Capítulo 129: Chapter 129: Thriller Bark – Unreliable Enel
Perona stared blankly at the spot where her body had just vanished.
"Huh?" She placed her hands on her face, her eyes wide in shock, as if she'd just been struck by lightning. "What the—?! Where's my body? Where did it go?! You bastard, what did you do to my body? I can still feel it, so where did you hide it?!"
Takumi's lips curved into a smirk. "If you want your body back, show me how sincere you can be."
In truth, Takumi had stored Perona's body in his system's space.
Normally, living beings couldn't be stored inside the system's space.
Back on Skypiea, Takumi had tried putting live creatures in his space during his four years of downtime—he failed.
However, Perona's body, since her soul was already separated, technically didn't count as "alive" anymore. So, Takumi gave it a try, and to his surprise, it worked.
Controlling Perona's body was the most effective way to keep her in line.
"You... you're such a scumbag!" Perona puffed out her cheeks in frustration.
But Takumi didn't care. As long as her body was in his possession, she couldn't do anything to him.
"Ugh, fine! I'll take you to the treasure room, okay? Hmph!" Perona huffed.
As much as she hated it, without her body, she was done for. She had no choice but to cooperate.
Takumi didn't say another word and followed behind her as she led the way.
Soon, Perona brought him to a small, hidden chamber.
Inside, there were several treasure chests, all filled to the brim with gold and jewels.
Without hesitation, Takumi waved his hand, and the entire roomful of treasure vanished.
"Wha—?!" Perona was stunned. "It... it's gone? All of it... just like my body..."
"I've got it!" Perona glared at Takumi and accused, "You must be using some kind of illusion trick, right? Making everything invisible so I can't see it, but it's still there!"
Determined to prove her theory, Perona reached out to touch where the treasure had been, only to grasp at air. Then she realized... she was in her ghost form—she couldn't touch anything physical anyway.
Awkward.
"Hey!" Perona zipped up to Takumi, hands on her hips, glaring at him. "I've already given you all my treasure! Aren't you going to keep your promise and give me back my body now?"
Takumi chuckled. "When did I say I'd return your body after you gave me the treasure?"
"Huh?" Perona blinked, her fists tightening as she suppressed the urge to explode in anger. She wanted to send mini-ghosts to blow him up, but she was too afraid he'd destroy her body if she did. Holding back her fury, she asked bitterly, "So what do I have to do for you to give me back my body?"
Takumi replied coolly, "I'll return it to you when I leave Thriller Bark."
Perona was left speechless.
When he leaves Thriller Bark?
Is he serious?!
This brat is strong, but Moria-sama won't miss the chance to cut his shadow. If Moria-sama succeeds, this jerk might get angry and destroy my body!
Ahhh... what should I do?!
Perona's thoughts were spiraling out of control.
If she wanted her body back, she had to make sure this kid left Thriller Bark in one piece…
Takumi ignored Perona's inner turmoil and began to walk away.
After a few steps, the familiar system notification rang in his mind.
[Ding! You've successfully made Ghost Princess Perona an ally. Progress for signing in at Thriller Bark: +20%. Total progress: 30%. New skill acquired: Shadow Clone Jutsu Lv. 1.]
In an instant, knowledge of the Shadow Clone Jutsu flooded Takumi's mind.
Takumi paused for a moment.
The Shadow Clone Jutsu was a B-rank ninjutsu from Naruto, a technique that required a large amount of chakra to create real, physical clones. These clones possessed independent consciousness and had a certain degree of resistance to attacks.
Though it was a relatively low-ranked technique, the ability to create independent, physical clones was nothing to scoff at.
Takumi was pleasantly surprised.
Who would've thought that completing the first mission on Thriller Bark would reward him with such a useful skill? Not bad, not bad at all.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Perona chased after Takumi, blocking his path.
Takumi stepped forward, his body passing right through her ghostly form.
Perona gritted her teeth and flew after him again, floating alongside him as she asked, "When are you planning to leave Thriller Bark?"
She had made up her mind—if she ran into Moria, she'd beg him to spare this annoying kid for the sake of her body.
As they walked, Takumi introduced himself casually. "The name's Takumi."
Perona smirked, letting out her signature laugh. "Ohohoho! I'll call you whatever I want. Isn't that right?"
"No."
"Hmph! You're so boring."
Takumi ignored her and kept walking.
"Seriously, though, where are you going?" Perona asked, exasperated.
Takumi replied nonchalantly, "Just taking a look around."
As they passed through a wide hallway lined with towering pillars, a chubby pink hippopotamus dressed in a wedding gown suddenly appeared, charging straight toward them.
"Perona! Have you seen Lord Absalom anywhere?" the pink hippo asked in a panic, completely ignoring Takumi.
The Lord Absalom she referred to was, of course, the same Absalom that Enel had already defeated—the man who had eaten the Clear-Clear Fruit.
As for this pink hippo, she was actually an animal zombie with the shadow of a woman named Lola.
Lola had been chasing after Absalom, desperate to marry him.
"No idea..." Perona answered, her tone flat. "He might've gone to the graveyard. Try looking there."
"Got it!" Lola shouted as she dashed away.
Perona scoffed. "Chasing after a man like that... totally uncute. Right, Takumi?"
Takumi chuckled softly but didn't respond, continuing on his way.
The ancient castle on Thriller Bark was massive, yet ever since Takumi had started wandering around, it had been strangely quiet.
Given Enel's personality, the battle with Moria should've caused some kind of massive uproar by now. Why was it so silent?
Takumi had already figured out the answer.
That unreliable Enel must've been taken out by Moria before the fight even began…
Of course. That guy couldn't be trusted—even though his strength wasn't bad.
With this in mind, Takumi extended his Observation Haki.
Sure enough, Enel was already lying on their ship, completely knocked out.
************
Support me on Ko-fi at ko-fi.com/gered to read up to chapter 190!
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder