[Sorry this is late, the site wasn't co operating with me last night]

LW: So, where were we? Oh yeah Brook just showed up to save everyone, meanwhile Luffy has been captured and most likely about to get shadowsnatched. We should probably get back to them huh. Enjoy

Rubber King and Mirror Master - Hyping up Mr. Oars

Three Verse Humming: Arrow Notch Slash

As Brook sheaths his canesword Tararan slumps forwards, grunting and twitching in pain

"Don't stop now Brook, he's a zombie he's not going to go down unless he's in little bits!" Alvida shouts, trying to squirm out of the webbing

"You little shi… wait, I know you from somewhere" Tararan gasps

"Yohohoho. Never fear my friends, I've got this whole thing under control. I know exactly what I'm doing, after all, even the dead can be killed if you know how" he says cryptically, many confused but one blond nodded in agreement.

As if to prove his point Tararan began writhing and flailing, before the shadow animating it was forced out of his mouth 'killing' the Kage Kage zombie in the process

"What the hell was that thing?" Franky asks loudly

"That was the zombie's soul, the stolen shadow that was used to give it life and movement. Without it, well it's just a stitched up hunk of flesh" Brook answers, turning to watch the spidermice flee in terror "Oh, by the way, I know that webbing feels strong as steel, but you can melt right through it with a little fire"

"Like Mr. 3's Waxworks all over again" Vivi sighs and lightly chuckles, getting a look from Valentina "No, that technique would kill us all. Use the dial as it was intended only" she orders, getting a huff from the kilo girl before following orders, using the flame dial like a blowtorch to free the others in combination with Franky in no time.

"So, somewhere between 3 and 7 of our crewmates have been captured by those mice and the zombies, meaning now would be a great time to explain what the hell is going on in this place" Alvida demands, the others nodding except Robin who was a little busy getting the webbing removed from her mouth by the flame dial.

"Very true, however, and I'm not sure how best to spring this on you, if your friends have already been captured it may already be too late to save them" Brook admits

"WHAT!" Franky bellows "Explain yourself you bony fuckface!" he shouts, opening Weapons left

"Franky, he's already dead, that will probably just make this whole thing take longer" Robin says with a sigh, not that she didn't want to snap his neck herself right now

"Jeez you're all so hostile. But I guess it's to be expected, anywho, I tried to explain this earlier but there was a period of time when I was adrift in the triangle, lost and alone. When I thought I had finally come to find an escape my rudder broke and I was further cast into this watery hellscape. Then much like with you I stumbled across this island, Thriller Bark, about 5 years ago as best I can tell. I was desperate to escape the Triangle so I ventured onto the island, searching for parts to fix my vessel, but all I found was a hoard of monsters and zombies. It wasn't long before they managed to capture me and take me to the very building behind you, where I was witness to the horror of seeing the beast within tear up another captured traveller's shadow, and amputate it"

"That's what the Kage Kage no mi can do?" Vivi yelps, a shiver running through her body, the idea unsettling and wrong all on it's own.

"Correct, the dance fighter went lifeless once the shadow was separated, but the shadow itself still moves, squirming and struggling until it was forced into the marionette, and I watched in horror as a dancing zombie was born from the union"

"That is the least intimidating variant I've heard of so far, but the idea itself is still horrifying" Robin hums, getting an eyeroll from the V's and a chuckle from Greed.

"But how does that even work?" Kaya asks

"It's the shadow, no matter the vessel they retain an echo of their original owner and it's imprinted on the zombie itself" Brook explains "Shadows in some cultures are seen as your darker half, joined and mimicking you from birth until death, only one person has the power to break this rule of the universe and twist shadows to his will: Gecko Moria of the Shichibukai"

"He's the one who stole your shadow then, and at the very least Zoro's too given the 3 sword zombie from earlier" Victor notes/summarises

"Indeed. All you need to make a zombie is a corpse and the living shadow of an unfortunate individual, though the zombies all around us are more than that, they're often a stitched together mash up of human and animal parts made whole by Moria's accomplice, Dr. Hogback" Brook continues

