The déjà vu-filled scene startled Moses, who quickly guessed her identity in his mind.
"It's not very fast."
Moses watched as the ghostly thing flew toward him, its trajectory clearly visible.
He dodged to the side, observing the doll ghost whizzing past him with a long trailing line.
Just as he was about to relax, the ghostly doll suddenly turned mid-air and flew back toward him.
"Can it control its direction?"
Moses pondered.
At that moment, the spectral little girl covered her mouth and giggled cheerfully: "Hahaha, just fall down already!"
Laughing merrily, she unleashed another identical ghost doll from her palm, sending it charging at Moses.
Seeing this, Moses decided to stop playing around. Pushing off the ground, he sprinted swiftly toward her position.
Ignoring the ghost doll chasing him from behind, he focused on the one ahead. At the last moment before impact, he rolled sideways to evade.
After dodging, he immediately sprang up and dashed toward her physical body.
Seeing Moses repeatedly evade her attacks, the spectral little girl began to panic.
She shrieked urgently:
"Stop coming any closer! I'll have you know, I still have a ghost bomb I haven't used yet. If you keep coming, don't blame me for being ruthless—I'll blow you to pieces!"
Moses paid no attention and continued charging forward. Drawing Cold Dew from his waist in a flash, he closed the distance to her (spectral form) and swept the sharp blade across her neck.
A swift motion.
The spectral little girl gulped, touching her unharmed neck with a mix of fear and relief. But then, remembering her immunity to physical attacks in this form, a smirk slowly crept onto her lips.
Feeling smug, she turned around—only for her spectral face to twist into panic the next instant.
Moses grinned at her, sitting on the ground while tapping the blade of Cold Dew against the cheek of her unconscious physical body.
"Well?"
The next second, the spectral little girl plopped down into a duck-sitting position, wailing loudly: "Don't kill me! I don't wanna die! I was wrong, I'll apologize!"
Watching this, Moses chuckled and pointed at the two ghost dolls floating around her with his left hand.
"Recall them."
Dejected, the spectral little girl waved her hand, dispersing the two dolls.
Moses asked curiously, "What's your name? I heard from others that you're an outsider. Why are you staying here? Where's your family?"
The spectral little girl gritted her teeth, anger flashing in her eyes. "Those thieves told you, didn't they? They're the only ones I've interacted with here—it must be them!"
"Yeah, I happened to hear them mention you and got curious. So, tell me your story."
The spectral little girl's eyes lit up. "My story? You mean my story? Wow, I've become famous! Hahaha!"
Watching her suddenly dissolve into glee, Moses felt a strange disconnect. Is she really this scatterbrained?
Meanwhile, she happily waved her hands. "Oh, I'm not that famous! My name's Perona. I'm an independent woman, currently making my own way in life."
Moses gave her a bemused look as she launched into her tale.
Much later, sitting on the ground and munching an apple, Moses finally finished listening to her story.
Well.
How to put it?
An orphan living in an orphanage on another island one day ate a Devil Fruit. After a series of incidents, he was ostracized as a monster and eventually left that place in frustration.
Drifting all the way, he ended up here.
He settled here temporarily.
Being a Devil Fruit User, he managed to live quite comfortably, spending his days dabbling in petty theft—after all, he wouldn't starve.
But because he had shared his story, he was caught, so Perona was now speaking to Moses in her true form.
"Uh, I talked too much and got a little thirsty. Give me an apple."
Perona whispered softly. Moses raised an eyebrow. "You're not shy at all, are you?"
With that, he handed her the last apple. She took it and took a crisp bite.
"Mmm, so sweet. Since you shared food with me, I'll forgive you for threatening me earlier."
Moses sighed. "Who threatened you? Weren't you the one who attacked first?"
Waving her hand dismissively, Perona laughed.
"That's not important. Anyway, what's your name? We've been talking for so long, and I still don't know. I can't just keep calling you 'hey.'"
"Moses. That's my name."
"By the way, have you always lived here alone? Ever thought about what you'll do in the future?"
Perona tilted her head, looking at Moses curiously. "Dunno. I take things one day at a time. I'm strong enough not to starve, anyway.
What do you mean by that?
Are you like those thieves, trying to get me to go with you?"
At this, Perona studied Moses closely before suddenly covering her mouth and giggling. "You're so tiny—are you alone too?"
