77: Chapter 77 Encounter with Perona

The group continued to push forward, passing through a long corridor, and arrived at a massive indoor garden in the castle's atrium.

The space here opened up suddenly. A massive crystal chandelier hung overhead, while various eerie stitched animal specimens were placed around, and withered vines coiled around gigantic stone pillars.

Just at this moment, the air pressure in mid-air fluctuated abnormally once again.

Accompanied by an ethereal, piercing laughter, a figure holding a wine-red parasol slowly floated down from the second-floor dome of the castle.

The Ghost Princess, Perona.

Perona was wearing a Gothic Lolita dress, her pink twin-tails swaying behind her head.

In those eyes, as large as a doll's, was filled with lofty arrogance. Her body defied the pull of gravity, floating lightly in mid-air, looking down at the group below from a high vantage point.

"Horo-horo-horo… To dare to trespass into Lord Gekko Moriah's castle, and even kill that idiot Absalom."

Perona sneered, twirling the parasol in her hand. "You lowly wretches don't understand at all that on this island, muscle power is so pale and powerless. Kneel down obediently and feel true despair!"

As Perona gave the order, over a dozen translucent white ghosts suddenly appeared around her body.

These ghosts had no physical form; they were anomalous energy bodies condensed from the rules of the Devil Fruit. Their method of attack was not physical collision, but rather passing directly through the body and invading the depths of the brain.

Once penetrated by a ghost, the brain would instantly lose all fighting spirit, and negative emotions would surge wildly, causing the victim to fall into complete despair and lose the ability to act.

"Go! Negative Hollows!" Perona waved one hand.

A dozen translucent ghosts left white trails in the air as they swooped down toward the group below, their speed astonishingly fast.

The members of the Straw Hat Pirates bore the brunt of it. Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, and Franky had no time to dodge. The white ghosts ignored their surface muscle defenses, even passing through Roronoa Zoro's blades and Franky's steel shell, straight through their chests.

The next second, the three who had been full of fighting spirit felt their knees go weak and fell straight onto the floor. Their entire bodies radiated a gloomy aura.

"If there is an afterlife, I really want to become a sea cucumber crawling in the sewer…" Monkey D. Luffy muttered dejectedly, his forehead pressed against the cold stone floor.

"Living in this world is truly an apology to everyone; please let Roronoa Zoro stop breathing immediately…" Roronoa Zoro held his head with both hands, having lost all his dignity as a swordsman, wishing he could crawl into a crack in the ground.

"I am just a pile of useless scrap metal; it would be better to be melted down and remade into a toilet…" Franky was covered in tears and snot, lying on the ground wailing.

The ghosts' trajectory did not stop; a few remaining white energy bodies streaked through the air, piercing directly through the bodies of the female crew members of the White Dove Adventure Group who couldn't dodge in time.

Those well-trained combat skills they usually possessed became meaningless the moment their central nervous systems were hijacked.

Their independent will, which they took pride in, was completely disintegrated, exposing a deep-seated reliance on strong male bodies within their subconscious.

Nami's clima-tact slid helplessly to the ground, she fell to her knees, her eyes unfocused, and she uttered decadent words: "Sailing is too tiring… Nami doesn't want to work anymore; I just want to hide behind Rice forever and be a good-for-nothing, without using my brain, doing nothing at all, just being protected by the tyrant is enough…"

Nico Robin slid slowly down against a stone pillar, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face in her arms, her voice filled with the depravity of abandoning thought: "Finding the Poneglyphs is meaningless… Nico Robin would rather be locked in a cabin by the tyrant for a lifetime, becoming a doll that needs someone else's command even to breathe, forever attached under Rice's wings…"

Vivi dropped the Peacock Slashers in her hands, collapsing onto the carpet like a puddle of mud: "Restoring the kingdom is too heavy; Vivi just wants to lie on the deck forever sunbathing, waiting for Rice to feed me, being a useless parasite…"

Paula's thorn needles on her ten fingers all retracted into her body, and she presented an attitude of giving up resistance: "Thorns are useless; Paula just wants to be a puddle of mud, forever submitting at Rice's feet begging for protection…"

Mikita dropped her parasol, Raki threw down her sniper rifle, and Kalifa discarded her intelligence notebook. The entire crew fell into this decadent state of longing to be completely kept, abandoning all independent thought, and only wanting to hide behind Rice forever as good-for-nothings.

