My...

The all-too-familiar scene startled Mercer, and he quickly guessed her identity.

"He's not very fast."

Mercer watched the ghostly thing fly toward him, its flight path clearly visible.

He dodged to the side, watching the doll-like ghost drag a long trail behind it as it flew past him.

He had just started to relax when the ghost doll suddenly turned in midair and flew toward him again.

"So it can change direction?"

Mercer wondered.

Just then, the spirit girl covered her mouth and giggled gleefully. "Hara hara hara! You're going down!"

Still laughing, she fired another identical ghost doll from her palm, sending it hurtling toward Mercer.

Seeing this, Mercer stopped playing around. He pushed off the ground and sprinted toward her.

Ignoring the ghost doll pursuing him from behind, he focused on the other one coming straight at him. At the last instant, he swiftly rolled to the side and dodged it.

He sprang to his feet and immediately rushed toward her body.

After Mercer dodged her ability several times in a row, the spirit girl started to panic.

She hurriedly shrieked, "Don't come any closer! I'm warning you, I've still got a Ghost Bomb I haven't used yet. Come any closer and I won't hold back—I'll blow you to pieces!"

Mercer ignored her and kept charging. He drew Cold Dew from behind his waist and reached her in the blink of an eye. His sharp blade swept across her neck.

And passed straight through.

The spirit girl swallowed and touched her unharmed neck, still shaken. But then she remembered that her spirit form was immune to physical attacks, and the corners of her mouth slowly curled up.

She turned around smugly, only for panic to appear on her face the next moment.

Mercer smiled at her as he sat on the ground, tapping the blade of Cold Dew against the face of her body, which lay on the grass.

"Well, what do you say?"

The spirit girl plopped down on the ground in a squat and wailed, "Don't kill me! I don't want to die! I was wrong! I'm sorry!"

Watching her, Mercer smiled and pointed at the two ghost dolls floating beside her.

"Put them away."

The spirit girl looked crestfallen as she waved the two ghost dolls away.

Curious, Mercer asked, "What's your name? I heard them say you're an outsider. Why are you staying here? Where's your family?"

The spirit girl gritted her teeth, anger flashing in her eyes. "Did those thieves tell you? I've only ever talked to them here. It had to be them."

"Yeah. I happened to hear them talking about you, and I got curious, so I came over. Tell me your story."

The spirit girl's eyes lit up. "My story? You want to hear my story? I've become famous! Hara hara!"

Watching her suddenly get excited, Mercer felt a little thrown. Wait, is she really that scatterbrained?

She laughed happily and waved a hand. "I'm not that famous. My name's Perona. I'm an independent woman, and I'm making it on my own."

Mercer watched her with an odd expression as she began telling him her story.

After a long while, Mercer sat on the ground eating an apple, having listened to the whole thing.

How to put it?

She was an orphan from an orphanage on another island. One day, she ate a Devil Fruit, and after a series of mishaps, people treated her like a monster and shunned her. In the end, she made up her mind and left.

She wandered all the way here.

And settled down here, for the time being.

With her Devil Fruit ability, she got by pretty well. She went out and did a little sneaking around now and then. It wasn't as if she'd starve.

Since she'd shared her story and been caught, Perona was now talking to Mercer in her actual body.

"Um, I've talked a lot, and I'm a little thirsty. Give me an apple."

Perona spoke quietly. Mercer raised an eyebrow. "You're not shy, are you?"

As he spoke, he handed her his last apple. She took it and bit into it with a crunch.

"Mmm, it's so sweet. Since you shared your food with me, I'll forgive you for threatening me earlier."

Mercer was speechless. "Who threatened you? Weren't you the one who attacked me first?"

Perona waved a hand and laughed.

"That doesn't matter. Hey, what's your name? We've been talking for so long, and I still don't know what to call you. I can't keep calling you 'hey,' can I?"

"Mercer. That's my name."

"By the way, have you always lived here by yourself? Have you thought about what you'll do in the future?"

Perona tilted her head and looked at Mercer in confusion. "I don't know. I'll take it one day at a time. I'm pretty strong, anyway. I won't starve.

"What do you mean by that?

"Are you going to ask me to come with you, like those thieves did?"

As she spoke, Perona looked Mercer up and down, then suddenly covered her mouth and snickered. "You're so young. Are you on your own, too?"

