After Luffy finished eating, his cheeks puffed up like a balloon, and he stomped forward angrily. Just then, a figure, still thinking about the flames from before, looked at the scorched earth in front of him and jogged to catch up with them, finally stopping behind Luffy, panting.
"Just now... I saw it. You are truly powerful. Could you listen to a few words from me?" The figure, holding an oil lamp, stood up, its light illuminating his face.
Luffy's eyes widened in shock, exclaiming, "An old man with severe injuries!"
Franky and the others also gathered around to look, their shark-like faces showing surprise as they shouted, "We told you it's a zombie!!"
"No... I am an old man with severe injuries," the bandaged man explained.
Everyone looked embarrassed and continued to roar, "Don't confuse people!!! Just say you're a zombie! Seriously!"
Luffy walked over and asked, "So, what do you want to say?"
The old man knelt on the ground, placing the oil lamp beside him.
"Although it's a bit embarrassing, I hope you can defeat someone. If it's you, you can definitely do it. As long as he is defeated, everyone can be saved, as long as we can get our shadows back..."
Luffy squatted on the ground with his arms crossed, looking at the empty space under the lamp. "Shadows... It's true, this old man doesn't have a shadow either, just like Brook. Who did this?"
The old man's hands trembled as he clenched his fists, leaving deep indentations in the dirt. His body shook violently, and a hint of fear appeared in his eyes... Finally, he managed to utter those three words: "Moriah!"
Robin's eyes widened in shock, and she quickly walked over.
"Moriah... Do you mean Gekko Moriah?" Her voice was filled with astonishment and disbelief.
The old man's voice also trembled, and he said in a pleading tone, "That's right... It's that Moriah."
"Robin, do you know him?" Luffy stood up, asking with a puzzled expression.
"Hmm... I'm very familiar with that name. His bounty used to be even higher than yours, and now he has become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea," Robin replied, her brow furrowed and her expression grave.
When Orochimaru heard the name, he paused his tea-drinking. He remembered that Gekko Moriah was the one who provoked Kaido when that great genius was dancing naked in the streets, and then got beaten into a slump, right?
""But what is that guy doing in this place?" Orochimaru said," Robin relayed.
The man's voice was a bit sorrowful. "I don't know either, but many people like me have had their shadows stolen and wander in this forest. You too, since you've been lured to this place, it means Moriah has set his sights on you."
Tears kept falling from the man's eyes. "Either stay in this gloomy forest, afraid of zombies crawling around, or go out to sea, but even then, you'll still be afraid of the sun and will die sooner or later. This body can't live on like this anymore. At least give me one chance before I die, just one chance. I want to walk under the sun!!"
Luffy squatted on the ground, looking at the lamp. "Well... we were already looking for the culprit who stole the shadows. Since that guy has set his sights on us, I'll just send him flying. That way, you'll be saved too, old man."
""You're not strong enough to beat him," Orochimaru said," Robin's message-relay function came online again.
A vein popped on Luffy's forehead. "I told you! Tell him to come out and say it himself!!!"
Continuing their journey, Luffy and the others finally arrived in front of a building. A drop of rain fell on Luffy's hat. Luffy subconsciously looked up but saw no rain.
His head was covered by a giant black umbrella. Outside, it was pouring rain. Luffy looked at the oversized umbrella in Robin's hand and blinked, "Woah!"
Robin pointed to the backpack behind her, indicating that Orochimaru had prepared it for them.
Luffy pursed his lips, thinking, "Alright, I'll forgive him for now... It's not because of the umbrella, though."
"Speaking of which, there seems to be a huge thing behind that house. Is it some kind of symbol?" Luffy put his hand on his head, trying to look into the distance.
As the fog dissipated, Franky looked at the object and murmured, "That's a sail, isn't it..."
Just then, a voice suddenly appeared by Franky's ear: "That's right... that's a sail."
The group instantly made shark-like faces and shouted in unison, "Why are you still following us!"
The man scratched his head awkwardly: "Gomen gomen... I just wanted to get out of the rain... and this umbrella is really huge."
"As that young man said, that's a sail, but it's too massive, so we can't see its full extent. This Thriller Bark is the world's largest pirate ship, carrying an entire village."
"(✧ ⌂ ✧) Awesome!" Luffy's eyes sparkled.
"The building behind the castle is the main mast. Gekko Moriah is there."
"Yosh! Let's go!" They entered the castle and arrived at a large door.
"Excuse me, is anyone home?" Luffy greeted, pulling at the door. Finding it locked, he directly smashed a hole in the lock. "Ah... it opened, it opened. Excuse me for intruding."
Zoro looked at Luffy speechlessly. Who taught him such polite manners?
They walked into the room and found the decorations very peculiar. The walls were covered with various hanging paintings, each looking unusually eerie. As they gazed at these paintings, something unexpected happened—a pig in the uppermost three-dimensional painting suddenly moved! It seemed displeased by this group of uninvited guests, letting out provocative laughter.
"Knowing the master's great name, yet daring to intrude here, what remarkable courage! Come, let's welcome our guests!"
With the pig's unusual movement, the entire space seemed to activate. The figures in the other murals also began to change. Their originally still bodies gradually became active, one by one transforming into terrifying zombie figures, baring their fangs and claws as they lunged at the group.
Seeing this, Luffy not only showed no fear but his eyes lit up with excitement. His tongue even turned wavy, and he let out a series of exclamations: "Oh~ oh~ oh~~~" ヾ(*Ő౪Ő*)
However, just as Luffy was about to charge forward, he suddenly remembered something and quickly turned to Orochimaru, shouting, "Hey! No burning!"
At the same time, Sanji angrily kicked a zombie in the face, loudly demanding, "Where did you hide Miss Nami and the others!!!"
Robin, with a blank expression, instantly twisted two zombies into a pretzel, saying coldly, "Since the paintings are so beautiful, don't come out of them. How disappointing."
Franky, with a serious expression, grabbed two zombies, one in each hand, and slammed them together.
The last two remaining zombies were also cut down by Zoro, including the carpet bear. Luffy watched all this, dumbfounded, instantly turning red-hot, with steam rising from his head.
"You guys!!! At least leave one for me!! I'm the Captain!" Luffy roared furiously.
"Ah... We weren't paying attention, next time for sure." Everyone replied in unison, half-heartedly.
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