"Not really. I just arrived here today, wandering around with nothing to do, and then I heard about you and came to check things out."
"You're right. I think you're pretty interesting. Want to come with me? Since you're just sitting here with nothing to do, it must be boring, right?"
"No." Perona pouted. "I don't want to. I'm fine by myself. No one calls me a monster here, and I can take care of myself.
Just like those thieves—they kept saying I should join them, be their partner, but their eyes were full of fear, like I was some kind of freak.
Their words sounded nice, but who knows what they were really thinking? Their spirits reeked of deceit, just like those people at the orphanage."
Perona hugged her knees and lowered her head, muttering gloomily:
"It's not like I was born a monster. Who knew eating that weird fruit would turn me into this?"
"Well…" Moses chuckled. "Didn't I tell you?
That fruit you ate is called a Devil Fruit. Eating it gives you strange abilities.
Anyone who eats one is called a Devil Fruit User."
Perona jerked her head up, disbelief written all over her face. "Really?
You're not lying?"
"Why would I lie?" Moses said flatly. "This is common knowledge out on the open seas."
"Like when I was a kid—I got my hands on two of them. I gave one to my panda."
"After eating it, he became really weird. His mouth could stretch super wide, and he could swallow anything. He even ate me once, and we could fuse together and play around."
Perona shivered, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "A panda?"
"You mean those chubby, round ones, black and white? With fur on their faces like a black hood, looking like a bandit?"
"No."
Hearing this, Perona pouted. "Oh, so it's not that. You liar."
"You're talking about a cat bear. Those aren't cute. I'm talking about a panda—their fur colors are completely opposite to a cat bear's.
They have black eye patches, black noses, black ears, black limbs, and the rest of their bodies are white. That's the cute kind."
Perona looked skeptical. "Really? That kind doesn't sound real. Do they actually exist?"
"Believe it or not."
Moses curled his lip. "Before you ate a Devil Fruit, if someone told you such things existed, would you have believed them?"
"Probably not." Perona blinked, then suddenly realized something. "Wait, you actually have one of those pandas?"
"Yeah."
"Can you bring it here for me to see?" Perona gazed at Moses with hopeful eyes.
"I really want to see it. I love bears so much."
"Dream on. I don't even know if I'll ever come back here. When would I have time to bring Bear Cub to you? Who do you think you are?"
"Bear Cub?"
"That's his name. His nickname is Bear Cub, his full name is Winter."
"Winter?"
"Yeah, a play on the word 'winter.'"
"Ugh~" Perona rolled excitedly in the grass, her face flushing. "A panda? Bear Cub? It even has a name? I really, really want to meet him!"
"If you want to see him, why not come with me?" Moses smirked mischievously. "Otherwise, you'll have to find him yourself later."
"You're lying, aren't you?" Perona suddenly felt like Moses had been luring her all along and eyed him suspiciously. "Do you really have a panda?"
Moses was about to answer when he suddenly looked up at the sky. A black-and-white bird descended from above.
Moses raised his left arm, and Crow Dabao landed precisely on it. The bird's eyes gleamed with excitement as it squawked, "Moe! Guess—what I found—out?"
"Huh?" Perona's eyes widened in shock, her mouth hanging open. "A talking crow?!"
Crow Dabao shook his head vigorously, glanced at Perona, and said to Moses,
"Who's—this idiot? Dumb—as hell?"
Perona blinked, a strand of snot dripping from her nose. She pointed at Moses, then at Crow Dabao.
"It insulted me? It actually insulted me? I'm mad now."
With that, she fell backward, but an identical spirit remained in place—a perfect, indistinguishable copy of her body. The spirit raised its palm.
"Negative Spirit."
A ghostly doll suddenly surged forth, passing through Crow Dabao's body at close range. Instantly, Crow Dabao tumbled from Moses's arm onto the grass.
The bird knelt on its legs, wings propping itself up, beak opening and closing.
"Gah—Crow's foul-mouthed. Crow's—a bad bird."
"Hahahaha~ Serves you right for being rude. Reflect on yourself, you stinky crow. Negative Spirit. Negative Spirit. Negative Spirit!"
"Gah~ Sorry—for being alive."
"Wow~ I want to be a piece of wood, quietly rotting away until I die."