"The only way to make a Kage zombie at least, how did you make your Edo Tensei Val, you were kind of vague?" Alvida asks curiously, peering over at the still grinning Greed

"Focus, technique, and a sacrifice" Valentina admits "I don't know how my brother made this one" she points to the man beside her "but the process works for revivals too, the only additional ingredient is blood, flesh or hair of the person you want to bring back as a perfect zombie"

"So you must take life to give life, poetic" Robin says with a half smile "Would you need to kill someone every time you summon him?" she asks

"No, just the revival, plus there are ways to dismiss an Edo that won't simply 'kill' him" Val answers

"As enlightening as the conversation is, can we get back to explaining what the hell is going on, on this island?" Vivi asks

Brook coughs "Quite right young miss. Where was I, oh yes Dr. Hogback, the man who builds the zombies, scouring the globe looking for strong warrior bodies to steal and repurpose, he's amassed quite a collection of bodies in his lab, all just waiting for a shadow to awaken them"

"All that talent and he's making monsters for a pirate like Moria, such a waste" Kaya huffs "Chopper isn't going to like that"

"So the zombies aren't really returned from the dead, they're just meat suits being piloted by the shadows of still living people" Franky repeats, running things through in his head

"Exactly, the skills and fighting styles come from the shadow, while the strength comes from the corpse, and when both are strong the end result is something truly monstrous. It's why Moria is so eager to get his grubby little hands on people with high bounties, so their mental and spiritual strength will translate over to immensely powerful zombies for him to command"

"So that's why they're gunning for us, our bounties over wrecking Enise Lobby must have had the bastard cream himself" Alvida sneers "And given he's got 3 of our best fighters, things are not looking good right now"

"And given the shadows are in control of the zombies and his fruit gives him control over the shadows, that makes quite the powerful hoard at his disposal, unquestioningly loyal to the Great Onion" Artemis pipes in, starting to worry about her missing family members

"Exactly right little one, and thanks to those facts he can have powerful fighters without having to deal with the mess of actually having to work with the people they were previously attached to, so the stronger the person he steals the shadow from, the sooner he sends them out into the void" Brook states solemnly

Vivi gasps "But you said if the sun hits you…"

"I'd turn to ash, correct. And so will they if they're send out to sea by Moria"

"Then we need to get a move on, right now!" Franky shouts

"There is still time to save them, especially as we don't know if he's removed Straw Hat's shadow just yet. However you'll need to put your complete trust in me, as my experience will have to serve as your guide" Brook announces

"How about no? We're not all Zoro, we can go up a flight of stairs without getting lost" Valentina argues

"Can we just get this over with and locate our companions? Either give orders, or shut up and let us get on our way" Robin says with a cold breeze cutting through everyone in the area

Despite being only bones Brook swallows thickly "Of course, right this way please"

In the building

"Your guests have arrived Master Moria" the trio chorus, causing the onion man to smirk

"Excellent. Show them in" he commands, grin widening as his 3 associates enter the room, equally excited "Nice to see you all got here so fast Kishishishi. Now, make me king of the pirates!"

"Of course master" the mysterious 3 nod only to be interrupted by Luffy

"Hey fatass, you're never going to be King of the Pirates, because I AM!" he bellows "Untie these ropes and I'll show you why it's gonna be me not you who stands at the top. Also, Zoro, Sanji, Kaos, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, give me back my friends you jerks!" Luffy demands, wriggling around in his cage

"He's certainly… energetic" Hogback muses, unsure what else to call him

"Is this really the guy who took on the world government, and beat both Crocodile and Lucci? He looks like he can't walk and breath at the same time" Perona mocks, fiddling with her umbrella in boredom

"What I want to know is why he's wearing a zombie general's armour" Absolom growls

"What, like none of you ever dreamed of being a knight growing up?" Luffy huffs

"Did that dream also involve getting captured?"

