Chapter 28

[The Defeated Have No Say]

Gecko Moria's strength far exceeded Adrian's expectations. Once every pirate aboard his ship had died, the man who would one day become a zombie-figurine collector and castle-dwelling shut-in had somehow found a surge of power worthy of a manga protagonist!

And not a small one, either. He had leaped from the fifties straight to level 65, crossing an entire tier!

As for Gecko Moria's claim that "shadows can touch ghosts," the fight so far had certainly borne it out.

Both White Hollows and Mini Hollows had been stopped by the shadows he controlled. Even Adrian's trump card, Withering Heart-Piercer, had accomplished nothing.

But could shadows get through the protection of Ghost Body?

Adrian wasn't willing to gamble on it.

Even if the odds were only one in ten thousand, shadows had shown how flexible they were and how far they could reach. If one touched Adrian, Gecko Moria could use Shadow Clone to swap places with it and deal him a fatal blow in an instant!

Testing shadows with Ghost Body was a life-or-death plan with virtually no margin for error!

That left only one option...

"You're destined to die by my hand, White Ghost!"

The shadow beneath Gecko Moria's feet flowed like water, slowly merging with his body.

"Shadows change shape with the objects that cast them. That's common knowledge. But the shape of an object also remains consistent with its shadow. That's the rule."

"Conversely, if a shadow changes, the object should theoretically change to match it!"

"Witness my strongest move yet, White Ghost!"

"Shadow Revolution!!"

The shadow beneath Gecko Moria's feet writhed and warped. His body swelled like a balloon, a pair of enormous black bat wings appeared on his back, and his height shot up to a staggering ten meters!

He looked almost exactly like a demon from the depths of hell. If anything, he looked even more vicious!

Even from the air, Adrian could feel the tremendous pressure radiating from below. It was astonishing.

Gecko Moria awkwardly worked the wings on his back and flew toward the sky.

Adrian gave a soft cough. He hadn't expected Gecko Moria to abandon the ground combat he knew best in favor of an aerial fight.

But it no longer mattered.

Whether they fought in the air or over the sea, Gecko Moria couldn't evade what Adrian had planned.

With such a gap in their attributes, Adrian clearly couldn't win a head-on clash. What else could he do?

Blanket the battlefield with long-range fire, of course!

Mini Hollow: Nova Fire!

A small wave of Mini Hollow bombs sped toward Gecko Moria, only to be stopped by a swarm of shadow bats he casually summoned.

"White Ghost, those childish Ghost Bombs are useless against me! Stop wasting your strength and wait quietly for death! Hee-hee-hee..."

"That was only an appetizer, Mr. Gecko Moria." Adrian wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and gave him a polite smile. "I hope you can handle what comes next just as easily."

As soon as he finished speaking, he created a Giant Hollow nearly half the size of the Cruel Moonlight. It loomed across the aerial battlefield.

Sweat beaded on Gecko Moria's forehead. "A Ghost Bomb that big..."

Giant Ghost: Peacemaker!

BOOM—!!

A violent shock wave erupted in midair. The towering Shadow Screen surrounding them was blasted almost to pieces, its surface webbed with white cracks that let the light through.

Gecko Moria, who had only just taken flight, was slammed back onto his pirate ship by the sudden Peacemaker. If he hadn't reacted in time and used his power to shield himself, he would have been injured!

"I can make plenty more Giant Hollows like that," Adrian said softly. "Gecko Moria, are you ready?"

Four more massive Peacemakers appeared in the sky. Like floating airships, they drifted downward, seeming slow but moving swiftly.

Then the bombing began.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!!

The Shadow Screen, already on the verge of collapse, could take no more. It shattered into fragments that dissolved in the air.

The Cruel Moonlight, struck by four Peacemakers in succession, broke apart completely. Scattered wooden debris floated on the sea while the ship's main hull sank beneath the waves.

And yet Gecko Moria had not been defeated!

Just before the Peacemakers exploded, he canceled Shadow Revolution and used his shadows to bind together several of the largest planks beneath his feet.

When the smoke cleared, Gecko Moria looked like a shipwrecked fisherman, standing on a makeshift raft of broken planks.

Pale-faced, Adrian created another four Peacemakers. Rather than send them down at once, he made them slowly merge.

Before Gecko Moria's despairing eyes, a white Ghost Bomb appeared that was roughly twice the size of the Cruel Moonlight.

"With nothing left of your body, you probably won't get a proper burial, legendary Zombie King of the West Blue." Adrian swept his right hand forward, directing the Giant Hollow toward his enemy on the sea. "But with a title like that, you won't mind sinking to the bottom, will you?"

Giant Hollow: Ghost-Breaking Requiem!

Time seemed to stand still.

Then, BOOM—!!!

A white wave a hundred meters high burst from the mirror-smooth sea. At its crest was Gecko Moria's blood-soaked body. The Zombie King's eyes had rolled back, and he was utterly unconscious.

"Cling to your dreams and drown in this sea!"

Great waves rolled outward, slowly erasing every trace of the Moonlight Pirates.

[B-rank mission [Moonlight Pirates] complete. You gained 2,000,000 experience.]

