Please support me on Ko-fi at ko-fi.com/gered to read up to chapter 190!
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Faced with the massive horde of zombies trying to intimidate them, both Takumi and Enel felt nothing but indifference.
These zombies, along with the Cerberus-like creature they encountered earlier, as well as the odd, stitched-together creatures in the forest, were all the handiwork of a man named Hogback, who lived with Gecko Moria in the central castle on Thriller Bark.
Hogback was a brilliant surgeon, admired by Chopper in the future, for performing miraculous surgeries that saved countless lives, earning him widespread fame and respect.
However, Hogback was ultimately a doctor who valued money more than life. His desecration of the dead by creating zombies deeply disappointed Chopper when he learned the truth six years later.
Hogback was just an ordinary human who hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit. Despite his surgical prowess, he couldn't bring the dead back to life. After reassembling the corpses with various mismatched parts, he still needed Moria's help to grant these abominations movement.
Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit enabled him to cut shadows from living people and implant them into the zombies, granting them the ability to move.
Although Takumi knew that Moria's strength wasn't extraordinary, his Devil Fruit ability was troublesome. If Moria managed to cut someone's shadow, the person would pass out for a while.
Usually, Moria would throw the unconscious person out of Thriller Bark rather than kill them because the shadow would disappear if the person died.
Enel glanced at the zombies, unimpressed. "What the hell are these things? They look human, but they aren't. I can't feel their heartbeats."
On Sky Island, there were no such things as zombies. To Enel, anything without a heartbeat was dead, but today's experience had shattered his understanding of the Blue Sea once again.
As the zombies drew closer, Enel unleashed a wide-area lightning attack, sending the entire horde into a cacophony of agonized screams.
Though the zombies collapsed, they soon began to rise again.
"They're getting back up?" Enel's body crackled with lightning, illuminating the eerie graveyard with his menacing glow.
But instead of continuing their assault, the zombies scrambled back to their graves, retreating with remarkable speed.
"What kind of freaks are these?" Enel muttered.
"Zombies," Takumi answered briefly, walking toward the castle.
"Zombies?" Enel blinked in confusion, following behind. "And what exactly are zombies? Doesn't sound like anything good."
Takumi: "…"
Takumi didn't feel like explaining further. Even talking felt exhausting at this point.
"Man, you're cold," Enel said when Takumi didn't respond, deciding not to ask any more questions.
Just as they neared Moria's castle, an old man carrying a lantern and looking much like the zombies they had seen earlier, came stumbling out of the nearby forest.
"Please wait!" the old man cried out, his voice thick with emotion, as he tried to get their attention.
Takumi ignored him, but Enel glanced back, his tone light and mocking, "Oh? He's got a voice, so he's alive."
Seeing that neither of them intended to stop, the old man hurried after them, collapsing to his knees in front of them with a loud thud.
Takumi: "…"
Enel: "…"
"Please, hear me out!" the old man pleaded, tears in his eyes. "I beg of you, defeat him. If it's you two, I know you can. If you defeat him, we can all be saved. If we can get our shadows back, everyone will be saved."
"Shadows?" Enel looked down at the old man's feet, noticing that the lantern beside him cast no shadow. "Wait… you don't have a shadow?"
The old man trembled, anger and sorrow filling his voice. "That's right. My shadow, and the shadows of many others on this island, have been stolen by Moria. Without our shadows, we are trapped in darkness, never able to stand in the sunlight again."
"Moria?" Enel, disinterested, picked at his ear. "And who's that?"
"I saw your strength just now," the old man continued, voice cracking. "I believe only you two have a chance to defeat him. Please, help us. Moria is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and he's very powerful. I know I'm asking a lot, but only you can save us. Please!"
"The Seven Warlords?" Enel suddenly remembered that Garp had mentioned something about how it would be tough for him to fight against one of them.
Seeing that Enel was hesitating, the old man dropped to his knees again and began bowing repeatedly. "I'm begging you! You're our only hope! Please, save us!"
"How pathetic," Enel said, his voice filled with disdain. "If you want your shadows back, do it yourself. We don't owe you anything. Get lost, or I won't be so nice next time."
"W-what?" The old man trembled, his face paling with despair. "You really can't help us?"
"Hmph!" Enel scoffed.
Takumi didn't even spare the old man a glance, continuing on his way toward the castle.
Enel followed, sneering. "I thought you'd be the type to swoop in and play hero."
Takumi chuckled softly but didn't say more.
There were too many pitiful people in the world. If he went out of his way to help every single one of them, he'd never stop working.
He didn't see himself as a villain, but he didn't think of himself as some paragon of justice either. Whether he helped someone or not depended entirely on his mood.
Moral obligations? They had no hold over him.
Though Takumi remained silent, Enel found himself liking him more and more. "Yahahaha! Traveling with you might not be such a bad idea after all."
The old man watched as they disappeared from sight. Slowly, he got back to his feet, picking up the lantern. His head hung low as he trudged back toward the endless darkness of the forest.
Before long, Takumi and Enel reached Moria's castle, an ominous gothic structure exuding a chilling atmosphere.
Enel took a moment to sense the surroundings and quickly detected three people inside the castle.
With a sly grin, Enel asked, "Takumi, is this Moria guy really that tough? If I fought him, what are my chances of winning?"
Takumi glanced at him, chuckling. "As long as you don't get cocky, you'll win."