Chapter 111: Thriller Bark
Marine Headquarters - Training Field
The morning sun sliced through the clouds, bathing the training field in golden light, illuminating every figure hard at work.
Kuina stood center-field, her sword stance a flowing rainbow. Her blade, Wado Ichimonji, traced cold, silver arcs.
Each slash was steady and powerful. Sweat beaded on her forehead, yet her movements showed no sign of faltering.
Despite having eaten a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit, she didn't rely on the power. Instead, she continued her high-intensity Kendo training.
She forcibly suppressed the passive endurance and recovery enhancement, dedicated to proving one thing: "I am still a 'human' who wields a sword."
On the sidelines, Zephyr stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze steady and approving. "Good. Not blinded by power. She's training even harder."
In another section, Ace, Luffy, and Law were engaged in a three-way coordinated drill against Roy.
"Quicker with the synergy!" Roy barked, his body a blur. He dodged Ace's Fire Fist, then countered with a shockwave punch that forced all three of them back.
Luffy expanded his body, pink scales glittering in the sunlight. "Big Bro Roy! Check out my new move!"
He crouched down, his Dragon Claw, coated in Armament Haki, diving for a strike at Roy's back!
However—
Whoosh!
Roy vanished, reappearing directly above Luffy, delivering a light tap to his head.
"Learn to hide your bloodlust before trying a sneak attack, kid."
"Owww!! That hurt!" Luffy rolled on the ground, clutching his head.
Roy chuckled as he landed. He glanced at Kuina, who was still swinging her sword, and a faint smile touched his lips. 'Any minute now... Enel and Zoro should be arriving.'
The Grand Line - Florian Triangle - Thriller Bark
Gray mist rolled in like a tide, heavy and oppressive, smothering the sea. The sky was permanently obscured, and the surroundings were silent. Even the sea birds refused to fly here.
The colossal ghost ship floated like a coffin on the water. The deck was rotten and mottled, the stench of rust and decay thick in the air, littered with broken weapons and debris that spoke of a brutal past.
A flash of lightning tore through the fog. Enel descended on a pillar of thunder. His golden hair billowed, and his expression was aloof.
He stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes showing disdain for all worldly things.
Zoro made no attempt to conceal his own aura. His twin blades were drawn, radiating cold intent. He walked steadily onto the ship of the dead, his battle spirit surging.
"Tch... what a disgusting place."
Enel frowned, a flicker of distaste in his golden eyes. "My Mantra senses... the whole ship is like it's breathing."
"Full of death, rot, chaos, and—malformed souls."
Zoro ignored him, speaking coldly, "Where is the 'Dragon-Slaying Samurai'?"
"Ki—shishishishi!!!!"
An unsettling, grating laugh, like a rusty blade scraping metal, suddenly echoed from the black depths of the mist.
The fog churned, and a massive figure slowly emerged, looking like a nightmare sewn together.
The first things to appear were two sharp, protruding horns on his forehead, like a demon's.
Then, a pale, blue-gray face materialized—skin sickly violet, lips dark purple, with a thick seam running conspicuously down the center from his forehead to his neck, as if his entire head had been violently reattached.
His mouth curled into a ferocious grin, revealing rows of sharp fangs. His ears, shaped like bat wings, twitched with every rusty burst of laughter.
His neck was abnormally long and attached to a broad, fleshy torso, creating a strange disproportion with his short, bloated lower body, which seemed to drag a sack of decaying flesh.
Clumps of gray-black mist swirled around his colossal, nearly twenty-foot tall body, casting an oppressive, suffocating shadow.
His footsteps boomed as he walked, like a corpse clawing its way from a grave.
"Where did these two brats come from, daring to trespass on my territory?!!"
He roared, his voice hoarse and broken, like shattered glass in his throat. "This is Thriller Bark! The domain of the Great Moria!"
He swung his hand violently. Shadows surged like a tide, a viscous, rotten black fog sweeping across the entire deck!
Enel waved a hand dismissively. Lightning exploded around him, instantly vaporizing the black mist into nothing.
"That's all?" His tone was bored. He didn't even flinch.
"You brat—are you trying to die?! I am a Warlord of the Sea!! You think this is a place you can just walk into and out of—"
Moria's face darkened, his angry roar shattering the dense fog. His massive, bloated body trembled with rage.
"...You talk too much."
Enel rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with unconcealed contempt.
He slowly raised a finger and pointed to the green-haired swordsman beside him. "Roy sent us. He said this 'Moss-head' needed to fight your zombie swordsman and take a sword."
Moria froze, his roaring stopping dead.
"You said... who sent you?" His voice was caught in his throat, his expression twisting, as if someone had splashed him with ice water.
Enel shrugged, repeating unhurriedly, "Vice Admiral Roy. The one who fights Kaido."
"Vi-Vi-Vice Admiral Roy?!"
Moria looked as if he'd been struck by a bolt of lightning. His pupils violently contracted, his fat body shivered, and he nearly fell backward.
"Isn't that... the monster who fights the Yonko to a standstill?!!"
Having been crushed by Kaido in the past, Moria had long lost his will to fight. Hearing Roy's name now, he was filled with instinctive dread.
His voice trembled, and his ears turned purple with fear. The ferocious look on his face instantly collapsed, replaced by sheer terror and regret.
Cold sweat poured down his face, making his swollen features look like dough dissolving in water.
"You... you should have said so!!!"
He instantly changed his demeanor, quickly plastering on a forced, ingratiating smile. "Hahaha... So it's a distinguished guest sent by Vice Admiral Roy! My apologies, my mistake, it was just a performance for dramatic effect, you understand!"
He immediately turned and shouted at his subordinates, "Someone! Take them to 'him'! The one with the sword! Quickly, quickly!! Get moving!!"
He turned back to Enel and Zoro, bowing and scraping. "Please, help yourselves, look around, fight as much as you like! I only beg your mercy... please don't cleave my ship in half..."
Enel shot him a look, then smiled faintly.
Thriller Bark - Deep within the Castle
The dim, tomb-like corridor led to a stone hall. The walls were lined with decaying armor and broken weapons, and the air was thick with the scent of mold and rust.
In the center of the hall stood a motionless figure, as if frozen in time.
He was wrapped in bandages, his hair white, his face without eyes or nose, only stitches.
He wore a white kimono bearing the kanji for "Dragon" (龍), a blue swirl-patterned sash tied around his waist, and wooden sandals. He looked exactly like an ancient samurai's desiccated corpse.
That was the legendary—Shimotsuki Ryuma.
Suspended at his waist was a long katana, black as night.
Zoro's gaze locked onto the blade, his pupils contracting. His voice was low and burning with fervor. "Is that... Shusui (Autumn Water)?"
Ryuma slowly raised his head. His scarlet pupils emerged from the shadows, carrying the stillness of the dead and the killing intent of a samurai.
He spoke, his voice like a ghost crawling out of a coffin. "Trespassers... shall be cut down."
Zoro grinned, his two swords Clang! Clang! sliding from their sheaths simultaneously. His eyes were sharp as a hawk's. "Just what I wanted."
His body lunged forward, cutting the air!
"Two-Sword Style: Demon Slash!"
Ryuma drew his sword in the same instant, his blade flashing like the moon across the night sky!
"Moon Shadow: Single Flash!"
"CLANG!!!"
Blades met, sparks flew, and the air violently shuddered. The entire castle seemed to groan at the impact!
The zombies in the distance backed away in unison. A deep cut scarred the stone floor.
This was a duel—
Between the living and the phantom, the Swordsman and the Legend!
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