Skull had just unleashed a devastating attack upon Arachkey, but that wasn't enough to stop him. However, Skull merely turned to face him as if everything was under perfect control.

"Don't stop! He can't die that damn thing as a zombie! It'll just get right back up!" Eret yelled.

Arachkey was already getting back up. "You son of a…" He then stopped when he got a better look at Skull. "Hold on, you… I know you from somewhere."

Skull merely looked at Eret calmly. "Fear not, my friend; I have this perfectly under control."

"You do?" Eret frowned.

"Even the dead can be killed if you know their weakness," said Skull simply.

Eret, Heather and the twins just looked at him, and then they heard Arachkey crying out in pain. Then they saw something exiting from his mouth, which looked like a shadow.

"What the hell is that thing?" Eret asked.

"That thing would be the soul of the zombie," said Skull as if it was obvious.

"It's soul?" said Eret, now even more confused. "Why is it coming out of its mouth?"

"No, Captain!" the mice spiders cried.

"Go on, get out of here," Skull encouraged as the shadow came out from Arachkey's mouth and shot off into the sky. "Return to your rightful owner!"

Once the shadow was gone, Arachkey fell to the ground like a ragdoll showing no evidence of life.

"Captain Arachkey!"

"He killed him! He killed our Captain!"

"Captain!"

Eret stared at Skull. "You obliterated the guy. How did you do that?"

"I purified him," said Skull.

"Pur-what?" Eret blinked.

The mice spiders were now looking at Skull with terrified looks.

"It's him! There's no doubt he's the Humming Swordsman! He's the one who wreaked all that destructive destruction on Breakneck Bog five years ago!"

"We've got a report this to the master!"

The three mice spiders then scampered off in fear.

"He certainly made quite the impression," said Ruffnut.

"I think they're most terrified of him than we were," said Tuffnut.

Skull then turned to Eret. "By the way, I know that silk feels as if it's stronger than steel, but you can melt right through it with fire."

"Really?" said Eret and instantly used his fire breath, melting the silk on his left arm. "Well, I'll be damned; you're right."

Once Eret was free, they immediately went to free Heather and the twins on the web, and then they turned to Skull and explained the situation to him.

"Our captain and some of our crew were captured, so let's talk," said Eret. "You seem to know a lot about this creepy island."

"I do; it's just not really sure how to say this, but if your friends have already been captured in this a very high probability that it is too late to help," said Skull regretfully.

"Hey, wait! What do you mean too late?" Eret barked.

"Will you please calm down? Yelling is not going to help anyone," said Skull gently. "I truly cannot bear to face hostility, but then again, I'm a skeleton, so I don't have a face."

Eret immediately aimed his cannon at him, but Heather stopped him before he could fire.

"Don't bother. He's already dead, remember?" Heather reminded him.

"But do try to be serious for a moment here," said Skull.

Eret raised his cannon once more and was once again stopped by Heather.

"I know he's annoying, but he's still dead," said Heather gently.

"What's this guy all the skeleton jokes?" Tuffnut asked.

"Well, if I was alone for 50 years with no one to talk to, I would go a little nuts myself," said Ruffnut.

"I did try to explain this while we were on board your ship, but there was a great deal of time many years ago I spent drifting aimlessly about the sea lost and all alone," said Skull. "When I fought that I had finally charted my escape from this demonic sea, my rudder broke, and I was cast even further into the depths of this watery void.

And then it happened, I suppose it was about five years ago, much in the same way that it had happened to you, the island of Breakneck Bog called out to me. I was utterly desperate to escape the Florian Triangle, no matter the risk. So I took the chance and decided to scour the island, hunting for parts to fix the rudder.

All that was to be found on the island was a horde of monsters and zombies; it didn't take long for them to capture me and brought me to this building. It was here that I witnessed something incredible; with me was a kung fu dancer who had also been captured sometime before. They brought in before it stitched up courts they refer to as a marionette. Before I knew it, one of the most frightening creatures that I have ever seen appeared and then… the dancer's shadow was ripped right from his body, and he was amputated."

"How is that even possible?" Eret stared.

"I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it; luckily, I do not have eyes," he said and laughed.

"Cut the crap; I'm going to beat you up!" Eret roared.

"Now that I can approve of," said Heather, and the twins nodded in agreement.

With permission granted, Eret then dealt a few powerful blows to Skull. Fortunately, he didn't deal. He didn't rend him unconscious, allowing him to continue his story.

"It didn't take long to finish with the dancer and move onto my shadow," Skull continued. "Once your shadow is taken, you for lifeless to the floor, but the shadow remains active. Struggling up until the moment it is confined within the corpse, and once this act is complete, I eyewitness, the marionette go from lifeless meat to a full-blown dancing zombie."

"You going to explain this?" Eret asked.

