Chapter 57: 057. Perona's Super Evolution!

"Ghosts representing other emotions?"

"I remember feeling particularly wronged and sad at that time, then my Spirit Body left my body and instinctively created Negative Spirits. It seems they were connected to my own emotions back then?"

At this point, Perona looked at Moses in surprise:

"Why would you think that?"

"Can the Hollow-Hollow Fruit really create more than just Negative Spirits? Can it make ghosts representing other emotions too?"

"You said it yourself—it's called the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, not the Negative Spirit Fruit. Haven't you tried developing ghosts representing different emotions?"

"But Negative Spirits work just fine! I've never encountered anyone immune to my ability before."

Hearing this, Moses understood her thought process.

If I'm already invincible, why bother developing other abilities? That was probably her reasoning.

Seeing the exasperated look on Moses' face, Perona flushed red and snapped angrily:

"How was I supposed to know you two would be such freaks? One completely unaffected by my ability, the other not only defending against it but even catching my Spirit Body!"

"Are people outside all as strong as you? Is my ability really that useless?"

Watching this, Moses realized the poor girl's confidence might have taken a serious hit.

Moses smiled and extended his right hand before Perona, tiny black-red arcs of energy quietly dancing across his fingers.

"What?" Perona pouted, looking resentful. "Showing off that so-called Conqueror's Haki again?"

Moses rolled his eyes and poked her Spirit Body's nose with his index finger, pushing her head back.

He said flatly:

"Haven't you noticed? What does this Haki power represent?"

Perona wrinkled her nose, then suddenly bit his finger—not phasing through the Spirit Body, but making actual contact.

Blinking, she experimentally sucked on the finger before looking at Moses in confusion: "Spirit Body?"

"Look more carefully."

Curious, Perona examined Moses' hand, clasping it between both of hers. Transparent white bubbles formed and dissipated across their joined palms.

This was the unique manifestation of Spirit Body power.

No ghosts were being created.

As she focused on the energy carrying Spirit Body vibrations...

Through their contact, Perona almost instinctively sensed that complex aura unique to Spirit Bodies.

"I think I can feel it—this Conqueror's Haki power."

Excitement lit up Perona's face. "But it's not very clear. Why don't you hit me with it to test?"

First time hearing such a request.

Moses chuckled.

Happy to oblige.

He flicked her forehead with his finger.

"Ow!"

Clutching her forehead, Perona glared at Moses and shrieked:

"Who told you to hit me like that? I meant the impact, the shockwave—that buzzing sensation that knocks me out!"

She threw an angry punch at Moses' stomach—

Only to phase right through him.

Moses sighed in exasperation, grabbing one of her pigtails with his right hand to pull her upright.

"You really think one burst of Conqueror's Haki won't put you to sleep till tomorrow morning?"

Perona was dumbfounded and asked blankly, "Then what do you suggest? If I don't experience it myself, how will I know if I can use it?"

As she spoke, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she laughed gleefully, "Hey, Moses, what if I slip into your body, and then you use it? Just like before—you protect me with your Spirit Body power before the impact, so I won't pass out? How about that?"

Her expression screamed, "I'm so clever, I'm a genius," making Moses' eye twitch uncontrollably.

But it did sound like a plausible idea.

Moses knew about the Hollow-Hollow Fruit's enhancement effects on the Spirit Body. Perona's overwhelming vitality might very well be linked to it.

Before Moses could even agree, Perona's Spirit Body darted straight into his body.

A subtle shift occurred within him.

With each Breath, the fluctuations of his own Spirit Body energy began enveloping him, synchronizing and merging with Perona's Spirit Body aura.

Perona's voice echoed, "Hahaha, Moses, your Spirit Body is so weak! Not like mine—I can even materialize and leave my body!"

Rolling his eyes, Moses retorted, "What's the point of a solid Spirit Body? You only managed that because of your fruit's power."

As he spoke, he released Conqueror's Haki, wrapping it around his physical form before letting it seep into his Spirit Body energy. A cage of Conqueror's Haki began to take shape.

"Ugh, this feels awful," Perona muttered, acutely sensing the oppressive force bearing down on her Spirit Body, squeezing her spiritual essence from all sides.

