"Wait! Wait, wait, wait, how do you know where my real body is?!"
Perona screamed in panic. Recovering her wits, she hurriedly flew up in an attempt to snatch her body back, waving her hands to release a few negative ghosts.
Facing her approach, the corners of Allen's mouth curled up. He grabbed the hem of Perona's skirt, lifting it just a tiny bit, and teased, "Take one more step, and I'll strip you completely naked."
"Eh! Stop it—!!"
These words instantly turned Perona's face pale with fright. She screamed in panic with wide eyes and slammed on the brakes, glaring indignantly at Allen.
"You despicable, shameless bastard! To do such a thing to a lady!"
"You hid your real body in the forest, ambushed so many of my subordinates, and you're calling *me* despicable?"
*Smack!*
Allen raised his hand and delivered a heavy slap to the buttocks of Perona's real body. With a wicked grin, he laughed, "Well said. Now, why don't you guess what a despicable guy like me just did to your body in the forest?"
"You...! You, you, you... you're shameless!"
Hearing this, Perona blushed with anger and humiliation, squeezing out tears of grievance from the corners of her eyes while loudly cursing Allen. "If Lord Moria were here, he would definitely tear you into ten thousand pieces!"
"Moria's subordinate, huh? Spare me the big talk. What kind of formidable figure could he be if he was defeated by that guy Kid?" Allen mocked with a disdainful expression.
"What did you say, you shameless jerk?!"
Perona gnashed her teeth, stomping her feet in anger at his words. She wanted to rush forward and fight Allen to the death, but seeing that her real body was still in his hands, she felt utterly powerless.
"I'm done playing with you. I'll give your body back," Allen said casually, and then he actually tossed Perona's real body forward.
Seeing this, joy flashed in Perona's eyes, and she hurriedly flew over to reclaim her body.
*Swish!*
Allen's gaze sharpened, and his figure vanished from the spot in a flash. The moment Perona's soul and body merged, she opened her eyes—only to be stunned to see Allen suddenly appearing right in front of her.
"You...!"
*Thump!*
Before she could react, Allen delivered a swift karate chop to her small head.
Perona's pupils lost focus, and she instantly lost consciousness, her body slowly collapsing forward onto the ground.
...
"Phew, thank goodness you're back."
Seeing her subdued by Allen, Nami finally breathed a sigh of relief. She dropped her defensive stance and walked over, saying, "By the way, when did you leave? I didn't even notice you were gone."
"Ah, when I saw the ghosts earlier, I used my Observation Haki to scan the area. I noticed a presence hidden in the forest, so I went over," Allen explained with a light chuckle.
Perona's ability was highly recognizable, so he naturally saw through it at a glance and immediately used his Observation Haki to search for her real body.
Unlike grabbing the tangible body of a Logia user, Perona's detached soul could not be attacked with Armament Haki.
There were only two ways to deal with it: directly harm her real body, or use Conqueror's Haki coating, which could inflict damage on a mental level.
It seemed like an unsolvable ability, but the weakness was actually fatal. The range a soul could leave the body was limited; otherwise, Perona wouldn't have needed to hide her body in the forest, making it easy to detect with Observation Haki.
Once discovered, her defenseless real body could easily be killed, even by a child.
Of course, Perona's ability was still an overwhelming, dimensional-level strike against ordinary enemies. Even average experts would be played with in the palm of her hand.
After all, not everyone could see through her ability right off the bat.
But in front of a powerhouse who had mastered Conqueror's Haki coating, it was completely inadequate. There was no need for any convoluted methods—a single punch was enough.
It was an ability that fell short against the best, but was more than enough to crush the rest.
Allen glanced back at the campsite, where a large number of his crew members were kneeling on the ground with empty expressions, looking completely dispirited.
This included Sanji, Gin, and the others.
"They really got messed up bad..."
"Allen, how did you know about her ability?" Nami couldn't help but ask curiously.
An ability that left them completely helpless had been easily dealt with by Allen.
"I used to be a Marine, so I still know the intelligence on Warlord Moria's subordinates. Besides..." Allen explained casually, then the corners of his mouth curled up into a light smile. "The previous user of this Devil Fruit was quite famous. He was one of the core members of the Rocks Pirates, the 'Demon Gun' Gil Bastar, with a bounty of 970 million Berries."
"970 million Berries! That's absurd...!" Nami's eyes widened, startled by the exorbitant bounty.
"The Rocks Pirates... To think that after so many years, I'd hear their name outside of a book," Robin remarked with a sigh.
Allen looked surprised upon hearing this and asked with an odd expression, "You know about the Rocks Pirates?"
"No, I've just seen some scattered introductions about them in biographies," Robin replied.
Allen couldn't help but give her a second look.
Any random member pulled from the Rocks Pirates was a great pirate of the New World, yet when they gathered together, they were surprisingly incompetent.
The scheming and infighting on the ship were nothing compared to the Battle of God Valley. Let alone working together, the group openly fought each other to snatch treasure and Devil Fruits.
If they had just been a little more united, no matter how badly Rocks lost, they wouldn't have ended up getting their heads claimed by that roadblock, Saint Garling.
Ironically, after the fall of Rocks, the solo acts—Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and Roger—stood tall as a tripartite balance of power. Later on, Kaido and Linlin also rose from behind, successively ascending to the position of the Four Emperors.
It truly was a case of: united they were a steaming pile of crap, but scattered they became a sky full of stars.
"Anyway, she's Moria's subordinate, right? What are we going to do with her?" Nami asked, looking at Perona lying on the ground with her hands on her hips. "Although she didn't cause any major trouble, just letting her go would be letting her off too easy."
"Of course we can't just let her go." Allen nodded in agreement. He looked Perona up and down, then put on a serious expression and said, "Tie her up and send her to my room. I will use various positions... ahem, various methods to severely punish her."
*Bonk!*
Nami knocked Allen on the head with her fist, closing her eyes and scolding him in annoyance, "Can you be serious for a second?"
"Then what else can we do? Kill her and toss her overboard," Allen shrugged and said. "Since we're going to kill her anyway, I think my previous suggestion is worth putting into practice."
"Sorry, Allen, but I don't agree with doing that either," Robin said expressionlessly, her arms crossed over her chest.
Allen threw his hands up. "Then what else is there? You guys do whatever you want with her."
...
Early the next morning, in the Florian Triangle where sunlight was rarely seen year-round, the thick fog still showed no signs of dissipating.
By the coast, the crew was busy packing up and preparing to set sail on the *Freewill*.
Inside the captain's quarters, Perona's eyelashes fluttered. She slowly opened her eyes, her blurry vision gradually coming into focus.
Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, she was about to sit up when she suddenly realized her body couldn't move. A wave of powerlessness spread from her wrists to the rest of her body.
"Are these... Seastone handcuffs?!"
Perona turned her head and was shocked to find her hands firmly cuffed behind her back. Moving her gaze upward, she saw Allen sitting on the sofa, eating breakfast.
...