"It's the shadows; it doesn't matter who the corpse belongs to. The shadow maintains the characteristics of the soul they originate from. Of course, the shadow at your feet is the same, that reflection of your soul, your other half if you will, is intended to follow you from birth until death. Only one man possesses a loathsome ability to force the shadows to submit to him. A member of the Seven Warlords… Moria Gecko. He's endowed with the power of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.

"Devil Fruit powers," said Eret as now everything started to make sense.

"So he's the one who stole your shadow," said Heather.

"The only materials needed to make a zombie are a corpse and a living shadow of some unfortunate individual," Skull continued. "The zombies you see are not merely corpses but a collection of human and animal parts stitched together by Doctor Hogback, Moria's brilliant accomplice.

He collected the corpses of legendary warriors around the world and, using his medical expertise, outfits their bodies with new parts and trust me, he has amassed quite a collection. A countless number of monstrosities are stored away in his lab, ready to live again."

"Doctor Hogback, huh?" said Heather. "He was a well-renowned surgeon who disappeared some time ago, and I think that he used his skills to help a pirate ever since."

"Huh, so the zombies aren't really resurrected from the dead they just got someone else's soul hidden away inside their bodies," Eret concluded.

"That certainly explains some of the strange things we've seen on this island," said Tuffnut.

"Precisely, the personality and fighting ability comes from the shadow's original owner, but the physical strength is completely dependent upon the corpse itself. When these two elements are both powerful, their combination creates a truly formidable zombie. Which is why Moria is eager to get his wicked hands on those with ample bounties on their heads."

"That makes sense," said Eret. "At least we now know why we been targeted now."

"That certainly explains why those zombie generals are so strong," said Ruffnut.

"I imagine that one of the greatest advantages of zombies is the absolute obedience that zombies provide," Heather concluded. "You needn't worry about earning the favour of their original personalities. A living army of such powerful fighters would be too difficult for anyone to control."

"Indeed, and since the shadows he takes have the same abilities as their original owners, then he has no need for the less manageable bodies they were attached to," said Skull. "The stronger they are, the faster he sends them out to sea before they wake up."

"But that means—" Eret gasped. "We've got to find our guys!"

"They're all right for now," Skull assured them. "There is still time to save them. However, you must put your complete trust in me if you want to accomplish this. My experience will have to serve as your guide."

"What? Trust you?" said Eret dubiously. "Why should we?"

"He did just save us from this giant spider monkey," said Tuffnut pointed out.

"Yeah, and he knows more about this island than any of us," said Ruffnut.

"They do have a point," said Heather folding her arms. "Now tell us everything."

The three colourful zombies ran into Moria's chamber.

"Master Moria!" they cried. "They're here, master! Your three guests have arrived, master!"

"They're early, show them in," said Moria.

"Right this way!" said the zombies.

Then entering the room with a Mysterious Three who were Absalom, Perona and Hogback.

"Welcome; I am glad that you could make it," said Moria and laughed. "Now hurry and make me King of the Pirates."

"Of course," said the three of them.

"You King of the Pirates?" Hiccup scoffed. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but no one is going to be the King of the Pirates except for me! If I wasn't tied up right now, I would take you all down, and you had better return, my crew!"

"Quite the energetic fellow we've got here," Hogback noted. "I take it this a Dragon Conqueror Hiccup?"

"I expected him to be 6 feet tall with the strength of a dozen men, but he's a shrimp," said Perona. "Are you sure this is the guy who took on the World Government?"

"Looks can be deceiving, but I admit he doesn't look that impressive locked in a cage," said Absalom.

"On the topic of your crew Dragon, we managed to capture three of your guys so far, including you," said Moria. "We've got Pirate Hunter Toothless and some lanky brunette on your crew who doesn't seem to have a bounty."

Hiccup frowned. 'They mustn't have been able to recognise Ragnar due to his wanted poster, but I best keep that to myself right now.'

Treacle was in the room as well, and Snotlout could see and hear everything.

"No way, this is bad. They caught Toothless and Ragnar," Snotlout hissed.

"How is that possible? They got them, and Hiccup?" Chopper stared.

"Those three are some of our strongest fighters, so how the hell were they the first ones to get caught?" Fishlegs frowned.

"I don't know, but I don't think there's anything we can do to help Hiccup," said Astrid regretfully. "All we can do is just sit here and watch and listen."

"That reminds me, what happened to the fore you were in charge with Perona?" Hogback asked curiously. "I thought the Risky Brothers were supposed to deliver them to us."

"They're supposed to give them to Treacle, but they haven't yet," said Perona. "Let us hope they did not escape during transit."

"You hear that; they're talking about us," Snotlout hissed.

Treacle then walked up to Perona and attempted to say something, but she quickly turned on him and glared.

"Did I tell you to keep your mouth shut!" she snapped.

"You're too strict on Treacle, unbearably strict, you might say," said Absalom. "Among these four, my bride-to-be is the one to watch out for. She caused a rebellion of sorts in the middle of your garden. Hey, hang on a second…"

He then quickly turned to Hogback. "Damnit, Hogback! You-you had better not have laid a single finger on my bride, you bastard! You bring her to me now!"

