Chapter 435

"Don't say that Sima Di is small! Sima Di's outfit today is simply adorable!"

Lina thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I have no impression at all. But if you want to find someone, you can ask the seniors inside; they might know something."

"Seniors?"

"Yes, there are many scary zombies like me inside the Gubao. Please allow me to lead the way." As Lina spoke, she had no awareness at all of being a "scary" zombie.

"Then we'll leave it to you."

"It's no trouble, just a small thing." After Lina finished speaking, she pushed open the Gubao's main door.

However, the inside of the Gubao was far from the splendor everyone imagined; all that remained for them was decay, gloom, and a mess, looking as if it had just experienced a battle.

Lina led the group by hopping. Seeing this, Robin frowned slightly.

"Lina, if you move like that, won't the vases be fine?"

"Please do not worry. The vases look like porcelain, but they are actually thick plastic imitating porcelain. Although their intrinsic value is not high, they have received great praise for this craftsmanship." Lina explained, "By the way, who are you all? Are you also new zombies like me?"

"We are pirates."

Before anyone else could cover Luffy's mouth, Luffy had already said it.

Lina suddenly froze in place, slowly turned her head, and asked, "You... are pirates?"

"Yes, that's right. My name is Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates." Luffy pointed to himself and introduced himself.

Lina slowly turned her head back, then hopped forward like a madman.

"Ahhh! Pirates! Seniors! Pirates are here! Ahhh!"

Sima Di's side.

After a brief moment of sorting things out, Sima Di understood what exactly was happening.

"So, after I was scared unconscious by that thing, my shadow was stolen by Gecko Moria?" Sima Di muttered to himself, "But why did that guy take my weapon too? And why didn't he send me back to the Sunny? That's just too cruel!"

In fact, when Gecko Moria stole Sima Di's shadow, the unconscious Sima Di did not hear his words.

【Could this be the shadow of a pirate with a bounty of one hundred million? It's just too weak; it looks like it relies entirely on the Devil Fruit ability. No choice, I'll leave his sword for the shadow too, just to boost the combat power a bit... That's what I say, but it still doesn't reach the level of a General Zombie; at best, it's just a Scary Zombie. Well, considering the bounty, I'll find him a good-looking body.】

If Sima Di had heard Gecko Moria's words, he would surely have rushed up and bitten the other to death.

"This is trouble... where the hell am I?" Sima Di looked at the building before him in confusion. "This doesn't look like a Gubao, nor Perona's garden, and certainly not a church... My modeling domain spread over it, and it only felt like a small annex of the Gubao."

"Alright, where should I go next? Explore inside the small building, or go in another direction? Ah, let's go in another direction, find them, and regroup. Although I am a free person now, and I myself am not afraid of ghosts, I'd rather not deal with that kind of layered fear."

Saying this, Sima Di set off on a solo horror island adventure. The two fire spirits behind him became two, acting like bodyguards, following one on his left and one on his right.

Unfortunately, the fire spirits could not speak, and the excessively silent region caused Sima Di's sense of unease to grow bit by bit as time passed.

"Although only a few General Zombies appeared in the plot, detailed records state that the General Zombies under Gecko Moria are numbered from eight hundred to eight hundred and ninety-nine; in other words, there are one hundred of them that strong! If I wander outside the plot, I might just run into a group of General Zombies! If I really meet them, it'll be terrible! If it's a General Zombie of a normal appearance, it's fine; even something like a spider, I could barely accept. But the thing I fear most is..." Sima Di muttered to himself, "Please don't let me meet a cockroach zombie, please don't let me meet a cockroach zombie..."

As the saying goes, you get what you think, and what you say comes true.

In Sima Di's modeling domain, the first thing that moved but had no vital signs appeared.

Obviously, that was a zombie.

The cockroach zombie slowly turned its head. "Gurgle?"

"Ahhh!"

Luffy's side.

Lina watched as these uninvited guests knocked down one after another of the very formidable seniors, and in fear, she hid inside a vase.

Can't see me, can't see me, I'm just a vase...

Clang—

"Hey, vase, what exactly is going on? Come out and explain to us quickly." Luffy knocked on the vase without any courtesy.

"You... what exactly do you want to do?" Lina cautiously poked half her head out.

