Chapter 39: A pirate is a pirate
"MORIA-SAMA! MORIA-SAMA! MORIA-SAMA!"
The loud voice of the young woman echoed within the space and awoken those who were sleeping or busy with something else.
While they were all speechless, they couldn't ignore her, especially with how doting their captain was toward this young woman, as if she were his own daughter.
Still, as the young woman ran toward the room where her captain was eating, she also started to think about who the figure who had caused that explosion was.
Light and explosion.
There was only one figure that could wield such power!
The young woman wasn't naive or stupid, and she knew many famous figures on the sea, so she quickly discovered the person who had caused that explosion.
So, the moment the young woman entered the room, she shouted, "MORIA-SAMA, KIZARU IS ABOUT TO COME OUR SHIP!"
"...."
Yet, those words caused all the people inside to look at her silently with a speechless expression.
"...what's wrong, Perona? Are you still sleepy? How about you sleep more?"
A gigantic fat man with a face like a devil, who was also the captain of this ship, Gecko Moria, looked at the young woman with a helpless expression before he continued to eat as if nothing had happened. He had been sleeping for a while, so he was quite hungry, and that was why the amount of food on the table was quite large.
"Perona, you don't read the newspaper, right?"
Another fat man, with an average height yet a strange get-up like an evil doctor, looked at the young woman, Perona, with a speechless expression.
"What's wrong with the newspaper?"
A young woman with long pink hair, which she tied in twin tails, giving her stability where she was being held, and a unique gothic-lolita style of fashion, which focused on making her cuter, looked at this evil doctor-like character, Hogback, with confusion.
"Kizaru has passed away. It had been a while, you know? You really should read the newspaper, Perona. So, there is no way for Kizaru to appear. If he appears here, then he is a ghost!"
Only when the lion-like man with a powerful body, Absolom, finished his words did everyone fall into silence.
"....."
Their place gave off a horror theme, and if a ghost really existed, then it could only be in this place.
"...it isn't a ghost, right?"
Moria, Hogback, and Absolom fell into a strange silence.
Still, Perona didn't care about Absolom's sarcasm and then became dumbfounded. "Eh? K-Kizaru has passed away? Really? Then, what was that light about?"
Everyone on this ship, Thriller Bark, led by Moria, had their own roles.
Moria was the captain, Hogback was the doctor, Absolom was the fighter, and Perona was in charge of scouting.
Due to her eating the Horo Horo no Mi, Perona was able to create and manipulate ghosts or hollows. With those ghosts, she could link her consciousness and gather information about events occurring on Thriller Bark and even Florian Triangle, and that was why she could see the explosion caused by Masa.
Ghost Network, this was what she called her technique, yet this wasn't the time for that since if that person wasn't Kizaru, then who was that person?
"Did you really see a light explosion, Perona?" Moria asked with concern.
"Of course, Moria-sama! Why did you think I would run away from my room to meet you immediately instead of using my ghost form?! Moreover, I will never lie to Moria-sama!"
No one doubted Perona, yet there was no doubt they felt confused by her information.
"Light explosion, huh? But Kizaru has passed away."
"What if... what if it's the new Pika Pika no Mi user?"
Hogback's voice suddenly sounded, which caused everyone to fall into silence.
Everyone in this place was clear that if the user of the Devil Fruit was killed, the Devil Fruit would be reincarnated somewhere, so this possibility was clear, yet could the Devil Fruit appear so fast?
Still, the possibility existed, but they needed to confirm it again.
"Are you sure that it is Pika Pika no Mi, Perona?" Moria asked, unsure. In the past, he wouldn't have cared about his opponents, whether it was the Logia users, the Marines, the Pirate Emperors, or many powerful beings in the world; he would fight all of them and believe that he could become the Pirate King, but now?
After his defeat by a certain one of the Pirate Emperors, Moria had changed. Not only did he become weaker, but he also feared losing his comrades. In the past, he fought with many of his followers, and all of them trusted him much, but during his fight against this Pirate Emperor, all of his followers died, and he could only retreat, leaving all of his dead followers behind and because of that, he had changed.
Not only did he stay on the Grand Line, which was a safer sea, but he also chose zombies, which were created by using his Devil Fruit as followers instead of living beings, as he was afraid that he would lose them.
Nevertheless, while Moria was never afraid of any challenges, the Logia user needed to be watched out for, especially when there was a possibility this person ate the Pika Pika no Mi, the Devil Fruit of the deceased Kizaru.
Yes, Kizaru might have passed away, and Moria even laughed at his death, yet even so, he couldn't kill Kizaru, okay?
Instead of fighting, Moria knew that he would be beaten to death.
Still being asked this question, Perona fell into silence for a moment, thinking, then said unsurely, "I just saw a bright light, then an explosion with my ghost before, so I couldn't say for sure."
"Bright light? Like what?"
"Er... a laser? Anyway, it is similar to Kizaru, Moria-sama!"
"Hmm..." Moria thought for a moment and said, "Then, there might be a chance for it to be a Logia type, but there is also a possibility it might be a different Devil Fruit, such as heat or explosion-based Devil Fruits."
There were many Devil Fruits, and even if Moria had lived for so long, it didn't mean he knew everything, and on the sea, anything was possible, so he couldn't say for sure about the person who could create an explosion.
"Can you check this person more? Is this person a pirate?"
First, let's get to know this person's information.
"O-Okay! But is it okay? Won't I get to find out?"
"No one knows about you, so you will be okay."
Except for Moria, his crew wasn't well-known, or rather, whether it was Absolom, Hogback, or Perona, no one was within the bounty as they hardly did anything except follow Moria.
"Okay!"
Hearing Moria's confirmation, Perona decided to believe, but with her cowardly nature, she decided to be careful since this was a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, okay?
Of course, she had to be careful!
Watching the ship outside, she could tell that it was luxurious, and there was no pirate flag, so it shouldn't be a pirate. Instead, it was—
"A noble."
"A noble?"
"Yeah." Perona continued to look around quietly within the ship, controlling her ghost until she discovered the most handsome man that she had ever seen. She was in a daze for a moment before she noticed an ugly skeleton that she had seen in the past, who was talking with that handsome young man.
Her face was slightly flushed red, which made Moria, Hogback, and Absolom turn strange, but neither of them was handsome, so they didn't react much when they saw Perona's reaction, only thinking she was weird.
Still, among all the people, Perona was sure that this handsome young man was the source of that light since she felt this man was so strong!
'Eh? Is he looking at me?'
Perona felt that the young man was staring at her, but it seemed... it was only her imagination.
After all, her ability was that of a ghost. How could one notice a ghost unless she let it appear in front of everyone?
"Moria-sama, it should be a young noble."
"Young noble? Not a pirate?"
"Yes."
"Do they have treasures?"
"A lot of them."
Perona didn't lie since she saw a lot of treasures within the ship, which made her greedy.
Nevertheless, it was the same with Moria, Absolom, and Hogback.
Neither of them needed money, but they were a pirate, and what did a pirate do?
Naturally, it was to rob others!
"Kishishishishi!"
Moria laughed greedily, then said arrogantly, "Pika Pika no Mi? So what? Let's teach this young man how cruel the sea is. Moreover, let's see which is stronger, shadow or light?"
Everyone also showed their greed, and their decision was obvious.
The only problem was... was Masa such a weakling?
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