The Devil That Came from the Ice Country

Franky asks the obvious question after Brook's warning: "Get back to the ship? To the Thousand Sunny?" Brook explains that the worst thing that could happen to captured crewmates is not simply having their shadows taken. "That's right. The worst thing that could happen to your nakama who have already been caught, is to have their shadows taken!" Franky argues, "But even if they get their shadows taken, it's not like they die. Look, they would just be like me!!" Brook sharply corrects him: "That's a different story!!" then remembers his own condition with a scream: "Ah!! Wait, I am dead!!!" He clarifies the rule: "So, they won't die even if their shadows are taken. That's how it is! But the second it is taken, they lose consciousness and won't wake for two days."

Brook continues the rules of Moria's shadow theft. While the strongest victims are unconscious, they are returned to their ships and driven out of Thriller Bark. Robin understands the reason: "So that the victims won't come back to the island to get their shadows back." Brook confirms, "That's right!" Franky asks, "Why not kill them while they're unconscious?" Brook says that they cannot: "This part is important, so please listen carefully." The real body and the shadow may be separated, but they are still one flesh. "If the 'real body' dies, the 'shadow' dies as well." Meaning, the zombie loses its life at the same time. To prevent this, the enemy makes sure the real body is left alive.

Brook explains the nightmare that follows. "Because of that, even if the shadows of your nakama are taken, they will definitely be left alive and sent back to the ship! If you also become sacrifices, then that would be the worst situation!! If all members have their shadows taken, they'll be sent adrift to wander at sea...!!" Robin listens in silence. The only thing they can do, Brook says, is to make their captured friends open their eyes by retrieving their shadows. Franky accepts the logic: "I see... that is very logical." Brook adds, "Also, this is for you..." and identifies the zombies' weak point. Franky asks, "Weak point...!! What is that?" Brook says the proof is what they saw with the spider monkey a while ago.

Brook reveals the simple weapon against zombies: "It's 'salt.'" Franky is baffled: "...Salt?! Shouldn't it be some charm to beat and purify evil beings or something?" Brook explains that, if they describe it that way, zombies move through the power of the Devil's Fruit, and salt has the power of the sea. "The flesh loses the binding it has with the fake soul." Franky finally understands what he saw: "I see... so what that monkey spat from his mouth a while ago was the 'shadow' that he had inside him." Brook concludes, "In conclusion, to beat a zombie, please stuff salt into their mouth!! That is the trick!!"

Robin asks how Brook became so knowledgeable about the zombies and the island. Brook says, "My shadow was taken from me five years ago. Of course, my ship was set adrift, but with my luck, I woke up while I was being sent back. I returned to the island and fought... the result was... a big loss!!" But he did not surrender his life. "I treasured my life, so I ran away...!! No matter what, I didn't want to die!! I stayed alive, alone on the ship. One day I'll get out of this 'Devil's Sea'...!! I want to keep the 'promise' I made with my nakama... I ran because I treasured my life!!!" Franky says survival alone is no solution, and Brook agrees. That is why he will not run anymore: "Until I win against this man and take my shadow back!!!"

Brook starts to leave, apologizing: "So!! ...I am sorry!! I'm in a hurry, so I'll go on ahead!! Take care!!" Franky stops him: "Wait a minute!!!" Brook turns, confused, "...?" Franky's expression hardens. "There is one part... you left out of the story. Answer my question." The mood shifts from urgent strategy to personal truth. Brook has told them how shadows are stolen, how zombies move, and how salt can purify them, but Franky hears the missing piece: why Brook, after five years of defeat and solitude, is still chasing his own shadow with such grief and urgency.

The scene jumps to the inside of "Mast Mansion," Gecko Moria's Dance Hall. Luffy lies unconscious after losing his shadow. Chopper, Usopp, and Nami, still hidden near Kumashi, watch in shock. Chopper whispers, "Luffy...!!" and realizes, "It's the 'shadow'... he has taken his 'shadow'...!!!" Nami thinks, "So that's how things are...!! That skeleton Brook, mentioned it. He took Luffy's shadow, so...!! Was he the one who did it to Brook, too!?" Usopp cannot believe what he has seen: "I can't believe it... how can he do such a thing?" Kumashi panics because he is talking right now, and Perona scolds him again: "Kumashi!! Were you talking right now?! You are too harsh on Kumashi."

Moria holds Luffy's stolen shadow and laughs, "Kishishishishi!! With him it looks like I've gotten one step closer... to becoming the 'Pirate King.'" Then he calls, "Hogback...!!" Hogback is ecstatic: "I've worked on number 900 since we met on this day exactly 10 years ago. If we put this shadow inside him, he'll become the strongest zombie in history!! He will surely become a great power for us to use!!" Luffy's limp body lies nearby while Moria raises the shadow like a prize. Their plan is no longer abstract; the shadow of the man worth 300 million is about to be inserted into the corpse Hogback has prepared for a decade.

Moria lays out the scale of his ambition. Perona imagines his cute zombie kingdom, but Moria speaks grandly: "And the day I become the world's 'Graveyard King' is drawing near, too." His goal is "turning all the cute things in the world into zombies" and creating a dream kingdom of loyal subordinates. He rages that if he had possessed such an underling before, he would not have lost to "that moron Kaidou in the 'New World'...!!" Then he declares, "That's right!! No matter how cocky the bastard is, if we turn him into a 'shadow,' he becomes obedient. With this, the world will be filled with honest zombies." The freezer door marked 900 opens. Moria says, "Shall we try awakening him? Kishishishi!!" and orders, "Open the door to the special freezer!!"

