We've Gotta Do It!!

Luffy finally reaches the shadow he thought was Moria, only for it to slip away from him with a thin "Hyuuun." He shouts after it, "Ahh...!! Wait, Moria's shadow!!" and then, "Don't go!!" The chase has dragged him into an unfamiliar part of Thriller Bark, and he spins around in frustration, asking, "Where is this place!?" He calls again, "Heey!!" but the shadow continues to retreat. Then the real problem hits him: "Damn!! This is bad!! I told everyone I'd get their shadows back!!" Luffy remembers that without his own shadow he cannot face the sun either, and panic turns practical. "It's going to be bad if I don't have a shadow!! What's going to happen to me if my shadow's gone?" He answers himself with the awful truth: "If we're like this when the sun comes up, then the sunlight will dissolve us!! I have to hurry before the sun rises... Damn!!"

Luffy decides the only answer is to force Moria to fight. He clenches his teeth and says, "I got it!" then bellows into the ruins, "Come on, I'll be your opponent!!" His shout, "Uoooo!!!" echoes across the battlefield as the scene returns to Oars and the Straw Hats. Zoro stands near the giant with his newly won black blade and measures its weight in his hand. "It's heavier compared to my old Yubashiri..." he thinks, naming it fully: "The black sword, Shuusui...!!" The blade's density changes the feel of every strike, and Zoro decides, "If it's this heavy..." Before he can finish testing it, Usopp spots Oars moving and screams, "Hey!! Zoro, look out!!!" Oars swings down with monstrous force, and Zoro braces himself to meet the blow head-on.

Oars's fist crashes toward Zoro, but Zoro meets it with his swords and drives the impact aside instead of being smashed flat. Chopper can hardly believe what he is seeing and cries, "Amazing!! He pushed the punch aside with his strength!!" Zoro does not waste the opening. With Shusui now part of his three-sword style, he plants himself and calls, "Santou-Ryuu." The pressure gathers around the blades, then bursts out as he finishes, "108-Pound Cannon"!!! The attack tears forward in a huge flying slash, swelling far beyond the size of his usual cut, and the battlefield is carved open by a wave powerful enough to make even Oars pay attention.

Zoro's "108-Pound Cannon" roars across Oars's body in an enormous crescent, and even Zoro reacts to the scale of the strike: "It's huge!!" Oars, feeling the force of it, grins down at him and says, "Not bad, for a midget!!" He admits, "If it took that, it might have cut me." The others notice that the attack did not behave normally, saying, "One of the slashes swallowed up the other two..." Zoro studies the scar and the collateral damage with a swordsman's dissatisfaction. "But there's too much pointless destruction around the cut," he says. "I guess that proves I'm not used to this sword yet..." Still, the blade's potential is undeniable. "The attack power is much higher... Looks like this guy isn't well-behaved, either." Thinking of the swordsman who left it to him, Zoro murmurs, "You left me something good... Ryuma, the master swordsman...!!"

Oars grows angrier and brings his enormous body down over the crew, roaring, "You bastard, I'll crush you!!!" The Straw Hats scatter through the broken courtyard as the giant pounds after them, their voices overlapping in alarm: "Whoa!!" and "!!!" Someone warns Zoro, "Hey, Zoro, don't be reckless!!!" The argument shifts from pride to strategy. Even if they beat Oars, someone points out, "Even if, even if you beat him," the crew would only recover Luffy's shadow. "The only shadow we'll get back is Luffy's!! We still don't know where your and Sanji's shadows are!!" Usopp insists that the better path is still Luffy defeating Moria: "But if Luffy defeats Moria, we'll get back all of the shadows!! There's no need to get hurt by an undying giant zombie!!" Another voice urges, "Let's just trust in Luffy and concentrate on slowing this zombie down!!" But the unease remains, and someone answers, "I have plenty of faith in Luffy, but he can't do everything!!"

The crew weighs the danger of leaving everything to Luffy when Thriller Bark's enemies have never fought straightforwardly. Brook calls it "trickery...!!" and explains, "An invisible man, a ghost girl, a man who controls shadows... The people gathered on this island all have abilities that screw with you. Who knows if they'll fight fairly with Luffy?" Robin agrees, "Yes, that is true," while Franky lets out a tense "Muuu..." Zoro reduces the problem to the brutal time limit: "If Luffy doesn't make it and morning comes, him, me, and the cook will all be unable to fight!!!" They cannot simply wait and hope. Before dawn, even if they can only return Luffy to normal, "then it's not over!!!" The decision hardens: slowing Oars is no longer enough if Moria can keep hiding behind tricks.

