"What about this woman?"
Perona, despite her childish appearance, was actually older than Kouta and the others.
If he remembered correctly, Perona should already be over twenty years old.
She had simply lived in the Thriller Bark and only interacted with pirates or zombies, which led to her immature personality.
In reality, she was a lonely girl who lacked love, possessed a naive disposition, and was a bit tsundere.
"Her?"
Kouta turned to look at Perona, his eyes filled with thought.
"Release her?"
"Or kill her directly?"
"..."
After a moment of contemplation, his azure eyes gradually turned cold.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Kouta stared at the stunned Perona, slowly drawing his Zanpakuto, Zankou.
In the original story, his impression of Perona wasn't bad, but that didn't mean Perona was a kind person.
After all these years, having grown up in this environment, she couldn't possibly have never killed anyone, nor could she have only killed pirates.
Furthermore, she had attacked their group.
Although she posed no threat to them, the act itself was significant.
Her survival earlier was pure luck; now, it was his turn.
The blade, wrapped in Armament Haki, flashed with a soul-piercing chill in the dim island light, and he mercilessly slashed towards Perona's soul.
Swoosh!
A dark purple light sliced directly through Perona's body, momentarily clearing her dazed soul before it quickly twisted, dissipating into motes of light and vanishing from the spot.
"Huh? Not dead yet?"
A red glow flashed in Kouta's eyes. His Observation Haki quickly scanned the entire Thriller Bark. Then, he looked up in a certain direction, a murderous intent evident in his eyes.
"I'll be back soon. You guys wait for me on the ship."
Suppressing his killing intent, he turned and gave Kuina a gentle smile. Kouta took a step forward, his body disappearing from where he stood.
Once his murderous intent was ignited, there was no going back.
Kuina watched the direction Kouta had vanished, her eyes thoughtful. She quickly understood, realizing what Kouta was about to do.
Just then, the ground beside her suddenly trembled.
A colossal white figure appeared beside her.
"Where is that woman?"
Ah Hua hadn't deactivated his Devil Fruit ability. His blood-red eyes scanned everywhere.
Clearly, he still harbored resentment for Perona having embarrassed him in front of everyone.
"She's dead."
Kuina withdrew her gaze, turned her head, and calmly looked at Ah Hua. "Kouta went after her."
"Oh..."
Upon hearing that Kouta had pursued her, Ah Hua paused, then quickly deactivated his Devil Fruit ability, returning to his normal form.
He daintily pushed up his glasses and said in surprise, "She actually survived Kouta?"
"Not exactly survived. That ghost formed from her soul was likely not her entire soul, so when it was annihilated, her true body didn't die."
Kuina explained slowly, then turned and began walking towards the Thousand Sunny.
"Let's go! We'll wait for Kouta on the ship."
"Okay..."
Ah Hua snapped back to reality. He glanced at the distant castle with a hint of regret. He hadn't had the chance to personally kill the woman who had caused him such shame. After a moment's hesitation, he averted his gaze and followed Kuina's footsteps.
"Sigh! The woman's death is a minor issue now."
What he was about to face was the merciless mockery of A Tao and the other one.
"Headache!"
Indeed, before he could even meet up with A Tao and the other, he could hear the booming laughter of those two from afar.
"Hahahahaha! I'm just a worm."
"Ah hahahaha! I'm just a maggot."
"Hahahahaha!!"
"I shouldn't even be alive in this world."
"I'm truly sorry."
"My existence in this world is a waste of air."
"Hahahahaha!!"
Looking at A Tao and the other, they uttered his embarrassingly shameful words, spoken earlier after he'd been hit by the ghost, one after another.
Ah Hua's obese body seemed to swell by a whole size. His face turned red, and his entire body, like a steamed crab, emitted copious amounts of white steam.
"Ah~"
Trembling, he threw his head back and roared, "You two really deserve a beating."
As he spoke, he lowered his head, bloodshot veins appearing in his clear black and white pupils.
He slightly bent down, stepping forward with his left foot and pushing off with his right.
Boom—!
The ground caved in.
His body, like an oversized cannonball, shot rapidly towards A Luo and A Tao, who were still laughing uncontrollably.
"Haha..."
As if sensing something, the laughter abruptly stopped. A Luo and A Tao simultaneously turned their heads, looking at the enraged Ah Hua charging towards them. They twisted their necks, loosened their fists with cracking sounds, and then without hesitation, met him head-on.
"Perfect, I didn't get to fight Moria properly earlier."
Bang bang bang bang bang!!
The three collided instantly, followed by a dazzling display of punches and gales of wind created by their impacts, which continuously spread outwards.
"Yohohoho~"
The collision between Ah Hua and the other two startled Brook, who had been happily standing by, having recovered his shadow. He glanced at the three of them and then walked up to Kuina, asking curiously, "What's with them?"
"They haven't had enough to fight. Their energy is just overflowing. It'll be fine in a bit."
Kuina withdrew her gaze, glanced at Brook, and then, upon seeing the shadow appearing beneath him, smiled faintly.
"Congratulations. Your shadow is back. Now you can leave this place and appear in the sunlight."
"Yohohoho~"
Brook chuckled, clearly in good spirits.
"Let's go! Don't mind them, we'll head back to the ship first."
"Mhm!"
Brook nodded, then as if remembering something, he took out a sword from behind him and handed it to Kuina. "This is the sword left behind by that zombie when it died. I thought it looked like no ordinary weapon, so I took it."
"It's your spoils of war, though. Aren't you going to use it yourself?"
Kuina took the sword, looking at Brook with a flicker of surprise in her eyes.
She could tell Brook was also a swordsman, and no swordsman would wish for a famous sword.
"I can't use a sword of this style, it's too heavy. Besides, I have my own sword."
As he spoke, Brook raised his cane.
With a *clang*, a section of it slid out, revealing a blade that gleamed coldly in the dim light. Kuina smiled faintly. "That's true, although your sword isn't as good as this one, it's not an ordinary sword either."
"And it suits you perfectly. There's no need to switch to an unfamiliar sword, even if this one is very powerful."
Brook let out a hearty laugh, then looked at the sword in Kuina's hand and asked curiously, "It seems you know what this sword is. Can you tell me?"
"This sword..."
Kuina gripped the hilt with her left hand and slowly raised it.
Holding it flat in front of her eyes, she extended her right hand and slowly caressed the blade, feeling the coldness emanating from it. She smiled faintly.
"This sword... is a legendary sword!"
"Legendary?"
Hearing this, Brook's curiosity intensified.
"Mhm!"
Kuina nodded, a hint of reminiscence in her eyes.
Although she wasn't sure if that zombie was a legendary figure, this sword was indeed a truly legendary blade.