You Said Not to Chicken Out!

What is not widely known is that the Shadow-Shadow Fruit has a special way of being used.

Simply shout "Shame on the enemy! I'll cut off his shadow!" at a living person, and you can cut off the shadow on the other side.

Then, all you need to do is stuff the shadow into a corpse to create a zombie that obeys the ability user.

Not only that, this zombie also possesses some of the abilities of the corpse and the shadow's owner.

If the owner of the corpse and the shadow is strong enough, it is easy to create a large number of powerful zombie subordinates!

But in just a moment, Akuta felt that something was amiss.

For no other reason than that the zombies created by the Shadow-Shadow Fruit have a very big flaw.

That is because zombies, being creations of beings with special abilities, cannot come into contact with "salt"!

If you feed a zombie something containing "salt," the shadow inside the corpse will be forcibly squeezed out and then return to the shadow's owner.

Even if Akuta could find so many powerful figures' corpses and shadows, the Beast Pirates would still find it easy to deal with them.

Zombies are not very effective on the front lines!

"The zombies are no good... their flaws are too obvious."

Akuta dropped the branch in his hand and sighed.

It's not that he can't do it; Akuta feels that with his current level of development of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, he should be able to do what Moria could do.

The problem is that it wouldn't make much of a difference if we built it!

Although the beastmen may look like they have pointed heads, they are not completely stupid.

If the enemy turns out to be a zombie, a handful of salt will wipe out all the fighting power he's painstakingly built up.

"If this path is blocked, what other options are there...?"

As he thought about it, he unconsciously drew circles on the sand with his toes.

Akuta's mind drifted back to the prisoners in the rabbit-shaped quarry.

We can't exactly go back to them, can we?

Akuta clicked his tongue and threw the branch into the sea.

I don't want to think about it anymore.

He patted his bottom and stood up, his shadow wings unfurling from behind, fluttering twice in the moonlight, bringing with them a salty sea breeze.

Why think so much? We can just restart.

He looked up in the direction of Ghost Island. He couldn't see anything on the dark sea, but something seemed to be subtly pulling at his gaze from that direction.

"I already said I'd challenge the entire Beasts Pirates single-handedly, why would I need any help?"

Akuta chuckled self-deprecatingly, as if trying to convince himself.

"I'm going to be the Pirate King... Oh wait, wrong channel."

He shook his head, stretched his shoulders, and his joints made a series of soft cracking sounds.

"Let's find a place to sleep and recover some strength."

"Then we'll head straight to Onigashima and have a good lesson with the legendary teacher, Kaido!"

He glanced down at the Beast Pirates lying haphazardly on the beach, then at King, whom he had knocked unconscious and left on the shore.

"These guys... well, let them just lie here."

While Akuta was taking a nap, the people of Ghost Island gradually realized that something was wrong.

The port requested reinforcements from Onigashima, and Jhin went to the port to provide assistance.

Logically speaking, given Jhin's strength, he should be able to resolve this quickly.

But so much time has passed, and not only has Jhin not returned, there's not even a single word from the port!

Upon realizing something was amiss, the pirates on Onigashima immediately sent a Den Den Mushi (snail phone) to the port to check the situation.

What's alarming is that no one answered the phone!

It's obvious that something happened at the port!

Onigashima, Kaido's room.

Kaido's room is built on a rocky plateau at the deepest part of Onigashima. The entire building is made of black stone and is perpetually filled with a strong sulfur smell.

The sky was not yet fully bright, and a wisp of fog still clung to the high platform.

Suddenly, a heavy, chaotic sound of footsteps approached from afar.

"Lord Kaido!"

A messenger from the Beasts Pirates practically tumbled and crawled down to the foot of the platform, shouting, drenched in sweat:

"Lord Kaido! Something terrible has happened! The port has been attacked!"

Seeing no response from the platform, the messenger below swallowed hard and forced himself to continue:

"Lord Jin went to provide support, but has been lost to history; his fate is unknown!"

With the messenger's shouts, a sound finally came from the high platform.

The voice wasn't loud, but it sent a shiver down the spine of the messenger kneeling at the bottom of the steps.

Then, a deep voice rolled out from above:

You said... whose fate is unknown?

The messenger pressed his forehead to the ground, his voice trembling so much he could barely speak:

"It's Jin... Lord Jin went to the port to provide support but lost contact, and his fate is currently unknown..."

Suddenly, an indescribable sense of oppression surged out from the stone hall.

The oppressive feeling was like a pair of invisible hands, tightly gripping the messenger's throat.

Conqueror's Haki!

The messenger felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and he was forced to the ground by the weight of the object.

"His fate is unknown?" Kaido's furious voice echoed from the high platform. "Then he's dead!"

"Which bastard dared to lay a hand on my men on my turf?!"

Kaido's body rose rapidly in a rage, transforming into a soaring blue dragon that hurtled towards the port.

The sea beneath him was carved with a straight indentation by the gale.

Before long, Kaido's figure landed heavily on the port.

"Bang!"

The entire port was as if it had been crushed by a mountain. Seawater poured out from the shallows, and the bloodstains and bits of wood that remained on the beach were scattered everywhere.

Kaido stood in the center of the ruins, surrounded by unconscious members of the Beasts Pirates lying haphazardly around him.

He glanced around and finally his gaze fell on the unconscious figure lying on the beach.

"Ember!"

Kaido immediately headed towards King's direction.

Jin woke up groggily and immediately looked for Akuta.

But by then, the Akuta had already vanished, and only Kaido stood before him.

Upon seeing Kaido, King immediately knelt on one knee.

"Big Brother Kaido, I... I couldn't let that attacker escape!"

At this moment, Jin was not in particularly good condition; he had many wounds on his body from fighting the Akuta.

But compared to the physical injuries, what made it even harder for Jin to lift his head was the humiliation in his chest.

In just a moment, Jhin understood what had happened.

Not only did his enemy Akuta, not kill him, but he even rescued him from the sea!

What does this tell us?

This shows that Akuta didn't take him seriously at all!

This was something that Jin, being a member of the Lunaria race, couldn't stand.

He couldn't accept being let off the hook by someone he looked down on!

Kaido remained silent.

His gaze passed over the embers and landed on the port.

There, a large number of corpses lay.

They were all pirates left behind at the port, and the most striking of them all was the enormous corpse in the very center.

The corpse belonged to none other than a crew member on whom Kaido had placed high hopes.

Jack!