"No, but I'd probably have gotten captured even if I hadn't put on the armour, so that's a stupid quiestion" Luffy shrugs, making the Iviso-perv angrier

"Well kid" Moria says, interrupting Absolom before he could retort "You gave me quite the list, but I'm afraid only 2 of them have been captured by my forces, 3 if you include yourself. Pirate Hunter Zoro, and someone we presume is Black Leg Sanji, the picture is unhelpful at best" he admits with a tired grunt

"Yeah, Artemis offered to send a better artist's impression, but he was too busy moping to hear her" Luffy shrugs, Sanji's vanity wasn't his problem.

Meanwhile inside Kumase Ussop was panicking "Oh no, not only did they catch Luffy, but Zoro and Sanji too" he swallows thickly

"No offence to… well everyone else, but that's ¾ of our strongest guys, how were they the first to be captured?" Nami asks

"By that logic we should have been captured the second we stepped foot on the island. Honestly, Zoro I can believe he got lost and fell into a trap, Luffy and Sanji… well it's just bad news" the sniper replies with a deep grimace

"Speaking of, where are the 3 I sent over to you Perona, the Risky brothers should have gotten them to you by now" Hogback asks, the ghost girl shrugs

"They were supposed to deliver them to Kumase, hopefully those 2 idiots didn't lose them, can't have more of them running amok on the island" she sighs, this wasn't her night

"I think they're talking about us" Ussop whispers then hisses as Kumase moves closer to the trio "Don't you dare sell use out you undead bastard!"

"Um Mistr…"

"Didn't I tell you to shut the fuck up!" Perona explodes, slapping him with her umbrella

"Must you be so strict on the poor thing, you snap over the most minor of things. Besides we should be focusing on locating my bride to be, she did cause a minor uprising in your garden" Absolom says, then the gears click in his head "HOGBACK! You better not have put a single disgusting finger on my bride you hear me!" he shouts the Doc grimacing and tries to placate the unstable man, meanwhile Shindrey decides to do the opposite

"Your bride, she doesn't want you" she says bluntly

"Shindrey you're not helping the situation, also stop standing in front of me" Hogback orders, causing the zombie woman to turn and stare coldly at him

"She doesn't want you either"

"Geez woman, I wasn't even doing anything" the Doc whines

"I'm pretty sure the Doc's asexual" Perona hums, unoticed in the commotion.

"I don't care what you say, I already decided she will be the one I spend the rest of my life with" Absolom says, huffing like a child

"She doesn't want you, maybe get with the hippo neither of your seem to care about the happiness of your partners after all" Shindrey says flatly

"Shut up!" Moria commands "Your bickering is giving me a headache. If those pirates escape I'll have to make examples out of all 3 of you" he threatens, sending shivers down their spines "I gathered you here not so I could watch you argue, but because it seemed appropriate we were all together for the unveiling of number 900 now I've finally found a shadow strong enough to revive him" the Warlord explains, just as one of his minizombies scream, having been overpowered by Luffy who wriggles like a worm in his restraints towards the door

"Master the pirate ate through the bars of the cage!" a zombie squeaks

"He did what?!" Moria screams

"Whatever messed up things you have planned for me, I'm not gonna make it easy for you" Luffy calls back as he makes his, not that impressive looking but still effective escape.

"I'm gonna back you regret existence brat" Aboslom shouts, before being shoved aside by Perona

"No need to wreck the place idiot, I'll handle this"

Negative Hollow

"Those ghost things, they're yours?" Luffy says in surprise then chuckles when he notices the bruise "Quite a shiner, good thing he didn't use his pimp-slapping hand or there might've been permanent damage" karma comes for him as all 3 of the hollows pass through him, causing him to curl up in a depressive slump

"Fosfosfos. Those hollows truly are frightfully effective Perona" Hogback laughs

A little later, due to prepwork

"Let me go you stupid onion, fight me like a man!" Luffy shouts as he's once more secured, this time by a web to the ceiling

"I think not. Why don't we illuminate the dim lad as to how this is going to go" Moria laughs then with a wave of his hand Hogback activates the massive light they had set up. The Shadow man then reaches down and grabs the end of Luffy's shadow, peeling it off the floor like a sticker and dragging it's owner with it until the boy was dangling upside down by his feet/shadow, right in front of Moria.

