Not long after, Absalom returned, his body fading from transparent back to normal, appearing before Moria and Perona.
He shook his head. "I didn't see anyone outside the castle."
Moria nodded. "I must have been overly sensitive."
"I nearly died at Marineford some time ago, so I'm feeling a bit insecure."
Hearing this explanation, Absalom said, "Lord Moria, are you still thinking about Luo Chen?"
Moria nodded, his expression heavy.
Those two meteors, especially the second one, had almost killed him.
Moreover, he had seen too many powerful individuals at the Summit War.
The three Admirals, Whitebeard, Luo Chen... every one of them possessed the power to kill him.
This made Moria feel very insecure right now.
Absalom clenched his fist. "Do we have a chance to steal Luo Chen's shadow?"
"His strength is immense. If we can steal his shadow and implant it into a corpse, we can definitely create the strongest zombie in history."
"At that time, Lord Moria, you can control the zombie with Luo Chen's shadow to get revenge on 'Beasts' Kaido!"
The pink-haired girl, Perona, floated back and forth in the air, giggling.
"That's right! Implant Luo Chen's shadow into Oars's body."
"Lord Moria will be able to complete his revenge!"
Hearing this, Moria's interest was piqued.
"I have indeed considered it. It's just too difficult."
He mused, "To steal Luo Chen's shadow, I must use a sneak attack."
"Let's wait for the World Government to make a move."
"If they besiege Luo Chen, I'll rush over in time and, while Luo Chen is in crisis, steal his shadow."
In a head-on fight, Moria couldn't see any chance of stealing his shadow.
Only a sneak attack would work.
"Rumble—"
The top of the castle suddenly began to shake, dust raining down.
Rubble began to fall.
The three of them shot their heads up.
The next moment, the entire roof structure of the castle actually detached from the walls and "flew" toward the sky.
Perona shrieked, "What is that giant hand?!"
Moria's and Absalom's pupils constricted.
As the castle's roof flew higher, they saw the full picture.
A massive, dark-green wooden hand had gripped the top of the castle and was slowly pulling it away.
Following the thick, long, dark-green arm, they saw at its end a giant wooden colossus, hundreds of meters tall.
Shock, and a trace of terror, instantly flooded Moria's face.
That wooden colossus... it reminded him of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin statue he had seen during the Summit War.
Although there were some differences, it was undoubtedly one of Luo Chen's summons!
Moria's pale face was immediately covered in sweat.
'I was just thinking about stealing Luo Chen's shadow, and he's already at my door!'
'Is it a coincidence? Or does he have the ability to hear any plot against him?'
Although Absalom and Perona hadn't thought of Luo Chen, their gazes fell on the area above the colossus's massive head.
A wood dragon floated quietly.
Atop the wood dragon's head stood four figures.
One man and three women.
They didn't care who the women were.
But that man, without a doubt, indisputably, was absolutely, definitely, Luo Chen!
The long black windbreaker, the black shirt, the tall, slender figure, the handsome, youthful face.
He was identical to the newspaper photos.
Absalom and Perona's faces showed their guilt.
They had just finished saying they were going to deal with Luo Chen, and the man himself had appeared right in front of them.
It was impossible not to panic.
Luo Chen looked down on the three and smiled.
"I heard you want to steal my shadow?"
"That's quite an idea."
As his physical arts level increased, his body had evolved in all aspects, including his five senses, which had become increasingly sharp.
Even though he was outside the castle just now, he had heard the conversation between Moria and the others.
His words fell.
Moria and the other two's faces turned ashen. Any last shred of hope in their hearts vanished.
He had really heard them.
Moria didn't have time to think about why Luo Chen was here.
He understood that, given the methods Luo Chen had displayed at Marineford, he would definitely not be spared.
"Shadows Asgard!"
Moria roared, drawing in shadow power from the zombies all over Thriller Bark.
This was his most powerful move.
