It was a room that clashed completely with the rest of Thriller Bark.
The walls were white, with large windows framed in gold. The floor was covered in green grass, and scattered near the walls were colorful balls as large as a person, decorated with stars, along with enormous stuffed animals and cute decorations.
In the middle of it all sat a girl calmly drinking tea while what looked like a giant teddy bear trembled in fear before her.
The girl had pink hair tied into twin tails and large black eyes.
She dressed in a gothic yet cute style, combining light colors like pink and red. She wore a red skirt with decorative details, a white long-sleeved blouse that exposed her midriff, and over it a small red cape fastened with a ribbon. She wore a crown, black-and-white striped stockings, and red boots.
This unusually beautiful girl was Perona, one of the few humans who worked for Moria.
In the middle of this tea party, one of the ghosts appeared, the same kind capable of driving people into depression.
"Someone's coming?" Perona frowned.
Before reaching where she lived, whoever it was would have to pass through Hogback's mansion. It wasn't that he was invincible, but if things got complicated, he would usually warn so they could assist him—or at least prepare themselves. This time, however, no warning had come.
"It doesn't matter! No one can defeat me!" Perona stood up, but immediately fell silent as she grabbed the ghost and turned pale. "Tell me, it isn't that handsome white-haired boy, is it?!"
The ghost quickly shook its head, making Perona sigh in relief. Besides her, no one had ever been able to touch her ghosts.
"In that case, let him come! Horo horo horo!~"
Filled with confidence, the girl laughed.
*Boom*
A blast of electricity shattered the front door, interrupting Perona.
"Impossible! How did she get here so fast?! What about the guard zombies?!"
....
"I guess this is the place," Nami said, resting her staff on her shoulder.
She looked around curiously. It was a huge chamber with rock walls, floor, and ceiling. Aside from the pillars supporting the structure, there was nothing else.
"It doesn't look like anyone's he—..." Nami swallowed nervously.
"Horo horo horo!~" A mocking laugh echoed up from the floor.
Nami immediately went on guard. A moment later, Perona emerged straight through the floor like a ghost.
"I don't know how you got past all my friends, but this is the end of the road!" Perona declared.
More Negative Hollows appeared around her, floating through the air.
"You!" Nami exclaimed. The humiliation those ghosts had put her through was still fresh in her mind. Electricity surged around her before disappearing.
"What?!" Perona was startled, and before she realized it, Nami's staff had pierced her abdomen. No, it did pass through as if she were intangible.
"Impossible!" Nami landed on the other side and quickly turned around.
"What a shame!" Perona mocked as her body grew larger. "You'll never defeat me! Horo horo horo!~"
"Are you a ghost?!" Nami's face turned pale for a moment. Neither her powers nor Armament Haki had worked. She didn't know whether Armament Haki simply couldn't affect ghosts, or if her Haki just wasn't strong enough.
"If only I were stronger... or if I had Conqueror's Haki..."
Armament Haki was only meant for offense and defense. Conqueror's Haki, however, could suppress the spirits of others.
'No, calm down. You're letting fear get to you!' Nami took a deep breath and steadied herself. 'I'm not the same person I used to be!'
Seeing Nami regain her composure, Perona smiled dangerously and attacked at once. A ghost shot out of her hand at incredible speed toward Nami.
"My turn, Negative Hollow!"
"Too slow!"
Nami disappeared once again, but this time she didn't attack Perona. She ran.
Thinking she was about to be attacked, Perona instinctively covered herself, even though she was technically invincible in her ghost form. Realizing she'd been tricked, she flew into a rage and chased after Nami.
"Wait!"
Nami didn't stop. She searched everywhere.
She remembered what Allen had said. This girl had the power to create ghosts with her Devil Fruit, and if Nami thought about it carefully, there was no reason she couldn't turn herself into a ghost as well. The important thing was finding her real body.
Nami searched room after room, finding several zombies inside. These were different from the cemetery zombies or Hogback's creations. They were zombies fused with animals and stuffed toys to appear "cute" in a creepy sort of way. She mercilessly defeated every one of them.
"Damn you!" Perona screamed.
She kept chasing Nami, but it was impossible to catch her. All she could do was watch the charred remains of her beloved pets as their shadows left their bodies.
