Chapter 141: With Thunder, Shatter
"As expected of a man with a bounty exceeding five hundred million."
At the edge of the forest, a giant bat hung upside down from a tree branch. Strangely, it had a human head. When its wings were folded, it was hard to tell what species it was.
Watching the man below who had easily defeated Cerberus, the bat-man couldn't help but sigh.
"Neither the animal zombies in the forest nor the soldier zombies near the castle's cemetery will likely be of any use. An opponent of this level can no longer be defeated by numbers."
Whoosh! Whoosh!
As he spoke, he released his grip on the branch and was about to flap his wings and fly towards the castle. "I need to go back and tell Dr. Hogback. Without the Zombie Generals, we won't be able to take down this group."
"You just said Dr. Hogback, didn't you?"
"Ah!!!"
A sudden voice startled Hildon so much his heart nearly leaped out of his chest. He whipped his head around to see the man who had defeated Cerberus now somehow gripping his leg!
With a sudden exertion of force, the man gripped his arm tightly and flung him downwards. Hildon immediately lost control of his body, and his entire form slammed violently towards the ground.
Bang!
Hildon plummeted like an arrow loosed from a bow, crashing heavily onto the ground, creating countless cracks. Rubble flew, and dust rose everywhere.
He struggled with his hands and feet but couldn't stand up again. Although he felt no pain, his unresponsive body told him that he was almost completely falling apart.
Lifting his head with difficulty, he could only see three people and a tanuki surrounding him, looking him over and discussing him.
"What is this thing?"
"Bat-like-man, →bat-man, →Batman."
"He seems badly injured; his whole body is covered in stitches."
"A bat's body with a human appearance... I know!"
Usopp had a flash of inspiration and said resolutely, "He must be a vampire!!"
Seeing Reiner instantly subdue the opponent, the cowardly trio was no longer as panicked as before.
"Not a vampire. Just like that dog earlier, his body has been modified and pieced together, right?" Reiner pointed to the distance where Cerberus lay on the ground, twitching.
"So that's how it is. No wonder one of its three heads was a fox head."
Upon hearing this, Chopper understood. He walked forward a little fearfully, touched the sutures on Hildon's body, and after examining them closely for a moment, couldn't help but be surprised, whispering:
"Amazing. To be able to piece together flesh so perfectly, the person who performed this surgery must have incredibly high medical skills."
"But of course."
Hildon grinned sinisterly. "This surgery was personally performed by one of the Mysterious Four, Dr. Hogback."
"Hogback!!"
Hearing this name, Chopper's pupils instantly constricted, and he froze on the spot. "Are you talking about the world-renowned Hogback, known as a genius surgeon!"
"Ah, I let it slip. I won't tell you—"
Whoosh!
A large fireball ignited out of thin air.
"Yes, it's him."
Hildon lay on the ground, charred black, and said calmly, "People in the world thought he disappeared ten years ago. In reality..."
After being "enlightened" by Reiner for a bit, Hildon's attitude towards them became very friendly, answering almost every question and complying with every request.
He briefly spoke about Hogback and also provided detailed information about the zombies on the island.
He even thoughtfully summoned a large four-wheeled carriage and pulled them towards the ancient castle, slowly chatting with them inside the carriage.
In the dark forest, a Gothic-style carriage sped along a dirt path, attracting the attention of countless hidden monsters wherever it went.
"Would you care for a glass of red wine?"
Inside the carriage, Hildon took out several wine glasses and a bottle of red wine, warmly offering them to the group.
"So, all these things outside are zombies modified by that doctor?"
Nami pulled open the carriage curtain and looked out. In the gloomy forest, as far as the eye could see, there were all sorts of stitched-together monsters.
From time to to time, she encountered monsters with human faces and animal bodies, looking at her with lewd or greedy eyes. There were even treants.
The withered branches of leafless trees were twisted, and human-like faces grew on their trunks, resembling old men.
A sinister wind blew in through the window, instantly raising goosebumps as it brushed against her skin. Nami hurriedly pulled the curtain shut again.
After letting out a long sigh of relief, she couldn't help but glance at Reiner sitting next to her, saying with a look of disdain, "It's all a bunch of weird stuff, just like your undead."
How are they the same? Reiner was speechless. His undead were much cooler than these things, okay.
"Your name is Hildon, right? Tell me about those Zombie Generals."