"Not exactly. I just got here today. I was wandering around with nothing to do, heard about you, and came to see what was up."

"You're right. I think you're pretty interesting. Want to come with me? You don't know what to do here by yourself anyway. Come along with me. It must be boring here alone, right?"

"No." Perona pursed her lips. "I don't want to. I'm fine by myself. No one calls me a monster, and I can support myself.

"Just like those thieves. They said they wanted me to go with them and be their friend, but they were afraid of me. They thought I was a monster.

"They said all the right things, but who knows what they were really thinking? Their spirits gave off a feeling of deceit, just like everyone at the orphanage."

Perona drew her knees up and sat with her arms around them, lowering her head as she mumbled, "I wasn't born a monster. Who knew I'd turn out like this after eating some weird fruit?"

"Um." Mercer chuckled. "Didn't I tell you?

"The kind of fruit you ate is called a Devil Fruit. When you eat one, you gain all sorts of strange abilities.

"And the creatures that eat them are called Devil Fruit users."

Perona jerked her head up, disbelief written all over her face. "Really?"

"You're not lying to me?"

"Why would I lie?" Mercer said, exasperated. "That kind of information is common knowledge out on the open sea."

"When I was little, I got two of them myself. I gave one to my panda to eat."

"After he ate it, he became really amazing. His mouth could open incredibly wide, and he could eat anything. Even if he ate me, we could still play together by merging into one."

Perona shuddered, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "A panda?"

"The kind that's chubby and round, with black-and-white fur? The one with a face that looks like it's wearing a black bandit mask?"

"No."

At that, Perona pursed her lips. "So it wasn't. You liar."

"You're thinking of a red panda. Those aren't cute. I mean a panda, whose fur is the exact opposite of a red panda's.

"It has black patches around its eyes, a black nose, black ears, and black limbs, while the rest of its body is white. That's the cute kind."

Perona eyed him suspiciously. "Is that for real? Isn't that kind of animal made up? They actually exist?"

"Believe it or not."

Mercer pouted. "Before you ate a Devil Fruit, would you have believed someone if they told you those existed?"

"I guess not." Perona blinked, then realized what he meant. "You really have a panda?"

"I do."

"Can you bring it here to show me?" Perona gazed at Mercer hopefully.

"I want to see one. I love bears."

"Dream on. I don't even know if I'll come back here. What makes you think I'd go to the trouble of bringing Bear Cub here for you? Who do you think you are?"

"Bear Cub?"

"That's his name. His nickname's Bear Cub, and his full name is Winter."

"Winter?"

"Yeah. It's a play on the word for winter."

"Eee!" Perona rolled around excitedly in the grass, her face flushing. "A panda? Bear Cub? He even has a name! I want to meet him. I really want to see him!"

"If you want to meet him, come with me," Mercer said with a sly smile. "Otherwise, you'll have to find him yourself someday."

"You're just trying to trick me, aren't you?" Perona suddenly felt like Mercer had been trying to lure her in all along. She looked at him suspiciously. "Do you really have a panda?"

Mercer was about to answer when he suddenly looked up at the sky. A black-and-white bird swooped down.

Mercer raised his left arm, and Karasu landed on it with perfect precision. Excitement filled the bird's eyes as he cawed. "Mer! Guess what I found out?"

"Huh?" Perona's eyes widened and her mouth fell open in disbelief. "The crow can talk?!"

Karasu jerked his head around, glanced at Perona, then looked at Mercer.

"Who's this idiot? Is she stupid or something?"

Perona blinked. A string of snot ran from her nose. She pointed at Mercer, then at Karasu.

"It insulted me? It actually insulted me? I'm angry!"

As she spoke, she fell backward, leaving an identical spirit behind. There was no way to tell it apart from her body, and its palm opened wide.

"Negi-negi Ghost."

A ghost doll suddenly shot out and passed straight through Karasu at close range. Karasu immediately fell from Mercer's arm onto the grass.

He knelt on his bird legs, propping himself up with his wings as his beak opened and closed.

"Caw. My beak stinks. I'm a terrible bird."

"Hara hara hara! That'll teach you to be rude. Think hard about what you've done, you filthy crow. Negi-negi Ghost. Negi-negi Ghost, Negi-negi Ghost!"