"What the, this shouldn't be possible!" Luffy gasps

"Oh but it is, and now for the main event" Moria grins as he pulls out what for anyone else would probably be a comically oversized pair of scissors, and severs the connection between the 2, Luffy passing out as a result

"Kishishishi! The power of a shadow taken from a man with a 330 million beri bounty. With it I shall create the most powerful special zombie the world has ever seen!" Moria announces, Luffy's shadow squirming within his clenched fist "Kishishishi! Now Straw Hat Luffy's power is under my control, and zombie 900 can finally be revived"

"He, cut off his shadow" Nami whimpers "How, that shouldn't be possible"

"A shadow is just where your body blocks light, you shouldn't be able to interact with it, never mind pick it up and remove it from its owner" Chopper adds "But we have seen this before" he hums

Usopp blinks "Oh yeah, that skeleton guy, he had his shadow stolen, it must have been this guy" he gasps

"And implanted into the samurai" Nami guesses "That's what the shadow man was saying, he was going to use Luffy's shadow to revive something, so maybe all the zombies were made that way"

"Good point, explains why the penguin dog acted like Sanji, given he did say they're already captured him and Zoro" Usopp nods, then the 3 drop back into Kumase to hide as Perona starts verbally abusing him again (Poor thing)

"This little shadow is the next step on my journey to becoming King of the Pirates, right Dr?" Moria asks, grinning widely

"Fosfosfos, over the last 10 years I've put all my skills and energy into making no.900 the perfect marionette. With that particular shadow he will be the ultimate zombie, nothing will stand in your way!"

"Yeees, no matter who the person is, how strong they are or how strong willed the are, once their shadow is taken and placed within another they are nothing but a slave to your will" Moria croons "If I'd have soldiers like this I'd never have been beaten by that dragon bastard Kaido in the New World all those years ago. Boys, open the special refrigerator, it's time for the main event" he commands of his zombie servants

"Yes master" they squeak before running off, just as 2 spidermice drop down behind Absolom

"Ah, there you are, take Straw Hat's body and toss him back on his ship, remove the webs though, it'd be a problem if he dies before the operation is complete"

"Yes sir" one salutes

"Also an urgent message was sent. Just moments ago, the Spidermonkey Captain Tararan was defeated"

"Defeated?" Absolom repeats, that shouldn't be possible, zombies never tire, never lose, they keep going until they overwhelm the enemy "Well it doesn't matter as long as his shadow wasn't removed"

"But that's the problem, it was removed!" the spidermouse screams

"What!?" Absolom growls, while an eavesdropping Hogback squeaks "You're certain it was removed"

"Yes master absolom"

"It's him Absolom, he's the only one who could have done it" Hogback whimpers

"Damn that humming swordsman" the ivisoperv scowls

"He's cutting down and removing every zombie's shadow that crosses his path, the casualties are immense, getting close to the incident 5 years ago"

Outside

"Wait, why are we going back to the ship?" Alvida asks

"Well, given the shadows have most likely already been removed from your comrades,their bodies will most likely be taken back to the boat. The good news is that they're not dead, they'll just be like me… the no reflection or shadow part" he quickly adds as a few of them were about to point out the whole 'skeleton' thing not exactly proof of survival

"So shadow removal isn't fatal, good to know" Vivi sighs in relief

"Yep, thought the ordeal does make you very weak and pass out, usually for 2 days or so" Brook continues "If the body is strong enough they'll send the bodies adrift in the sea, can anyone guess why?"

"So you can't get your shadow back by doing whatever you did to kill the spidermonkey and release the shadow" Victor guesses

"Why not just kill them during that 2 day period, seems pretty stupid" Franky thinks aloud

"They can't, even though they are physically separated they are still linked, the death of the body will kill the shadow and in turn the zombie it is piloting" Brook explains

"Makes sense, it's how I summoned Greed, using the shadow in the zombie as a connection point to the actual sacrifice" Valentina mutters, getting a smirk from the Edo Tensei

"My point is, that you all must avoid losing your own shadows, or you'll be forced to wander aimlessly within this eerie blackness forever, or else be consumed by sunlight" Brook warns "once you return to the ship you must find a way to reawaken your companions, the formulate a plan to retrieve their shadows"

"And yours" Artemis adds

"That's sweet little one, but your crewmates are the priority" Brooks hums, but smiles at the young artist "Oh and before I forget, take this" he says, passing to small bags to Alvida and Vivi "It's the zombie's one weakness, that I'm aware of. You've seen it's effectiveness against that spidermonkey" he chuckles

"What is it? And do you have any more?" Franky asks

"It's ordinary salt" Brook answers

"WHAT!"