....
Meanwhile, Robin calmly walked through the gloomy area like an explorer. She wore a short black dress and carried a backpack with her belongings.
"I suppose it's too much to hope for another Poneglyph, isn't it?"
Robin shrugged. Since joining Allen's crew, she had already found two more Poneglyphs than she had during her twenty years as a fugitive. Expecting every island to have one would be asking too much.
It was true that Thriller Bark itself was a miracle, but there were no traces of an ancient civilization that might interest her.
"Hm?" Robin looked toward a bridge. She sensed someone approaching with her Observation Haki and quietly waited.
"Hey! Monkey! Monkey! Monkey!"
A gigantic tarantula with a monkey's head emerged from beneath the bridge.
"You're not getting through! The great Tararan will stop you!"
Robin calmly observed the creepy creature without changing her expression.
"I didn't have to do that..." Robin said as she crossed her arms. "One Hundred Flowers!"
Arms bloomed all around Tararan, restraining him completely.
"Impossible! Why can't I move?!"
"My Devil Fruit allows me to create copies of myself, either whole or just parts. At first it was rather weak, because no matter how many arms I created, they only possessed my own strength as a base... but..."
Tararan turned pale. Robin suddenly looked terrifying.
"Now, with the strength I've gained... and my Haki... well, why don't you experience it yourself... Crunch!"
The arms tightened, crushing the monkey tarantula's bones into pieces. He collapsed to the ground, still alive, but unable to move or even speak.
Robin walked over and examined the creature with interest.
Tararan had turned deathly pale. How was it possible that he, one of the strongest zombies, had been defeated by Robin without even managing to launch a single attack?
"That Hogback really was a degenerate if he created something like this... though I do wonder where he found the corpse of such a giant tarantula."
Robin turned around and calmly walked away. She had completed her mission, and honestly, she didn't like this place very much.
Robin
Physical: Level 50 (95 million)
Armament Haki: Level 40
Observation Haki: Level 41
....
Absalom ran through the forest, nearly back in his own territory.
"They'll pay for this!"
The lion-faced man intended to borrow the strength of his army of General Zombies.
"They'll definitely pay! But I'm still taking one of them as my wife!" he said, licking his lips.
Even after the humiliation and danger he had experienced aboard Allen's ship, Absalom's degenerate nature remained the same.
"You really are a disgusting person..."
Absalom's eyes widened, but he couldn't react before a shadow descended from the sky and slammed a kick into his back.
AAAHHHHRRRGGG!!
Unlike a zombie, the man could feel pain. It felt as though his back had shattered. Even with bones stronger than a normal human's and the muscles of a monster, they were crushed in a single blow.
As he was defeated, his invisibility wore off, revealing Absalom before Mikita, who looked at him with utter disgust.
"What a revolting man. Inside and out, you're disgusting. Did you really think someone like you could steal a woman from my captain?~"
Absalom clenched his teeth. His anger outweighed his pain as he glared at Mikita with hatred, blood dripping from his mouth.
Seeing that expression, Mikita looked offended.
"Stop acting like the world owes you something. We're pirates. You're a bastard, and I'm not a good person either. When people like us clash, the winner takes everything. Just like you turned the losers into zombies, now you've been crushed by a superior crew..."
Absalom trembled in frustration, but he couldn't say a word.
"I've got good news and bad news. I'm not going to kill you, but my captain gave me different orders... and you're not going to like them.~"
Mikita smiled, making Absalom turn pale.
Soon, his screams echoed for miles.
Allen had one absolute line that could never be crossed: his crew. It didn't matter that Absalom had never had any chance of succeeding. The moment he targeted Allen's crew instead of Allen himself, his fate had already been decided.
....
The doors of a chapel opened, and Uta stepped inside curiously. There, a boar dressed in a wedding gown was praying.
The moment she sensed Uta's presence, the boar reacted instinctively, leaping to her feet and taking a fighting stance with her two massive katanas.
"Who are you?!" she shouted.
"Hello. Are you waiting for someone?" Uta asked with a smile.
The humanoid boar was Lola, one of the strongest General Zombies. Yet for some reason, she looked terrified. For only a brief instant, she had sensed something incredibly dangerous coming from Uta.
