Chapter 130: Thriller Bark – Perona’s Dilemma

When Moria cuts someone's shadow, they are left in a coma-like state for a while, and waking them up becomes difficult.

Without a shadow, the person becomes useless to Moria, but he doesn't let them die either. Instead, he has the shadowless people thrown out, often back onto the ship they arrived on.

It's not that Moria is merciful—it's just that the shadows he cuts are only valuable as long as their original owner stays alive.

Looks like it's time to pay this shadow-playing guy a visit.

Without wasting any more time, Takumi used his Observation Haki to locate Moria's position. He swiftly turned and began walking in that direction.

Perona, seeing this, quickly followed.

"Hey, Takumi, where are you going? Do you even know who you're about to run into?" Perona, desperate to get her body back, pleaded, "If you keep heading this way, you'll most likely run into Moria-sama! And when that happens, not even I will be able to help you! Look, instead of going there, how about I show you around Thriller Bark? There are so many fun places here! You can enjoy yourself, then leave, and return my body. How about that?"

Takumi replied with a faint smile, "No."

"Ugh..." Perona almost stumbled at his blunt response, clenching her fists in frustration. "You're just... so not cute at all! Hmph!"

Takumi ignored her complaints, not wasting any more time. Soon, he arrived at a large, cylindrical building with an open middle section, where Moria was currently located.

At that moment, Moria was watching something in the center of the building—a massive creature, several times larger than an ordinary human. It had a grotesque appearance, with two horns on its head, a bloated body, and dark red skin.

This massive zombie giant was named Oars, a fearsome demon from 500 years ago known for his overwhelming combat power.

Takumi wasn't particularly interested in how Moria had acquired Oars' body.

But from the stitching all over Oars' body, it was clear that this version of Oars was incomplete compared to the one Luffy and his crew would encounter six years later. Many parts of Oars were still unpatched. Even if Moria used shadows to activate him, Oars' strength would be greatly diminished.

"Hm?" Moria noticed Takumi's presence, his expression freezing slightly. Upon seeing Perona next to him, his face twisted further. "Perona, what do you think you're doing? And who's this brat?"

"Uh... well..." Perona began sweating nervously.

Takumi, using Geppo, swiftly leaped up, surprising both Moria and Perona as he arrived in front of Moria in an instant. "Where's Enel's shadow?"

"Enel?" Moria raised an eyebrow, then burst into laughter. "Oh, you mean that arrogant guy? So, you're his comrade?"

"We're not exactly comrades," Takumi said coolly. "I need him to sail the ship."

At this point, Enel was just a tool for Takumi—a human battery who powered his ship. If anything happened to Enel, Takumi would be stuck alone, drifting on a tiny boat at sea...

Honestly, after getting used to a larger ship, spending long stretches on a cramped little boat that barely offered enough room to sleep was not something he wanted to go back to.

"Yohohoho!" Moria laughed mockingly. "Whatever your relationship, it doesn't matter. You've come to me on your own, and I can see you're strong—perhaps a swordsman? Perfect, I'll use your shadow for one of the samurai corpses I brought back from Wano!"

A samurai from Wano?

Takumi's mind flashed to a certain someone—Ryuma.

He remembered that Moria had a corpse from Wano, belonging to the legendary samurai who once slew a dragon with the black blade, Shusui—the dragon-slaying warrior, Ryuma!

In the timeline Takumi recalled, Moria had placed Brook's shadow inside Ryuma's body.

If Ryuma's body was currently without a shadow, that meant Brook's shadow had yet to be stolen…

"Wait, wait, wait! Hold on, Moria-sama!" Perona quickly flew over, seeing that Moria was about to make his move. "Please, Moria-sama, can you not harm him? My body is in his control. If you take his shadow, I'll never be able to find my body again!"

"What?!" Moria's eyes widened in shock as he turned to Takumi, his gaze growing sharper. "You brat, give Perona's body back to me, now!"

Takumi chuckled. "Return Enel's shadow first."

"Hmph! I'll make you a deal—I won't take your shadow, and I'll even let you leave here safely. But don't push your luck trying to bargain with me!" Moria snapped.

Takumi shrugged. "Negotiation failed."

"Huh?" Perona was baffled. "Didn't you say that guy wasn't even your comrade? Moria-sama is incredibly strong! He's willing to let you go—just forget about the other guy's shadow!"

Takumi didn't feel like wasting more words on them. In a flash, he appeared in front of Moria.

Moria reacted quickly, transforming his body into a shadow.

Takumi unleashed the Night Guy technique, kicking through Moria's shadow and scattering it.

However, instead of disappearing, Moria's dispersed shadow turned into countless tiny shadow bats, which immediately swarmed toward Takumi, launching an attack.

"Hmph! You've brought this upon yourself. I gave you a chance!" Moria's true body appeared about twenty meters away, glaring at Takumi angrily.

Perona was on the verge of tears. "Moria-sama, no! My body is still in his control! Oh no! Takumi, I told you Moria-sama is strong! Why didn't you listen? What does Enel's shadow even matter to you?! Just leave already! Why get involved in something that's not your problem?!"

Takumi remained silent.

If Enel were completely useless to him, he wouldn't care. But right now, Enel was his ship's power source—a literal walking battery. If Enel lost his shadow, he'd be stuck living in darkness forever, which meant he'd be useless for sailing.

So, no matter what, Takumi had to get Enel's shadow back. If Moria refused to cooperate, there was no other choice—he'd have to take him down.

"You brat! Do you even know what I'm capable of?!" Moria growled, his voice filled with arrogance. "You've forced my hand! Your shadow is mine!"

"Oh no! What about my body?! Waaaaah!" Perona wailed, torn between her fear for her body and her loyalty to Moria.

************

Support me on Ko-fi at ko-fi.com/gered to read up to chapter 190!