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"..."
Brook felt as though his heartbeat was speeding up, and his mind was becoming dizzy and hazy, oh wait, that wasn't right. He was a skeleton. He had neither a heart nor a brain.
Naturally, this was not his first time coming to Thriller Bark.
Ever since several years ago, when his Shadow had been stolen by Moria and implanted into a corpse on the island to create a zombie, he had returned to this island more than once to challenge his own zombie in an attempt to reclaim his Shadow.
Although he had no ship he could sail, because his body was nothing but bones, he could run across the sea itself, allowing him to conduct short-distance "voyages" over the ocean, but without exception, every single time he came to the island, he had sneaked in quietly. He had never once considered directly facing the man known as "Gecko Moria."
This time, however, things were clearly different.
Not only because the way he arrived on the island this time was unique, riding atop a legendary Dragon and flying through raging winds and thunder truly was a special experience.
More importantly...
"Lord Shinryu, this way please. Lord Moria is already waiting in the reception hall."
At this moment, Brook could see the two zombies standing before him.
One of them was someone he had met before, and had even fought against. In his memory, that fellow had been an extremely vicious guy.
Yet now, his movements were incredibly polite, almost like a gentleman.
And not only that, but along the path they walked, rows of zombies had lined themselves up while holding simple cannons in a ceremonial welcome formation.
"Mr. Shinryu, you aren't a Celestial Dragon, are you?"
"...Using words that filthy to insult someone. Are you looking for a fight?"
"Yohohoho~ Sorry, sorry, just joking." Brook apologized and laughed cheerfully.
But while laughing, he also understood something in his heart.
This Mr. Shinryu, who had suddenly appeared aboard his ship, probably possessed an enormous reputation in the outside world.
"Still, speaking of Celestial Dragons... are you very familiar with them?"
At that moment, Shinryu suddenly asked meaningfully, because he had suddenly remembered something.
In the original story, among the members of the God's Knights, there was one woman belonging to the Manmayer Household: "Princess Gunko."
Even among all the members of the God's Knights, she was an exceptionally special existence.
She had participated in the God Valley Incident, and it seemed that as early as an previous era, she had already obtained immortality and eternal youth, through a "contract" bestowed by Imu.
And judging from later developments, she even appeared capable of receiving Imu's power directly, just like the Five Elders.
That was a characteristic of the highest-ranking contract among all of Imu's covenants, the "Abyssal Sea Contract."
But the most important point was,
This Gunko seemed to share some sort of connection with Brook.
Apparently, during her childhood, Brook had once been extremely close to her.
That was why Shinryu had asked this question now.
"You flatter me, Lord Shinryu."
Brook quickly shook his head.
"I'm merely a pirate. I have nothing to do with the World Nobles... if anything, you could say I have a grudge against them."
"A grudge?"
Hearing that, Shinryu raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. As I mentioned before, I once served as the commander of the Royal Guard Legion of the 'Freedom Kingdom' in the West Blue."
Brook's usually cheerful voice rarely became this low and heavy.
"That was my homeland. Several decades ago, it was destroyed because it offended the Celestial Dragons. Left homeless and with nowhere to go, I chose to become a pirate instead. Yohohoho!"
By the end, he forced himself to sound cheerful again.
Hearing this, Shinryu had originally intended to ask more questions.
But at that moment,
"Honored guests, we have arrived at the reception hall."
Along with the zombie's voice, the two indeed saw a massive gate before them and at this moment, the gate already stood open.
Inside the reception hall, before a spacious table, sat Moria himself, while Hogback stood beside him.
"Welcome!" Moria stood up.
His gaze turned toward Shinryu.
"What an honored guest."
His gigantic hand lifted, gesturing for Shinryu to sit.
"To think that the highest-ranking officer of The Twelve Zodiac would come all the way here. Heh heh heh... Please, have a seat. I've already ordered preparations for a banquet."
"There's no need for a banquet." Shinryu was not polite in the slightest as he casually sat down in a chair.
Brook was also tactful enough. He immediately stepped behind Shinryu and scanned the surroundings, looking every bit like a bodyguard, and honestly, since he truly had once been the commander of a royal guard legion, he really did carry that sort of aura.
"The Twelve Zodiac..." Brook muttered inwardly. "That doesn't sound like the name of a pirate crew at all."
While he was still puzzled, Shinryu thoughtfully glanced at Hogback beside Moria.
Then he got straight to the point.
