Chapter 27
What is he doing? Moria wondered. Why has White Ghost made so many things that look impressive but can't do anything?
The other pirate lackeys had nearly jumped out of their skins when they saw the swarm of ghosts approaching. But when Moria easily blocked the White Hollows again, they relaxed and resumed shouting taunts at the sky.
As time passed, the White Hollows gradually gathered into a huge square maze. It completely enclosed the Cruel Moonlight, dividing the battlefield inside the ship into smaller and smaller spaces.
From a distance, it looked as though an enormous white box had appeared out of nowhere on the blue sea, a wondrous sight like a mirage.
Moria's brow furrowed. He had not expected White Ghost to create a swarm of ghosts on this scale. Taking his enemy seriously, he released a mass of shadows to shield everything nearby.
Adrian descended from the sky. With the White Hollows blocking everyone's view, he slipped aboard without a sound.
Mini Hollow: Astral Cruise.
He released the scouting Mini Hollows once more and merged them into the Heart-Ravaging Maze formed by the White Hollows. Every corner of the Cruel Moonlight's interior came into view in his mind.
It was like having the entire map revealed through the fog of war!
Guided by the Mini Hollows' reconnaissance, Adrian kept adjusting his position and releasing Ghost Bombs. He steadily eliminated one Moonlight Pirates lackey after another inside the cabins, while kill notifications streamed across his panel.
[You struck a vital point! Basic Attack has become a critical attack!] [You killed Moonlight Pirates pirate lackey XX. Based on the level and attribute difference, you gained 200 EXP.]
Most of these lackeys were only in their teens level-wise. They might have passed for elite members of a gang, but on the vast sea, they were nothing more than cannon fodder.
Adrian had once wiped out the entire Capone Gang single-handedly. Killing these pirate lackeys was even easier for him now.
If he had not needed to stay hidden, he would have killed them faster still!
Before long, every lackey inside the pirate ship was dead, and Adrian had gained more than ten thousand EXP.
Only the Moonlight Pirates' elites on deck remained!
With that in mind, Adrian concealed himself and began damaging the Cruel Moonlight, making noise to draw the attention of the elite pirates on deck.
After all, his mission was not merely to defeat Gecko Moria. It also required him to [crush the Moonlight Pirates]!
Crack! Crack!
Grating noises came from all directions aboard the pirate ship. Standing among his elite pirates on deck, Moria grew increasingly irritated, and the unease in his heart mounted.
If White Ghost keeps wrecking the ship, there won't even be a fight left to finish! Moria knew perfectly well that if he let White Ghost continue, even a final victory would mean nothing. His badly damaged ship would sink into the sea!
At that thought, Moria could no longer stand still.
"Jacks, I'm leaving the deck to you!" Moria said solemnly to his most trusted partner and second-in-command.
"Got it!" Red-Haired Jacks took a deep breath and declared just as firmly, "No one can defeat the Moonlight Pirates!"
Moria nodded. After a moment's hesitation, he summoned all the zombies from the bottom of the ship onto the deck to serve as cannon fodder.
A sickening stench of decay spread through the air, but most of the elite pirates nearby were used to it.
At this point, Kaido had not yet beaten Gecko Moria out of his ambition to become king. He was not yet the Zombie King who would come to believe that "only the living can suffer loss."
Moria had already developed his zombie-puppet abilities, but he placed little value on them. He regarded them only as a way to replenish his cannon fodder.
Once he had made every preparation, Moria left the deck and headed straight for the cabins.
At the same time, Adrian noticed what the people on deck were doing.
Just what I wanted!
Aside from its basic ability to block sight, the chief purpose of White Ghost: Heartwreck Maze was to divide the battlefield: split a united enemy force into isolated individuals, then harvest their lives one by one.
Moria had separated himself from the main body of the Moonlight Pirates, playing right into Adrian's plan!
Time to wipe out those elite pirates!
Adrian entered Ghostification and flew like a phantom up onto the deck. Before him stood the elite Moonlight Pirates led by Red-Haired Jacks, along with a large crowd of rotting zombie cannon fodder.