At the same time, an exceptionally clear surge of Spirit Body power surfaced in her "vision," instinctively driving her to resist.

An unbearable sensation—like being crushed flat—overwhelmed her. The thought of being pressed down by Moses without him even lifting a finger filled her with indignation. Fury blazed in her eyes. She refused to let that happen—the Spirit Body was her forte!

Unconsciously, an extreme rage erupted within her Spirit Body. Suddenly, as if losing all reason, she shrieked, "MOSES!!! You think you can pin me down? I'll never submit to you!"

Aaaaah!!!

Bzzzt.

A shockwave of pure Conqueror's Haki burst forth from Moses' body, sweeping past Crow Dabao beside him, surging out of the castle, and spreading across the warship sailing on the distant sea.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Bodies collapsed one after another. On the ocean's surface, fish floated belly-up.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

Several figures appeared on the deck—Garp, Kuzan, Bogart, and a few officers—all wearing expressions of astonishment.

"Ara ara, Conqueror's Haki? Who's releasing it?" Kuzan scanned the surroundings but found no other ships nearby. He turned to Garp, exasperated. "You're not messing around, are you? Everyone below the rank of lieutenant commander is out cold."

Garp's eye twitched as he stared at the white-necked crow amidst the fallen marines. That unfamiliar Conqueror's Haki seemed to have originated from the bird.

When Moses had awakened his Conqueror's Haki earlier, Garp had detected and suppressed it, preventing outsiders from sensing it. But now—who was this?

Had that brat Moses hidden someone else inside that crow's castle?

Lost in thought, but now wasn't the time to ask questions. Glancing at the few who had come out, Garp let out a hearty laugh:

"Just had a nightmare while napping, my bad, hahaha. Don't worry about it, everyone, carry on with what you were doing."

At his words, Kuzan's eyes flickered, but he couldn't be bothered to probe further. Waving his hand, he returned to the cabin.

The remaining officers didn't think too much of it, though they shot Garp resentful looks—especially one who'd been interrupted mid-business.

Watching them move the unconscious marines aside to clear the deck, Bogart gave Garp a searching look. The latter pretended not to notice, walking into the crowd, grabbing a crow by the leg, and heading back to the cabin.

...

Moses sat cross-legged on the bed.

Staring wide-eyed at Perona, who sat opposite him in a "seiza" position.

Then, Perona cupped her face with a silly grin. "Hora hora hora, I really am a genius. Conqueror's Haki is nothing to me. Hehehe!"

She tugged at Crow Dabao's wing beside her—the body inside the castle had also passed out.

Earlier, she'd seen Garp take her main body away outside.

Just then—

"Moses, Moses, look, look! I made a new ghost! Isn't it cute?"

Moses looked up to see Perona raising both hands.

In her left floated a Hollow Doll with a furious expression, eyebrows knitted in anger.

In her right floated a Hollow Doll with an insufferably smug face.

"Hehehe!" Perona giggled gleefully.

"The one in my left is the Anger Spirit."

"The one in my right is the Conqueror Spirit."

"Try them out first. Hora hora hora."

As she spoke, the ghost in her left hand let out a weird shriek and shot through Moses' chest.

At the same time, a surge of anger welled up inside him.

Looking at Perona, a vein popped on Moses' forehead. His right fist, crackling with black-red sparks, rose and came crashing down.

Thud! A dull sound echoed.

Perona's Spirit Body flipped backward, eyes rolling as a cute little spirit popped out of her mouth, collapsing onto the bed.

The next second, she rolled around on the bed, wailing.

Amusement flickered in Moses' eyes. "Didn't pass out? Seems awakening Conqueror's Haki gives you resistance to this sort of thing."

Hmm. Might also be because his current Conqueror's Haki isn't that strong yet.

At the same time, Moses pretended to snap out of it.

"Huh? Pepe, what's wrong? Why's there a bump on your head?"

Perona looked up tearfully at Moses' clueless expression and whined, "You hit me! Why'd you hit me again?"

"Dunno. Just suddenly lost control—rage took over, saw something in front of me, and instinctively punched."

"By the way, what does the ghost in your right hand do? 'Conqueror'? Could it be a Conqueror's Haki shockwave?"

Perona glared at Moses fiercely as the smug ghost in her right hand phased through his body.