"Moria, I've come here representing The Twelve Zodiac. We need you to provide some information, and also return this friend's Shadow to him."
He pointed toward Brook.
At this moment, after hearing Shinryu's words, Moria grinned as he looked toward Brook.
"I know him, 'Humming Brook.' He's caused me quite a lot of trouble."
He obviously knew Brook well. After all, every time Brook came to Thriller Bark, he would stir up complete chaos.
"Heh heh heh... Is he also a member of The Twelve Zodiac?"
As Moria spoke, he sat down on a chair as well, aut at the same time, he subtly waved his hand.
"He's not a member of The Twelve Zodiac, just a new friend I recently met." Shinryu answered casually while continuing to look at Moria.
"If you cooperate with my mission, I can offer you some compensation. After all, I'm not someone who enjoys fighting. I prefer mutually beneficial transactions where neither side suffers."
He spoke the exact same words he had once used back in Alabasta.
"Don't enjoy fighting?"
However, upon hearing that, Moria continued laughing.
"That's not what I heard. Wasn't my fellow Warlord, 'Sand Crocodile' Crocodile, killed by you?"
After saying that, he didn't even wait for Shinryu's response before continuing.
"And your abilities are different from the rumors too... That form you took earlier resembles an old acquaintance of mine."
At this point, the bloodshot excitement in his eyes was practically overflowing.
"Just looking at you makes me..." His voice suddenly turned utterly cold.
"Want to kill you so badly!"
"Shadow Mage Art: Coffin!"
The moment his words fell, Moria's Shadow, which had somehow silently flowed beneath the table and reached Shinryu's feet without anyone noticing, suddenly moved.
The massive Shadow, nearly a perfect replica of Moria himself, instantly solidified and transformed into a gigantic coffin that directly swallowed Shinryu whole.
"Hogback! Absalom!"
"Move!"
"At once, Lord Moria!"
"Awoo!"
In the next instant, Dr. Hogback suddenly stepped backward and stomped heavily on a section of the floor behind him.
Click!
A gigantic iron cage instantly rose up from beneath Shinryu's feet.
And judging from the material of the cage, it was unmistakably made from Seastone.
At the very same moment, Absalom's invisible figure suddenly appeared behind Shinryu. Holding several bottles of dark green liquid in his hands, he directly splashed them into the Shadow Coffin.
Everything happened incredibly quickly, practically in the blink of an eye.
"Lord Shinryu!"
Only now did Brook finally react. He hurriedly drew his sword and rushed forward to help.
But in the very next moment,
BOOM!
A razor-sharp slash swept across before him.
Brook barely managed to dodge it, and then he saw a figure standing before him, someone he was incomparably familiar with.
The figure held a black blade in hand, and despite having been dead for many years, his posture still carried the agility and aura of a true powerhouse.
"Ryuma..."
It was the zombie created using Brook's Shadow, and also the corpse of the man once known as the greatest swordsman upon the seas of an earlier era,
Shimotsuki Ryuma.
And not only him.
At this moment, Brook could clearly see that the entire reception hall had somehow already been surrounded by zombies.
Zombie generals and zombie soldiers alike were now marching in while gripping their weapons.
"Th-This is bad..."
Seeing the situation, Brook's expression became increasingly heavy.
"This is the kind of hopeless situation that makes your scalp tingle... oh wait, I don't have a scalp."
But clearly, Moria had no mood to listen to Brook's skeleton jokes right now.
In fact, a minor figure like Brook wasn't even in his eyes anymore.
"Heh heh heh heh heh!"
He simply burst into the most savage, maniacal laughter he had ever made.
"My Shadow Coffin can't even be broken open quickly by Giants."
"And with the added Seastone cage plus Dr. Hogback's specially made super-strength anesthetic... I've succeeded!"
Excitement had become so intense that saliva was practically dripping from between his fangs.
"Yes indeed, Lord Moria, "
At this moment, Dr. Hogback was equally excited.
"The World Government has already issued us a top-secret order. If we can capture one of the highest-ranking officers of The Twelve Zodiac... then we'll be able to use the World Government's resources to fulfill our wishes."
That was right.
What he referred to was the command the World Government had secretly issued to its Warlords of the Sea.
As long as a Warlord of the Sea could capture one of The Twelve Zodiac's highest-ranking officers, they would be permitted to mobilize government resources within a certain scope in order to fulfill their desires.