"Caw~ If there's a next life, I want to be a pile of bird poop."
Watching as the ghostly dolls repeatedly pierced through Crow Dabao's body, the overwhelming negativity radiating from the entire bird seemed to overflow. Moses' lips twitched:
"Hey, that's enough. If this goes on, I'm afraid it might come to its senses and beat you up later."
Perona raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, a mischievous grin curling at the corners of her mouth. "It wants to beat me up later? Do you believe I can keep it depressed until it dies?"
"I don't," Moses replied calmly. "Using Devil Fruit powers consumes stamina. I don't believe you can keep using them nonstop. Mere negativity won't kill a bird. Besides, I won't let you keep doing this."
As he spoke, Moses glanced at her and quietly entered the State of Oneness, watching her with serene composure.
The State of Oneness was also a mental state, one that allowed Moses to remain as calm as still water, completely focused.
At this moment, Perona looked at Moses, who was just an arm's length away, and her lips curled slightly upward.
"Negative Spirit."
A ghostly doll surged from her palm, curved around, and with a "Biu," passed through Moses' chest.
"Hahahaha, serves you right! Let's see if you still don't believe me now."
Perona watched Moses eagerly, anticipating what kind of ridiculous state he would fall into.
A faint sense of negativity arose in Moses' heart. He curiously observed it, but it was just a tiny bit, not enough to affect his mental state.
The Negative Spirits created by the Ghost Fruit user could greatly influence a person's negativity and mental state, but this influence wasn't absolute.
For someone who was already extremely negative, the effect was minimal. Worse, due to the connection of the ghostly body, it might even inversely affect the user's own spirit.
Seeing Moses' calm and indifferent expression, Perona tilted her head in confusion, then aimed her palm at him again. "Negative Spirit. Negative Spirit. Negative Spirit."
Three in a row.
All passing through Moses' chest.
"So, your Devil Fruit ability isn't absolute. It doesn't work much on me."
Moses looked at her impassively. Perona sniffled, wiping a strand of snot, and stared at Moses blankly, muttering:
"You monster... don't you feel negativity? How is that possible? I've never seen anyone like you before."
With that, Perona's spirit fell backward, retreating into her body, and she abruptly sat up.
Dogeza orz.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong. Please don't hit me."
Moses' lips twitched as he looked at her. He pinched her head with his right hand. "You're really asking for it. I kinda want to smack you now."
"Caw~ Moses, revenge! Hit her! I **** your ****, caw~ caw!"
Crow Dabao finally snapped out of it, recalling its earlier embarrassing state, and spewed a torrent of profanity from its beak, flapping its wings vigorously as it hurled insults at Perona.
Moses' eye twitched as he glanced helplessly at Crow Dabao. "Who taught you to talk like that? Your mouth is so foul."
Left with no choice, Moses slapped Perona on the head, giving her a good whack.
"Ouch! That really hurts."
Perona cried out in pain, her mouth wide open. Moses g
ave her a deadpan look—he hadn't even used any force. What was she faking for?
Ignoring her, he turned back to Crow Dabao. "So? What did you find earlier? You looked pretty excited."
Crow Dabao shot a fierce glare at Perona before eagerly replying:
"I found—a gang—preparing for—a deal. They mentioned—the Ishu Family—trading—a Devil Fruit—or something.
The location is—the eastern ruins—over there."
PS: Perona was born in the West Blue and was picked up by Moria as a child. The exact location where she was found is unknown. In the original timeline, Moria appeared in the West Blue a decade before heading to the Florian Triangle, digging up graves. Thus, this is a secondary setting to make it as plausible as possible.
Regarding the Ghost-Ghost Fruit (Horo Horo no Mi), this book's setting is that Perona is only eight years old at this point, with limited stamina and underdeveloped mastery of her abilities. Most of her power usage involves releasing her spirit form to act normally. As she grows older and hones her skills, she'll be able to use ghost abilities in her physical body. Further advancements, such as gaining intangibility, flight, or gigantization, would require awakening the fruit. (The original manga's description of the Ghost-Ghost Fruit is somewhat inconsistent, so this book adopts its own interpretation.)
In this book's setting, pandas and cat bears are different classifications of the same species. Pandas are rare (with dark eye circles, cute), while cat bears are common (with bandit-like masks, ugly-looking).