Cindry then walked up and stood in front of Hogback. "Your bride doesn't want you."

"What Cindry! What did you say?" Absalom roared.

"Hey, come on, Cindry," said Hogback. "You're not helping matters here, and by the way, why do you always stand in front of me like that?"

Cindry then turned to face him. "She doesn't want you either."

"Why did you say that?" Hogback yelled. "Never once crossed my mind!"

Astrid and the others then popped their heads out from behind Treacle, though for some reason, Chopper was sticking everything except his head out.

"What do you think these guys are planning to do now that they've caught Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked.

"And Toothless and Ragnar," Chopper added. "It's got to be something bad."

"I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with all the zombies here," said Astrid.

"How about we don't forget that we are in danger too," Snotlout added.

"We know, but we can't just abandon Hiccup, though," said Astrid.

Treacle then attempted to commune with Perona once again, and they quickly pulled themselves back into him.

Perona just glared at him, and he fell silent.

"It's a good thing she doesn't let this zombie speak," Astrid whispered.

"I almost feel sorry for him," said Fishlegs.

"I don't care what anyone says; I've already decided that she's the one that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with," said Absalom stubbornly.

"I told you she doesn't want you," said Cindry.

"Quit saying that!" he glared.

"Please, Cindry, let's try and be polite," said Hogback. "Absalom's love life is not your business."

She then looked at him. "Nobody will ever want him or you."

"How can you be so coldhearted to me!" Hogback cried. "They're someone out there for all of us!"

"Shut up! Enough already!" Moria yelled impatiently. "All your whining is giving me a headache. If those pirates somehow managed to get away, I'm holding every one of you responsible! I gathered the three of you here to commemorate the birth or, rather, the rebirth of the new powerful addition to the crew of Breakneck Bog!"

The three zombies then immediately cried, and everyone turned towards them. Then to their amazement, they saw Hiccup had just watched the blue zombie with his tail and was now running away in his dragon form.

"He really is quite impressive," Nep groaned as he and the other zombies were knocked out by Hiccup.

"Master, the pirates escaping!" the yellow zombie cried. "He ate right through the bars of the cage!"

"He did what now?!" Moria stared.

Everyone turned towards the cage and saw that Hiccup had indeed eaten through the metal bars, no doubt with his powerful dragon jaws.

"He ate the cage?!" Moria yelled.

"As much fun as this is, then it's time for me to go!" said Hiccup as he ran off.

Hiccup must have used his dragon breath in order to melt through the silk. Sadly there was not enough room for him to fly, but he was just as fast on all fours.

Astrid and the others poke their heads out from Treacle excitedly.

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs and Chopper cheered quietly.

"Go!" Astrid and Snotlout cried quietly.

Hogback laughed. "Such a promising shadow!"

Absalom smiled as he raised his hand.

"Hold on, Absalom," said Perona. "We're in a tight space here; let me catch him, okay."

She then tossed aside her parasol and ran after Hiccup.

"I like to see you try slowpoke!" Hiccup yelled as he was clearly much faster than her.

"Negative Hollow!" Perona yelled, and then ghosts shot out of her body.

"Those things?" Hiccup gasped.

Hiccup instantly recognised the ghosts as the ones he and his crew encountered in the woods. He also remembered what happened to these ghosts passing through anyone.

"I need to get out of here fast so I have more room to spread my wings," said Hiccup as he quickly picked up the pace.

He ran as fast as he could, but the ghosts were much faster and soon caught up to him and passed right through him. He instantly fell to the ground reverting back to his human form, and curled up.

"That's it; I just want to die and be reincarnated as a sea cucumber," he said.

The ghosts merely danced around him, singing negative over and over again.

"But he wants to be a Pirate King and now a sea cucumber," Absalom scoffed. "Sad."

With Hiccup recaptured the tied-up once again and hung him in front of Moria.

"Damn you!" Hiccup yelled, fully recovered from the ghost's negativity. "Let me go!"

"Let's illuminate our friend here," said Moria.

They instantly shone a spotlight upon Hiccup, casting his shadow in front of him.

"So, what do you plan on doing?" Hiccup demanded.

Moria then reached out and grabbed his shadow and began to rip it from the floor. This caused the thread to snap the spending Hiccup in the air, so now he was hanging upside down, still attached to his shadow.

"What the hell? My shadow!" Hiccup gasped.

Moria then pulled out a large pair of scissors and brought them towards Hiccup's shadow, and everyone just watched.

"Don't do it!" Hiccup yelled.

Moria then sliced clean through Hiccup's shadow, and he instantly fell unconscious. Moria then laughed, clinging onto Hiccup's shadow as it tried to free itself.

"The shadow of a man with a 300 million Gil bounty is all mine!" he cried in triumph. "Now we will create the most powerful Special Zombie the world has ever seen!"