"What are you doing here?! Are you trying to steal my love?!" Lola began getting angry.
"That depends." Uta blinked before blushing. "Is your beloved the most handsome young man in the world, with white hair and silver eyes?"
Lola blinked and thought about it. As much as she loved Absalom, he wasn't handsome at all. Realizing Uta was talking about someone else, she sighed in relief and relaxed.
"I see, you're not a thieving cat!~" Lola smiled as she sheathed her katanas on her back.
"No, that would be Nami," Uta teased.
"Nami?"
Lola frowned as her body started growing larger, but Uta laughed and quickly explained that Nami was indeed a cat burglar—just one who loved treasure instead of men, with the sole exception of her captain.
Lola relaxed again and began chatting with Uta. The two got along surprisingly well, but things ended much sooner than expected when the chapel wall exploded inward, and a group of armored zombies marched inside.
Every one of them was a General Zombie.
And every one of them looked tense.
"What's wrong with you?!" Lola shouted angrily.
She was supposed to marry Absalom in this chapel. How dared they destroy it?!
"What's wrong with you, Lola?! How can you sit there with that thing like nothing's happening?!"
Lola froze.
It was as if an illusion had shattered. Turning around, she saw Uta standing there quietly. She didn't understand why, but she noticed that Uta's wings and part of her clothing had turned black.
"Uta-chan?"
"I'm sorry, Lola. You're a good girl, but we're at war with your crew right now, so I have to destroy all of you.~."
The generals drew their weapons—swords, pistols, claws, crossbows, war hammers, and maces. These men were no ordinary zombies. They had been created from the corpses of famous warriors from around the world, some even legendary figures.
Yet despite that, they all wore the same expression.
Fear.
Fear of Uta.
"Well then... disappear for now!"
A massive shockwave swept through the chapel. It wasn't an illusion created by her Devil Fruit, but tangible power. The weaker half of the General Zombies couldn't endure it, and their souls immediately left their bodies.
"Huh? I thought that would be enough. I guess you really are some of the strongest zombies."
Uta tilted her head before smiling as her hands became coated in jet-black Armament Haki.
"This isn't really my style, but I'll do it the old-fashioned way."
Uta
Physical: Level 250 (475 million)
Armament Haki: Level 200
Observation Haki: Level 200
Conqueror's Haki: Level 200
Devil Fruit: Uta Uta no Mi
....
'Stay calm,' Nami thought.
After failing to find Perona, she had begun to panic, but she remembered that she had to stay calm. It was fine. Even if she couldn't defeat Perona, Perona was in the same situation.
Perona laughed as she chased after Nami.
"No matter how much you run, it's useless! Horo horo horo!~"
Despite the taunts, Nami didn't lose her composure. She closed her eyes and spread her Observation Haki throughout the area. Even if Perona's real body currently had no soul inside it, that didn't mean it was dead. She should still be able to find it!
"There you are!"
Nami unleashed a bolt of lightning that blasted through a wall. On the other side was a bed, with a flesh-and-blood person sitting on it with her eyes closed.
"Ehhhhhh?!" Perona's eyes and mouth flew open in disbelief.
Nami smiled wickedly, raising her open palm toward Perona as lightning crackled around it.
"You understand now, don't you?" Nami mocked.
Perona turned pale before collapsing onto the floor in tears.
"I understand! I lose! Waaahhh!"
"So... what do I do now?" Nami looked at Perona awkwardly. What kind of pirate burst into tears after losing? After thinking for a moment, she remembered Allen's face and smiled.
"Congratulations."
Perona looked at Nami in confusion, unable to understand why she was being congratulated.
"You've just been promoted... to hostage.~"
"Huh?" Perona blinked.
....
"Arghhh!"
Inside the largest tower, Gecko Moria was blasted into a wall before collapsing to the floor, gasping for air. His body had been burned, electrocuted, and beaten without ever being able to defend himself.
"I-Impossible..."
Moria had been waiting for news from Hildon, but when the bat returned, he wasn't alone. He had brought Vivi and Allen with him.
Moria immediately recognized Allen as the famous rookie pirate. Without a second thought, he attacked. He wanted Allen's shadow, so he decided to capture him personally.
The result was total defeat.
It wasn't simply that Allen was stronger.
It was a completely one-sided beating.
