Inside the castle's grand hall, on the main seat, lounged a near seven-meter-tall demon-like giant. His scallion-flame hair flared upward; horns jutted from his brow; fanged teeth glinted; cross-stitch scars ran from head to neck. He wore a bat-collared shirt beneath a baroque, gothic coat, and his lower half was a rotund barrel.
One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea—Moria.
Standing below, awaiting orders, were his three trusted lieutenants: the Invisible Man Absalom, the Ghost Princess Perona, and the "genius surgeon" Hogback.
All four felt the aura rolling in from afar. They didn't look alarmed—if anything, excitement stirred on their faces.
"Congratulations, Lord Moria," Absalom said, offering flattery. "Looks like we've netted ourselves a big fish this time!"
Hogback nodded. "We might even get a shadow better suited for Oars than the one we prepared."
"Mn—hurry it up," Perona yawned. "I still want to go back to sleep."
"Where's Ryuma? Send him to meet them," Moria ordered.
"Ryuma went after that salt-throwing bastard," Absalom muttered. "He won't be back right away."
"That guy has the zombies' one and only weakness in his hands," Hogback said, rubbing his chin. "He's thrown us into chaos lately. We have to catch him soon."
"Perona, assist them. Deal with the intruders before they reach us."
After a moment's thought, Moria decided to lead with his trump card.
"With the princess taking the field, victory's guaranteed," Hogback and Absalom said approvingly. They knew well how terrifying Perona's "negative ghosts" were. Back when their crew was chased by the Navy, she'd flattened a heap of vice admirals with that single move.
One woman, a match for a thousand troops.
Taking care of a few impolite uninvited guests? Child's play.
But just as the three moved to carry out Moria's orders, that distant aura climbed even higher.
Something else joined it—
A sovereign, overwhelming presence of absolute dominion?!
For a heartbeat the whole world seemed to tilt. An invisible, mountain-heavy might pressed in from every direction.
"Thud!"
Hogback, the weakest of the three, dropped to his knees at once.
Absalom was drenched in sweat and forced to one knee, face gone bloodless.
Perona wasn't much better.
"Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki)?!" Moria stood up, sweat beading on his brow.
Plenty in the New World had Haoshoku. But few could put pressure on him like this.
Which meant the intruder, even if not quite admiral-class, was at least on Doflamingo's level.
He was wrong. The intruder was more than that.
"Damn it, Absalom, what were your scouting zombies even doing? Now we've provoked a real monster," Hogback snapped. These days Absalom had been in charge of the "giant mouth" ambushes that swallowed passing ships. If there was blame to assign, it landed on him.
"Enough! This is a rare chance. The stronger he is, the stronger the zombie we'll gain!" Moria, however, chose to gamble. The foe was strong, but not necessarily unbeatable—and he still had Perona.
"Urk!"
The Haoshoku intimidation surged again, harder—enough to make the entire castle tremble.
The intruder had reached the front gates.
"Ugh…"
Absalom and Hogback couldn't hold out any longer and collapsed into unconsciousness.
Perona, thanks to her Devil Fruit, could still barely remain aloft.
"Perona, stall them. I'm going to awaken Oars," Moria said, hurrying deeper into the castle. His forehead was slick with sweat. This enemy was unprecedented. If he wasn't mistaken—this could be a top-tier powerhouse on par with an admiral.
"Yes." Perona's face had gone pale, but she immediately released several nearly transparent ghosts, sending them drifting toward the intruders.
At the castle gate, Creed's group stepped inside.
Beyond the doors stretched a broad garden.
Staring at the hordes of terrified zombies frozen in place by Haoshoku suppression, Robin couldn't help murmuring, "Whoever owns this castle… they've made so many zombies they could form ten whole legions."
"Eee-eee!" Overhead, Falkor screeched toward the inner keep, eager to charge in with the giant bat in tow.
It had already sniffed out the culprit.
"What's that? Almost transparent… no trace of life. Ghosts?" Redfield pointed at several pale figures gliding out from the castle's depths.
Creed and the others looked over.
The white figures had only eyes and mouths for features; bodies and limbs were chalk-white—like plush dolls, yet eerie and cold.
"Eee-eee!"
Curious, Falkor and the giant bat swooped in—only for the phantoms to pass straight through their bodies before they could grab them.
"Eee-ee…"
"Gulu, gulu…"
Falkor and the giant bat's moods crashed. They squatted in a corner drawing circles, nitpicking their own faults, on the verge of breaking into sobs.
"These are 'Negative Ghosts'—the ability unleashed by the Horo Horo no Mi (Hollow-Hollow Fruit). Everyone, evade them," Creed warned.
"Ghosts that make people negative? That's a first for me. But surely it only works on the weak-willed!" Redfield snorted—and slashed a blood-red arc of sword aura to cut down a ghost rushing him.
He hadn't expected the ghost to ignore the slash and phase straight through his chest the next instant.
"What's the point of this lonely life… I might as well be a salted fish…" Redfield muttered—and went to a corner to draw circles too.
"What?"
Even Redfield had fallen for it. Creed was a little surprised. So much for that flag about "only the weak-willed get hit."
Princess Perona herself might not be that strong, but her fruit was terrifying.
"I'm useless… I even let errors slip into the Poneglyph interpretations Captain Creed entrusted to me…" Robin's shoulders drooped. She, too, shuffled off to the wall to draw circles.
"Horohorohoro… you're strong, sure—but you can't beat my Negative Ghosts." A weird, chiming laugh echoed out as a girl in a princess dress floated into view ten meters ahead—pink twin-tails, a little crown on her head, a wine-red parasol in hand.
"And you—the ringleader!" She pointed at Creed, who still looked perfectly calm.
As long as she made Creed sink into despair, today's job would be done—and she could go play and nap in peace.
Whoosh!
A Negative Ghost shot toward Creed.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!] [[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]