Chapter 156: Team Member Moria, Are You Sober?
"..."
Brook felt his heart beating fast and his brain feeling dizzy—oh wait, he was a skeleton, he had no heart or brain.
Of course, this wasn't his first time visiting Thriller Bark.
Since his shadow was stolen by Moria years ago and put into a corpse on the island to create a zombie.
He had boarded this island ship multiple times to challenge his zombie and retrieve his shadow. Although he had no ship to sail, his skeleton body allowed him to run on the sea surface for short distances.
But without exception, every landing was a stealth infiltration; he never thought of facing 'Gecko Moria' directly.
But this time, the situation was clearly different.
Not just because of his unique arrival method—riding a legendary dragon surrounded by gales and thunder was indeed a special experience.
More importantly...
"Lord Ryuji, this way please."
"Lord Moria is already waiting in the guest hall."
Now, Brook saw two zombies in front of him.
One he had met and even fought—in his impression, a very fierce guy.
But now, his movements were very polite, like a gentleman.
Besides that, wherever they passed, zombies lined up holding simple cannons to welcome them.
"Lord Ryuji—are you a Celestial Dragon?"
"...Insulting someone with such dirty words, do you want to fight?"
"Yohohoho~ Sorry sorry, just joking."
Brook apologized, laughing cheerfully.
But while laughing, he understood.
This Mr. Ryuji who visited his ship suddenly must have a huge reputation in the outside world.
"Speaking of Celestial Dragons—are you familiar with them?"
Just then, Ryuji asked meaningfully.
Because he suddenly remembered.
In the original story, one of the God's Knights belonged to the 'Manmeyer Family', the 'Army' (Gun) knight.
Even among all God's Knights, she was the most special.
She participated in the God Valley Incident and seemed to have obtained immortality during the Divine Enforcer period—a 'Contract' granted by Imu.
Judging from later plots, she even seemed capable of accepting Imu's power descent, like the Five Elders.
That was a characteristic of the highest-level contract among all of Imu's contracts, the 'Abyss Contract'.
Most importantly...
This 'Army' knight had some connection with Brook.
It seemed that in her childhood, Brook was very close to her.
That's why Ryuji asked this question.
"Lord Ryuji must be joking."
Brook shook his head quickly. "I'm just a pirate, no relation to World Nobles... if anything, it's enmity."
"Enmity?"
Hearing this, Ryuji raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, as I told you before—I served as the commander of the Royal Guard convoy of the 'Freedom Kingdom' in the West Blue."
Brook's usually cheerful voice became unexpectedly low.
"That was my homeland. Decades ago, it was destroyed for offending a Celestial Dragon... so homeless me chose to become a pirate, Yohohoho!"
At the end, he tried to cheer himself up.
Hearing this, Ryuji wanted to ask more.
But...
"Guests, we've arrived at the guest hall."
With the zombie's voice, they saw a massive door.
The door was open.
Inside the guest hall, at a spacious table, Moria sat there, Hogback standing beside him.
"Welcome!"
Moria stood up.
He looked at Ryuji. "Truly a distinguished guest."
He raised his massive hand, signaling Ryuji to sit. "A Top Executive of The Zodiac visiting me... Kishishishi... please sit, I've ordered a banquet."
"No need for a banquet."
Ryuji wasn't polite, sitting casually.
Brook sensibly walked behind Ryuji, scanning the surroundings like a guard—surprisingly, the former guard commander looked the part.
"The Zodiac..."
But he muttered internally, "Doesn't sound like a pirate crew name?"
While he was puzzled, Ryuji glanced thoughtfully at Hogback beside Moria.
Then, he got straight to the point. "Moria, I come representing The Zodiac."
"We need some intel from you, and return this friend's shadow to him."
He pointed at Brook.
Hearing this, Moria grinned at Brook. "I know him—'Humming'... caused me quite a bit of trouble."
He clearly knew Brook—after all, the latter caused chaos every time he visited Thriller Bark.
"Kishishishi... is he also a member of 'The Zodiac'?"
Moria asked while sitting down.
Simultaneously, he waved his hand imperceptibly.
"He's not a member, just a new friend I met."
Ryuji answered casually, looking at Moria. "If you cooperate with my mission, I can give you some rewards."
"After all, I don't like fighting; I prefer mutually beneficial transactions."
He repeated words similar to those used in Alabasta.
"Don't like fighting?"
Moria laughed. "That's different from what I heard. Didn't my colleague—'Desert Crocodile' Crocodile die at your hands?"
He continued without waiting for Ryuji's answer.
"And your ability differs from rumors... your form just now resembles an old acquaintance of mine."
Bloodshot eyes and excitement almost overflowed.
"Just looking at it makes one..."
His tone turned utterly cold. "Uncontrollably want to KILL!"
"Doppelman · Coffin!"
As his words fell.
From under the table, Moria's shadow flowed silently to Ryuji's feet.
The massive shadow, almost identical to Moria, solidified instantly, forming a giant coffin enveloping Ryuji directly.
"Hogback! Absalom!"
"Do it!"
Moria roared.
"Yes, Lord Moria!"
"Rawr!"
The next moment, Dr. Hogback stepped back abruptly, stomping heavily on a floor tile behind him.
Click!
