Chapter 182: Intrusion
"Has Moria always lived on this island?"
Ace stood on the ship, gazing at the towering walls in the distance, his expression curious.
"This is not an island."
Xiaqiu shook his head and said, "This is a ship."
"A ship?"
Heckler looked around, surprised. "A ship that looks like an island?"
"Exactly."
Xiaqiu nodded. "This area has a mast and a helm; it can change its course."
Ace remarked, "I see. Among the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the most mysterious are Hawkeye and Moria. However, the former sometimes goes out to sea, while Moria has rarely appeared in recent years. I didn't expect him to be hiding in this sea area. What is he trying to do? Why attack passing vessels?"
"He captures shadows, seizing the members of passing vessels and stripping them of their shadows, then injecting them into zombies created by Hogback."
Xiaqiu looked into the distance and continued, "Those who have their shadows taken cannot survive in sunlight; if exposed to sunlight, they turn to ash."
Ace frowned and asked, "Why would he do such a thing?"
Xiaqiu replied, "To create an army of zombies, hoping to return to the New World and defeat his old rival."
"Four Emperor Kaido."
Ace named him; he had heard about Moria and Kaido's past. Twelve years ago, Moria lost all his crew to Kaido and returned alone in disgrace. Since then, he had faded from public view, rarely appearing before others again.
"This time our goal is to take him down," Xiaqiu said coldly.
Heckler asked, "But President, how do we get in? I'm fine, but..."
The Terror Three-Masted Ship was enormous, shaped like a circle, resembling an island, surrounded by towering walls.
Heckler could reduce his body weight to one kilogram and simply jump up, using the wall to propel himself upwards.
Ace could transform into flames and fly away on his own.
But what about Xiaqiu?
A massive figure standing sixty meters tall, with a terrifying weight of over three hundred tons.
Although he was incredibly strong, there was nothing for him to grip onto, making it difficult to climb up, let alone jump directly.
"Don't worry."
Xiaqiu slowly backed away and said, "This is just a ring of city walls; there's a moat inside. We just need to break through the walls."
With that, Xiaqiu turned around and swam off into the distance.
"President, you don't plan to..."
Ace watched Xiaqiu's actions and guessed what he was about to do, his expression showing some surprise.
Splashing sounds echoed as Xiaqiu swam further away before suddenly charging back towards them.
The massive dorsal fin sliced through the waves as Xiaqiu surged forward, getting closer and closer.
In an instant, just before reaching the city wall, Xiaqiu propelled itself with all six legs, striking the water ten times in quick succession.
With renewed speed, Xiaqiu's head was enveloped in Armament Haki as it crashed against the wall.
Boom.
A tremendous sound echoed, and in the next moment, the point of impact caved in, creating a fifteen-meter-wide hole that pierced through the wall.
From the center of the hole, cracks spread outwards, especially above, where the wall shattered and massive stones came crashing down.
"That's enough."
Xiaqiu swam through the opening into the moat, where the island within housed various buildings.
"What incredible power."
Ace couldn't help but exclaim upon witnessing the scene.
To create such a breach in the wall was an astounding display of strength.
He knew it would be quite difficult for him to achieve something similar.
Meanwhile, Heckler, who was already astonished, realized that he was the strongest among the Baroque Works members. Yet even with all his might, he could only manage to create a small dent.
"Hurry up."
Xiaqiu called out as it entered the moat.
"Let's go in."
Ace's ship spewed flames as it followed Xiaqiu into the moat, and then Xiaqiu climbed up onto Heart Island.
Heckler leaped lightly, landing on a ten-meter stretch of ground, and then, with a few quick steps on the edge, he directly ascended to the island.
Ace then made a powerful leap, his body transforming into a torrent of flames that soared upward before landing above.
"Let's move."
Xiaqiu led the two of them further away, but after just a few steps, they heard rustling sounds around them.
"Heart."
With a wave of his right hand, Ace made the flames grow larger, illuminating the surroundings.
Not far away, two strange figures came into view.
One figure was a tree-like creature with arms, while the other was short in stature but had long limbs and an ugly head.
These two figures did not approach; instead, they ran off into the distance and vanished in the blink of an eye.
"What are those things?"
Heckler frowned, but at that moment, Ace shouted again, "There's more."
The ground cracked open, and decaying figures crawled out from below.
These figures had a bluish-gray complexion, their skin dull and shriveled, emanating a foul odor.
Their heads fell off, some with panic in their eyes, their bodies bearing wounds, and some arms twisted.
"Is this a Zombie?" Heckler frowned.
These Zombies crawled out from the ground, glanced at Xiaqiu's massive figure, and then turned to flee into the distance.
"These guys seem to have some intelligence," Ace observed thoughtfully as he watched their movements.
Xiaqiu said, "If nothing unexpected has happened, they should be ordinary pirate corpses injected with shadows. The two in front, however, are Zombies created by Hogback, still driven by shadows."
"The abilities granted by the Shadow-Shadow Fruit."
Ace looked around and said, "I wonder if there are any more powerful Zombies."
But just as he finished speaking, Heckler suddenly tilted his body, his head leaning to one side. In that instant, he unexpectedly threw a punch into the empty space with his right hand.
Boom.
A figure shot out from the darkness and crashed heavily to the ground.
It was a man wearing a round hat, his nose, mouth, and jaw resembling that of a lion.
"Why couldn't I see him just now?"
Heckler wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at the fallen figure in confusion. He hadn't even noticed him before he struck.
The figure on the ground was equally surprised; he had landed a punch on Heckler, yet he hadn’t even staggered back and had retaliated with a punch of his own.
The force was immense, far surpassing his own.
"It seems I shouldn't hold back, so I'll just kill you directly." The figure slowly vanished.
"He disappeared again, everyone Heart Point."
Ace's right hand was engulfed in flames, illuminating the surroundings.
Yet, the ground around them was empty, with no sign of the opponent.
"Hehehe, I'll kill you."
The figure appeared not far from Heckler, aiming a rocket launcher at both Heckler and Ace.
But just as he was about to fire, a loud thud echoed as a massive leg stomped him to the ground.
Crack.
His body bent unnaturally, turning into a lump of flesh.
"I can't see him, but that doesn't mean I can't feel him."
Xiaqiu snorted coldly; this person was one of Moria's subordinates, one of the Three Weirdos, Absalom.
A user of the transparent Devil Fruit Ability, he had parts of his body transplanted by Hogback, giving him immense strength and biting power.
His ability wasn't to disappear but to become transparent; he neither absorbed nor reflected light, appearing invisible to the observer's eyes while still having a physical form.
Finding him wasn't difficult; scent, sound, and even Observation Haki could detect him.
"Kill one."
Xiaqiu swallowed Absalom, the character ranked second on the One Piece death list, and thus he perished.
"Let's go."
Xiaqiu led the two of them forward, arriving at the mansion in the center of the island.
The enormous mansion exuded a sinister aura, and in front of it stood a girl dressed in Gothic Lolita style, holding an umbrella.
Not only that, but she was floating in the air, surrounded by several ghosts.
Perona.
She was the most threatening among the Three Weirdos.
Comment 0 Comment Count