Reiner leaned back on the sofa, waiting for the other's answer. He vaguely remembered that besides Ryuma, there were quite a few other good catches here.
Oz aside for now, among the General Zombies, there were figures like Captain John who once dominated the seas. The Rocks Pirates were truly full of talent.
Moria's methods were also quite something, digging up the graves of many powerful figures.
The Tomb Raider King!
He just didn't know how active the flesh of those corpses was and how much power they could still exert in his hands.
"The General Zombies are under Lord Absalom's jurisdiction. I only know a few, such as Lola the Wild Boar Zombie, Tararan the Spider Monkey, Ryuma the Swordsman, Captain John..." Hildon slowly recited a few names.
"Do you know about Ryuma? Any legends about his past or anything?"
Reiner specifically emphasized this. He had a slight impression of the others, but not much, and he didn't care as much.
Hildon was stunned. He thought the other party wanted to know about Ryuma's combat strength or something, but he didn't expect him to ask about his past. Was he here for archaeology?
"Unfortunately, I only know that he is very strong. His original body was known as the Dragon-Slaying Swordsman. I don't know anything else."
"Dr. Hogback might know more. After all, he has been with Lord Moria for many years, and all the zombies were modified by him."
Hildon spoke truthfully. He really didn't know, and even if he did, he wouldn't say.
Chatting with them was just to stall for time, and the information he gave was occasionally incomplete.
Once they reached the cemetery outside the castle, he would let the zombie soldiers hold them off while he took the opportunity to escape.
He had always been good at deceiving and luring enemies with sweet talk.
"But, I still have a question!"
Chopper, hiding behind Usopp in reverse, hurriedly asked, "You guys were surgically modified into zombies after death, right? No matter how much you treat a dead person, it's impossible for them to come back to life."
"Exactly, exactly!"
Usopp immediately chimed in, "Someone like Brook can only be an exception among exceptions! There can't be two identical Devil Fruits in the world!"
"Uh, this..." Hildon looked troubled.
"It's Moria's ability."
Reiner answered the question for him. "Remember Brook said his shadow was stolen? After Moria steals someone's shadow, he stuffs it into a corpse to revive the corpse."
"But the so-called revival is actually a superficial phenomenon. Apart from the external body, everything else, like habits, personality, and thought patterns, is controlled by the shadow."
Dead is dead; there's no such thing as resurrection from death. That's why he was so shocked by Brook's Revive-Revive Fruit ability.
Although it didn't offer much of a boost in strength, in a certain sense, the Revive-Revive Fruit truly defied the heavens.
The 'Perennial Youth Operation' of the Op-Op Fruit was the same.
As Reiner finished speaking, Hildon the bat-man immediately looked at Reiner in panic. This guy even knew Lord Moria's abilities so clearly.
He definitely came prepared. He had to find a way to go back and inform the Mysterious Four!
Chopper's expression turned angry. He pointed at Hildon with his small hand and shouted in a tender voice,
"You guys! Medical skills are not meant to be used like this! This is fundamentally toying with life!"
And to think he had admired Hogback so much before.
Suddenly, the carriage jolted. The two centaur zombies pulling the speeding carriage immediately screeched to a halt upon hearing the commotion inside, unfastened their harnesses, and ran off.
Bang! Bang!
"Ah!"
"Aiyaya!"
The few people in the carriage were thrown about. Hildon took this opportunity to jump out of the window. Reiner didn't bother with him.
The other party was probably going to alert the guards. If he remembered correctly, Ryuma was protecting Hogback, which would save him the trouble of looking for them one by one later.
"Are you okay?"
Reiner wrapped his arm around Nami's back, his palm on her forehead to protect her.
The shaking quickly ended, and the plates on the table steadied after wobbling violently.
"Yes, I'm fine. Where are we?" Nami took a breath, loosened her tight grip on his clothes, turned, and peeked out through a slight gap in the curtain.
Usopp and Chopper got up dizzily and also looked outside. "Where have we arrived?"
Due to the thick fog obscuring their vision, they could only vaguely see small mounds of earth around them.
But from the cross-shaped silhouettes sticking out of them, combined with the sinister and terrifying atmosphere here, the group instantly thought of something!
—A cemetery!
"Th-th-this, this wouldn't be..."
Nami shivered all over. Remembering what she had just heard from the bat-man, she couldn't help but feel terrified.