[Reward obtained: Randomly select two of the enemy's skills or specialties.]

[Randomizing... Selection complete.]

[Choose two of the following five abilities as your reward:]

[1: [Shadow Clone] — Skill: Allows a shadow to swap places with its owner.]

[2: [Intermediate Hand-to-Hand Combat Technique] — Skill: An advanced version of Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat Technique.]

[3: [Conqueror's Cleave] — Skill: A swordplay technique. A heavy swing with the visual effect of "Haki spilling out."]

[4: [Well-Built] — Specialty: Each level gained grants an additional +1 Strength and +1 Stamina.]

[5: [Basic Navigation] — Skill: Increases familiarity with the sea and improves mobility on it.]

[Level 40 Advancement Quest]

Of the five randomly drawn abilities, four were skills and one was a specialty, just as when he had completed the [Freedom] quest.

Overall, his luck had been average.

Adrian studied the rewards on the panel.

First, there was no question: he had to take the specialty!

The name Well-Built sounded strangely suggestive, and its effect was much weaker than his other two specialties, Low-Level Toughness and Ghost Fruit.

But a specialty was still a specialty. Its effect was far stronger than an ordinary skill's, especially since it would keep granting attributes as he leveled up.

Stamina had always been one of Adrian's weaker attributes. He almost never invested Free Attribute Points in it, so it grew extremely slowly.

Now that he had found a specialty that raised Stamina, he couldn't pass it up.

Of the four remaining skills, Basic Navigation was the first to go.

For Adrian, a Navigator, it wasn't merely redundant. It was obsolete!

Adrian turned to the third reward.

Conqueror's Cleave...

If its description hadn't included the words "visual effect," Adrian might have gambled on it for the mention of Haki alone.

But this was plainly a flashy skill that dealt no damage!

What would he even do with it?

Show off in front of a bunch of small fry?

It was completely useless to Adrian!

That left Intermediate Hand-to-Hand Combat Technique and Shadow Clone.

After some thought, Adrian passed on Intermediate Hand-to-Hand Combat.

As an upgrade to Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat, Intermediate Hand-to-Hand Combat was fairly common on the sea.

Adrian had previously seen a similar skill on Instructor Kumadori Yamamba. Hers, though, had been Intermediate Marksmanship, the advanced version of Basic Marksmanship.

He was sure plenty of future enemies would know Intermediate Hand-to-Hand Combat. After all, close-quarters fighting was the prevailing style in this world.

By comparison...

Until another Shadow-Shadow Fruit appeared on the sea, Shadow Clone was an ability only one person in the world possessed. Adrian was willing to take that gamble.

[You gained the specialty [Well-Built]!]

[You gained the skill [Shadow Clone]!]

A swelling sensation erupted through his body!

"Hiss—"

Adrian sucked in a sharp breath and clenched his teeth.

Agony shot through every part of him, nearly making it impossible to stand. Every muscle seemed to melt and reshape itself; every tendon seemed to tear and knit back together. It hurt every bit as much as when he had gained Low-Level Toughness!

Only after an unknown stretch of time did the pain recede like the tide.

"I knew physical specialties caused excruciating pain!" Adrian panted heavily, his eyes bloodshot. Curses aimed at the system hovered on the tip of his tongue.

"It was the same when I got Low-Level Toughness!"

"Wait! Well-Built isn't Low-Level Toughness!"

"That specialty's name describes my appearance!"

Adrian dropped rapidly to a point one meter above the sea and looked at his reflection.

"My face hasn't changed... Well, maybe it's a little more handsome..."

"But... when did I build muscles like these?"

Adrian reached out and felt his broad pectorals, sharply defined abs, and deep V-line. He wanted to cry.

"Give me back my nicely proportioned, ordinary build!" Adrian wiped the tears from the corners of his mouth.

He hadn't had the energy to check the panel earlier. Now that he had recovered, he turned his attention back to its messages.

Adrian was currently level 39. Thanks to his new specialty, his Strength and Stamina had each increased by 39 points.

Stamina had overtaken Agility, becoming his third attribute to pass 100.

That was when Adrian noticed a panel notification he had missed. It wasn't about Well-Built, but his new skill.

[Detected consumed Devil Fruit: Paramecia-type Hollow-Hollow Fruit. [Shadow Clone] skill effect will be modified!]

[Modifying...]

[[Shadow Clone] has disappeared. You have learned the new skill [Demon Swordsman]!]

[Demon Swordsman Lv. 1 (0/100,000): Allows a created Hollow to swap places with your body.]

Lady Luck was smiling on him. His gamble had paid off!

Adrian was delighted.

He had suspected as much. As a Hollow-Hollow Fruit user, he had no way to control his own shadow, so swapping places with it had been nothing more than a pipe dream.

But since the system panel had offered Shadow Clone as a reward, perhaps there was a way to use it!

Adrian had picked the skill to test that possibility, and his gamble had paid off.

Resisting the urge to try it immediately, Adrian checked his accumulated experience. The corners of his mouth lifted.

Today really is my lucky day!

"Finally, my second advancement!"

"Level up!"