Moria orders, "Spider mice!! Go throw Strawhat Luffy's body onto the ship. Don't forget to take the rope off of him. We can't let him die yet." The spider mice answer, "Yes!!" but rush in with a report: "Wait a minute!! We have a report!!" Moria irritably asks, "What is it...?" The report is serious: "A short while ago, Captain 'Spider Monkey' Tallaren was beaten!! His shadow was extracted!!!" Absalom says only one person could do that: "Absalom... the only man who could do such a thing is him...!!" The room understands at once that Brook has returned as an active threat, not just a missing shadow's victim.

Perona identifies the culprit: "The culprit is the chivalrous swordsman, 'Humming'!" Absalom is furious: "Damn... the only man who opposes us has exposed the zombies' weak point. How on earth was it exposed... and how did he return here again?!?!" Perona says she has heard the stories and wonders what kind of guy he is, but insists it will not be hard to track him: "You don't know what he looks like?! ...!! He'll have no problem passing right through our surveillance!" Hogback warns, "Master, the seed of trouble is on the island again...!!" Moria shrugs off the concern: "As if I care about such a thing, you stupid bastard. Just do something about it!!!" He turns back to the real priority: "Well, let's go into the freezer!!"

A messenger tries again: "Excuse me!! But the current condition is..." Moria snaps, "Moron, say that from the start, so we can better confine them." Luffy's unconscious body lies ready to be removed. Moria orders, "Just go throw Strawhat out!! If a problem comes up, report again." Chopper cries, "Luffy!!!" and Nami whispers, "Moron, don't go out!!" because they cannot reveal themselves yet. Usopp remembers Brook's explanation: even if Luffy's shadow was taken, he should not be dead. "It was the same with Brook. We can't go out yet...!! Let's wait for our chance...!!" He concludes, "It looks like they are gonna do something with Luffy's shadow. First, we'll confirm it... then, we can take it back...!!"

The two floors between Mast Mansion and Hogback Mansion are named "The Spider's Nest Corridor." The general zombies search the broken space where Brook, Robin, and Franky escaped. Franky sees the empty bridge and says, "They are not here anymore." He wonders, "Those two...!! Where did they run off to...?" Below, armored zombies gather around Talleran's empty body. One says, "I can't believe it. Tallaren was beaten...!!" Another growls, "Hey, where is the enemy...? I'll cut them up fast!!!" The scene cuts back inside Gecko Moria's Mast Mansion, where Luffy's body is being dragged along. The crisis now runs in parallel: the rescue team has split, and the enemy stronghold is moving Luffy toward its plan.

Franky lies flat on the stairs, crying dramatically while Robin looks down at him. She says, "Franky..." and he snaps, "What is it, you bastard?! I'm not crying, moron!! Don't look this way!!!" Robin asks, "Why did you ask him... such a question?" Franky hides his tears and answers, "Shut up, I did it on my own. Hey, let's hurry up!!! ...Husu!! Haaa... Geez, damn, I love that skeleton!!" Robin smiles and says, "Fufu... that's right. There's no one like him! Shit-heads." The scene moves to the mansion's highest floor, "Hogback's Laboratory," where chains rattle and something stirs in the dark.

Brook faces the corpse carrying his stolen shadow. The zombie, marked "Mario Co.," sits with a sword in hand while Brook stands before him and says, "... Yohoho... really. You don't give up, even after being pushed down." The corpse answers, "Of course." Brook asks, "You don't know my name...!?" and the warrior replies, "When they hear 'Master Fencer Ryuuma'... everyone draws back..." Brook explodes, "Shut up!! You are!! My shadow!!!" The body answers, "Yohoho... Our bodies are too different!!" Brook pleads, "Please come back to me. Under my feet!!" The page makes the confrontation intimate: this is not just a fight with a zombie, but Brook begging his own shadow to return.

The path to Zombie Number 900's special freezer shakes as Moria leads his entourage deeper into the mansion. Moria is excited: "I'm so excited..." He describes the corpse waiting inside. "When I saw his body in the 'Ice Country,' I couldn't stop shivering. My breath caught when I heard that dreadful thing roamed the sea 500 years ago...!! He turned the country that arrested him into his own territory, and built a country of villains. The ringleader that left behind the 'legend of a man who influenced a country' was in there...!!!" Hogback exults, "This is the greatest of all the zombies I have created..." Moria says, "We'll revive that legend once again, Kishishishi!! Now...!! It's time to revive him!!"

The special freezer opens on an enormous chained corpse, a monstrous giant marked 900. Moria declares him "the mad warrior that was called the 'Devil' himself!!!" The name crashes across the page: "Oz"!!!! The corpse fills the freezer, bound in massive chains, horned and stitched like a continent-sized nightmare. Moria and the others look tiny beside him. This is the body intended for Luffy's shadow, and its scale makes Moria's ambition concrete: a 300-million-Beri fighting spirit placed inside the legendary devil from the Ice Country.

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