Perona, the Offering Thief

"Oh, got it."

Dill replied expressionlessly.

Ghosts? On an island crawling with monsters, it would have been stranger not to see ghosts.

"No, I mean real ghosts, not people pretending to be them!"

Hina sat down in front of Dill, took off her mask, and said solemnly:

"This morning, we..."

She began embellishing the story of what had happened in the cemetery.

As she spoke, Dill grew increasingly excited, a gleam flashing through his eyes.

Negative Hollows!

Perona's Negative Hollows!

Just passing through someone's body could make them incredibly negative.

Neither the optimistic Luffy nor the strong-willed Zoro could avoid it, not even Franky, a cyborg.

Strong enough Armament Haki should have provided immunity to the effect, but Dill had no memory of Perona fighting an Armament Haki expert.

He only remembered one person who was immune to the Negative Hollows.

That was Usopp, whose extreme negativity and low self-esteem could even make the Negative Hollows themselves become negative.

Both Haki and people like Usopp were rare species in the West Blue.

As long as he could find Perona, forget the Blood Descendant Force-even if everyone came at him together, it would be no problem!

He forced down his excitement and looked at Robin, silently asking whether the information was true.

Robin took off her mask as well and sat on the bed, saying softly:

"Everything except the part about driving off evil spirits with a black spear was true."

"That's all I need!"

Dill abruptly stood up, put on his mask, and swaggered out of the room.

"I'm going to buy a few things. Have the owner send dinner up first. Once we're done eating, we'll launch a night raid on the cemetery!"

Late that night, behind a tree outside the Life Transfer Station.

Dill and Robin were hiding there, with a person-sized bundle beside them.

With her eyes tightly shut, Robin used her ability to create a pair of eyes on a tree beside a certain gravestone, observing the offering in front of it from above.

A little teddy bear.

"Will this really work?"

She frowned and asked quietly:

"Why would a ghost like teddy bears?"

"Oh, it'll definitely work. Trust me, trust me."

"What, do you have Future Sight too?"

"Exactly. I've seen a future where our plan succeeds!"

"Wait, stop talking!"

Robin suddenly interrupted their chatter and focused on the scene in front of the gravestone.

A ghost resembling a teru teru bozu floated over and examined the little teddy bear in front of the gravestone.

It stretched out both hands to pick it up, only to grasp at empty air.

Negative Hollows had no physical bodies and could not directly touch physical objects.

It scratched its head, then soon floated away.

Watching from hiding, Robin said in disappointment:

"It left. What now?"

"We wait! Until the actual ability user comes."

Dill spoke with absolute confidence. He clearly remembered that Perona liked teddy bears, preferably ones that could move but could not talk.

After being sent flying by Kuma, she had even bandaged the badly injured Zoro into the shape of a teddy bear.

Although the bear in front of the gravestone could not move, it would definitely pique Perona's interest.

The ghost could not carry it, so Perona would definitely come herself.

He had named this operation the Loli-Fishing Plan.

He might not have been good at fishing, but he had some talent for loli-fishing.

Before long, a filthy Gothic little girl with pink twin tails emerged from the back of the cemetery.

She jogged over to the gravestone, grabbed the little teddy bear, and hugged it tightly to her chest.

"I'm going to call you Kumashi!"

Perona's eyes were full of affection as she spun around a few times with the little teddy bear in her arms.

Grrr~

Her stomach growled.

Perona seemed accustomed to this life and showed no pain or discomfort.

Tucking the little teddy bear under her left arm, she strolled through the cemetery with light steps, even humming softly.

It was as though she were in her own back garden rather than a cemetery.

"There's even a sandwich!"

She bent down and took the offering in front of a gravestone, tore open the wrapper, and wolfed it down.

It was only an ordinary sandwich, but she ate it with immense satisfaction. Most of the offerings in the cemetery were fruit, and she had not had a sandwich in a long time.

After finishing the sandwich, she tossed away the wrapper and picked up an apple, unable to stop herself from laughing:

"Horo-horo-horo~"

"I found Kumashi and got to eat a sandwich. Today's my lucky day!"

"Then would you like to get a little luckier?"

Dill approached with the bundle on his back, a friendly smile on his face.

The filthy little girl before him was a major fighting asset. He could not scare her away.

At the sight of a stranger approaching, Perona immediately prepared to slip away, but a moment later, she stopped in her tracks, her gaze fixed on the large bundle behind Dill, which had already been opened.

It was a person-sized teddy bear.

Gulp-

She swallowed, her big eyes filled with longing.

Compared with the person-sized teddy bear, the little one in her hands no longer seemed quite so appealing.

Dill's smile grew even brighter. The secret weapon he had specially prepared was working beautifully. The words "I want it" were practically written on Perona's face.

He patted the teddy bear's belly and narrowed his eyes, coaxing her:

"Want it?"

Perona nodded frantically.

"As long as you do me a favor, this super-soft, super-cute, super-fluffy teddy bear is yours."

Perona did not answer. Instead, a wicked smile curled at her lips, and she created two Negative Hollows that floated on either side of her.

Why work for it when taking it is so much faster?

Once a Negative Hollow passed through a target's body, they would sink into extreme depression.

Then she could easily take the teddy bear away.

Dill kept smiling, but a trace of seriousness crept into his eyes.

The Negative Hollows' ability was nearly impossible to guard against, and he did not think he could resist its effects.

Fortunately, he had another way to counter it.

Whoosh!

Dazzling flames flared up and engulfed his entire body, leaving only his right forearm and hand unchanged.

Holding the teddy bear in his right hand, he narrowed his eyes and threatened quietly:

"Put your ability away. You wouldn't want to see the teddy bear burned, would you?"

"You!!"

Perona was momentarily speechless. She clenched her teeth and grumbled inwardly:

You have to use threats against a five-year-old girl like me? Pah! Shameless!

But as she watched the fur on the teddy bear begin to curl slightly, she could only reluctantly withdraw her Devil Fruit ability.

"That's more like it."

Dill withdrew his flames as well and nodded in satisfaction.

"Listen carefully. The favor I need is-"

Just as he was about to state his request, he abruptly changed tack and shouted:

"Watch out behind you!!"

Behind Perona, a strangely shaped cleaver rose, its blade glinting coldly in the moonlight.

At that distance, she could not dodge it!

Dill's pupils contracted slightly. He instantly transformed into his beast form, tensed his leg muscles, and pushed off hard with his toes, charging forward.

The distance between them was short. Before the cleaver fell, he had already reached Perona and clamped his left hand tightly around the blade.

With the advantage of his two-meter height, he got a clear look at the figure behind Perona.

It was a somewhat familiar monk's bald head.