Facing Luo Chen, if he didn't use it, he would absolutely not survive a single blow.
In the sky, a smile touched Luo Chen's lips.
'In front of me, does Moria think he can complete his shadow absorption?'
The wooden colossus's palm slapped down from the sky.
The already huge hand grew in the wind, in an instant becoming a hundred meters wide, covering the entire castle.
Panic appeared on Moria's face. His move wasn't finished yet.
There was no time!
Absalom and Perona were also terrified.
Although Perona was out as a soul-like ghost, her real body was asleep in a room in the castle.
When this palm came down, her real body would very likely be smashed to death.
Under the terrified gazes of the three, the giant wooden palm fell.
With a "BOOM," the towering castle was flattened like a loaf of bread.
The entire Thriller Bark ship trembled.
The giant wooden hand pressed down on the ground. The castle and the three figures within vanished.
A moment later, the wooden colossus's hand slowly lifted.
In the handprint-shaped crater, Moria was bleeding profusely, his aura weak, lying on the ground breathing faintly.
Beside him, the lion-headed Absalom's body had exploded. His limbs and head were blown to smithereens. He couldn't be more dead.
Seeing his subordinate dead, Moria's eyes turned blood-red with fury, looking as if they would split.
He glared at Luo Chen, filled with rage and hatred.
Luo Chen acted as if he didn't see it, controlling the wooden hand to lift a section of the castle ruins.
Two fingers pinched a fainted, pink-pigtailed girl.
"Perona. I'm taking her."
"If you want her back, use the corpse of Roger or Rocks to exchange for her."
Hearing this, Moria immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood.
He wanted to scream, but his severe injuries made his voice very weak.
"The bodies of those two were hidden by the World Government long ago! How could I possibly find them?!"
Moria's tone was full of fury.
If he could have found them, he would have long ago.
The corpses of the Pirate King Roger and Rocks... if he could implant shadows into them, they would be top-tier fighting forces in the world.
Luo Chen smiled. "That's your problem. If you can't find them, the consequences for Perona will be very tragic."
"Of course, if you're abandoning her, you don't have to bother."
Moria was so angry his chest heaved, and he coughed up blood continuously.
He had raised Perona since she was a child, viewing her as his own daughter. How could he sit by and do nothing?
"You bastard! Luo Chen! If anything happens to her, I will never let you go!" Moria roared.
Luo Chen ignored him, clapping his hands together. The island-sized Thriller Bark began to tremble.
Endless trees surged from the ground, in an instant turning the place into a green ocean.
One by one, wooden vines searched the island for prey.
Luo Chen wanted to take away the zombies that had combat power.
To be precise, their corpses.
These corpses could be used as materials for Impure World Reincarnation, to build an army of the undead.
The wooden vines, guided by Luo Chen's Observation Haki, rounded up five hundred zombies from all over the island.
Luo Chen looked at Moria. "Remove the shadows from their bodies."
"Then hand over the corpses of Shimotsuki Ryuma, Oars, and Captain John."
Moria couldn't help but be stunned.
On one hand, he was shocked that Luo Chen knew his zombie army like the back of his hand. It seemed he had been targeting him for a long time.
On the other hand, he didn't understand why Luo Chen wanted these people's corpses.
But right now, Perona's life and his own were in Luo Chen's hands.
Moria had no choice but to follow Luo Chen's demands, withdrawing the shadows from Ryuma and the other three.
He had the zombies bring their corpses over.
Finally, Moria withdrew the shadows from the five hundred zombies Luo Chen had captured.
Luo Chen stored the numerous corpses in his Kamui dimension and piloted the wood dragon away.
'Next stop, meet up with Enel, who is modifying the ship at Water 7. Then I can go to Kuja Island and enter the New World.'
'My main body won't go to the transaction at Sabaody Archipelago. But to deceive the Five Elders, my main body will disappear from Kalifa's sight for a while.'
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]