The sky begins to pale beyond Thriller Bark, and Sanji looks upward with grim relief and dread. "The fog is our saving grace..." he says, but he cannot pretend the situation is good: "Honestly, things are looking bad..." Brook measures the remaining time and says, "We don't even have 30 minutes until dawn..." The heavy fog of the Florian Triangle still hides much of the ocean, and he explains, "The fog is heavy on this ocean. The sun won't reach everywhere...!!" Yet the comfort is thin. Sanji recognizes the change first: "So, it's finally morning." Then the whole island lurches. Voices cry out, "What's this shaking!!?" and "Uwaa! What!?" The battle has begun to move Thriller Bark itself, and the safe darkness protecting the shadowless victims starts to slip away.

Panic spreads across Thriller Bark as the island-ship is dragged by a strange current. Zombies and victims scream, "Gyaaa, what's going on!?" and another voice shouts, "The ship got caught in a strange current again!!" Someone looks up and cries, "Look!! The sky!!" The nightmare deepens when they realize, "I can see the pre-dawn sky!!" and "The fog is clearing!!!" The impossible explanation follows: "Could it be that we've left the 'Florian Triangle'!?" The cause is obvious to the terrified witnesses. "This must be because of Oz screwing around!!" "That bastard, look what he's done!!" They rush to warn their master: "Lord Moria!! Something terrible is happening!!!" and "Thriller Bark is leaving the foggy waters because of Oz!!" Above them, Moria's shadow slips back into his tower with a "Hyun," bringing the danger of sunrise directly into his hands.

Inside Moria's quarters, Bartholomew Kuma waits with the same calm question that made Perona disappear: "If you were to go on vacation, where would you like to go?" Moria snaps at him, "Hey, cut that out...!! I know how your power works!!" Kuma asks, "Are you here for a fight?" and Moria immediately demands, "State your business. Why did you come here?" Kuma answers, "I have something to report to you." Moria stands on the balcony with Thriller Bark and Oars visible below, mocking the other Warlord: "Isn't that right, 'Tyrant' Kuma!!? You were always the only Shichibukai who danced for the government." Kuma replies evenly, "I'm sure the government loves you..." Moria distrusts him anyway: "I don't know what you're plotting... People like you are always the most ominous." When the warnings about the ship leaving the fog arrive, Moria dismisses them: "What about it? As long as we're on the ocean, I don't care!" His attention stays on the fight below. "More importantly... I've got an unexpected guest right now, so be silent!"

Kuma gives Moria the news from the outside world: "Regarding Crocodile's demotion from the Shichibukai... the successor has been decided." Moria's irritation turns into interest and he laughs, "Kishishishi, why didn't you say so? Whoever it is, from whatever sea... There're plenty of pirates." Kuma names the man plainly: "The successor's name is Marshall D. Teach, also known as 'Blackbeard.'" He adds that Teach "is already becoming quite a disturbance in the world... though the news may not have penetrated this fog." Moria admits, "Blackbeard? Haven't heard of him." Kuma explains, "He left Whitebeard's crew... He's already shown that his strength is real." Moria asks the obvious question: "What was his bounty...?" Kuma answers with the most unsettling number possible: "0..." Moria laughs again, "Kishishishi..." while Kuma judges the appointment: "I see, 'uncertain'... He's done well for the government to recognize him."

Moria treats Blackbeard's appointment as a matter of restoring order. "Well, it's good to hear that they've filled the hole," he says. "That'll restore the world's balance or whatever, right?" Kuma disagrees: "No, I see it totally differently... but that's fine." The real purpose of the visit is something else. "More importantly, the government seems to have a concern at the moment." Kuma explains that since the Enies Lobby incident, the government has watched the Straw Hat Pirates carefully: "After the Enies Lobby incident... they have been carefully monitoring the Strawhat Pirates' movements." Their Log from Water 7 toward Mermaid Island made it likely they would pass through Thriller Bark, and Kuma asks Moria whether he understands the concern. Then he says it directly: "They are afraid that another Shichibukai... may be toppled by the Strawhats."

Moria explodes at the idea that the World Government is worried about him. "Don't fuck with me!!!" he roars. "They're worried about me!!? I came here to gain control over these weak-ass pirates, and you're here for me!!?" Kuma offers help without raising his voice: "If the need arises, I wouldn't be opposed to coming to your aid." That only enrages Moria further. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to!!?" he snarls, then demands, "You think I might lose to that tiny rookie crew!!?" Kuma refuses to flatter him: "There is no certainty in battle." He reminds Moria that the government's fear is not baseless. "Who expected Rob Lucci to be defeated at Enies Lobby?" The comparison stings because it treats the Straw Hats not as lucky survivors, but as a pattern the government can no longer ignore.