"Yes. It's actually rather interesting. You see it's probably already rather obvious but these zombies have all been reanimated with a Devil fruit. Now a fruit eater is weakened by sea water, and the salt contained within is enough to weaken the bonds between the shadow and it's host" the skeleton elaborates

"Interesting, except it's not sea water, it's any standing water that weakens a Devil Fruit user" Robin corrects

"Salt still kills the zombies though, which is the main point of my explanation" Brook says with a nod "To defeat them just throw salt in their mouths, or just get the stuff inside them somehow, and it should do the rest all by itself"

"By the way, how do you know so much about this island and the zombies, including their weaknesses?" Robin adds, Brook turning somber

"That's, due to an incident that occurred 5 years ago, when I lost my shadow and was cast adrift. Luckily I was able to retrace my steps and return. Once I did, I stepped ashore and began my battle, I fought against the very zombie which was revived by my shadow, the samurai Ryuma. Unfortunately the outcome was a crushing defeat on my part, his more solid form able to attack with stronger versions of my own attacks, coupled with his own original swordstyles, I never stood a chance. Because I made a vow to survive at all costs, I ran, even if it was shameful I had to keep living. I had an obligation, as the only survivor of my crew, to keep the Rumbar pirates alive, through me. One day, I will escape this cursed sea and make good on my promise, so I refuse to die a 2nd time. Sadly, living longer has not made my promise any easier to keep, as I'm still trapped in this foggy void. But this is different, I refuse to back down, I won't run away, I won't leave this island until I have my shadow returned to me" There were, unsettling noises that followed, worrying the straw hats, then they just stop "I'll be seeing you sometime soon, best get moving" he hums

"Hold it" Vivi shouts, the skeleton turning to look at them

Back with the mysterious 4

"That damn humming swordsman" Hogback scowls "Undoing all my glorious work. He's the only enemy we have who knows the zombies weakness" he moans

"So, what does this swordsman look like?" Perona asks curiously, surprising Absolom

"Perona you don't mean, you've never seen him? That must have been how he slipped through your ghost network

The ghost girl shrugs "Must have been"

Absolom sighs "Master Moria, that humming pain in the ass from 5 years ago is back"

"Do I look like I care, don't bother me with that trivial shite again" he grunts "You deal with it" he calls back before thumping his way to storage facility 900.

"Damn, this is going to be annoying. Boys, get straw hat on the boat, and keep me posted on any more developments, understand?"

"Yes sir" the spidermice chorus, scuttling away with Luffy's body, to the horror of the three straw hats in the room

Somewhere in the building

Brook hums Bink's Brew as he casually walks down a hallway, unimpressed by the Surprise Zombies that leaned out to try attack him, his cane sword making short work of them, and the salt releasing all their shadows so they wouldn't be warning anyone else of his whereabouts. As the last zombie drops, he sprints to the stairway in a panic

"That was scary, but I have to keep going, I won't back down, I won't run away again" Brook thinks aloud as he begins to climb the stairs, psyching himself up in the process "This time, I'm taking back my shadow"

Storage freezer

"Kishishishi" Moria laughs as he plods his way towards his destination, Luffy's shadow still squirming in his grasp

"It is quite fascinating, when I uncovered this specimen in the land of Ice I couldn't stop shaking, just imagining what it would have been like to see this monster alive and roaming around only 500 years ago" Hogback blathers on enthusiastically, his companions much less interested, partly due to the cold "The countries that fell at his hands, literally taken by force, how lucky we are to have found the 'Continent Puller' himself. This will be my greatest achievement yet!"

