"Mr. Kouta, the Moria you mentioned just now, wasn't it the guy who cut off my shadow!"
As soon as they disembarked and their feet touched the moss-covered stones, Brook eagerly asked.
"Mm!"
Kouta nodded, glancing at the countless desolate graves on either side and listening to the creaking sounds from within, he smiled faintly.
"This guy is an Awaken-Awaken Fruit user."
"He can cut off people's shadows and use them for himself."
As soon as Kouta finished speaking, the sound of heavy objects smashing against coffins suddenly came from the desolate graves on both sides, and countless low growls emanated from the grave mounds.
A timid person visiting here for the first time would surely be scared by these eerie sounds and dare not advance.
Except for Brook, who looked at the grave mounds with fear, Kouta and the others remained unfazed, even showing interest.
"Come on!"
Looking at a grave mound that was about to crack, Kouta turned to Brook and said, "If you look up close, you'll know where your shadow went?"
With that, he took the lead, heading towards the grave mound.
As they approached, with a "bang," a half-rotted corpse wrapped in bandages emerged from the grave mound.
"Zom-zom-zom-zombie..."
"Zombie."
Upon seeing the corpse, Brook instinctively took a step back and shouted in a trembling voice.
If his skull face wasn't already pale, he would surely be ashen-faced now!
*Slam!*
At this moment, Ah Hua's chubby palm patted Brook's shoulder, pulling him forward.
"Haha, I say, you're a skeleton yourself, and you're afraid of this thing."
"Eek!"
Brook's scream instantly stopped, and then he looked as if he had just realized something. "That's right! I'm a skeleton! Why should I be afraid of zombies?"
By now, Kouta had pinned the zombie in front of him and signaled Brook to come forward.
Ah Hua quickly pulled Brook forward, and together they surrounded the zombie, their eyes shining with admiration.
An outsider would have thought they had encountered something astonishing.
Just then, more sounds of earth breaking could be heard from the surroundings, but no one paid attention to them. They were all watching the zombie pinned by Kouta, waiting for Kouta's explanation.
Without further ado, Kouta reached into his dimensional bag and took out a bag of salt.
With a thought, the salt bag opened on its own, and a white ribbon made of salt grains flew out, quickly flying into the zombie's gaping mouth.
"Ugh..."
As soon as the salt entered the zombie's mouth, Kouta released his restraint. The zombie let out a roar and then tilted its head back, a black shadow emerging from its throat.
Kouta extended his hand, covered in black Armament Haki, and grabbed the black shadow.
*Bang!*
Deprived of its shadow, the zombie instantly seemed to lose all its strength, collapsing to the ground with a faint swirl of dust.
"See!"
Turning to Brook, Kouta extended his hand.
Everyone looked at the writhing black shadow in Kouta's hand, a look of surprise on their faces.
"This is a shadow, how magical."
Ah Hua pushed up his glasses, looking at the shadow and then at the limp corpse on the ground, he said, "So, Moria's purpose in stealing shadows is to create these zombies?"
"But what's the use of these zombies!"
"They're only slightly stronger than ordinary people, and some of the decaying corpses are worse than ordinary people."
He was referring to the zombies surrounding them at that moment.
*Bang!*
Turning around, Ah Hua kicked away a zombie that had approached him from behind and continued, "These things are slow-moving. Why create them instead of recruiting crew members? This guy is completely missing the point!"
He let go of his hand, allowing the shadow in his grip to fly out of the island, towards the sea.
Kouta didn't know whose shadow it was, nor could he distinguish good from evil, as it wasn't a soul. So, it was best to let it go.
Looking up at the increasing number of zombies around them, Kouta chuckled, "That's not entirely true. If you find more corpses of strong individuals and more powerful shadows, these things can be quite formidable."
"Mmm..."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but laugh, "Haha!! Among ordinary people, they are quite powerful. After all, they don't feel pain and don't fear death, right?"
The moment he finished speaking, Kouta's eyes narrowed, and a push erupted from the center of their group, rapidly pushing outward.
With a series of bangs, they were blown away by the surrounding zombies.
"Let's go! Moria is coming, and Brook, your shadow is here too."
"Oh... my shadow?"
Upon hearing Kouta's words, Brook turned sharply, following Kouta's gaze towards the distant castle.
His eyes filled with anticipation.
At this moment, everyone could hear the sound of heavy objects pounding the ground, which was presumably Moria.
Just as everyone was about to move, a large number of white ghosts suddenly appeared to their left.
The ghosts flew, emitting eerie laughter.
They instantly captured everyone's attention.
"Gho-gho-gho-ghosts..."
Kouta and the others remained still, but Brook was clearly terrified of them, reacting even more strongly than when he saw the zombie.
He plopped down on the ground, crawling backward, clearly terrified.
Kouta glanced at Brook, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes. This guy was lonely and always seeking attention. He could sense that Brook's fear wasn't as extreme as he made it out to be. While he was undoubtedly afraid, it wasn't that exaggerated.
No one on their ship could keep up with this guy's antics. He wondered if he would still join his crew.
After all, the strength of their group was completely different from Luffy's crew. Their knowledge and the confidence to face anyone upon setting sail were something other pirate crews lacked.
In their group, as long as Kouta himself didn't show fear, his companions would not.
Because they believed that as long as Kouta was there, anything could be handled.
And Kouta's performance on their journey had not disappointed his companions. They had bulldozed their way through, giving them a sense of security.
He didn't know if what he was doing was right.
But he couldn't bear to put his companions in danger, so he could only try his best to improve their strength.
When strength and confidence matched their ambitions, all difficulties in this world would cease to exist before them.
So, if Brook were to join their crew, he would need to adapt.
"Hahahahaha!!"
Ah Hua couldn't help but burst into laughter at Brook's pathetic state. "I say, Brook, have you really been here for 50 years?"
"Aren't they just some artificial ghosts?"
"Are you that scared?"
Saying that, he turned around, straightened his back, and stepped forward, facing these ghosts alone. "Watch me."