"It's you, White Ghost!" Red-Haired Jacks tightened his grip on his long blade, his expression grim.
As Moria's most important second-in-command—and the owner of a nickname rather close to that of a future member of the Four Emperors—Red-Haired Jacks was quite strong. In the West Blue, at least, he stood among the best!
Adrian took a quick look at Red-Haired Jacks's status panel. Level 45, with all three primary combat attributes over a hundred. He was indeed no pushover.
"Gunners, fire at will! All of you, fire! Send every zombie forward! Everyone else, prepare to fight!"
Red-Haired Jacks gave orders in rapid succession. The Moonlight Pirates were renowned throughout the West Blue and naturally had a fully equipped pirate fighting force.
Unlike crews such as the Roger Pirates, Red Hair Pirates, and Straw Hat Pirates, which prized a small elite, the vast majority of pirate crews on the sea favored strength in numbers and large fleets!
But more people did not necessarily mean more power, especially on this vast sea teeming with ability users.
Mini Hollow: Nova Fire!
Adrian paid no heed to the guns and cutlasses coming at him. One simple saturation barrage of ghosts sent the Moonlight Pirates' elites sprawling. Hardly any of them could remain on their feet.
"Th-this is impossible!" Red-Haired Jacks roared in despair. "Why didn't any of it work?"
"Because... Never mind. I don't need to explain it to you." Adrian shook his head.
Mini Hollow: Withering Heart-Piercer.
And with that, another bit-part pirate who shared a name with a future emperor of the sea exited the stage.
At the same time, Adrian dismissed the Heart-Ravaging Maze. The scene aboard the Cruel Moonlight was suddenly laid bare beneath the sun.
Still searching the cabins for Adrian, Moria sensed the white maze around him vanish. His heart lurched. He raced to the deck and saw a sight that plunged him into despair.
The Moonlight Pirates had been wiped out, every last one except their captain!
His most trusted partner and second-in-command had a gaping hole in his chest. He was no longer breathing!
Moria's eyes blazed red. He threw back his head and howled like a lone wolf beneath the moon:
"Unforgivable! Unforgivable! Unforgivable!"
"I'll tear you to pieces, White Ghost!"
A Fierce Battle
"Nightmare Bat Assault!"
A vast swarm of shadow bats appeared once more and surged toward Adrian. Their numbers had grown explosively since the last attack, almost staining half the sky black.
Mini Hollow: Nova Fire!
Adrian, who had been waiting for this, calmly repeated his earlier move. He raised both arms, and Mini Hollows flickered into existence throughout the air. They darted back and forth, weaving an impenetrable barrage.
Amid roaring blasts and flickering light, the Mini Hollows intercepted every last shadow bat.
But shadows could not die!
Blown apart by the Mini Hollows, the shadow bats became masses of black fluid that fell from the sky. They swiftly spread and joined into a vast torrent of shadow.
The surging black river swept toward Adrian along the deck like a giant python slithering through a jungle. Its jaws opened savagely, turning it into a serpent from hell lunging for a fatal bite.
At the same time, while the river of shadows occupied Adrian, Gecko Moria charged toward him with a huge curved blade. The pressure from those blood-red eyes was terrifying!
Faced with the two-pronged attack, Adrian suddenly vanished.
Free Ghost: Cloud Walking!
Free Ghost was the state Adrian entered when he activated Ghostification himself. In ghost form, he could fly, change size, pass through physical barriers, and ignore physical attacks!
Just now, Adrian had used Free Ghost's high-speed flight to soar higher and evade the combined assault from Gecko Moria and his shadow serpent.
Gecko Moria was not discouraged by the missed attack. He looked up, raised a hand, and summoned the vicious shadow serpent to him. In an instant, it became several enormous black spears.
"Multiple Shadow Horn Spears!"
Gecko Moria hurled them into the sky, but Adrian easily dodged them again.
Hovering above, Adrian looked down at him proudly. "Gecko Moria, the same trick won't work on me twice!"
