Chapter 187: Despair in a Sea of Fire! The Surgeon's Lie
After hearing Tatsuya's words.
The Straw Hat crew finally gave up their pointless entanglement with the zombie army.
Fighting as they retreated, the group quickly fled the cross-filled graveyard shrouded in stench and phosphorus fire.
After passing through a silent forest enveloped in thick fog, a massive and eerie Gothic castle loomed before them.
"SUPER—!!!"
Franky looked up, sizing up the grand castle through his sunglasses, and let out an exclamation:
"The load-bearing structure of this building and the carving craftsmanship on the exterior walls are simply impeccable masterpieces!"
"However..." Franky sniffed.
"Why does this place have such a strange smell?"
Robin stood to the side.
An elegant smile curled the corners of her mouth as she added in a gentle tone:
"Perhaps... this castle was built with the bones of countless people as its foundation, and then its walls were painted layer by layer with fresh blood."
"Those scratch marks on the doors might have been left by people buried alive in the walls."
"Big Sis Robin! Please stop talking!!" Franky shuddered.
"BANG!!!"
A deafening roar rudely and violently shattered the eerie atmosphere.
Luffy had no self-awareness as a guest, let alone the manners to knock.
He simply raised a foot and arrogantly kicked open the heavy oak doors that weighed several tons.
"Excuse me!!!"
Luffy swaggered inside:
"Is anyone here?! We're looking for someone!!!"
In the center of the hall, two figures stood abruptly.
One man was bloated and rounded, looking very much like a standing penguin.
He had a bizarre, pointed hairstyle and wore a black coat that looked like a fishing net.
One of the 'Mysterious Three' of Thriller Bark, the genius surgeon—Dr. Hogback.
Beside him, an expressionless woman with a good figure followed quietly.
She was a blonde maid whose face and body were covered in obvious, coarse stitches—Victoria Cindry.
"Fosh-fosh-fosh-fosh-fosh..."
Dr. Hogback let out a wheezing, shrill laugh.
He was about to put on the airs of a superior castle lord and pretentiously 'welcome' the pirates.
"SMACK!!!"
The maid Cindry, standing beside him, remained expressionless.
She picked up a white porcelain plate she was carrying and smashed it precisely onto Dr. Hogback's fat face!
"Waaaaah!!"
Dr. Hogback's nose bled profusely as he clutched his face and roared in anger.
"What are you doing!! Cindry-chan!!!"
Cindry maintained her deadpan expression without a ripple of emotion:
"Because seeing your face makes me unhappy."
"Things like plates should just disappear from this world."
Seeing this unusual scene.
Sanji slid toward Cindry like a noodle:
"Ah~~ this maid with a melancholic air!"
"Even the way you coldly smash plates is so charming! It has simply struck my heart!"
"THUMP!"
Before Sanji could get close,
Zoro ruthlessly landed a heavy punch on the back of Sanji's head:
"Are you an idiot, you perverted cook!! Are you blind?!"
"She's covered in stitches and doesn't have a hint of life in her. She's clearly a weird zombie too!!!"
Luffy adjusted his Straw Hat and approached Dr. Hogback, who was still clutching his nose, in a straightforward manner:
"Hey! Penguin Uncle!!"
"Have you seen our Navigator, Long-nose, Reindeer, plus a Crow and a little dog that spits bombs?!"
"They landed on the island before us, so they must have come here!"
Hearing Luffy's question, Dr. Hogback's small eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, darted around craftily.
As Moria's capable subordinate,
he naturally couldn't let these dangerous pirates ruin the critical plan Lord Moria was carrying out:
"Fosh-fosh-fosh-fosh... What is this pirate boy talking about?"
"In this castle, besides me, a genius doctor who loves medicine, there are no living people at all."
"Since you've come from afar, why not go to the guest room for a cup of hot tea and rest for a bit?"
Just as Dr. Hogback was all smiles.
"Swish!"
Dr. Hogback's vision blurred for a moment.
Tatsuya had appeared silently behind him at some unknown moment via Body Flicker.
A blade was now pressed firmly against Dr. Hogback's fat neck.
"Put away your clumsy lies, you quack."
Tatsuya said with a smile:
"All the disgusting zombies on this island are your 'masterpieces,' aren't they?"
"You are responsible for stitching the corpses with your inferior skills, and then Moria is responsible for stuffing the stolen shadows into them."
"Am I right?"
Hearing the name 'Moria,' Dr. Hogback's fat body trembled violently.
"You... how do you know Lord Moria's name?!!!"
Dr. Hogback screamed in despair.
"Guards!! Come save me!!!" Dr. Hogback shouted shrilly.
Along with his cry for help, the sound of dense footsteps immediately came from the dark corridors around the castle hall.
"Uuuggghhh—"
A large number of 'Surprise Zombies' emerged from the picture frames on the walls.