"Caw... I'm sorry I was ever born."

"Waaah... I want to be a piece of wood, quietly sitting here until I rot and die."

"Caw... If I'm reborn, I want to be a lump of bird poop."

Watching ghost dolls pass through him one after another, leaving the bird practically oozing misery, Mercer's mouth twitched.

"Um, that's probably enough, right? If you keep this up, I'm afraid he'll come to his senses and beat you up."

Perona raised an eyebrow, a wicked grin curling her lips. "He's going to beat me up later? Do you think I can't keep him miserable until he dies?"

"I don't." Mercer's voice was calm. "Using a Devil Fruit ability consumes stamina. I doubt you can keep using it nonstop. It's only a bit of misery; it won't kill a bird.

"Besides, I won't let you keep doing this."

As he spoke, Mercer glanced at her and quietly entered a state of Unity of Heaven and Man, his expression serene as he watched her.

Unity of Heaven and Man was also a state of mind, one that let Mercer remain calm and completely focused.

Perona looked at Mercer, who was only an arm's length away, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

"Negi-negi Ghost."

A ghost doll shot from her palm, curved around, and zipped straight through Mercer's chest.

"Hara hara hara! Serves you right! Let's see if you still think that now!"

Perona looked at Mercer expectantly, waiting to see what kind of embarrassment he'd make of himself.

A faintly gloomy feeling arose in Mercer, and he curiously took note of it. But it was only a trace and had no effect on his mental state.

The Negi-negi Ghosts created by a Hollow-Hollow Fruit user could affect a person's mood and mental state to a considerable degree, but the effect wasn't absolute.

They had little effect on someone who was already extremely gloomy. Worse, because the spirit and body were connected, the ability might even affect the user's own spirit in return.

Seeing Mercer's serene, unbothered expression, Perona tilted her head in confusion. Then she aimed her palm at him. "Negi-negi Ghost. Negi-negi Ghost, Negi-negi Ghost!"

She fired three in a row.

They passed straight through Mercer's chest.

"So your ability isn't absolute, either. It doesn't do much to me."

Mercer regarded her calmly. Perona sniffed, a string of snot dangling from her nose, and stared at him blankly as she muttered, "You monster. You can't feel miserable? How is that possible? I've never seen anyone like you before."

After speaking, Perona's spirit fell backward and slipped into her body. Her body then abruptly sat up.

She dropped into a full kowtow.

"I'm sorry! I was wrong! Don't hit me!"

Mercer's mouth twitched as he looked at her. He gripped her head in his right hand. "You're really asking for it, aren't you? I'm starting to want to hit you."

"Caw! Get revenge, Mer! Hit her! You son of a ****! You ****ing ****! Caw! Caw!"

Karasu had finally come around. Remembering his humiliating display, he showered Perona with insults, flapping his wings furiously as he cursed her.

Mercer's eye twitched as he looked helplessly at Karasu. "Who taught you to talk like that? Why's your mouth so filthy?"

With no other choice, Mercer slapped Perona on the head, giving her a good smack.

"Ow! That hurts!"

Perona cried out, mouth wide open. Mercer looked at her in exasperation. He hadn't even used any force. Why was she pretending?

Too lazy to deal with her, he turned back to Karasu. "Well? What did you find out? You seem excited."

Karasu glared at Perona, then answered excitedly.

"I found a gang. They're preparing a deal. I heard them mention the Ishu Family and a Devil Fruit. It's at the ruins to the east."

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P.S. Perona was born in the West Blue and was picked up by Moria when she was young. It's unclear where he found her. Moria appeared in the West Blue ten years before the original timeline, before heading to the Florian Triangle, digging up graves. So this is an alternate setting, made as plausible as possible.

This book's setting: Perona is only eight years old. Her stamina is limited, and she hasn't mastered her ability. After leaving her body, she mostly uses her ability through her spirit. When she's older and more skilled, she'll be able to use her Ghost Ability with her body. As for her body gaining abilities like Spirit Form, flight, and gigantification, that will require awakening her fruit. The Hollow-Hollow Fruit's description in the original is a little inconsistent, so this book uses its own setting.

In this book, pandas and red pandas are different classifications of the same species. Pandas are rare (with black eye patches and cute), while red pandas are common (with bandit-mask markings and an ugly appearance).