"Yes my good Doctor, another legend is about to have new life breathe into it Kishishi" Moria agrees as the final doors open, grinning madly "It's been quite a while hasn't it 900" he says as Nami, Usopp and Chopper peek out of Kumase, terror on their faces as they see the massive demon of a giant's corpse "Look upon the only person powerful and destructive enough to be given the name Devil. This. Is. OARS!" he bellows/announces

With his announcement made, Moria uses the chains binding Oars to the chamber as a bridge, slowly approaching the body that will soon be his Magnum Opis, thanks to Luffy's shadow "Just as energetic as your former master little shadow" he chuckles as the thing continues to squirm, bringing it up to eye level "But I am your new master, so forget about that old life as I now control your future. But I'm a fair ruler, I'm about to give you both voice and form as I remake you as my undead minion, my perfect zombie. Have we an understanding?" he grins as the shadow relaxes "Contract complete" he laughs

"See Shindrey, you're supposed to lose all remnants of your former life when you enter the corpse you're placed into. So with that in mind we should be able to eat off plates true?" Hogback asks, trying to nudge her along

"Say that again and the next plates I break are the ones in your knees" despite the flat monotone the ice could still be felt piercing his heart

Absolom sighs "Shindrey is way too harsh on Dr. Hogback. Dr. Harshback"

"Now, your 500 year slumber ends tonight, awaken!" Moria commands, slamming down his hand containing Luffy's shadow against Oar's chest, watching with giddy amusement as the flesh ripples like water as the shadow is absorbed, Moria walking back the way he came as the shadow settled within his newest minion.

"It went in, that's already better than the previous attempts" Absolom thinks aloud, getting a 'hm' of agreement from Perona.

Then the entire facility began to rumble and shake, the ice cracking and flaking off the giant zombie's body as he began to twitch and return to life, then his eye opens with a snap

"It's awake" the trio scream, falling out of Kumase in shock and hitting the cold ground with a thump, getting everyone's attention

"What the, how did you get here?" Moria hisses

"Kumase, did you help these pirates? Answer me!" Perona screams at the frightened teddy bear

"There you are my bride, but why are you in here?" Absolom wonders aloud, the 3 shuffle back only to be stopped by the 3 smaller zombies.

Of course all of this was put on the backburner when the chains snapped like glass and Oars stood up, the zombie now fully active despite it's multiple centuries of slumber.

"It is just as wonderful as I expected" Hogback boasts, not understanding Shindrey's sidestep until a piece of ice lands on him, pinning him to the ground, though she's once more back in place a moment later "Truly a masterpiece isn't he Master Moria?"

Oars stares blankly for a moment, then bellows "MEAT!" at a level which gave Moria chills, inverted Perona's umbrella and sent the mini zombies flying, though the shockwaves did spread throughout the castle "I'M HUNGRY!" the wind pressure increases, Perona now only remaining grounded by Kumase, while the 3 straw hats were basically praying they didn't fly off like those goons. Shindry was probably the one person who was safe, already against the wall, with a block of ice and Dr. Hogback separating her from said wall. Whether it was lucky, or not, they couldn't remain grounded forever and the 3 were thrown away, though the moment they stopped tumbling the trio were already on their feet and running like the massive zombie was chasing them instead of just demanding to be fed.

"Hang on a minute, where's my bride?" Absolom asks, as his brain only has one setting: Horny, and as such was mostly uninterested in the giant zombie

"She ran away, all the pirates did" one of the zombies shout "They ran really fast, can't catch them"

Absolom growls before giving chase, the red head would be HIS, whether she wants to or not.

