"Eh, eh, eh... the ghost just now was a girl?!"
After Karl met up with Carina halfway back with Perona in tow,
and the two learned that the one who had tormented them to the brink was a spooky, princess-style girl, Carina and Nami’s eyes went wide.
Even the little dragon let out a dissatisfied sound.
The dignity of dragonkind had just been trampled by a little girl.
Worse, there was no way to take revenge now.
"It’s fine. From now on, Perona is one of my companions."
Karl patted the embarrassed Perona on the head and spoke to Carina.
"I’m really, really sorry about what happened earlier." Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
Clutching the doll in her arms, Perona bowed timidly to Carina to apologize.
"...Alright. I forgive you."
Seeing Perona , the anger and frustration in Carina and Nami melted away.
They generously forgave her.
The little dragon also fluttered over, licked Perona’s cheek a few times, and showed forgiveness in its own affectionate way.
Seizing the moment, Perona tossed her doll and hugged the little dragon with both arms.
When she’d used her negative ghosts to strip Carina of her will to fight, Perona had already been fascinated by the little dragon.
She had even decided that after Lord Moria cut off another batch of "guests’" shadows, she would ask him for the little dragon as a pet.
Now the dream had come true—albeit in a different form.
"Eh? This was Gecko Moria of the Seven Warlords’ territory?"
"Karl, you actually defeated a Warlord?"
On the way back, when Carina heard from Karl that this had been a former Warlord’s domain, her eyes went wide again.
"Yeah... I only realized after I got there."
Before this, in order to cultivate Carina, he had never flaunted foreknowledge or "cleverness" in front of her.
So, though he had the advantage of knowing the story, he rarely used it.
Even if he did, he would never be the one to say it first; he’d guide Carina to uncover it herself.
That approach was what had made Carina an outstanding first mate.
Even now, Karl didn’t bring up that he’d known Thriller Bark was here, or that the ship’s master was one of the Seven Warlords.
Hearing that Karl had defeated Gecko Moria, Carina and Nami gained a new sense of his power—
or rather, a clearer calibration.
They’d known Karl was strong—very, very strong...
but the degree had been hard to describe, so they’d labeled him "city-buster level."
Now, with a fight that hadn’t even rattled the castle and was over in a flash, he’d beaten one of seven great pirates whose war power could rival a nation’s.
Carina and Nami silently relabeled Karl from "city-buster" to "nation-level" and "Warlord-class."
Back aboard the sloop, Nami steered away from Thriller Bark, following the Log Pose’s direction.
"Goodbye, Lord Moria."
Gazing at the island-ship she’d lived on for years, Perona quietly bid farewell in her heart to the "father" who had raised her.
once Karl knocked Gecko Moria unconscious, those hiding from the sun in the Florian Triangle, and those scattered across the world who couldn’t step into sunlight, all recovered their shadows.
The zombies Moria had amassed over the years instantly became motionless corpses.
If those people didn’t hurry off Thriller Bark, losing their shadows again would only be a matter of time.
To recruit Perona, Karl hadn’t gone too hard on Gecko Moria.
With that level of injury, Moria’s freakish physique would wake in a few hours at most.
His Shadow-Shadow power—immune to physical hits and endlessly versatile—still made his "Shadow Asgard" and shadow fighter an unbeatable terror to the unfortunates on the island.
There was no need to worry about Moria’s safety.
Likewise, Karl didn’t bother taking the "Great Grade" black blade Shusui from Thriller Bark.
He wasn’t a pure swordsman; while he could, by brute force, swing a slash that warped the air—akin to Charlotte Linlin’s giant technique Ikoku Sovereignty—he hadn’t reached the swordsman’s realm of "cutting steel."
Besides, Karl liked one line from Hawkeye and had never forgotten it to this day:
"As long as you coat a blade with Armament Haki, it can become a black blade."
If any blade can be made a black blade, then in the hands of a top swordsman with peak swordsmanship and Haki, whether it’s a Supreme Grade among the twelve or a common little knife, it can cleave mountains and split stone.
Karl had no interest in collecting famed blades that had passed through many hands as "completed masterpieces."
He would temper his knight’s sword into a black blade with Armament Haki.
As long as you’re strong enough, even a common weapon becomes a divine edge that cuts all.
Karl’s seldom-shown pride.
After bidding "Lord Moria" farewell, Perona quickly blended into the little circle of Carina and Nami.
Because the three shared similar temperaments.
With just a short chat, intel-savvy Carina dug up Perona’s past twenty years of secrets cleanly.
Discovering a girl who couldn’t be more pure, Carina’s fondness for her shot up.
A homebody by nature, Perona listened wide-eyed, full of sighs and admiration, to what Carina and Nami had been through.
A new life would begin aboard this ship.