As well as fully armed 'Soldier Zombies' carrying various rusted weapons and wearing tattered armor.
They flooded out frantically from all directions!
In just a few seconds, they had the Straw Hat crew tightly surrounded.
"Tch, this again!"
Zoro annoyedly bit down on Wado Ichimonji and swung his two other blades sharply.
He ruthlessly dismembered the dozen or so Soldier Zombies in the front into countless pieces.
Sanji also leaped up irritably, his legs turning into a blur of afterimages.
However, in the narrow terrain, the characteristics of these zombies became troublesome.
"Dammit!!!"
Franky angrily blasted a zombie away with his'Strong Right' and cursed through gritted teeth:
"There are way too many of these disgusting guys!"
"And they just won't die. In this narrow corridor, they're simply too difficult to deal with!"
Looking at the corridor packed with zombies, with almost no room to stand.
Tatsuya, who had been standing in the back, pulled back his smile, his expression instantly turning cold.
"They can't be cut to death, huh?"
"Then... along with those filthy shadows, let them be completely reduced to ashes."
The next second.
Tatsuya's hands moved rapidly in front of his chest.
"Snake-Ram-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger!"
Tatsuya took a deep breath, and his normally flat chest swelled up exaggeratedly in that instant.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!!!"
"BOOM—!!"
In an instant!
A sea of scorching fire, like a tsunami, erupted frantically from Tatsuya's mouth.
This violent flame instantly filled the entire long corridor!
With a destructive force capable of incinerating everything in the world, it surged forward in a fury!
"Whirr—!!!"
Within microseconds, the temperature inside the corridor soared to a terrifying level.
The expensive oil paintings on the corridor walls didn't even spark when they touched the heatwave; they were instantly and completely carbonized into black ash.
Even the sturdy load-bearing stone pillars let out shrill cracking sounds under the horrific ultra-high temperature.
"Roar roar roar roar roar!!!!"
The zombie army, claimed to be 'absolutely immortal'.
The moment they touched this terrifying sea of despairing fire, they didn't even have time to let out a full scream.
Their rotting flesh and hard bones were like fragile scraps of paper.
They were directly incinerated into black ash!
And the'shadows' that had lost their vessels.
Under the roasting of the flames capable of purifying all things, they let out shrill, silent screams.
They turned into weak dark shadows and fled miserably toward the gloomy sky outside the corridor.
Just a few seconds later.
The corridor that had been packed with terrifying zombies was now eerily empty.
Only the smooth floor was covered with a thick, glaring layer of black bone ash.
A breeze blew in through the broken windows, causing the ash to drift bleakly before completely vanishing.
"Thud."
Dr. Hogback, who had been standing at the edge of the hall, his legs trembling violently, knelt directly onto the scalding stone floor in despair.
His eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, bulged and were bloodshot with terror.
The 'genius surgical stitching technique' he was so proud of.
The 'invincible immortal army' he believed was enough to sweep across all enemies on the sea...
In the face of a casual breath of fire from this man in glasses.
It actually... actually couldn't even last for a few short seconds!
Completely wiped out!
"Monsters..."
Dr. Hogback clutched his head in a breakdown, muttering in despair:
"These people... they aren't pirates at all... they're a group of terrifying monsters!!!"
Tatsuya walked up to Dr. Hogback.
Tatsuya looked down at the cowardly genius doctor from above.
The cold blade pressed against his throat once more, his tone flat:
"Now."
"I'll patiently ask you one last time."
"Where exactly... are my companions?"
Facing the fatal fear of death, Dr. Hogback's fat body shook violently like a sieve.
In order to cling to life, his cunning brain worked at high speed in that moment:
"I... I know!! I know!!"
Dr. Hogback frantically pointed to a dark passage deep within the castle and shouted shrilly:
"I saw them run into that inner courtyard with my own eyes! I'll take you there! I'll lead the way myself!! Please don't kill me!!!"
Hearing news of his companions' whereabouts.
Luffy nodded with satisfaction, adjusted his signature Straw Hat, and shouted excitedly:
"You should have said so earlier! Penguin Uncle! Let's go!! To save Nami and the others!"
Dr. Hogback scrambled up from the ground in a mess and humiliatingly walked at the front to lead the way.
However.
When he struggled to turn around, with his back to the Straw Hat crew.
A sinister, venomous sneer quickly appeared on his ugly, sweat-covered fat face.
"Fosh-fosh-fosh-fosh..."
Dr. Hogback roared frantically in his heart:
"Go! Go forward in your ignorance! You damned monsters!"
"Since tough physical attacks can't kill you, I'll lead you fools to 'Lady Perona's' terrifying courtyard!"
"Before that terrifying woman, no matter how strong the physical attack or how horrific the flames, they are laughable and useless!"
"Your shadows... Lord Moria will take them without hesitation! Fosh-fosh-fosh-fosh!"
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