Shortly after Youki and the others rushed into the castle, Ash heard an angry roar echoing from deep within the fortress.
"You… you blasted guys, what have you done to my precious subordinates!?" a booming voice thundered.
Ash was perched nonchalantly on an old tombstone, leisurely sipping tea from an extravagant set he had confiscated from Kirk's ring earlier.
"Oh? What's this? How did Moriah, this lazy oversized pirate, get so furious?" Ash remarked casually while taking a bite of his food.
You have to understand, Moriah was infamous for his indolence. In the original stories, he was the type to say things like 'I'll leave that to you' or 'When will you make me Pirate King?' rather than lift a finger himself. His reputation was more nap than attack, even more lethargic than Ash!
"Hmm…"
Ash thought about the roar, then grinned. Ordinary zombies were not what Moriah would call subordinates; the only ones he cared about were the elite Mysterious Four he had gathered from the West Blue.
And now, two of those Mysterious Four were dead and one was wounded because of him.
"So that angry rant earlier… was he actually yelling at me!?" Ash muttered, a grin forming.
"Most likely," he concluded. "After that dude got burned while I roasted Perona's ghost zombies, his animal zombie must have run back and reported his injury."
Ash shoved another piece of sea steak into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
"Bro Youki, knock him around good for me."
Meanwhile, atop the main mast of Thriller Bark…
"Holy Berries, is that guy Moriah? He looks massive!" Youki stared in disbelief as a gigantic figure appeared on the tower ahead.
"Is it just me, or does he look like someone from the Giants' Tribe?" Youki asked in shock.
Kirk squinted up at the towering figure. "When I was a kid on Giant Island in the West Blue, the shortest among them stood at fifteen meters. Moriah is shorter than them, but he's definitely not a regular human."
"How could any normal human have horns growing on his head like that!" Brook trembled in fright.
At about 266 centimeters tall himself, Brook estimated the towering presence before them might be near 7 meters or more — truly enormous.
"Talk all you want, but stop shaking!" Youki complained.
"Because the castle was terrifying back there!" Brook whimpered.
"Exactly!" Tsuki shivered nearby. "Those creepy paintings were zombies, that was horrifying!"
Kirk blinked. "Ash told you all long ago that there are spooky zombies in this castle. Besides, they're not actually strong."
"Not being strong and being scary are two separate things!" Brook insisted, backing up closer to Tsuki.
"Don't stand so close to me! You're scary too!" Tsuki kicked Brook's calf. "Besides, not being strong only applies to you guys! I'm just a regular kid!"
Youki thought for a moment before speaking, "He has a point. Moriah definitely doesn't look easy to handle. Why don't we take that captured ghost back to Ash first?"
Tsuki glanced at Perona, who was tightly bound and sobbing dramatically, and said, "Are you sure you want me to take her back by myself? Those ghosts alone are terrifying, I wouldn't be able to manage!"
"Forget it. I'll go back with Tsuki," Saff said with a weak smile. "I'm feeling a bit seasick after that chaotic journey. Especially with someone as odd as Moriah ahead, I'll let you handle him."
"That works," Kirk said after exchanging looks with Youki. "Saff, go with Tsuki."
"What about me?" Brook whimpered, trembling.
"You don't need to worry," Youki said with a half‑smile, "That guy across the way is scared of your appearance too!"
Brook gaped at him.
After Saff and Tsuki returned to the courtyard with Perona, the remaining three stood silently waiting for Moriah's next move.
"What's he doing? After shouting like that, he just stands there!" Youki scratched his chin, baffled.
"Don't know. Let's wait about as long as it takes to smoke one cigarette. If he still doesn't come down, we'll make our move," Kirk said, lighting up.
"We should just leave too!" Brook said with a shiver.
"Quiet!" Kirk snapped. "Where did you even get that cigarette? Give me one!"
Kirk passed the lighter to Youki. "I picked these up back in Water Seven. Saff is strict, so I rarely smoked in front of her."
"Hah, tastes good!" Youki tucked the lighter in his pocket, grinning. "So you just sent Saff away so you could smoke!"
"That's not it!" Kirk protested. "I actually care about my sister. Smoking is just… secondary. Otherwise, wouldn't we look silly just standing out here?"
"That's true…" Youki took a drag and laughed. "Back in the village we never worried about food or drink, but Berries were rare. I always had to bum smokes off Bro Sali! Now I have Berries, but I forgot about cigarettes out here at sea."
"You're constantly training your Devil Fruit power or drinking every day, I thought you were just a simple drunk," Kirk chuckled.
"What kind of talk is that!" Youki laughed. "It's actually way more addictive to watch my strength improve than smoking! And as for drinking, I don't nearly drink as much as that brat Ash!"
Kirk nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he drinks like water every day. He melts alcohol with his flames like it's nothing!"
"He only drinks fruit wine anyway, peach or orange flavored," Youki continued. "Peach wine used to be a specialty back home in the Benbona Kingdom of the North Blue. That flavor was Bro Pini's favorite."
"Right! If Ash sees these cigarettes though, I worry he'll start smoking every day. And if the Village Chief or my uncle catch him… I'll be the one getting scolded!"
"No problem," Youki smirked. "Hey! He's moving!"
While they chatted and smoked, Kirk noticed Moriah shift on the high tower.
Suddenly, with a loud thud, Moriah collapsed and lay flat on the tower's platform.
"What! Why is he lying down!?" Youki and Kirk both yelled.
Weren't they just angry he was furious over losing his underlings?
Moriah opened one eye lazily, "Kishishishishi, underlings? If they die, I just bring them back with shadows."
"I'm gonna punch you to dust!" Youki clenched his golden gauntleted fists.
"It's not going to be easy to beat me, you realize," Moriah said with a grin.
"Easy enough, because you're lying on the ground," Kirk said, stomping his cigarette butt out.
"What kind of twisted joke is that?" Moriah yawned.
"Forget it. I'll leave these guys to you… Oars!"
At Moriah's command, a loud crash echoed as the side of the high tower was smashed open by a massive fist, revealing the massive resurrected giant: Oars, the Demon Zombie.
Ash had mentioned this figure didn't yet have a proper Shadow Driver… but here he was, awakened and imposing, towering above them like a living mountain.
"I was waiting for Oars to be activated," Moriah said gleefully. "What took you so long?"
Youki and Kirk ground their teeth.
"You told us this guy had no proper shadow containment yet," Youki growled, eyes fixed on the colossus.
"It's obvious what this fool was up to," Kirk said coldly, golden daggers materializing in his hands. "He just temporarily shoved a shadow inside him."
There were two obvious targets… Kirk asked, "Which one do you choose?"
"I said I'm gonna punch a Shichibukai, so I must punch a Shichibukai!" Youki laughed without hesitation, charging toward the shattered tower.