Behind them, Uvogin and the other three charged straight at the giant-sized Moria.
The savage clash kicked up hurricane-force winds that howled across the battlefield, sending debris flying everywhere.
In front of them, Shizuku's face was dead serious as she slowly walked toward Absalom and Perona.
"Wow~ Under those glasses is hiding a body like that?"
"I like it. I really like it!"
"You're gonna be my wife!"
Absalom's voice floated out of thin air, all sleazy and excited, while his body had already vanished completely.
The guy was a total pervert on a never-ending hunt for a beautiful bride. Shizuku's blank, innocent stare, her cute face, and that killer figure in her black sweater had hooked him instantly.
Still invisible, Absalom leered and raised both clawed hands, creeping closer to grab the front of her sweater.
Right then—
Shock flashed across his face.
The girl he thought couldn't see him at all calmly turned her head in his exact direction. Without a word, she lifted that weirdly shaped vacuum cleaner and swung it like a baseball bat.
DUANG!
Absalom's head instantly sprouted a huge lump as he rocketed backward. He clutched his skull, eyes wide with horror. "How the hell can you see me?!!"
Shizuku didn't bother answering. She blurred out of sight, reappeared directly above him, and brought Blinky down again.
BANG—
The swing cracked the air like a whip. Absalom flew even farther. Shizuku's hand-to-hand skills were the strongest among all the women in the Troupe, hands down.
She chased him relentlessly, hammering him with blow after blow.
Watching from the sidelines, Chrollo let out a soft chuckle.
Shizuku's En radius was pushing thirty meters now. The Clear-Clear Fruit could bend light to hide someone, sure—but it was completely useless against En. In Shizuku's perception, Absalom might as well have been wearing a neon sign.
Beside him, Bonney watched the fight too. The heavy worry on her face slowly eased. Chrollo had already told her everything he knew about Kuma.
That "Kuma" earlier wasn't the real one—just a robot. The real Bartholomew Kuma, the PX-0 prototype, was still out there somewhere. Only then would she have any chance of saving her father.
"Does Shizuku need backup?" Bonney asked. "She's up against two Devil Fruit users."
"Nah." Chrollo shook his head with a half-smile. "But that ghost girl's about to jump in~"
Bonney opened her mouth to say more, but Chrollo just waved her off, lips curving.
"Relax. If those souls were fighting anyone else in the Troupe, it might actually be trouble. Right now only Uvogin and Feitan have Armament Haki, and neither can coat their whole body yet.
But since the opponent is Shizuku…"
Chrollo raised an eyebrow.
Does Shizuku even have emotions?
He'd known her for almost ten years, and he'd never once seen anything on her face except that faint, childlike curiosity.
After digging into it, he'd figured it out.
Her emotions had been completely sealed away—wiped out—by a brutal trauma from when she was tiny, plus the effect of a special Nen item.
In other words…
The Shizuku standing here right now had no heart, no feelings, and no real thoughts.
She was a genuine… three-no girl.
The second Chrollo finished speaking, Perona summoned her negative ghosts and sent them swarming at Shizuku.
"Stupid intruders, prepare to die at the hands of Lady Perona!"
Dozens of negative ghosts spiraled forward like a storm of bats.
Shizuku dodged with easy footwork, twisting and turning—until one ghost phased straight through her chest.
"Got her!" Perona grinned triumphantly. "Drown in negativity—"
"You won't be able to fight anymore!"
That would free her up to help Moria.
But…
Just as Perona expected Shizuku to slump into despair, the girl slowly lifted her head. Her eyes were still flat, calm, almost lifeless.
"?"
She checked herself over and realized the ghost had done absolutely nothing.
"Doesn't work, huh?"
"How is that possible?!!"
Perona's eyes bulged, mouth hanging open in shock.
Shizuku ignored her. She poured more aura into her hands using advanced Nen—Ryu—then swung Blinky at Absalom with everything she had.
BANG—
The impact was deafening. Absalom's eyes rolled back, blood poured from his forehead, and he crumpled unconscious.
One heavy hit and Absalom was out. Without missing a beat, Shizuku flashed toward Perona.
"You're next."
Perona's eye twitched. Her face went slack with disbelief.
"Negative ghosts… useless?!!"
"And she's stronger in close combat than Absalom?!"
"How is—"
Facing the charging Shizuku, Perona's expression twisted into pure terror. She spun and ran for her life.
She might be a Hollow-Hollow Fruit user, but she couldn't turn into a ghost while conscious. Her puny body stood zero chance against the machine-like woman barreling toward her.
"Stay back!"
WHAM!
Blinky missed by inches and slammed into the ground right beside Perona's feet. The boom scared the ghost loli so badly her eyes welled up with tears. "Damn it—"
"Stop chasing me! Mega Hollow: Kamikaze Bomb!"
Perona shrieked, thrusting both hands skyward. A massive four-to-five-meter transparent ghost shot straight at the pursuing Shizuku. "Get blown to bits, you crazy woman!"
The giant ghost floated right in front of Shizuku, inches from touching her.
In that split second, Shizuku raised Blinky. Under Perona's stunned gaze, the vacuum's suction kicked in with a loud whoosh, sucking the entire Mega Hollow straight into the nozzle.
"Ah!"
"How?!"
Perona's tears spilled over for real.
Chrollo almost burst out laughing.
Blinky could inhale anything Shizuku considered non-living. In her straightforward, one-track mind, ghosts without physical bodies didn't count as alive. So… Blinky could vacuum them up too.
The fight had turned downright ridiculous.
Perona, face streaked with tears, stubbornly fired off another ghost bomb. Shizuku sucked it in.
Perona fired again.
Shizuku sucked again…
Step by step, one vacuum at a time, Shizuku closed the distance until she stood right in front of Perona. Blinky came crashing down hard.
That side of the battlefield was finished. Chrollo's gaze shifted to the other fight.
Just as he'd predicted—with the Troupe's current strength, four opponents at once wasn't even a challenge.
Moria was already struggling badly against just two.
His enormous body was getting pounded by the four of them, constantly spitting out shadows as the physical buffs grew weaker and weaker.
He was teetering on the edge of collapse!