"One Piece:The True Codex"Chapter 348: Cutting the Hair
The fully armored zombies moved silently as they charged toward the sailors around the dining table. The zombies that had emerged from the paintings and specimens quickly stepped aside in fear, making way for these new arrivals. The sailors stood no chance against these armored zombies and were swiftly taken down in just a few moves.
These were Moria's General Zombies, created by combining the bodies of powerful warriors with shadows. They possessed not only strong physical bodies but also advanced combat awareness and techniques. More importantly, they were fearless, immune to pain, and fought without concern for injuries. Unlike ordinary people who would dodge or defend when their vital points were attacked, these zombies could trade injury for injury without hesitation.
If the wandering zombies outside were merely cannon fodder for Moria, then these General Zombies were his true elite force.
"What are you looking at, skeleton?" The drunken zombie asked again, his tone filled with irritation. He hurled one of the curved swords in his hand directly at Brook.
Brook drew the thin sword hidden within his cane and deflected the incoming blade. Behind him, Karslana, still bound in spider webs, shouted loudly, "Use fire, Brook! They're afraid of fire!"
Brook had already thought of this. He reached behind him, pulled out a pre-made torch, and lit it with a lighter. However, as Brook went through these motions, the drunken zombie had already lunged toward him.
Seeing Brook ignite the torch, the drunken zombie didn't retreat in fear. Instead, he let out a wild laugh, tilted his head back, and took another swig of strong liquor. At the same time, he pulled another curved sword from his stomach with his other hand. As he approached Brook, he spat the liquor toward the torch.
The alcohol ignited upon contact with the torch, creating a fiery tongue that shot toward Brook's face. Startled, Brook quickly tossed the torch aside and scrambled away, clutching his afro protectively.
Although Brook dodged swiftly, a few small flames still ignited on his hair. While he frantically patted them out, the drunken zombie charged at him, wielding two curved swords pulled from his stomach. The zombie's attacks came down like a violent storm, all targeting Brook's head.
Brook, the very definition of "skin and bones," presented a small target when dodging attacks. However, his large afro made for an easy mark, and he seemed overly concerned about it, afraid it might get damaged. As he dodged the drunken zombie's relentless strikes, he finally shouted in frustration, "Stop aiming for my hair!"
The drunken zombie grinned wickedly. "So you really care about your hair, huh!"
With that, he intensified his attacks on Brook's afro. Karslana, watching from the side while still trapped, couldn't understand and yelled, "It's just hair! What are you doing? Why aren't you fighting back?!"
"I'm already dead! If even a single strand of my hair gets cut, it'll never grow back!" Brook explained as he darted away from the drunken zombie, his long, thin legs moving swiftly.
"Why don't you just wear a wig or something!?" Karslana exclaimed in disbelief. Even in such a dire situation, she couldn't help but turn to William and ask, "Are wigs some kind of new invention in recent years?"
William remained expressionless, unsure how to respond and choosing to ignore her. Brook, too, fell silent.
Though the drunken zombie's attacks were fierce, his speed was far inferior to Brook's. After putting some distance between them, Brook managed to extinguish the flames on his afro. Now, his head was left with only bare, white bones. Normally, it was hard to discern expressions on his skeletal face, but at this moment, a hint of anger was unmistakable.
Above them, the spider-rats dangled from their webs, swinging through the air as they tried to ensnare Brook. However, Brook's agility allowed him to evade them one by one.
"You despicable scoundrel," Brook cursed while leaping around to dodge the spider-rats and the drunken zombie's attacks. "You've angered me! Now I'll show you—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Brook suddenly stumbled and fell flat on the ground as if he had tripped over himself. The heavy thud of his fall was so loud that even Karslana and the others near the door could hear it clearly.
Not only that, but after falling, Brook seemed to struggle to get up. He twitched slightly, resembling a fish out of water, creating an absurdly comical scene.
One of the young sailors who had bravely followed Karslana into the mansion had initially placed his hopes on Brook, especially after witnessing his impressive swordsmanship in the trench earlier. But now, seeing Brook's blunder, the sailor couldn't help but cry out in despair, "What are you doing, Brook? Save us!"
"Something's pressing down on me!" Brook shouted in panic. "It's a ghost!"
Seizing the opportunity, several spider-rats swarmed Brook and quickly bound him tightly with their webs. Only then did a skeptical voice speak from above him, "Is this the skeleton swordsman Perona mentioned? The one whose shadow could pair with the corpse of Samurai Ryuma? She must be joking."
As the voice echoed, a man's figure gradually appeared out of thin air. He had a lion-like face, but the dense stitches around his mouth and nose made it clear he had been surgically altered.
The man was sitting on top of Brook. He glanced around the hall and, seeing that only his allies remained free to move, patted the struggling Brook beneath him. With a hearty laugh, he declared, "The hunt is over!"
…
After the battle ended, the mad doctor Hogback reappeared. Together with the invisible man, Absalom, he directed a group of zombies to transport the captured survivors to the back of the mansion, where Moria resided in the main building.
Gecko Moria, bored and picking his teeth while sitting in his chair, grumbled as Hogback and the others arrived with the captives. "What took you so long?"
He grabbed the first person the zombies brought in—William. Seeing William staring directly at him, Moria assumed he was paralyzed with fear at his enormous size. With a look of disdain, Moria casually tossed William to the ground. Turning to Hogback, he complained, "The recent arrivals to the island have been such poor prey. They're all only good enough to make soldier zombies or animal zombies. Where's that skeleton swordsman Perona mentioned?"
"Here," Absalom replied, tossing Brook, who was slung over his shoulder, onto the ground. "He doesn't seem as strong as Perona claimed."
The "Ghost Princess," Perona, a sixteen-year-old girl dressed in Gothic attire, had been sitting and trimming her nails. Hearing Absalom's comment, she adjusted the crown on her head, stood up, and snapped, "While you were sneaking around spying on women, I was monitoring this group! I saw with my own eyes that this skeleton man took out a group of soldier zombies in an instant. His swordsmanship is on par with any of Moria-sama's General Zombies!"
After speaking, Perona scanned the captives on the ground with her large eyes and asked, "Where's the woman?"
"She's my girlfriend!" Absalom replied confidently.
"What girlfriend? You pervert!" Perona retorted with disgust.
"Once I've spent some time with her, she'll be my girlfriend!"
Before Perona could argue further, Moria stepped between them to stop his two key subordinates from bickering.
Changing the subject, he pointed at Brook, who had been lying motionless on the ground since being thrown down. "Is he really alive?"
"He's playing dead," Absalom exposed Brook's little trick without hesitation.
"Oh," Moria said, nodding. He pulled out a giant pair of scissors with his right hand and grabbed Brook with his left.
Only then did Brook, who had been feigning death, suddenly start struggling. Shaking his head frantically, his hollow eyes filled with tears, he cried out in a trembling voice, "Please, let me go! I don't want my hair cut!"
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