"Is that so?" Gecko Moria's face twisted into a snarl. "Then how about this?"
"Shadow Clone!"
Gecko Moria instantly switched places with one of the huge Shadow Horn Spears speeding through the sky. His towering body loomed over Adrian below.
In the sunlight, the enormous shadow Gecko Moria cast covered even the Cruel Moonlight.
Grinning viciously, he swung his huge curved blade—half as long as he was tall—and brought it crashing down on Adrian!
Whoosh—
"What?"
Gecko Moria's pupils contracted. The blow he had been certain would land had sliced through Adrian as though through empty air, producing nothing but a sharp rush of wind.
His blade had clearly passed through White Ghost's body, yet it had done nothing. It had not even hurt him!
In the next instant, however, Gecko Moria recalled how his Shadow Screen had blocked a Ghost Bomb. He immediately changed tactics, his massive body turning in midair with its own momentum.
A moment later, his next attack came.
This time, a layer of pitch-black shadow coated Gecko Moria's huge curved blade!
"Shadow Blade Slash!"
Clang!
Adrian reacted in time to raise his sword, but the impact felt like being struck by a ship at full speed. His sword hand went numb, and the world around him shot upward!
Gecko Moria's full-force, shadow-coated slash sent Adrian flying like a falling meteor. He was about to smash into the Cruel Moonlight below.
Absolutely not!
Adrian clenched his teeth. If he let himself keep falling, he could bleed off the force of the blow. But Ghostification's ability to pass through physical barriers would also send him straight into the sea!
His thoughts raced. Adrian forced himself into Ghostification and seized control of his body. Defying the laws of physics, he stopped dead in midair.
Blood kept spilling from the corner of his mouth, gradually staining his white shirt red.
Forcing his body to stop also meant taking the full force of Gecko Moria's blow.
Gecko Moria's overwhelming strength had already dealt Adrian a serious injury!
A notification appeared on the panel at the same time.
[You were attacked by Gecko Moria (LV65 · Enraged). You lost...]
Adrian had time for only a glance before Gecko Moria came plummeting toward him from above.
"White Ghost! I've found a way to kill you! Hee hee hee hee!
"Shadows can touch ghosts, can't they? Hee hee hee hee!"
Gecko Moria brandished his shadow-covered blade and laughed viciously. "Look at the state of you! Get ready to join my friends in death! Shadow Blade Slash!"
Free Ghost: Firefly Trickster!
The shadow-covered blade missed again, but this time its target had vanished entirely.
Bang!
Gecko Moria slammed into the deck. His massive body rocked the already battered Cruel Moonlight.
Gecko Moria had no time to worry about the ship. His gaze swept everywhere, from sky to sea and from deck to mast, but he could not find White Ghost.
He shrieked, "White Ghost! Come out!"
"I've been here the whole time, Gecko Moria!"
Still looking somewhat battered, Adrian reappeared exactly where he had vanished.
Free Ghost: Firefly Trickster was one of the skills Adrian had developed from a ghost's ability to change size. It let him shrink or enlarge himself instantly, somewhat like the Marvel superhero Ant-Man.
Against an enemy like Gecko Moria, who had entered something close to an enraged state, meeting force with force was hardly the best strategy. Giving ground at the right moment was the sensible choice.
"I'm sick of your tricks!" Gecko Moria snapped. "I've got it. If I block every way you can run, you won't be able to keep playing these games!
"Shadow Screen!"
Several pitch-black screens of shadow rose from the Cruel Moonlight, sealing off every direction. In an instant, the battlefield shrank from the open sky and sea to a confined space.
Looking at the darkness surrounding him, with only a faint shaft of sunlight falling through the opening overhead, Adrian could not help feeling hemmed in.
For a fighter who relied on speed, there was no less appealing battlefield than one that restricted his movement!
But he had no choice. The "host" had picked the venue, and the "guest" would have to make do.
Adrian exhaled a long breath tinged with the sweet smell of blood and looked down at Gecko Moria.
The third round was about to begin!