Having to endure atrocious skull jokes had Kairo feeling annoyed, but oh well—he wanted something to do.
Suddenly, he smiled as he felt it. Something had entered his passive Observation Haki range.
And it was a ship... a big one.
"They're here." As those words left his lips, everyone with Observation Haki would flare theirs up.
Usopp was the second person to sense them. His range was below Kairo's, but when focused, it was the second best.
Following after him was Sanji, and immediately after him were Luffy and then Zoro.
Nami picked up on it last. Yes, she had Observation Haki. Robin didn't have it yet—she was still blooming—but Kairo would make sure that by the end of this little mini training arc, she got herself Haki.
What she did have over them was a greater mastery of the Marine fighting style than them.
And her control over her Devil Fruit had increased so much she could actually fly for thirty seconds instead of the usual five, with the added benefit that she could do five Sky Jumps before she couldn't do anything anymore.
Chopper didn't have shit, so he was simply scared, and Franky wasn't trained by Kairo, so just like Chopper, he was quite clueless.
Luffy's face turned into a delighted smile—not serious—as if his next fight had been delivered straight to him.
"Dude, what are you talking about?" Before Franky could say more, a huge ship passed next to them, chains appearing on the Sunny, which—now that Kairo thought about it—they technically hadn't named yet.
Might have to use subtle Genjutsu to have someone suggest that name.
Probably not Luffy, since his head was empty most of the time, and that suggestion would stick out like a sore thumb.
Probably someone like Nami or Chopper. Maybe even Sanji.
Anyone but Luffy.
The crew went outside.
"So this is Moria's ship... it's huge!" Nami said, craning her neck.
"It's so scary..." Chopper muttered.
Kairo's brow furrowed.
Something was wrong.
The fog thickened as they approached, clinging to the deck like damp breath. Then it emerged—slowly, deliberately—like a corpse rising from the sea.
Thriller Bark wasn't just a ship. It was Moria's own portal, Saint Jude Island... don't question it.
A massive, uneven silhouette loomed ahead, its hull stitched together from blackened iron and ancient stone, warped and swollen as if it had been rotting for centuries. Towers rose from its surface at crooked angles, spires and chimneys stabbing into the fog like broken ribs. Dim lights flickered behind narrow windows, glowing sickly yellow, like eyes half-open in a dead face.
The mast alone was obscene in size, skeletal and jagged, bearing torn sails that hung limp and tattered, whispering softly despite the lack of wind. Chains thicker than tree trunks dangled along the sides, creaking with every subtle shift of the sea.
The water around it was wrong.
Dark. Still. Too still.
As if the ocean itself was holding its breath.
A massive gate sat at the front of the island-ship, carved with grotesque faces frozen in silent screams.
Kairo's brow furrowed a bit, before—
"AH!"
Turning his head around, he saw Robin's face tilt to the side, her breasts moving unnaturally. Shit wasn't natural. And while Kairo's Observation Haki picked up on nothing at all...
The way the air moved around there.
Absalom.
As that name entered his mind, his body moved on instinct before he himself understood what he was doing. The sound of a body hitting the floor could be heard.
Kairo looked at his blade.
There was blood on it.
Zoro placed his hand in front of Chopper's eyes.
And Usopp seemed to be quite jittery.
"AHHHHHHH!" ×3
Usopp, Nami, and Absalom screamed at the same time.
Though they were screaming for two different reasons.
Nami and Usopp were scared because the hands Absalom had been using to grope Robin had been cleanly cut. Absalom was screaming because he'd been cut... shit hurt like a motherfucker.
Yet before he could think much about it, the tip of Kairo's blade was on his neck.
Absalom was annoyed. How dare anyone hit him, the supreme general in charge of the zombies?
Only to see Kairo's very pissed-off expression...
Shit.
...
A certain Clear Fruit could be seen in Kairo's hand.
While a certain gothic girl could be seen crying her eyes out.
"I-I'm sorry, we didn't mean to attack you guys." She had tears in her eyes, and she looked horrified when she looked at Kairo, as if seeing a demon.
"Don't worry, Perona-chan, he will not hurt you." Captain Save-a-Hoe was back at it again. Sanji glared at Kairo, who stepped back.
"Jeez, I'm not going to kill her." His bloody sword did not help his case in the slightest. They were going to ignore what happened earlier.
Luffy acted as if it didn't even happen. For crying out loud, as a kid he saw Lucky Roo blow someone away and didn't get scared—he wouldn't get scared now.
Zoro, his arms crossed over his chest, looked at Perona.
"Now talk. Where is Moria?"
"Moss-head, how dare you speak to a lady like that?" Sanji wasn't having it. Zoro looked annoyed.
"She's the enemy, Swirly Brow." And they were back to fighting.
Nami was honestly annoyed. Though the blood on Kairo's sword did slightly scare her, not much—in her humble opinion, the guy deserved it. He was groping Robin, and his ass was halfway done undoing her panties. He deserved what happened to him.
Though she did not expect Kairo to immediately release his Conqueror's Haki, fly away, and bring back this girl, who seemed to have been knocked out.
It was then she learned Conqueror's Haki could negate Devil Fruit abilities—or at least their effects.
A/N did he over do it