With Hogback's techniques, Blackbeard—who had suffered no additional injuries aside from his severed head—was quickly stitched back together. Before long, a lifelike, intact corpse lay on the operating table.
Yet after finishing the procedure, Hogback didn't immediately step away. Instead, he lingered, surgical tools in hand, curiously tracing lines over Blackbeard's body.
Unlike Oars, who had been dead for five hundred years, or the mummified Ryuma who resembled a dried-up zombie…
This was the first time Hogback had felt the power of fresh flesh and blood from such close range.
For a moment, the man who made his living through science couldn't help but feel tempted—he wanted to probe the secrets hidden within Blackbeard's body.
Just then, the mechanical sound of a door opening rang out.
Red and a swaying Moria stepped into the operating room.
"It should be finished by now, right?"Red asked, having watched Hogback closely for quite some time, half-afraid the man might suddenly stab Blackbeard again.
Realizing his chance was gone, Hogback put away his inappropriate thoughts, hid the scalpel behind his back, and gave an awkward grin.
"It's complete, Lord Red!"
"Gihahahaha~"
Moria, striding forward with his peculiar gait, paid little attention to anything else and eagerly approached Blackbeard's corpse.
Though he himself was no longer considered strong, his once-glorious perspective allowed him to recognize the sheer power of the body at a glance.
"What a perfect zombie!"
Moria burst into laughter in admiration, but in the next moment his tone shifted.
"Still, it's a pity—he's missing an arm."
"And for such a perfect zombie, finding a matching shadow won't be easy."
"You don't need to worry about any of that,"Red suddenly interjected, cutting off Moria's concerns.
With a smile, he shot a look at Usopp behind him.
Understanding immediately, Usopp raised his hand and used his Devil Fruit ability to release two objects from his body.
One was the heavily injured, unconscious Golden Lion.
The other was the Seastone arm he had dismantled from Z's body!
Lacking the technology to forge Seastone, the powered arm had been left unused ever since it was removed.
Now, paired with Blackbeard's half-disabled corpse, it finally had a purpose.
As for the unconscious Golden Lion…
That went without saying.
What shadow could be more suitable for Blackbeard's body than that of a man who once stood at the pinnacle of piracy?
A top-tier shadow of the world's strongest + a fresh corpse of the world's strongest!
Only such a combination deserved to be called the ultimate zombie!
Seeing the two items on the ground, realization dawned on Moria instantly, his eyes flashing with excitement.
At that moment, he finally understood why Red had always sneered at his zombie army.
Compared to this kind of grand move, everything he'd done before was child's play!
"Gihahahaha~"
"You really do keep surprising me!"
Moria laughed gleefully, then immediately ordered his men to bring over his signature scissors and spotlight.
While Golden Lion remained unconscious, Moria acted swiftly—one clean motion, and he extracted Golden Lion's shadow from his body.
Before the proud shadow could struggle, Moria forced it straight into Blackbeard's corpse.
In an instant—
Blackbeard's stiff muscles suddenly bulged, and a heartbeat-like pounding echoed through the silent operating room like war drums!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A body that was clearly dead suddenly showed signs of life once more.
Blackbeard's eyes snapped open.
A terrifying aura erupted from his body, surging outward like a raging tidal wave.
"This is!?"Red froze for a split second, then immediately loaded the Three Legendary Birds template and used Light Screen, shielding everyone present from the sudden pressure.
Beside him, Moria's face filled with shock—
—but in the next moment, that shock was replaced by radiant excitement.
"This is… Conqueror's Haki!?" Moria shouted in ecstasy.
A kingly soul combined with a kingly body—even possessing the potential for kingship wasn't that outrageous.
But as the Shadow-Shadow Fruit user, Moria had never imagined his ability could create a zombie capable of Conqueror's Haki.
It was simply…
"Unbelievable…" Moria muttered in disbelief.
Red, however, kicked Moria lightly in the leg.
"Don't just stand there gawking!"
"Hurry up and suppress the shadow's personality—take control of this new zombie as fast as possible!"
"Ah… ah!"Moria snapped back to his senses, overjoyed. A dark-purple shadow identical to himself surged up from beneath his feet.
"Doppelman!!!"
Two massive shadow demons charged toward the newly awakened Blackbeard.
But at that very moment, Blackbeard abruptly stood up, an overwhelming aura radiating from him as his gaze swept arrogantly across the room.
"Where is this place!?"
"And who the hell are you!?"
As he spoke, Blackbeard reached out, as if about to act—
Then suddenly, his expression froze.
"Strange…"
The resurrected zombie Blackbeard looked down at himself in confusion.
"Why am I not flying!?"
"I'm the ruler who dominated the world from the skies, damn it!"
Roaring loudly, the habits inherited from Golden Lion burst forth.
Yet after the sound faded, the operating room fell into a dead silence.
Even Moria and the Shadow Doppelman, who were about to suppress him, stopped in place—watching as Blackbeard repeatedly thrust his clenched hands forward, confusion deepening on his face.
"Hey, Red…"Usopp, already prepared to defend or flee, couldn't help whispering,
"Could it be that this guy messed up in surgery and turned stupid?"
"Nonsense! My surgery can't fail!"Hogback immediately snapped back, glaring at Usopp.
"If he's stupid, then he was stupid to begin with!"