Creak~~
The carriage door opened, and a beige trouser leg with a brown leather shoe landed on the ground. Reiner was the first to step out.
"Visibility is a bit too poor."
He looked around. Behind him was a black iron fence enclosing the entire wasteland. Patches of weeds grew sporadically around the grave mounds.
Plop!
Suddenly, there was a movement beneath his feet.
"Hmm?"
Reiner's gaze darkened. A shriveled, withered hand suddenly burst out of the soil, its five fingers spread and slightly curled, its skin devoid of any color.
Then that arm pressed against the ground and pushed, the flat ground gradually bulged, and cracked clods of earth rolled away.
"Roar!!"
A horrifying head instantly emerged, opening its mouth wide with a roar.
The zombie's emaciated face showed a ferocious expression, staring viciously at the blond man before it, as if struggling to break free from the ground's restraints, fighting to climb out.
Suddenly, a leather shoe entered the zombie's vision. Before it could even pull its shoulder out of the ground, the shoe stomped on its face!
"Ouch!!"
The heavy-footed stomp was like a mountain. The zombie had no ability to resist at all.
Its entire body was brutally stomped back into the ground by an immense force.
"Roar!!"
The zombie roared angrily and climbed up again!
Bang!
"So painful! No, wait, not painful!"
Bang! Bang!
Then it was met with kick after kick, leather shoes leaving countless prints on its face!
"Ouch!"
"Wait a minute..."
"Let me... get out first, damn it!!"
The zombie roared in fury, finally meeting the other's impatient, heavy blow.
Bang!!
Crack!
A huge force slammed onto the zombie's neck, instantly snapping its bone. Its neck twisted grotesquely, and its entire head lolled to the side, dangling and swaying.
"Eh?"
The scene in the zombie's vision became crooked and wobbly. It couldn't help but roll its eyes upwards.
The blond man in front of it was looking at him with great interest. Suddenly, the corner of the man's mouth curled up.
A chill instantly rose from its back, and its entire body immediately shrank back into the ground.
"Sumimasen, I've disturbed you."
The zombie's voice was low and hoarse. One hand supported its dangling head, while the other quickly pushed the surrounding soil onto its head.
Soon, it had buried itself.
Pat! Pat! Pat!
Finally, only one arm remained outside, patting the ground to compact the soil before quickly retracting.
Nami: "..."
Chopper: "..."
Usopp: "..."
Phew~~
The three stood dumbfounded by the carriage. A cool breeze blew past, carrying a few fallen leaves before them.
Somehow, suddenly, zombies didn't seem so scary anymore.
Plop! Plop!
Plop! The next moment, countless hands or heads burst out of the ground one after another!
"Roar!!"
"Humans!"
"Eat you!"
Roars rose and fell, and the entire cemetery was instantly filled with wails and howls.
The zombies were ferocious and terrifying, all invariably covered in stitches and wrapped in bandages, their eyes bloodshot and bulging red.
In the blink of an eye, Reiner's group of four was surrounded by zombies.
"So many zombies!!"
This time, the cowardly trio was truly panicked. These zombies were simply too horrifying in appearance, and there were so many of them!
Usopp shouted in panic to Nami beside him, "Nami! Quick, use lightning! Lightning can purify evil spirits!!"
Hmm?
Reiner couldn't help but look over. What on earth?
"Really?!" Nami exclaimed. Dubiously, she gritted her teeth and activated her ability. Blue electric arcs quickly flashed around her.
Zzzzzzt!!!
The next moment, she raised her arm forward, fingers spread, her entire arm glowing with a dazzling white light, transforming into lightning.
Countless thunder orbs condensed and then floated out, forming limbs in the air, sticking to the ground, and leaping towards the zombies at extreme speed.
"White Thunder - Spirit Cat!"
Crackle! Crackle!
Crackle! Countless thunder cats arrived in an instant, entering the zombies' bodies and emerging from their backs, quickly passing through a horde of corpses before dissipating into specks of blue light.
All the zombies pierced by the lightning were charred black, standing still on the spot.
Seeing this, Nami couldn't help but feel pleased and was about to use another move when, at that moment.
"Roar!!"
"It's no use!"
"Get them!"
The zombies that had been stunned in place immediately roared and charged forward, their speed astonishingly fast!
"Purify my ass!!"
Bang!
Nami rolled her eyes, bared her teeth, and threw her Clima-Tact in Usopp's face!