It was indeed a Hollow Doll that targeted the mind—a domineering spiritual pressure assaulted Moses' consciousness.

But it was useless.

If she could shrug off Moses' current Conqueror's Haki-infused mental shock, then he could just as easily ignore her Conqueror Spirit Hollow Doll.

Clap clap clap!

Moses applauded vigorously.

With a delighted expression.

"Pepe is amazing, Pepe is incredible, but unfortunately, it's useless against me."

Perona's lips had barely curled into a smile for a second before they drooped again, her face a picture of tearful frustration.

"So my newly developed Emotion Spirits still don't work on you? How can you be like this?"

Moses comforted her, "How is it useless? Didn't your Anger Spirit affect me?"

"That might as well have been useless too! It worked, and I ended up getting punched—my head still hurts. You jerk. How could you hit so hard?"

"Me? Hit hard?" Moses said helplessly, "If I really hit hard, wouldn't one punch have cracked your skull open?"

Hearing this, Perona looked at Moses suspiciously. "You held back?"

"Yeah. I held back."

"You could hold back even in extreme anger? Am I that important to you?"

Moses' eye twitched slightly, but he kept his expression neutral. "We're good friends, after all."

Perona frowned. "Negative Spirit, Conqueror Spirit—none of them work on you. Did the Anger Spirit really have an effect?"

As she said this, her face turned expressionless.

"Were you just taking the chance to hit me?"

Damn.

She's getting smarter.

Moses tilted his head in confusion. "Why would I hit you? You're overthinking it."

A Hollow Doll appeared in Perona's hand—tiny, with a big head and a small body, like a chibi octopus plushie. She glared darkly at Moses.

"This is my non-Spirit Body attack method. You haven't seen it before, right? I call it the 'Mini.Bomb Spirit.' When she explodes, she can blast a crater into the ground.

See for yourself."

With that, she tossed the spirit toward the ground nearby, then snapped her fingers to trigger the explosion.

Boom!

A shockwave erupted.

As the dust settled, a crater the size of a washbasin appeared in the ground.

"Tell me, were you doing it on purpose just now?"

"And if I was, what would you do?"

Hearing this, Perona looked momentarily lost.

What would she do?

Blast him with the Mini.Bomb Spirit?

No, no—that's too extreme.

Then what?

Her face darkened, and she let out an angry laugh.

"What would I do? You're not allowed to resist—I'm going to hit you with a Negative Spirit for real this time."

Moses blinked. "Go ahead, then. I won't resist."

Perona's face froze. So he really was doing it on purpose earlier?

"Ahhh, you jerk! You absolute jerk!"

Screaming in frustration, she yelled, "No resisting! 'Negative Spirit,' go!"

Four Negative Spirits shot straight into Moses' chest in rapid succession. His eye twitched, but he had no choice but to "not defend" as they passed through him.

The next moment, his head thumped onto the bed, and a dejected voice emerged.

"I'm sorry. I was wrong."

Perona immediately burst into laughter. "Hahahahaha!"

She was overjoyed.

But then she felt something was off. Why was he only repeating those two phrases?

Lowering her head to look at Moses' face, she saw his expression was indeed despondent—so it worked?

Was his resistance just that high?

At this thought, she clicked her tongue in annoyance and floated out of the room.

Once she was gone, Moses lay on the bed with a resigned sigh. "Guess I fooled her. Didn't expect her to hold a grudge like that."

He reached out and ruffled Crow Dabao's head, feeling a bit sorry for the little bird. That girl had already awakened Conqueror's Haki—her spirit abilities were bound to get even more twisted in the future.

He wondered if Crow Dabao would be able to handle it.

"Well, whatever. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Time for a nap first."

...

Three days later,

Rasgarp.

A small port town relatively close to the Reverse Mountain.

Moses appeared on the deck.

Looking at the bustling port city ahead, he turned to Bogart who had been there for a while,

"Can I go down and have some fun?"

Bogart stretched lazily and said to Moses, "Go ahead if you want. We'll be here for several hours restocking supplies."

"Just remember to come back on time."

"Got it." Moses nodded with a smile. Just then, Kuzan suddenly spoke up from the side:

"I'm going down to look around too. Mind if I tag along?"