A massive iron cage rose from under Ryuji's feet—judging by the material, it was clearly 'Seastone'.
Simultaneously, Absalom, invisible, appeared behind Ryuji, pouring bottles of dark green potion into the shadow coffin.
Everything happened extremely fast, almost in a flash.
"Ry... Ryuji-dono!"
Brook only reacted now, rushing forward with his sword to help.
But the next moment...
BOOM!
A sharp slash passed in front of him.
Brook dodged barely, then saw a familiar figure standing before him.
Holding a black blade, the posture still carried the agility of a strong man despite being dead for years.
"Ryuma..."
It was the zombie created from Brook's shadow, the corpse of the legendary swordsman—'Shimotsuki Ryuma'.
Besides him.
Brook saw the guest hall surrounded by zombies unnoticed.
Zombie generals, zombie soldiers, all marched in holding weapons.
"D... doomed."
Seeing this, Brook looked grave.
"A scalp-numbing predicament... oh, I don't have a scalp."
Clearly, Moria had no mood for Brook's jokes—to him, a small fry like Brook wasn't even in his eyes.
"Kishishishishishi!"
He let out an unprecedented, ferocious laugh.
"My shadow coffin can't be opened quickly even by giants."
"Plus the Seastone cage and Dr. Hogback's special potent anesthetic... I got him!"
Saliva flowed from his fangs in excitement.
"Yes, Lord Moria—"
Dr. Hogback was very excited too.
"The World Government issued a top-secret order. Capturing a Top Executive of The Zodiac... allows us to use Government resources to fulfill our wish."
Yes.
What he said was the order from the World Government to its direct 'Warlords'.
Capture a Top Executive of The Zodiac, and they could mobilize resources within limits to fulfill their wishes.
What Moria wanted was clear.
"Corpses of the strong, the more the better."
"N... not just that—this guy's ability is like Kaido's... I'll take his corpse too, make it a zombie!"
"Then, my zombie army will find Kaido for revenge, and I will be the 'Pirate King', Kishishishishi!"
Moria raised his hands, laughing wildly.
But just then...
"Did the World Government issue such an order secretly?"
Moria heard a voice.
"Wha..."
Moria's laughter stopped abruptly.
He turned incredulously to Ryuji's position.
Then...
Whoosh...
In the sealed massive guest hall, he heard the howling wind.
And his body felt... the extreme cold spreading in the wind, freezing everything.
Not ordinary wind.
Moria saw clearly—wherever the wind passed, torches, lamps, floor, and walls emitted creaking sounds of being overburdened.
Ice crystals spread with the wind; countless zombies in the hall froze instantly.
"Lord Moria..."
Hogback and Absalom tried to call for help instinctively, but it was too late.
Just as they said Moria's name, they were frozen by the terrifying cold wind.
"NO!"
Moria screamed miserably, his body freezing too.
"Shadow Armor!"
Gritting his teeth, black shadows rose instantly, covering his body to resist the cold wind barely.
But just then...
BOOM!
The 'Shadow Coffin' shattered abruptly in the cold wind.
Moria finally saw Ryuji again.
Ryuji still sat on the chair.
His posture hadn't even changed.
But his appearance was completely different.
Under crimson dragon horns, a half-human, half-dragon physique displayed a near-perfect form.
Frost-white extreme cold air currents spiraled around him.
Making him look like a god sitting on a throne.
"Knowing I killed Crocodile, knowing I am 'The Zodiac', yet you still act against me for the 'Benefits' offered by the World Government?"
He said calmly.
His eyes, turned into vertical pupils, looked at Moria. "Are you really sober?"
"You... release the ability, release Absalom and Hogback!"
Moria's voice carried rage and threat. "Or else..."
"Or else?"
Before he finished, Ryuji laughed. "Are you threatening me?"
"Hey, hey—Moria, I heard you became depressed after being defeated by Kaido."
His voice carried coldness.
"But you degenerated more than I thought. You can't see the gap between us at all, even forgot the rules of this sea."
As he spoke, he waved his hand.
A casual movement.
But the next moment...
BOOM!
The already biting cold wind became crazier.
It turned into a black tornado instantly, destroying everything in the frozen guest hall!
RUMBLE!
Walls collapsed, tiles shattered.
Countless zombies, along with the 'Ice Sculptures' of Absalom and Hogback.
Turned into silver dust drifting in the sky instantly, under Moria's widening eyes.
"Ah..."
Moria stared wide-eyed, looking at this incredulously.
Then...
"You... you dare..."
His voice was hoarse to the extreme, bloodshot eyes almost turning scarlet, glaring at Ryuji viciously.
But Ryuji, bathed in silver dust, just looked back calmly.
The calm and indifferent gaze instantly chilled Moria's rage-filled heart.
His threat stopped in his throat.
"Remember now?"
Ryuji's voice came again.
Moria understood the meaning naturally.
Yes.
Threats, coercion, even displaying power, were common means in confrontation and transaction.
But once one side truly started a battle to 'Kill'.
So-called threats became hollow and meaningless.
At that time, the only rule of this sea was one.
"Power... is the rule of this sea."
Ryuji said calmly.
"I said I don't like fighting, but it doesn't mean I'm not good at it."
"I did plan to talk to you, but now..."
He finally stood up, cracking his neck.
"Negotiation canceled."
☆☆☆
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