"SANJI GIVE ME FOOD!" Oars bellows "WAIT, WHO'S SANJI? That's weird" the giant zombie wonders aloud

Down the hall

"Anyone want to explain what we just saw?" Usopp asks as the 3 run

"Luffy's shadow entered that thing and then it woke up" Chopper summarises

"Proving what I guessed earlier, that all the zombies were made using shadows, like Brooks in the samurai and Sanji's in the penguin dog" Nami says with a hint of pride under all that fear

"They did it, they actually brought the dead back to life" Chopper squeaks and squirms

"Not exactly, it's not the same person, more a weird fusion of the original body and the shadow's owner" Usopp corrects and grimaces when he sees something crack and break in the little guy

"They're not trying to help people, those bastards in there are just playing God, using anyone they get their grubby hands on as playthings. It's sick and wrong and we can't let it continue!" Chopper shouts in anger

"While I agree this island is fucked in ways I can't even describe, we need to worry about ourselves and the rest of the crew first. If it helps, remember we will need to take back Luffy, Sanji and Brook's shadows eventually, we can tear this whole island apart on the way" Nami says, trying to sooth an anger which would get them nowhere fast. Not extinguishing, but trying to put it on pause until a suitable target was in sight, as well as give the Doc's brain a well needed reboot to ensure it was running at full power.

"We can start by taking back Luffy's body, they said they were taking him back to the ship so that has to be the Sunny right?" Usopp brainstorms

"And if Zoro and Sanji also got shadownapped they might be on the ship too" Chopper contributes, back to normal for the moment.

This moment of calm was broken as both Chopper and Usopp were caught in large fireballs, taking them out of commission for the moment. Nami freezes as she watches them fall, collapsing in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, not needing to look behind her to know Inviso-perv was right there, and was the one to hurt her friends, though the arm around her neck was a confirmation

"Well boys, say goodbye to this sexy little thing, because tonight she goes off the menu because I'm about to marry her" Absolom says as he licks his lips hungrily, Nami squirming and flailing uselessly

"Damn it, if I can't save one person" Usopp wheezes as he pulls himself to his feet using his Kabuto "Then I can't call myself a man!" he shouts, pulling back the slingshot before firing..

6 chamber Pit Viper star

Absolom chuckles as the projectiles are fired, then both him and Nami fade away, the attack just barely missing where they'd previously been standing

"Crap, he can make Nami invisible too" Usopp curses, mostly at himself for not taking Absolom out before he'd captured her

"I can smell them, but it's not strong enough for me to locate them" Chopper says sadly

"Bwhahaha, attack my zombie minions, bring their shadows to Master Moria!" Absolom commands, unleashing the hoard upon the remaining 2 straw hats. Chopper and Usopp tried, but they were completely outmatched, outgunned, and severely weakened from Absolom's attack just a few minutes prior

"This is the end Chopper" the sniper cries

"But I don't wanna lose my shadow, or become a zombie" Chopper whimpers

Thump

"Hm?" the zombies turn to the sound as several zombies hit the ground, some with arrows sticking out of their skulls, others their throat slit, all with their shadows escaping their mouths like demonic tadpoles "They're, being purified" One gasps, before his mouth is forced open with a bloomed hand and a cube of salt shoved down his throat, the his shadow being puked out a moment later

"Hey guys, did we miss much?" Franky asks, manhandling another zombie so he could purify it

"Did you know zombies are deathly allergic to salt?" Artemis jokes, at least Valentina found it funny given she was giggling as she drops down, a salt covered kunai stabbing through the zombie's skull before releasing its shadow.

"I'd like you to get your hands off our sniper and doctor now" Vivi commands in a cold tone "Otherwise…" a syrup bullet hits a zombie in the chest, then opens like a flower releasing the salt within and purifying the zombie "...well, I think you can guess what's about to happen"

"They know our secret! Who are these people?" one zombie shouts in panic

"2, damn it seems we lost Nami" Franky frowns, they were really not doing a good job with sticking together or rescues these days

"Don't worry, we should have no trouble rescuing her" Robin assures him with a smile "Right you 2?"

TBC

LW: And now they can fight back! Salt for everyone. Still down a couple crewmates but at least the gang is mostly back together, right?

By the way, I presume Moria meant the only pirate with the epithet of 'Devil' as Robin's been known as 'Devil's Child' her entire time in the series, because she was part of the 'Devils of Ohara' as an archaeologist studying the poneglyphs.

Speaking of, happy belated birthday to Nico Robin, who's birthday was the 6th of February, as in, Saturday just past.

See you all in 2 weeks, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Bye