And what Moria wanted was extremely obvious.
"The corpses of strong people. The more, the better."
"N-No, not just that, this guy's abilities are practically identical to Kaido's. I want his corpse too! I'll turn him into a zombie as well!"
"When that time comes, my Zombie Army will take revenge against Kaido, and then I'll become the Pirate King! Heh heh heh heh!"
Moria raised both hands high as he burst into wild, arrogant laughter.
But precisely at that moment,
"So the World Government secretly issued an order like that, huh?"
Moria suddenly heard a voice.
"What, "
Moria's manic laughter abruptly stopped.
He turned his head toward Shinryu's position in utter disbelief.
And then,
Whoooosh,
Within the previously sealed reception hall, he heard the roaring sound of violent wind.
At the same time, his body felt it,
The bone-freezing cold spreading through the wind, as though it could freeze everything in existence.
This was no ordinary wind.
Moria could clearly see that wherever the wind passed, whether it was the surrounding torches, lamps, the floor, or the stone walls, they all emitted unbearable creaking sounds.
Ice crystals spread together with the gale, and the countless zombies within the reception hall were frozen solid in an instant.
"Lord Mor, "
Hogback and Absalom instinctively tried to cry for help, but they had no time.
They had only just uttered Moria's name before the terrifying freezing wind instantly encased them in ice.
"No!"
Moria himself let out a shrill scream, but his body too was rapidly being frozen over.
"Shadow Armor!"
Grinding his teeth, Moria caused pitch-black Shadows to surge upward and wrap around his body, barely resisting the freezing storm.
But at that exact moment,
BANG!
The Shadow Coffin suddenly shattered amidst the icy gale.
Only then did Moria finally see Shinryu once more.
At this moment, Shinryu was still seated calmly upon the chair.
Even his posture had not changed in the slightest.
Yet now, his appearance had completely transformed.
Beneath crimson Dragon horns, his half-human, half-dragon body possessed an almost perfect physique.
Around him, frost-white currents of freezing air spiraled endlessly.
The sight made him resemble a god seated upon a throne.
"You knew I killed Crocodile. You knew I belonged to The Twelve Zodiac. Yet you still chose to attack me for the 'benefits' offered by the World Government?"
He spoke calmly.
Those eyes, now transformed into vertical dragon-like pupils, gazed at Moria before him.
"Are you actually thinking clearly?"
"You bastard, release your ability and free Absalom and Hogback!"
Moria's voice carried both fury and threat.
"Otherwise, "
"Otherwise?"
Before he could finish, Shinryu smiled.
"Are you threatening me?"
"Listen carefully, Moria. I heard that after being defeated by Kaido, you completely lost your spirit."
His voice grew colder.
"But it seems your degeneration is even worse than I imagined. You can't even comprehend the gap between us anymore. You've even forgotten the rules of this sea."
As he spoke, he casually waved a hand.
The movement was incredibly simple.
But in the next instant,
BOOM!
The already violent freezing wind became even more ferocious.
In almost a single moment, it transformed into a black tornado-like storm that completely destroyed everything within the already frozen reception hall.
RUMBLE!
Walls collapsed. Stone and brick shattered apart.
And the countless zombies, along with the frozen "ice sculptures" of Absalom and Hogback,
Were instantly blown apart into countless silver fragments before Moria's widened eyes.
"Ah..."
Moria stared blankly at the scene in utter disbelief.
Then,
"Y-You actually dared to..."
His voice had become hoarse beyond measure. Blood vessels bulged through his eyes until they were nearly crimson red, as he glared viciously at Shinryu.
Yet Shinryu, bathed amidst the endless silver fragments drifting through the air, merely looked back at him calmly.
That calm and indifferent gaze instantly chilled Moria's rage-filled heart.
The threatening words stuck in his throat.
"Remember now?"
At that moment, Shinryu's voice rang out again.
And naturally, Moria understood what he meant.
That's right.
Threats, coercion, and displays of power were all common methods during confrontations and negotiations.
But once one side truly initiated battle with the intent to kill,
Those so-called threats became hollow and meaningless.
At that point, there was only one rule unique to these seas.
"Power... is the rule of this sea."
Shinryu spoke calmly.
"I said I don't particularly enjoy fighting. That doesn't mean I'm bad at it."
"I originally intended to have a proper discussion with you, but now..."
He finally stood up and cracked his neck lightly.
"The negotiations are canceled."
(End of Chapter)