Chapter 467: Haunting Tricks and Stubborn Heroes

“Looks like Miss Robin was right!”

Sanji held a cigarette between his fingers, gazing up at the sky as ghost after ghost drifted by, frowning at their persistent gloom.

How on earth are we supposed to dodge that kind of ability?

Physical attacks go right through them. Maybe I should give Armament Haki a try?

Robin said, “Those ghosts aren’t just intangible—touching them messes up your mind and spirit, too. If we face this as enemies, it could get ugly.”

Sanji gave a nod from the side. He had to admit, this power was strange and unpredictable. None of them could come up with a good counter right now.

Don’t assume you can block the negative energy from those gloomy ghosts just by using Armament Haki.

You can’t exactly run around fully armored in Haki all the time, can you?

Not only would burning Haki all over your body drain you fast, you’d be exhausted before even meeting the enemy.

Who can stand guard against thieves every day and night, anyway?

If they didn’t take care of the ghost-controlling Perona at the source, this battle would just wear them down to their last breath.

“It really is an unbelievable power.”

“But everything has a weakness. I’ll smash every last one of them.”

Franky shook off his gloom, hauling a massive cannon over his shoulder. He flexed his hands and bellowed out his challenge.

He could hardly stand how embarrassing that ghost-induced state was just now.

Without hesitation, he got ready to unload his cannon straight at the ghosts floating in the sky.

When Perona spotted that oversized artillery, she instinctively shot higher into the air.

“Hora hora hora!”

“You guys are wasting your effort. Physical attacks can’t even touch my real body!”

But really, that was just Perona’s gut reaction. Her actual body was safe inside the castle. What wandered out here was only her soul—any object would pass through her like mist. Realizing this, she calmed herself again.

Zoro’s willpower was stubborn as ever. He snapped out of a single ghost’s influence pretty quickly.

A vein throbbed on his forehead, sweat pouring off his face.

“Hehehe!”

“Well, isn’t this entertaining.”

Zoro heard Sanji’s mocking tone. His face burned red with embarrassment and he whipped around, shouting, “Knock it off already!”

“Ah, sorry!”

Sanji, perched on top of the three-headed dog, gave a crooked grin.

This three-headed dog had somehow slipped Luffy’s grasp only to get nabbed by Sanji as his new ride.

The next moment Sanji laughed, “Sorry? I shouldn’t have been born in this world…”

“Ahahaha!”

Even the three-headed dog beneath him joined in the laughter.

“Idiot!”

“Curly-browed freak!”

Zoro was equal parts humiliated and fuming, but with the enemy still floating above them, now wasn’t the time to argue.

“Ahahaha, everybody’s here!”

Luffy strolled out of the mist, clearly just out of a fight. He’d gone toe-to-toe with Wang Zhi but couldn’t beat that brute whose stamina and toughness seemed endless. In the end, Luffy bailed and bolted.

He knew he had to help Brook reclaim his shadow, and tangling with that monster was only wasting time.

Hearing voices nearby, he’d found his way here.

“Nani?”

“What’s that?”

Luffy’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he spotted the white ghosts bobbing through the air.

“No, don’t!”

“Stop it, Luffy!”

Chopper hurriedly covered his eyes with his hooves, peeking through a crack. “We’re doomed!”

Luffy leaped up, reaching out to hug the nearest ghost. But it zipped straight through him.

The moment he landed, he collapsed face-first. “If I get another shot at life, I’d rather be a shellfish. I’m hopeless. If there were a hole, I’d crawl right in…”

“What are you guys even doing? The enemy’s right over there!”

Sanji instantly transformed into a snarling beast, glaring at the lot of them. Not a single one even bothered to go after the real enemy; instead, they were clowning around.

“Stupid ghosts, don’t expect me to hold back!”

Luffy actually shook off the ghost’s influence even quicker than Zoro.

Still, everyone had witnessed that cringe-worthy scene. Luffy’s cheeks turned scarlet in shame.

Just as everyone pulled themselves together, ready to take on Perona weaving through the air, a shuffling noise rose from a dirt mound marked with a cross-shaped tombstone.

A skeleton in ragged gray clothes clawed its way up from the earth.

Unfazed, Luffy strolled over and pressed the skeleton’s white skull firmly back in place with both hands.

Humiliated, the skeleton zombie popped right out of the dirt. “You think I’d just crawl back in after that? Idiot!”

The skeleton zombie widened its eyes and jaw, but Luffy didn’t even flinch. The zombie began to wonder—wasn’t he scary enough?

Could it be his makeup just wasn’t right today?

But he’d put so much effort into it! There’s no way he shouldn’t be terrifying.

“Wounded old man.”

Even now, Luffy still didn’t see him as a zombie.

“Come on, he looks just like one!”

The crew behind him spoke in unison.

They’d bumped into plenty of zombies along the way, but somehow Luffy had barreled through without meeting a single one.

“How dare you look down on zombies!”

“Don’t underestimate us!”

Suddenly, happy zombies began crawling from a dozen nearby graves.

Was being a zombie supposed to be this energetic?

Let’s show them what zombies can really do.

A pack of skeleton zombies shuffled toward them with awkward, stumbling steps.

“If we’re talking danger levels, let me show you how it’s done.”

Luffy grinned and cracked his knuckles, landing a straight punch to send the lead zombie flying. The others, not to be outdone, jumped into the fray.

Franky tried to punch away all of his earlier embarrassment along with an iron-fisted smash, cracking open a skeleton zombie’s skull in front of him.

Sanji, cigarette still in his mouth, kicked every zombie that came his way without pause.

Within three seconds, every zombie was sent flying through the air.

Off to the right ahead, inside Moria’s real castle.

Ye Fan lounged on the sofa, watching Luffy and the crew through the screen of a Video Transponder Snail.

“Yohohohoho!”

“If you want to see up close, why not go yourself?”

A skeleton with gray-white clothes and a longsword at his waist stood beside the sofa, quietly watching both Moria and Ye Fan.

He was Ryuma, the dragon-slaying swordsman Moria stole from Wano, and the famed warrior who wielded Shusui—one of the 21 Great Grade swords—at his side.

Back in life, Ryuma cared for Shusui with Armament Haki, making it the first black blade and earning his reputation as the Dragon-Slaying Swordsman. He’d even decapitated the great dragon plaguing Wano. Never defeated, he was once among the world’s strongest.

“Hehehe, the main event always comes last.”

“If you can’t wait, you’re welcome to try your hand first.”

“Step. Step. Step…”

Ryuma glanced at the screen, spotting Zoro, and thought he saw a glimmer of someone familiar. Silent, he turned and walked out the door.

“Ryuma…”