This rule-based attack that struck directly at the Soul instantly disintegrated the majority of the combat power of the two teams. Perona watched the crowd kneeling all over the floor and let out an even more triumphant, wild laugh.

"Horo-horo-horo! Do you see? No matter how hard your bones are, in front of my ghosts, you will all turn into useless trash!"

Her gaze shifted, locking onto the bronze-colored body standing in the center of the atrium, as immobile as an iron tower.

"Next, it's the turn of this barbarian who crushed Absalom! Kneel down obediently and weep!"

Four even larger Negative Hollows let out a shrill screech, rushing towards Rice's torso from four different angles at high speed.

Facing these ghosts that ignored defenses, Rice did not make any dodging movements.

His feet were nailed to the stone floor as if they had taken root. In his violent black eyes, a terrifying fierce light emerged that was enough to freeze blood.

"Attempting to shake the will of this body with a few ridiculous balls of energy?"

The heart in his chest was pumping blood frantically like a heavy-duty diesel engine, emitting a roaring sound. His strong Physique gave birth to an unrivaled, domineering spirit.

"Mere Devil Fruit rules dare to be presumptuous in front of the tyrant!"

The moment the words fell, an Aptitude for kingship lying dormant in the depths of his Soul, representing the absolute pressure of a superior, erupted like a dormant volcano! It was no longer simple Armament Haki hardening, but Conqueror's Haki that stood above millions of living beings!

Hum—!!!

With Rice's torso as the center, a circle of visible black-red electric arcs, carrying a terrifying, destructive pressure, swept wildly into the surrounding space.

This had already transcended the category of an aura; it was a materialized spiritual shock!

The powerful pressure distorted the surrounding light directly, and the air in the castle's atrium let out an unbearable explosion at this moment.

The surfaces of those huge stone pillars around were gouged with deep cracks by this invisible pressure. The massive crystal chandelier hanging overhead shattered with a boom, and glass debris fell like raindrops.

Those four Negative Hollows that were about to touch Rice's skin, the moment they contacted the Conqueror's Haki shockwave, their forms constructed by Devil Fruit rules were crushed by the destructive pressure! Just like fragile soap bubbles meeting a gale.

There was no suspense. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The four Negative Hollows didn't even have time to scream before they were shattered by the Conqueror's Haki in mid-air! They turned into countless scattered points of light, dissipating completely into the air, leaving not even a trace.

Perona, in mid-air, saw her pupils shrink rapidly to the size of pinpoints. On her exquisite face, the original lofty arrogance vanished instantly, replaced by a deep fear originating from the depths of her marrow.

"How is it possible… The ghosts were shattered directly by some kind of invisible pressure?!"

But the Conqueror's Haki shockwave did not stop because of the ghosts' destruction. The black-red aura containing the tyrant's will, like a materialized tsunami, swept directly over Perona in mid-air.

Boom! Perona only felt her head hit by a ten-thousand-ton hammer. Her consciousness, under the sweep of this absolute tyrant's pressure, instantly fell into a severe blank. Her eardrums buzzed, and her vision went black. The Devil Fruit ability controlling her levitation failed completely.

Her petite body, like a bird with broken wings, fell straight from mid-air. Thud. Her knees slammed heavily onto the hard stone floor, making a dull impact sound.

"Urgh… Ah…" Perona held her head tightly with both hands, her body trembling violently on the ground. Her brain was frantically sending signals representing submission.

