A figure that had already died, yet was not accepted by death, opened a blood-soaked maw and lunged at Harry and the others as if to swallow them whole.
It was a Sea King over three hundred feet long. Once, it had possessed powerful muscles and bones tough enough to support its enormous body, but now it was dead.
And yet, for some reason, it could still move. Worse, it seemed even more alive than before, with huge numbers of writhing flesh-tentacles growing across the surface of its skin.
Harry frowned at the sight. It felt strangely familiar.
This looked like the work of Shuma-Gorath, whose realm was called the Chaos Dimension, a place capable of corrupting everything into disorder.
But what was in front of him wasn't exactly the same as Shuma-Gorath's power. These things were more chaotic, more disordered, something like zombies but even stronger than zombies.
The hundred-meter Sea King charged at the Thousand Sunny, clearly intending to tear it to pieces.
Usopp and Chopper clung to each other and let out shrill screams. "Aaaah! What do we do? We're gonna die!"
Zoro couldn't stand the noise. Veins bulged on his forehead as he roared, "Shut up! I'll deal with it!"
He yanked out his sword, closed his eyes for an instant, then snapped them open and said in a low voice, "One Sword Style, Iai: Lion's Song!"
A powerful flying slash burst from the blade, crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, and split the Sea King charging at the Thousand Sunny cleanly in half from head to tail.
Harry's eyes lit up when he saw that display of power. In the Avengers, that kind of strength would already count as top-tier firepower.
Then he grew a little puzzled. Why was the power he could use in this world even more limited than in the wizarding world? Did this world dislike chaos magic that much?
With a single strike, Zoro resolved the immediate crisis, and Usopp and Chopper instantly broke into cheers while everyone else let out relieved sighs.
But then Harry said calmly, "Don't relax. It isn't dead."
Robin, who had been silent until now, spoke in a grave voice. "It's still alive."
Luffy nodded as well. "Yeah, it's been cut into two pieces, so there's no way it's dead."
Nami punched Luffy in the head again and said with open disdain, "You idiot. Robin said that as a statement, not a question."
"Huh?" Luffy looked even more confused.
The water nearby suddenly churned violently again. The two halves of the Sea King Zoro had just split apart rejoined, and huge masses of new flesh began growing across the wound, rapidly repairing the damage.
In barely a dozen seconds, the Sea King had completely recovered.
Nico Robin stared at the rotting Sea King, a corpse filled with grotesque vitality, and said gravely, "This... this is unbelievable. I'd heard the New World had been hit by an undead disaster, but I never imagined it would be this terrifying.
If even an ordinary Sea King gains regeneration like this after being infected, then I don't even want to think about what a monster someone on Whitebeard's level becomes after infection.
Everyone, be careful. From what I remember, even being wounded by these undead creatures can infect you and turn you into a new undead creature. Try to attack them from a distance."
Luffy grinned, his eyes flashing with excitement, and swung his fist hard. "Hahaha, who cares what kind of monster it is? I'll punch it flying! Gum-Gum Gatling!"
A storm of punches hammered into the Sea King, tearing open its flesh and sending blood flying.
Zoro and Sanji rushed in too, slashing at it with flying sword strikes and smashing into it with brutal kicks.
Luffy noticed their attacks and shouted excitedly, "Come on, Zoro, Sanji, let's see who takes it down first!"
Zoro and Sanji got fired up too and started hammering the Sea King with everything they had.
But no matter what kind of damage the three of them dealt to the undead Sea King, its monstrous regeneration repaired it almost immediately.
In the end, the three of them were exhausted while the Sea King was still as lively as ever. Finally, Zoro had no choice but to shout at Franky, "Franky, move the ship! This thing just won't die!"
But the moment he finished speaking, a quiet voice sounded from the side.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A flash of green light struck the Sea King.
Its body stiffened at once.
Then the Sea King that Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji had been helpless against a second ago rolled over into the water and stopped moving completely.
The Thousand Sunny fell into sudden silence.
Zoro looked incredibly awkward. He turned to Harry and roared irritably, "Hey, you bastard, why didn't you do that earlier? Why wait until the three of us were worn out? Were you trying to laugh at us?"
Harry shook his head and explained, "No. I genuinely didn't realize you had no way to kill these undead.
Now that I've seen this, if the rest of your world is like you and doesn't have a proper way to deal with them, then the undead scourge could wipe your world out in a very short time."
At those words, the Straw Hats all fell completely silent.
None of them wanted their world to become a living hell.
After a long pause, Luffy suddenly clenched his fist, stepped in front of Harry, and said with a seriousness that replaced his usual goofy expression, "Harry, when the time comes that I want to become your Lender, don't refuse me."
Harry teased him a little. "What's this, now you want to become my Lender and borrow power? What about your adventure?"
Straw Hat Luffy's expression remained utterly serious as he answered firmly, "Compared to my own adventure, my friends matter more. When the critical moment comes, I'll give everything I have to protect the lives of the people I treasure."
Hearing that, Harry became serious too. He solemnly handed Luffy a Lending contract and told him, "When that moment comes, all you have to do is sign this, and you'll automatically become my Lender."
Even in the short time he had spent in this world, Harry had already realized that it was purer than the others.
Letting a world this interesting be swallowed by Demon Gods was something he simply could not accept.
Seeing their captain do that, Zoro and Sanji fell silent for a moment before asking for Lending contracts as well, and Harry handed them over without hesitation.
Judging by the current situation, Harry felt that in the near future he was going to gain three exceptionally gifted Lenders.
The Thousand Sunny sped across the sea toward the New World.
With the pressure brought by the undead, the Marines no longer had any desire to chase pirates. All of their attention had shifted to the undead led by Whitebeard.
At the same time, because even after death Whitebeard still retained a strange obsession with Fire Fist Ace, the Marines had decided to transfer Ace from Impel Down to the Sabaody Archipelago, where they planned to make their final stand against the undead.
A few days later, an island slowly appeared in Harry and the others' line of sight.
They were almost at the Sabaody Archipelago.
And the moment they saw it, everyone's expression changed drastically.
The situation there was even worse than they had imagined.
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