged him through the corridors, down into a massive underground prison — hundreds of meters deep.
This prison held the corpse of the most fearsome giant in history: Oars.
Oars had died of frostbite decades ago, but through Doctor Hogback's twisted modifications, the giant's massive body had been restored.
All that was missing was the right shadow.
Once implanted, the corpse would become the strongest, most brutal zombie in the world.
Moria had waited years for that day…
he wanted to use Oars to take revenge against Kaido of the Beasts.
As he was fantasizing about that glorious future, Absalom arrived with a skeleton.
Moria looked over lazily.
"What? Another ship wandered in?"
It happened often.
Every year, pirate ships accidentally strayed into the Florian Triangle…
and never escaped again.
Their shadows were taken and used to animate zombies.
That was how Moria built his army.
Absalom nodded.
"There are two intruders."
"And why didn't you drag them here already?!" Moria snapped.
Usually, Perona or Absalom would simply capture anyone who wandered in.
Absalom's tone grew heavy.
"These two are strange. Perona's Negative Hollows couldn't touch one of them at all. Even the mini-ghost bombs didn't work…"
Moria's eyes gleamed.
He heaved his fat body upright, teeth glinting as he laughed.
"Heh-shi-shi-shi… Strong ones, finally! Excellent. Perfect shadows for Oars!"
"Where are they?"
"They went to find Perona's real body."
"Oh? They dare harm my subordinates!?"
Moria's face twisted into a vicious grin.
"Hogback! Gather the zombie army. I'm taking their shadows!"
Hogback rushed off.
Moria and Absalom headed toward Perona's quarters, dragging the trembling Brooke along.
At the same time.
Roxing had already arrived at Perona's real body.
The room was a hidden chamber — well concealed.
But Observation Haki made such things meaningless.
Standing by the bed, he found Perona's true body sitting with her head lowered, leaning against a round bed.
Roxing lifted her twin-tails.
A shrill scream erupted behind him.
"Y-You… You actually touched my hair! Let go! Take your filthy hands off, you brute!"
Roxing released her calmly.
"I was only checking the quality of the flower. Seeing if it was worth collecting."
"What?! You dare treat me like a flower, you shameless man!"
Perona was furious beyond words.
She had never met anyone so infuriating.
She tried to summon Negative Hollows, to make him kneel and apologize —
but they couldn't touch him.
Even her mini-ghost bombs failed.
"Damn it! I'll use the Special Hollow — the Kamikaze Bomb! I'll blow you to pieces!"
As she prepared her ultimate move, Roxing casually scooped up her real body with one hand.
"Want to blow me up? Go ahead."
Perona froze.
"Oh no! My real body is in his hand! Why didn't I think of that earlier!?"
At that moment, Zoro finally arrived.
He charged forward, sword swinging.
"You damned ghost woman! You made me look like an idiot!"
Just remembering the humiliating things he'd been forced to say made him burn with shame.
He had never been so embarrassed in his life.
His swords sliced straight through Perona — without leaving a mark.
Roxing said calmly:
"That's just her spirit form. Physical attacks won't work. Her real body is with me."
Perona screamed.
"Give me back my body!"
"No." Roxing smiled. "Your Negative Hollows are too annoying. Even I don't want to touch them. I'll return you after I finish dealing with Moria."
Negative Hollows were strange.
The stronger you were, the more likely they were to affect you — as long as you had negative emotions.
The weak, on the other hand, had so much negativity that they could bypass the effect entirely.
Usopp was the perfect example.
Of course, a strong enough will — or Conqueror's Haki — might resist it.
But Roxing wasn't interested in trying.
He didn't intend to end up kneeling like Zoro.
That would be terrible for his heroic image.
Perona shrieked:
"Lord Moria will turn you all into zombies!"
She had barely finished when Moria arrived with his zombie army in tow.
"Heh-shi-shi-shi! Two fools who don't know their place! Hand over your shadows while I'm still being nice!"
Moria waddled forward — fat belly, thin neck and legs, grotesquely disproportionate.
One glance was enough to know his physical strength was nothing like before.
But he remained arrogantly unaware.
Roxing glanced at the group.
The first thing he noticed was Absalom — every man's dream… invisibility.
If he ever ate a Devil Fruit, that would be his first choice.
But he pushed the thought aside and looked at Moria.
Roxing spoke lightly:
"Gecko Moria. My father-in-law Kaido asked me to pass on a message."
"You're getting weaker and weaker."
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