Breathing became incredibly rapid, chest heaving violently.

Under the crushing weight of Haki that transcended conventional dimensions, all overt will to resist was brutally and forcibly erased.

Rice strode forward with his long legs, his leather boots striking the shattered stone slabs with a heavy clatter.

One step, two steps. That bronze-hued body, akin to a god or demon, walked slowly until he stood before Perona.

He looked down from above at the Ghost Princess, who was trembling on the ground.

The lingering power of his black-red Conqueror's Haki still swirled around Rice's body.

"Mental intrusion ultimately comes down to whose will is more domineering. In the face of absolute power, these little ghost tricks are nothing more than soap bubbles that shatter at a touch."

Perona was forced to tilt her head back, looking at the face filled with violent lines just inches away, looking into those black eyes devoid of human emotion, possessing only an absolute, crushing will.

Her heart felt as if it would shatter her ribs and leap out of her chest. Large tears welled up in her eyes, washing away the makeup on her cheeks.

Perona abandoned all surface resistance, her knees going limp as she knelt before Rice's military boots. Her hands hung weakly at her sides, her head bowed low.

"Perona is willing to submit..." Her voice carried an uncontrollable sob, every syllable declaring her retreat. "Including the abilities of the Ghost Fruit, I offer everything to Lord Tyrant. Please accept this burden."

However, beneath this pitiful, submissive exterior.

Deep within her downcast gaze, however, dark and cunning schemes were flashing wildly.

"I'm just bowing my head temporarily to save my life! As long as I find an opening, Perona will definitely report the coordinates here to Lord Moriah! And this group of women groveling on the ground... since their subconscious is only thinking about competing for favor, only wanting to be protected by this tyrant, then sooner or later I will spread rumors among them and sow discord! Let them tear at each other, let them be jealous of each other, and eventually make this adventure group collapse completely from within!"

These malicious thoughts swirled rapidly in her mind, yet on the surface, she still maintained a trembling, obedient appearance.

Rice examined the trembling trophy at his feet from above.

His Observation Haki had long since captured the subtle abnormality in her heartbeat frequency.

For such boring little thoughts, the Tyrant couldn't care less. In the face of absolute physical mass, any conspiracy is like an egg hitting a slab of pig iron.

"Dry your tears. Stand behind me."

The cold order was issued. Perona, as if clutching a life-saving straw, nodded desperately.

She scrambled up from the ground, trembling, and stood obediently at the end of the line, not even daring to breathe loudly.

As the energy source of the Negative Hollows was cut off, the people kneeling on the ground around them gradually regained their consciousness.

Nami picked up her clima-tact with a flushed face, Robin hid the embarrassment in her eyes, and Luffy and the others climbed to their feet with confused expressions.

Rice ignored everyone's awkwardness.

He looked up, his gaze piercing through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the second floor of the castle, locking onto the direction of the massive ice chamber deep inside, which was emitting a vast, putrid stench.

The sleeping, massive body of the Ancient Giant Oars was already close at hand. An ultimate collision belonging to the dimension of pure physical strength was about to unleash a devastating storm on this island.

The internal architectural structure of Thriller Bark presented a chaotic, patchwork state that defied convention.

Massive granite blocks, combined with rough load-bearing steel bars, forcibly supported the Gothic core of this moving island.

Passing through the atrium guarded by the Ghost Princess Perona, the temperature in the air began to plummet sharply. Heat was forcibly twisted here by some sort of large refrigeration equipment, and thick white frost condensed on the stone walls on both sides of the corridor.

With every respiratory cycle, the alveoli of living beings would exhale thick white water vapor.

As the energy source of the Negative Hollows was completely cut off, the members of the Straw Hat Pirates who had previously knelt on the ground gradually regained control of their central nervous systems.

Luffy climbed up from the cold stone slabs, his unique body, endowed by the Rubber Fruit, rapidly secreting large amounts of adrenaline.

