Chapter 442: Chapter 442: Night King Arzuka

Hearing Roger’s words, Rayleigh paused for a second. If he wanted to test the effect, why not just give it a shot?

"Boom!"

A massive wave of Conqueror’s Haki surged from Rayleigh, blanketing thousands of zombies in an instant. Right away, black shadows burst out from the zombies and shot off into the distance!

"It actually works!"

These zombies moved based on a blend of their shadow owners’ instincts and habits, mixed with the corpses’ own memories, all controlled by a hybrid consciousness tied to the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.

In the end, it boiled down to something mental or soul-like, so it got rattled by the sheer force of Conqueror’s Haki. The weaker shadows, just like low-level grunts, got wiped out instantly!

"If we’d known this earlier, we wouldn’t have bothered with all that hassle. Fighting these weakling zombies is no fun at all!"

Roger unleashed his own powerful Conqueror’s Haki, knocking down even the tougher ones that were barely hanging on, clearing out most of the horde!

This let the rest of the crew mop up the elite zombies faster and track down the Night King Arzuka’s real body.

"Those shadows are drifting toward Rokudō Island! Damn, that guy’s making a run for it! We need to head back now!!"

Rayleigh spotted the shadows from the fallen or slashed zombies all heading in the direction they’d come from. Didn’t that mean Night King Arzuka was bolting straight for Rokudō Island?

"He pulled off a sneaky escape trick! Everyone, pull back!!! Stop him from raiding the dragon tombs!!" Roger shouted.

"No need, Roger!" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"What’s up, Rayleigh?"

Roger followed Rayleigh’s gaze and saw a fleet of flying ships closing in fast. With the Float-Float Fruit and the Wind-Wind Fruit combined, that’s what gave the Hell Pirates such killer mobility in their territory!

"Let’s get out of here. The boss is showing up—we don’t need to stick around for the show!"

Rayleigh suddenly didn’t feel like facing Brook, and Roger probably felt the same!

"Alright then, crew, we’re outta here! On with the adventure!"

Roger had thought about greeting Brook and handing over a rubbing of the historical text for him to translate.

But what if Brook asked where the text was from?

That’d basically tip him off about the dragon eggs’ location, right?

Better to find another chance to get their help with the translation later!

Roger led the whole crew back aboard their pirate ship and sailed off in the opposite direction, avoiding any run-in with Brook!

As for those bad dragon eggs, Rayleigh could just call Brook on the Den Den Mushi later and let him know to pick them up himself.

Meanwhile, Silva on the Golden Ark had spotted the Roger Pirates’ every move crystal clear with his Glare-Glare Fruit.

"They don’t want to meet me? Are they wary of me now?"

Brook suddenly felt that lonely chill of being at the top, isolated and unmatched. Was his crew’s power so overwhelming that even Roger felt insecure around him?

Or was it that "giant egg encounter" prophecy of his that had rattled Roger and Rayleigh?

Either way, if they weren’t up for crossing paths right now, Brook wasn’t about to force it!

For now, it was time to claim his spoils!

This Night King Arzuka had even tried a flanking maneuver, heading straight for the dragon tombs to throw off the Roger Pirates. Smart guy—he had some brains!

But Brook had no plans to recruit him. The Shadow-Shadow Fruit was already earmarked for Brook himself, and besides, the guy had wiped out a king from one of the islands under Hell Pirates’ protection. Time to make an example out of him!

...

Night King Arzuka paddled his little boat hard toward Rokudō Island, his face lit up with excitement. After scraping by in these waters for so long, he was finally about to hit his dream jackpot—the dragon tombs.

But when he glanced back and saw that flying fleet in the sky, it scared the living daylights out of him. Still, he gritted his teeth and kept pushing toward the tombs.

Maybe if he controlled enough dragon corpses, he’d have the power to snag a spot as a Hell Pirates officer!

It’d be a step down, sure, but he couldn’t go back to being a big shot in the chaotic seas anyway.

Hitching his wagon to the Hell Pirates might not be such a bad gig!

He knew full well that power came with strength. Once he had those dragon corpses under his thumb, he could show off his might and maybe earn Brook’s respect—land a decent officer role!

Night King Arzuka rowed like mad. If he got caught before controlling the dragons, he’d probably just get taken out as an intruder. What a waste that’d be!

...

Up on the Golden Ark.

Brook and the others chuckled at the sight of Night King Arzuka paddling for his life. Hadn’t the guy given up yet?

"Huh, he’s even figured out shadow clones?"

Brook peered through his binoculars at Night King Arzuka. The guy had used shadows to make a duplicate of himself, and together they were rowing like crazy. Their speed was keeping pace with the wind-boosted flying fleet!

"Impressive survival drive! His soul must be top-notch!"

Charlotte Linlin was already itching to extract this guy’s soul lifespan. A big-time pirate like him would make for some high-quality Homies.

"Redfield, hit him with a few bolts!"

Brook wanted to see what this dragon-corpse thief was made of—did he stack up to Gekko Moria?

"You got it!"

’Sixty Million Volt: Divine Judgment!’

A thunder pillar formed out of nowhere above Night King Arzuka, slamming down on this up-and-coming New World pirate.

If the guy had just stayed put in the front half of the New World, in those chaotic seas, Brook wouldn’t have moved on him so soon to reclaim the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.

But since he’d delivered himself right to the doorstep, it was time to take him down quick and clean!

No way Brook was letting him snag a dragon corpse and bolt to Rocks’ territory for refuge—that’d be a huge loss!

"No! I surrender! I surrender! I’ll join the Hell Pirates~"

’Hundred Shadows Assemble: Shadow Shield!!’

Night King Arzuka spotted Redfield, launching a direct attack. It terrified him out of any dreams of a high-ranking spot—he just wanted to submit and survive!

The shadow clone dissolved, merging with countless others into a massive black shield that barely held off Redfield’s golden thunder pillar.

"Don’t let him sink to the bottom."

After giving that order, Brook left Night King Arzuka to Redfield and went off to dote on his daughter.

Daene Targary and her guards stared wide-eyed. This enemy they’d seen as a total demon got scared into yelling surrender with just one move.

Was this the true might of the overlord Hell Pirates?

Daene Targary’s gaze toward Brook grew more intense with longing. As a princess of the Westeros Kingdom, she felt like some backwater landlord’s kid—her worldview was way too narrow!

It was clear: only by sticking with the absolute top dogs could you glimpse real power in this world!

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