Thriller Bark is Gecko Moria's pirate ship.
Its size is enormous, comparable to a small island.
This island is overrun with humanoid and beast-shaped zombies,
all created by Moria using the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.
The Shadow-Shadow Fruit allows him to steal the shadows of living people and implant them into corpses, thereby giving the corpses the will and combat power of the shadow's owner.
This is the truth behind Moria's zombie army.
Luo Chen's purpose for this trip is threefold.
First, to seize Moria's zombie army.
The zombie army has several hundred zombies of varying combat strengths.
The powerful ones include Oars, Shimotsuki Ryuma, Captain John, and Ryuma Chigorou.
How strong Chigorou is, Luo Chen isn't sure.
He only knows that this person came from Wano Country in his lifetime, was a famous swordsman, and had slain seven thousand pirates.
'He's at least at the level of an ordinary Marine Vice Admiral. After Impure World Reincarnation, possessing immortality and infinite stamina, it's equivalent to having infinite Haki. He could fight even an elite Marine Vice Admiral.'
Luo Chen pondered this.
As for Oars, the giant demon who shook the world 500 years ago.
His strength was so great that he could even carry away islands he fancied.
For this reason, he was also known as "Oars the Continent-Puller."
'Immense power, plus the immortality of Impure World Reincarnation. Without strength at the Admiral or Emperor level, one cannot suppress Oars. And Shimotsuki Ryuma... he's an even more significant figure. His strength in life was definitely superior to Oars.'
Luo Chen was very confident in his assessment of Ryuma's strength.
Shimotsuki Ryuma could be called Zoro's ancestor, in the sense of bloodline.
Even his appearance is very similar to Zoro's.
Shimotsuki Ryuma was also born in Wano Country, the legendary "Dragon-Slaying Samurai," who never knew defeat in his lifetime.
According to Luo Chen's understanding, he was the world's number one swordsman of that era, hundreds of years ago.
His strength was definitely no weaker than "Hawk-Eye" Dracule Mihawk.
'To perfectly unleash Shimotsuki Ryuma's strength, I must find a sufficiently strong living sacrifice. A Warlord, or even an Emperor's subordinate-level, would be required. I wonder what will happen when Hawk-Eye and Shimotsuki Ryuma meet.'
Luo Chen felt a bit of anticipation.
'Could I use Ryuma to trick Hawk-Eye into joining my faction? Or have Ryuma pretend to be Zoro and challenge Hawk-Eye. Maybe Hawk-Eye will think Zoro is using cheats too. After not seeing him for a few months, he's already caught up to him, the world's number one swordsman.'
Luo Chen couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Nami, Robin, and Kalifa all looked over, puzzled.
Luo Chen shook his head, not saying much.
They would find out later.
'Of course, when using Impure World Reincarnation, I must hide it from Kalifa. This woman is the World Government's informant.'
'The people resurrected by Impure World Reincarnation can be placed in the Kamui dimension. If the World Government continues to make moves against me, I'll give them a surprise.'
Luo Chen rubbed his chin, thinking.
He saw that the World Government hadn't revoked his bounty.
This meant that the Marines and the World Government still regarded him as an enemy.
'The World Government and Marines wouldn't rashly go to war with an ordinary Emperor. But as for himself... Luo Chen wasn't so sure.'
'It's about fifty-fifty. A fifty percent chance the World Government will temporarily ignore me out of fear. A fifty percent chance they will continue to try and kill me.'
'They wouldn't be that crazy, right?' Luo Chen muttered inwardly.
'Based on the strength and forces he displayed at the summit, if the World Government wants to take him down, they will have to mobilize their entire force. The Five Elders and the God's Knights would have to get involved personally. Otherwise, they definitely wouldn't stand a chance.'
'The choice is theirs. I won't actively start a war right now. Instead, I need to accumulate wealth and continue to get stronger.'
Luo Chen's goal was very clear.
Since he could rely on the system to cheat and get stronger, he naturally wouldn't charge into the Holy Land Mary Geoise to get himself killed.
'Speaking of wealth, how much money did Captain John bury?'
'Captain John, a member of Moria's zombie army. He was once a member of the Rocks Pirates. His strength wasn't on par with top-tier powerhouses like Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido, but he could be considered a second-tier executive. Paired with the immortality of Impure World Reincarnation, he'd definitely be at the Emperor's subordinate level.'
'More importantly, before John died, he left behind a treasure and a treasure map. In the original story, Buggy was always looking for John's treasure.'
'Now, I don't even care about sums in the mere billions. If it's less than ten billion, I won't waste my time looking for it.'
Luo Chen felt he could also say it now: he wasn't interested in any amount of money less than ten billion.
'When could he say: I'm not interested in any money? That would mean he was truly invincible.'
'Aside from seizing the zombie army, the other two things are, one, to kill the Clear-Clear Fruit user. The other is to have Moria help me dig up corpses.'
'In the future, if I can find Roger's or Rocks's body, the expressions on the Five Elders' faces will surely be priceless. Ace and Blackbeard could also have a 'father-son reunion'.'
Luo Chen's eyes were thoughtful.
'As two of the World Government's most wanted criminals, Roger's and Rocks's bodies were likely secretly buried or sealed by the World Government after their deaths. He himself was too lazy to look. When it comes to finding corpses, Moria is the expert.'
At this time, behind the thick fog ahead, a huge dark shadow was vaguely revealed.
Luo Chen raised his hand and used Shinra Tsheng.
The invisible force repelled the thick fog in front of him.
A ship, as wide as an island, floated quietly on the dark sea surface.
Nami, sitting next to Luo Chen, looked at the gloomy and terrifying "island," her delicate body shrinking into his arms in fear.
Her courage was already small.
Coupled with the many hair-raising horror stories that had come out of the Florian Triangle, it made Nami not dare to leave Luo Chen's side at all.
"It's okay. We're going to find Moria," Luo Chen comforted her.
His Observation Haki covered the island-sized ship.
He quickly locked onto Moria's position.
...
Inside the castle, the oil lamps were dim, and the dark shadows of bats flitted past from time to time.
Moria opened his eyes from his giant chair.
In the seat below, a man with a human body but a lion's head looked over in confusion.
'Weren't we resting? Why did Lord Moria suddenly open his eyes?'
"Absalom, go outside and see if there are any intruders."
Moria's voice was still shrill, his long, narrow neck turning to look toward the castle gate.
He said, "I don't know why, but I just had a feeling of being watched."
The lion-faced Absalom immediately stood up and assured him:
"Being watched? Lord Moria, don't worry. When it comes to peeping, I'm the best!"
"I've spied on countless beautiful women and have never been discovered!"
Before he finished speaking, Absalom's animal-fur-covered body had already disappeared.
It wasn't that he teleported away; his body and clothes had turned transparent.
He was completely invisible to the naked eye.
His footsteps echoed in the silent castle as he walked toward the gate.
In the castle's air, a girl in a gothic dress with pink pigtails flew over, holding a wine-red umbrella, looking curiously toward the gate.
'Is someone outside? Who could reach the depths of Thriller Bark, which is overrun by the zombie army?'
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