High concentrations of hormones were pumped into his brain through his blood circulation, forcibly dispelling the lingering decadent electrical signals in his cerebral cortex.

Luffy let out an angry roar.

The muscle fibers in his legs contracted instantly, and rubber elastic potential energy accumulated frantically. Without any tactical consideration, he turned directly into a red kinetic meat-bomb, catapulting along the corridor toward the end of the icy aura. Zoro and Franky drew their weapons and followed closely behind.

Rice strode forward in his heavy military boots, his pace steady as he followed. The female crew members of the White Dove Adventure Group stepped on the cold ground, maintaining a tight defensive formation, guarding the side of the Tyrant.

At the end of the corridor was a giant pig-iron door, tens of meters high.

Luffy's rubber fists slammed heavily into the door. The elastic potential energy was converted into destructive kinetic energy, directly blasting two huge indentations into the multi-ton pig-iron door. The hinges broke, and the door collapsed outward to both sides, kicking up clouds of ice debris.

The space behind the door was a super-giant ice chamber, large enough to accommodate several heavy warships.

In the center of the ice chamber stood a massive iceberg like a mountain. Inside the ice, a terrifying red body nearly a hundred meters tall was frozen solid. It had curved horns on its head, protruding fangs, and its muscle groups bulged high like rocks.

The Ancient Giant, Oars.

A perfect specimen preserved for hundreds of years in an extremely cold environment.

And in front of that huge block of ice, the bloated Gekko Moriah was standing in the shadows, a cruel, ferocious grin hanging on his lips.

"Kishishishishi! You fools who trespassed into my territory, your shadows will become the power source to awaken this ultimate weapon!"

Luffy didn't pay any attention to Moriah's nonsense. His legs exerted force again, and borrowing the reaction force from the air, he charged straight toward the coordinates where Moriah was located.

Just at the moment when Luffy's body was about to make contact with Moriah.

The black shadow at Moriah's feet suddenly defied the laws of projection, rising from the ground like black asphalt possessing solid mass.

[Shadow Master].

This mass of black matter directly ignored the collision with Luffy's rubber fists, following the angle of the light on the ground, spreading like lightning to Luffy's feet, turning into several black shadow hands, and grabbing tightly onto the two-dimensional shadow Luffy projected on the ground.

A creature's shadow is, in essence, a dark zone formed after the body blocks the propagation of photons. But under the rule modification of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, this dark zone was endowed with unique attributes, becoming a medium that connects to the biological Soul's wavelength.

Moriah pulled the massive pig-iron scissors from behind him and aimed them at the root connecting the shadow at Luffy's feet, snipping down viciously.

Snap!

Accompanied by the closing of the scissors.

The connection bond of the shadow Luffy projected on the ground was forcibly severed.

In the tiny interval when the shadow was stripped away, Luffy's body, which had been full of vitality, instantly suffered an inexplicable, grievous injury.

Having lost the support of his shadow, his central nervous system completely cut off the transmission of all bio-electrical signals.

His cerebral cortex fell into deep shock, and his eyes rolled back.

Thud.

Luffy's body lost all kinetic energy, crashing heavily onto the cold ground like a pile of mud, completely losing all functions beyond life reactions.

"Luffy!"

Zoro and Franky, who arrived from behind, were shocked and immediately raised their blades and mechanical cannons, preparing to launch an attack on Moriah.

"Stand down, all of you. Watch over Luffy."

A cold voice, like metal grinding against metal, came from behind, the sound waves laced with a tangible aura of slaughter.

Rice's tall, bronze-hued body stepped over the collapsed pig-iron door, officially entering the ice chamber.

A massive pressure was released, instantly causing the airflow in the room to slow down.

Rice's black eyes locked firmly onto the shadow belonging to Luffy in Moriah's hand, the blood vessels on his body expanding violently.

"Moriah, do you want to die?"