"It has absolutely nothing to do with my operation!"
"Bastards!!!"
"What did you do to me!?"
Perhaps because Golden Lion's shadow was too powerful, even after nearly a minute as a zombie, Blackbeard still retained Golden Lion's behavioral habits.
Hearing that Hogback had operated on him, he immediately turned his gaze toward the flamboyantly dressed doctor hiding behind Red.
Whoosh—
A golden slash, like Tempest Kick, burst from beneath zombie Blackbeard's foot and cut toward Red and the others.
"Slash Wave!"
Without the famed blades Kogarashi and Oto, the slash lacked Golden Lion's sharpness.
But empowered by Blackbeard's younger, stronger body, its might rivaled Golden Lion's true attacks!
"Watch out, Moria!"
Seeing the stunned Moria frozen in place, Red instantly Teleported forward and stood before everyone.
"Reflect!!!"
BOOM!!!
A transparent barrier appeared, sealing off half the room.
The ferocious slash slammed into it, erupting in a deafening roar—yet it couldn't advance even an inch.
In the next instant, before zombie Blackbeard could react, a pitch-black spatial vortex opened beneath his feet, swallowing him whole.
Afterward, Red glanced at Moria and warned him calmly.
"Moria, you really need to train your Devil Fruit ability properly."
"Otherwise, next time you won't be this lucky."
"…I understand."Staring at the massive gash carved into the wall, Moria swallowed hard, quickly recalled his shadow, and followed Red into the Hyperspace Hole.
As the creator of the zombie, Moria's presence could suppress its self-awareness, turning it into a puppet under his control.
That was precisely why Red had scolded him.
From zombie Blackbeard's behavior, it was clear Moria's suppression had barely worked at all.
A single Luffy shadow had once let Oars run rampant and nearly tear the Thriller Bark apart…
Who knew what a zombie infused with Golden Lion's shadow might do?
They had to gain control—fast.
The scene shifted.
Red and Moria appeared on a wave-washed rocky shore.
Not far away stood zombie Blackbeard, freshly teleported.
Sensing their presence, he turned instantly, hostility locking onto Red.
"Brat! Where is this place!? Who are you people!?"
Though memories were fragmented, the obsession within Golden Lion's shadow caused zombie Blackbeard to feel a deep, instinctive hatred toward Red.
Red only scoffed.
"A dead man sure puts on a lot of drama."
His body transformed instantly—one half crackling with brilliant lightning, the other releasing chilling frost.
Avoiding flames that might permanently damage the zombie, Red refrained from using Moltres' power.
After all, this was just a corpse carrying Golden Lion's shadow—hardly worth going all out.
His goal was simple: stall zombie Blackbeard until Moria fully gained control.
And so, an unexpected battle erupted on the outskirts of Thriller Bark.
The island shook like an earthquake.
Roaring lightning and azure ice crystals illuminated the dark night with breathtaking grandeur.
Time passed slowly under Red's relentless effort.
When the moon vanished and life-filled golden light rose from the horizon…
After a night of nonstop combat, Master Red finally dismissed the Three Legendary Birds form and downed a Super Potion.
"Finally over!"
The newborn eastern light bathed the coast of Thriller Bark, warming Red and Moria alike.
"Gihahahahaha…"
Under the sunlight, Moria suddenly threw his head back and laughed wildly.
"I did it! I actually did it!!!"
He stared excitedly out at the sea.
Zombie Blackbeard—fused with Golden Lion's shadow—now possessed strength on par with an elite Yonko commander!
Though still slightly below the very top, the gap wasn't large.
At the very least, this zombie now rivaled Moria at his peak!
And such a terrifying existence was now under his command!
"Cough, cough!"
Just as Moria imagined returning to the New World with an army of zombie Blackbeards—kicking Kaido, punching Whitebeard, and ruling as a new overlord—
Red's cough snapped him out of it.
Red stared at him seriously.
"Nearly six hours to fully suppress one zombie…"
"Moria, your mastery of your Devil Fruit is painfully superficial."
"I remember you have a move called Shadow's Gathering Ground, right?"
"Since we're here, I'll have Usopp catch a few small Sea Kings."
"Your task is to absorb their shadows into yourself using that technique—turn them into your own power!"
"Remember this! No matter how strong your zombies are, they're just tools."
"Only your own strength earns real respect!"
Speaking as a Trainer, Red openly critiqued Moria and laid out his future training plan.
Under Red's gaze, Moria scratched his head awkwardly.
"…Y-Yes… I understand, Lord Red!"
"Good."
Red nodded, then waved his hand, summoning a man-sized Hyperspace Hole.
As he stepped toward it, he added,
"Oh, and one more thing…"
"Usopp will probably stop by later with some high-quality corpses and shadow candidates."
"But I've got a meeting to attend, so I won't be coming back."
"You and Hogback handle the rest—process everything quickly to avoid unnecessary losses."
With that, Red vanished like an irresponsible tyrant CEO.
Leaving behind a stunned Moria and a blank-faced zombie, staring at each other on the breezy shore.
"…Weren't we partners?"Moria muttered.
"Why does it feel like he's treating me like a subordinate now!?"
Confused but powerless, Moria could only lead zombie Blackbeard back to the operating room—
Where, per Red's instructions, he had Hogback install the Seastone arm.
(End of Chapter)