There was a crucial reason why Maude set his sights on Moria as a target.
That reason was the way Moria and his crew operated—when seeking high-quality shadows, they refrained from killing intruders.
Deep within the castle, a massive freezing chamber stored numerous high-quality corpses that lacked suitable shadows.
Premium corpses required premium shadows.
This was a fundamental principle of the Zombie Army project.
Typically, the Thriller Bark Pirates evaluated the quality of an intruder's shadow based on their bounty.
Intruders with low or no bounties were either killed outright or had their shadows placed into weak or defective corpses.
However, for high-bounty intruders, the primary objective was always to steal their shadows.
Under this principle, the Thriller Bark Pirates essentially shackled themselves with a restriction—they could not kill intruders outright.
This was an inherent risk in the process of creating the Zombie Army, a vulnerability that could threaten their own safety.
However, Perona, who could command Negative Hollows to attack her targets, did not share this risk.
In fact, she was indispensable to the process of stealing shadows.
As long as her Negative Hollows successfully phased through a target, the battle was instantly over.
From the moment she allied with Moria until now, she had never failed.
Any prey that stepped foot on Thriller Bark—whether strong or weak—would inevitably kneel before her Negative Hollows.
This time would be no different.
Perona deliberately revealed herself to capture Lafitte's attention, creating an opening for her Negative Hollows to strike.
"Go, my little darlings!"
Under Perona's command, three ghostly figures, resembling floating teru teru bozu, shot toward Lafitte's back like arrows.
Lafitte's Observation Haki could not detect the ghosts' presence, but their speed was comparable to arrows in flight—easily perceivable with the naked eye.
Before they could reach him, Lafitte gracefully shifted his body, evading the attack with ease.
Under normal circumstances, his usual response would be to retaliate immediately, sending a flying slash at Perona.
However, after dodging the ghosts, he did not press an attack. Instead, he quickly scanned his surroundings, as if searching for something.
Perona, lacking refined combat awareness, failed to notice the subtlety in Lafitte's actions. She assumed he was simply too occupied dodging her ghosts to counterattack.
"Heh, in a terrain like this, no one can escape my little darlings!"
Despite Lafitte's fluid evasions, Perona remained unfazed, exuding confidence in her ability to ensnare him.
With a mere thought, the three Negative Hollows hovering in midair suddenly split apart, phasing into the walls and floor.
Lafitte's eyes glinted as he murmured, "Using the terrain to obscure their movements… Quite troublesome."
Negative Hollows had no physical form and emitted no presence, rendering them undetectable to Observation Haki.
By utilizing the walls, floors, and ceilings, Perona could compensate for their relatively slow speed, significantly increasing their chances of landing a hit.
Of course, Lafitte could leave the corridor at any time, stripping Perona of her terrain advantage.
However, if he simply fled, he would be abandoning Jim, who was still in a negative state.
Perona had calculated this and was confident in her advantage.
More importantly, in this hallway, she herself was an astral projection—just like her ghosts. She could pass through walls and obstacles freely, immune to any physical harm.
As long as her opponent continued to engage her, she was virtually invincible.
Yet, Lafitte's lack of aggression after his initial attack did not alert Perona to any danger.
She kept her eyes locked on Lafitte and waved her hands in a crossing motion.
Two Negative Hollows phased through the floor beneath Lafitte, aiming directly at his feet.
"Too predictable."
Lafitte chuckled, bending his knees and leaping into the air.
With walls and ceilings still a distance away, the best angle to attack was indeed from below.
"Not so fast!"
Perona smirked and commanded the third Negative Hollow to drop down from the ceiling, targeting Lafitte's head mid-air.
Lafitte sensed the ghost descending from above, his expression calm as his eyes glowed red.
Based on the intelligence provided by Maude, he knew the Perona before him was merely a projection—her real body was hidden somewhere inside the castle.
Activating his Observation Haki, he swiftly searched for her true location.
Glancing at the incoming ghost, he suddenly unfurled a pair of pristine white wings, flapping them twice to propel himself backward mid-air.
Whoosh—
The third Negative Hollow, which had descended from the ceiling, missed its mark once again.
"Damn it!"
Seeing her attack fail, Perona initially scowled but quickly regained her composure.
It didn't matter—so long as that big bear-like brute was still around, Lafitte wouldn't be able to leave.
Capturing Lafitte was only a matter of time.
Perona adjusted her mindset and prepared for another attack.
Lafitte, having evaded once more, raised his sword-bearing arm.
Perona assumed he was finally going to attack her and smirked in amusement.
It's useless…
She thought triumphantly.
However—
The next second, Lafitte's actions froze her smile in place.
Boom!
With two clean strikes, Lafitte slashed through the wall—and without hesitation, walked away.
"???"
Perona's eyes widened as she watched him abandon his comrade without a second thought.
What the…?
Replaying the image of Lafitte's decisive departure, Perona couldn't help but glance at Jim, who lay sprawled on the ground in utter despair.
She sighed in sympathy. "Big guy, your social skills must be pretty terrible."
Under the effects of the Negative Hollows, Jim had no strength left to argue.
All he could do was lie there, contemplating the utter meaninglessness of existence.
Even now, Perona remained oblivious to Lafitte's true intentions.
Lafitte had already pinpointed the location of her real body.
From that moment, this battle—one devoid of any real confrontation—was already over.
As for Jim's safety, Lafitte wasn't concerned in the slightest.
The Thriller Bark Pirates wouldn't kill him—they needed him alive to extract his shadow.
This was the tactical decision Lafitte made based on intelligence—a direct strike to Perona's real weakness.
Against an ability as absurd as the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, the right information could drastically reduce its threat level.
Using his Observation Haki to guide him, Lafitte swiftly arrived at Perona's room.
"Hoho…"
Watching Perona's true body slumped against the headboard, completely motionless, Lafitte smirked coldly.
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