Moria understands the insult behind Kuma's report. "So you're saying... that the government is that terrified of those bastards beating two Shichibukai, huh!?" Kuma clarifies that he has not been ordered to interfere: "I was not given any orders... other than giving you this report..." Moria turns the warning into a boast. "Well then, take a good look!!" he declares. "And you can tell those fools in their glass house this!!! 'The Strawhat crew that outwitted you... were easily made into Gecko Moria's loyal zombies!!!'" Outside, the actual crew faces a far less triumphant reality. The fog is thinning, and someone says, "This is the worst...!!" Another voice adds, "Our one hope was the deep fog...!!" The approaching dawn becomes visible, and the crew curses the timing: "Whose cheap trick is this, making the fog clear up at a time like this?" "The sun is going to shine right on us."

Moria finally brings himself onto the battlefield by climbing inside Oars's belly like a grotesque pilot. He laughs, "Kishishishi...!! This refreshing night air is a pleasant surprise..." and reminds the crew of the time limit: "It'll be dawn soon... Can you really afford to waste time...?" Usopp spots him first and cries, "No... Moria!!! That's Moria!!!" The others panic: "Why is he here!? Where's Luffy!?" Someone asks, "Wait, Usopp, where's Moria!?" Usopp points straight at the giant and answers, "He's here!! Look!! He's in Oz's stomach!" The crew repeats in disbelief, "His stomach?" Sanji sees him too: "He... he is there!!!" Brook asks the frightening question, "Then where's Luffy!?" and Chopper fears, "Was he beaten...!?" Usopp refuses to accept it: "Maybe...!! Luffy would never get beaten!!" Moria only laughs, "Kishi-shi," letting their doubt do part of his work.

Oars is delighted by Moria's arrival in his stomach. "Oooh!! A cockpit!? My stomach is a cockpit!?" he marvels, while the idea of being piloted excites him even more: "That's so cool!! It's like I'm a robot!! The tension is rising!!!" Moria laughs from inside him, "Kishishi-shishi...!!" and turns the crew's hope into a trap. "Kishishishi!! I'll give you guys a chance to fight me," he says. "If you beat me, all the shadows can be released." But the condition is cruel: "Come at me with everything you've got!!! But if you don't beat Oz, you won't be able to get to me...!!!" The Straw Hats immediately understand the dilemma. Usopp screams, "That's dirty, you bastard!!" because, as someone says, "We can't purify Oz without beating Moria," while another adds, "But Moria is inside Oz!!!" Sanji recognizes the tactical shift: "But now, both of our targets are here." At the back, the crew accepts the only path left. "We've gotta do it!!!"

Usopp takes command of the practical countermeasure. "Usopp, if a little isn't enough," someone says, and Usopp answers, "Then go find a mountain of salt!!!" He sends the crew toward the mansion stores: "We've got no choice but to purify Oz!!!" and "We'll weaken him as much as we can!!" The others understand at once. "Okay!! Got it!!" a voice replies, while another says, "I'm pretty sure there is a kitchen in that first mansion!! There should be plenty of salt there. I'll go get it!!" Moria hears the plan from inside Oars and snaps, "Salt...!! Don't let them get to the kitchen!!" He orders Oars, "Crush that long-nose and the entrance to the mansion!!" Oars obeys with "Yes, master." The giant swings at Usopp and the doorway, smashing the ground with a roaring impact. Usopp is caught in the blast and lets out only "Huh?" before the danger lands on him.

Oars's strike plows through the courtyard, and Sanji shouts in horror, "No!!! Usopp!!!" The impact throws debris everywhere while the crew searches the dust for him. Someone cries, "This is bad!! With Moria involved, Oz has some brains, too!!" Another calls, "Usopp! Say something!!" and someone else insists, "He is all right!!!" Then a small "Step" appears in the dust, and a figure arrives with perfect timing. Brook steps forward carrying an enormous sack labeled "SALT" and apologizes with theatrical urgency: "My deepest apologies for being late!!!" He explains, "I thought a large amount of salt would be necessary, so I was gathering it!!!" The crew shouts his name, "Brook!!!" With Moria now controlling Oars intelligently, Brook's arrival changes the fight: the crew finally has the very weapon needed to purify the giant zombie.

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