A dozen days later, at the port of the Thriller Bark, aboard Luffy's ship,
"So, you've made up your minds then?" Luffy asked, crunching ice from a glass of lemon water as he spoke.
Moria clenched his jaw. For someone like him, saying what he was about to say was harder than dying. But things had come to this, and as the captain of the Thriller Bark Pirates, it was his duty, and his burden.
Taking a step forward with his massive frame, Moria's eyes quivered ever so slightly, something like a tear glinting there. All traces of his former arrogance were gone. In a deep, solemn voice, he spoke:
"I, Gecko Moria… Captain of the Thriller Bark Pirates… am willing to serve under you, "
"Whoa, whoa! Hold up!" Luffy cut him off, waving his hand quickly.
He wasn't kidding. If the system recognized Moria as a true companion, Luffy would have nowhere to cry about it.
Sure, Moria was okay, but his three subordinates were a different story. Not one of them was worth wasting a precious crew slot on. Luffy had no intention of letting his valuable partner slots be taken up like that.
Besides, deep down, Luffy still wanted to meet his original comrades in the way fate intended. That was one of the little dreams he had after arriving in this world.
Luffy stood up from his deck chair, looking at the now-defeated Moria and the three members of his crew behind him.
With a tinge of regret, he shook his head and said slowly, "Let's just keep things at a cooperative level between us.
I don't need your loyalty. As long as you follow my orders, I'll give you something in return.
Let's just call it compensation for the peace and quiet I've taken from you."
Moria clenched his fist tightly. Since when had he fallen so far, that even pledging allegiance was something to be rejected?
But this humiliation, he could only swallow it. It was too late to change anything now.
After a moment, Luffy suddenly asked, "By the way, when you were creating zombies before, were there any requirements for the bodies?"
Moria hesitated for a beat, then replied with resignation, "No specific requirements. As long as the muscles are intact and can move, the zombie doesn't feel any pain.
That's part of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit's ability.
When a stolen shadow is inserted into a corpse, it becomes a zombie. The zombie inherits the combat power and personality of the original shadow's owner, but not their Devil Fruit ability."
Luffy frowned slightly. "So… a zombie's strength mainly depends on the shadow?"
"Not entirely," Moria answered. "The shadow plays the dominant role.
In most cases, strong shadows in weak bodies can unleash great power.
But a weak shadow in a strong body? Still weak. It can't even bring out the body's original power."
"I see…" Luffy rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
So shadows were key to the zombie's strength, but a weak body could become powerful with a strong enough shadow.
That… sounded familiar.
Luffy suddenly glanced in Brook's direction, an odd feeling stirring inside him.
The Shadow-Shadow Fruit and the Revive-Revive Fruit, one used the Mental Power of others, the other relied on one's own soul. The similarities were strangely intriguing.
Now that Moria had agreed to cooperate, it was time to begin training and leveling up in earnest.
Luffy turned to Robin and Brook, who were standing nearby, and said, "Robin, Brook, pack your things. We're moving to the island."
"Understood," Robin replied calmly.
"Yohohoho!" Brook laughed cheerfully. "It's been ages since I've lived on solid ground! Yohohohoho!"
"Don't get too excited just yet," Luffy grinned mischievously.
The two of them didn't know it yet, but Luffy had a whole basket of training plans ready for them.
With their current strength, they were just slightly above a 100-million-bounty pirate. But against real enemies? They'd be in serious danger.
This world was full of hidden monsters. The ones you see are just the ones that want to be seen. The ones in the shadows? Far scarier.
"Oh right, let's do some proper introductions," Luffy suddenly said, turning to Moria and his crew.
"I'm Luffy, Monkey D. Luffy. I'm… well, I'm a pirate."
He stumbled slightly in the middle but carried on anyway.
Robin strode forward confidently, long legs and elegant posture on full display. She shot a deliberate glance at Perona and smiled. "I'm Nico Robin. Let's get along from now on, shall we? Hehe~"
Then she covered her mouth and giggled, for reasons only she knew.
"Yohohoho!" Brook chimed in with his signature laugh and gave a gentleman's bow. Though they had been enemies before, now that they had surrendered, they were allies. That was an unspoken rule in the pirate world.
"I'm the Soul King, Brook! A musician, and I look forward to performing for you all someday."
When he mentioned being a musician, the ghostly fire in his eyes flickered brightly. Clearly, music was something Brook truly loved.
Moria, now composed, or maybe he had just prepared himself mentally, continued with the introductions.
"Gecko Moria. Shadow-Shadow Fruit user," he said simply. Then, turning toward Perona with a gentler look, he added, "Perona, my adopted daughter. Ghost-Ghost Fruit user. She likes all things creepy… and cute."
"Oh?" Brook perked up. "Little miss, I think we might get along quite well! Yohohoho!"
Perona glanced into Brook's hollow eye sockets and instantly remembered the terrifying scene from the other day. She shook her head furiously, her twin ponytails swinging in a pink arc of refusal.
"Ah…" Brook slumped instantly, his head drooping to his chest. The sight gave Perona another scare.
From that day on, Perona started acting like a normal little girl, her love for creepy things faded completely. Call it progress.
"HAHAHAHA!" Luffy and Robin burst out laughing. "Alright, Brook! She's just a little girl, don't scare her too much!"
"Yeah, she's still a little girl," Robin teased, though her emphasis and the arms still hidden beneath her chest carried a hint of something else.
A woman's grudge… now that's scary.
Moria quickly calmed Perona and continued the introductions. "This is Absalom. Suke Suke no Mi user."
The named man stiffened at once. After all he had endured alongside Moria lately, he was practically traumatized, especially by that woman.
Absalom stole a quick glance at Robin and immediately recoiled. Just standing near her made his legs go weak.
"And this is Doctor Hogback, a world-renowned surgeon."
With all four introduced, Moria let out a long, weary sigh. In this world ruled by power, the weak have no real choices.
Luffy clapped his hands together. "Alright then! Now that we've all met, let's head to the island and talk about what comes next!"
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