The battles that unfolded next aboard Thriller Bark were almost exactly as Araki had guessed.
Because of the wager, Moria was far more proactive this time, taking the initiative to send the Three Mysterious Monsters under him to intercept the Straw Hat Pirates.
He even made a rare personal move, stealing Straw Hat Luffy's shadow to activate the corpse of Oars the Continent Puller.
But as the child of destiny, Luffy had powerful luck. Although his shadow had been taken, in these waters that never saw sunlight, his strength was not affected much. Instead, thanks to his natural affinity, he gained help from Brook and many other shadowless people hidden on the island.
That help mainly came in two forms. First, they learned that Moria's zombies had one fatal weakness: they could not eat salt. Once they accidentally swallowed enough sea salt, the shadow stuffed inside the zombie would leave on its own, returning the zombie to an uncontrollable state.
Second, Moria's Shadows Asgard was not a technique exclusive to him. If another person's body and will could withstand it, they could obtain the same enhancement. From this, a monster-level combatant was born—Hundred Shadows Mode Nightmare Luffy!
With both factors combined, plus the Straw Hat Pirates fighting as one, even when Moria personally entered the fray and controlled the zombie Oars the Continent Puller in battle, he still failed to secure the victory he wanted.
And the Straw Hat Pirates' spirit of uniting against a powerful enemy also stirred something in him. Once upon a time, he, too, had such a group of companions standing behind him with one heart and one will!
Just as Moria, somewhat embarrassed and enraged, was about to recklessly devour a thousand shadows to prove himself, Araki's voice came from the tall tower behind him.