"It's not completely useless; the power was too low."
Reiner looked at the charred marks on the zombies and said, "Try increasing the output, Nami."
Bang!!
As he spoke, he lifted a leg and kicked out. A zombie pouncing at him was instantly sent flying back even faster, landing in the horde and knocking down a large number of them.
"I'll try again." A trace of determination flashed in Nami's eyes.
She knew Reiner intentionally wanted them to get more practice; otherwise, with these kinds of enemies, he could burn them all to ashes with a casual wave of his hand.
Nami's gaze hardened, her body seeming to transform into lightning. Her orange hair danced wildly, and a dazzling blue-white light filled her entire being.
Countless arm-thick bolts of lightning shot out from her in all directions, like whips thrashing violently.
The ground buckled under this violent energy, sending countless碎石 flying.
"Sixty Million Volts - White Sunflower!"
A whip-like bolt of lightning emitted a dazzlingly strong light. Then, all the lightning spread throughout the entire cemetery exploded almost simultaneously.
Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!
Looking down from mid-air, it was as if a blue-white flower had bloomed, enveloping all the zombies within it.
The lightning pierced through the zombies' bodies, the violent energy crackling on them. Their skin instantly turned charred black and then began to glow red.
Until the dazzlingly strong light gradually dissipated, the zombies were all riddled with holes of various sizes, their edges still carrying unextinguished embers.
Purification?
No such thing.
But thunder magic really can break through anything, Reiner thought with an inward smile.
"That... should do it."
Nami's chest heaved as she panted. She quickly scanned her surroundings; only a few enemies were still barely standing.
Zzzt!
Picking up her Clima-Tact, lightning wrapped around it, condensing like liquid. Her elementalized body vanished in an instant, reappearing in front of a zombie.
"Hah!"
The superheated staff swung down horizontally, like a sharp long sword instantly cutting the opponent in half at the waist.
The bisected zombie's upper body fell to the ground, while its lower half, two legs, ran around randomly, unable to tell direction.
She learned this from Enel, right? Reiner thought, recalling Enel's "Gleam" attacks.
Although Nami had seen it too, knowing didn't mean she could do it.
To be able to use it so proficiently now showed that she had also put in the effort to practice, especially since it hadn't been long since Skypiea.
Nami once again transformed into a bolt of lightning, flashing continuously, quickly sweeping through the entire area in an instant, incapacitating all the zombies.
"Hoo—!"
The Clima-Tact supported Nami's body on the ground. After catching her breath for a few moments, she looked up at him.
"How was that? Not bad, right?"
"More than not bad! That was absolutely amazing, you!" Reiner exclaimed. He was familiar with this routine now; he had learned his lesson.
"Idiot, you're exaggerating too much." Seeing his expression, Nami couldn't help but laugh despite herself, but she still enjoyed it.
"So strong, Nami!"
"Well done!"
Chopper and Usopp praised her sincerely.
Nami couldn't help but chuckle, stick out her tongue, and say, "But of course."
"It's a pity I didn't get a chance to show off my new weapon. Otherwise, I could have handled these too," Usopp said, patting his chest and tilting his head back.
"Let's go in."
Reiner smiled faintly and walked towards the ancient castle, at the same time looking up at the castle's rooftop. "It seems the enemy has quite a few strong individuals waiting for us."
Hearing this, Nami couldn't help but follow his gaze upwards.
Night had fallen at some unknown point.
A crescent moon hung high in the sky, its chilly moonlight灑落 her fair face.
Her clear eyes reflected the crescent moon and, beneath it, the spire of the castle's rooftop.
Several dark figures, silhouetted against the moonlight, stood or squatted, their gazes fixed on them.
"Yohohohoho~~"
Atop the tower, a figure stood straight with arms crossed. He wore a white kimono with blue patterns.
A long sword hung at his waist, and a blue scarf around his neck fluttered in the wind. His voice was hoarse and deep,
"It seems we have strong opponents..."
"No matter who it is, they cannot escape my gun."
A cold voice spoke. A figure wearing a black top hat, with two pistols holstered on each side of his waist and possessing four arms, spoke faintly.
"Gurgle gurgle~~"
A man with a knife stuck in his body sat leaning back, silently tilting his head back and chugging alcohol. The liquid trickled down from the corner of his mouth and dripped continuously onto the ground.
(End of chapter)
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