Worst of all, Allen's lazy gaze and bored expression made it obvious he wasn't even taking the fight seriously.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Not again!" Moria screamed in frustration. "I'm going to lose everything all over again!"
"Again?" Allen stopped attacking. "You know, I heard you once tried to conquer the land of Wano. You failed after facing Kaido and ended up fleeing to Paradise. Is that true?"
Moria ground his teeth in rage.
"You're wrong! I wasn't trying to conquer anything! I was trying to save Wano! My homeland!"
"...!" Allen's eyes widened.
Gecko Moria was the villain of a badly told story.
Long ago, he had been the first person to stand against Kaido, trying to stop him from taking Wano. He fought Kaido while no help ever came. Even so, Moria battled the Emperor for three entire days, and by the end had even wounded Kaido's crew.
The price, however, was that every one of his companions died.
Everyone except him.
Broken and believing himself betrayed, he fled into hiding and decided to replace his fallen comrades with immortal zombies.
"It was all because of him! That's why I'll get my revenge! I'll create the strongest army in the world and defeat Kaido!"
Allen silently watched the man before speaking.
"Pathetic."
"What?! Are you mocking me?!"
"Yes."
Moria's body began swelling as the shadows of every zombie throughout Thriller Bark left their bodies and flew toward him.
Allen shook his head and struck Moria with such force that it interrupted his transformation.
"URGH!"
Moria crashed to the floor.
Not even his strongest technique could compete with Allen.
He vomited, overcome with helplessness.
"I always thought it was strange," Allen said indifferently. "Whenever I gain one of someone's abilities, it usually comes with the user's real name. But when I got one of yours... it didn't say, Gecko Moria. Do you know why?"
Moria froze.
Then he stared at Allen with wide eyes.
"Kaido won't be defeated by a pathetic man with no will and a pile of corpses. You know that, don't you?"
Moria trembled.
Deep down, he had always known.
It was all pointless.
Before the power of an Emperor, a mountain of corpses would accomplish nothing.
But clinging to that dream was all he had left.
Even if it was pathetic.
Even if it was ridiculous.
Even if he hated himself for it.
"Damn it!" Moria slammed his fist into the floor helplessly.
"You know, Haki is an incredible power. It allows people to compete against abilities that defy reality itself, no matter how unfair they are. But it requires immense spirit and willpower. Without them, you can even lose the ability to use Haki."
Allen looked directly into Moria's eyes.
"That's what happened to you, isn't it?"
"Shut up! Stop mocking me!"
"I'm not," Allen replied. "On the contrary... I respect you."
"What?" Moria's eyes widened.
"You were capable of standing against Kaido, even before the legendary Oden. That's why seeing you like this disgusts me. You're not the Moria I want to fight."
"..."
"Fortunately, I can change that..."
Allen smiled as he grabbed Moria by the face.
"Distorted Future!"
White smoke engulfed them.
Moria's body began to slim down, strengthen, and transform, as though he were reclaiming his former glory.
No...
It was even beyond that.
"Let go of me!" Moria shouted.
"Ha!"
Allen released him and stepped back with a smile.
Within the smoke, the silhouette of a tall, demonic-looking man appeared. As it cleared, Moria stood there. But instead of his ridiculous outfit, he wore rock-style clothing, and an enormous sword rested on his shoulder.
"What's happening?!" Moria stared at his own hand in disbelief.
It was like his younger self.
"What did you do, Allen Walker?!"
"I simply turned you into what you should have been. A future where you never lost your will. A future where you never broke. A future where you're still someone worthy." Allen smiled as he summoned a sword, but not just any sword. It was Ace, Gol D. Roger's sword.
Moria clenched his teeth. Allen was a monster if he truly possessed such a power... Yet instead of fear, Moria smiled.
"You'll regret this, Walker!"
"I hope so... Gecko Moria." Allen's smile widened. "No... Kozuki Moria!"
Both men charged at each other with their weapons in hand.
In the center of the tower, their blades collided.
The clash released a bolt of lightning, the unmistakable sign of two Conquerors' Haki colliding.
The impact was so powerful that it split the sky and shook the very atmosphere.
====
A/N: The result of this was clear: without Haki, it's impossible to defeat someone who has it. 👀
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