"I already said it, I'm here to find someone... and also to take care of a guy named Gecko Moria." Luffy said.

"As I thought! You are the bad guy, right!" Lina, not knowing where the courage came from, drew the sword stored in the vase and pointed it at Luffy and the others. "I'm telling you! I'm not afraid of you!"

Although Lina said this, her body trembled uncontrollably.

"That sword..."

Everyone's gaze focused on that sword.

"It seems this young lady really knows something." Robin said, crossing her arms.

Lina suddenly saw a pair of hands appear on her own arms.

"W-what is this!"

Those hands twisted, easily wrenching Lina's wrist.

The Spirit Sword clattered to the ground.

"Vase, where did this sword come from?" Luffy said, reaching down to pick it up.

Whoosh—

Unexpectedly, the Spirit Sword flew up on its own and attacked Luffy. If Luffy had not reacted quickly, he would surely have been slashed hard by the Spirit Sword.

The Spirit Sword hovered in front of Lina, seemingly on guard against everyone.

"This is..." Lina was shocked; obviously, she hadn't reacted either.

"The Spirit Sword protects its master." Zoro said in a deep voice, sizing up Lina. "But the Spirit Sword also recognizes its master; if the master is not dead, it will not recognize a new master."

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces changed drastically.

"That means Sima Di is dead! Impossible!" Luffy shouted.

"There are other possibilities... for instance, the Lina before us is Sima Di." Zoro said. "Just now, this guy was still singing that song that tortured me for a long time."

"Eh!!! The vase is Sima Di!" Luffy shouted, looking at Lina in disbelief.

"Come to think of it, there is indeed such a possibility. Since this 1.0 has the ability to steal other people's shadows, it's not strange for an ability to change a person's appearance to appear. Those cute zombies might have become that way through such an ability." Robin analyzed.

When the "severely injured old man" asked them for help before, he only said to please retrieve their shadows; he did not say what those stolen shadows were used for.

"But she looks like she's lost her memory. Could it be a side effect of the ability?" Franky said.

"Hmm... really?" Luffy pinched his chin, squinted his eyes, and observed Rina closely.

Rina felt at a loss under his gaze.

"As I thought, this guy isn't Sima Di!" Luffy suddenly realized something, pointed at Rina, and shouted, "Her hair is blue! Sima Di's is black!"

"Did you even listen seriously to what we were saying?!" Zoro roared.

Although Luffy hadn't listened, Rina had taken it in.

Come to think of it, she had no memory of the past at all. Whether her surname or given name, or where she was born.

The only memory Rina retained was that guy who claimed to be her master, and who told her to obey the orders of a Perona person. She could never forget that strange face.

Master?

Rina has no master!

Why should Rina listen to them!

"I think your analysis is very correct. But I have no memory of the past at all; the only thing I recall is the strange person who turned me into this." Rina said, "Am I... really that person named Sima Di?"

"Hmm... really?" Luffy wore an expression like he was constipated. He still felt something was off.

"Looks like it's correct then. The Divine Art Blade, and that strange song... except for wearing an expression all day long as if 'I'm a prophet and I know everything,' it should be correct." Zoro said.

"Luffy is the captain, and Sima Di is our first mate." Robin explained thoughtfully.

"Eh? Is that really true?" Rina was startled by the three words "first mate" that came out of nowhere, "Am I really such an impressive figure?"

"Indeed the first mate. Although he looks a bit unreliable, he is truly a first mate one can trust." Robin said.

"So I am the first mate..." Rina was extremely excited, her eyes shining, "If I am the first mate, then you are the captain, and you are my crew!"

The three nodded. Only Luffy still felt something was strange.

"I see! You can rest assured! Since I am the first mate, I will definitely protect you all!" Rina was full of passion.

"Ah... come to think of it, we seem to be missing someone." Franky said, "Where did Sanji go?"

At that moment, the few of them also realized someone seemed to be missing.

"Sanji? The blond gentleman?" Rina asked.

"What gentleman... he's just a lecherous kappa." Zoro said disdainfully.

"I've been hiding in the bottle and haven't seen him... but, ask that pig who claims to be the captain." Rina raised her hand and pointed; the Divine Art Blade understood her intent, whooshed over, and stabbed into that board.