His Name is Moria! Trap of the Great Shadow-Stealing Pirate

Luffy grills the defeated zombies over the whereabouts of Nami, Chopper, and Usopp, but they hold their tongues, so his party moves on. Crossing the forest, an old zombie awed by their strength cautions them about Gecko Moria, the island's most dreaded presence, who tears the shadows from his victims. The detail catches Robin's attention because his reward far outstrips Luffy's and he holds a Warlord's seat among the government's Seven Warlords. Any shadowless soul touched by sunlight, the zombie adds, simply vanishes into vapor, yet Luffy grabs a lantern and welcomes the fight.

Within the lab, Ryuma hurls the captured trio in front of Hogback, who warns that nobody may wander past midnight during the night raid and live. Beyond the walls, Absalom digs up buried corpses and stirs the Zombie Soldiers back to life. They roar his name, then jeer at him for being a creep.

The wandering forest spirits drift together to rebuild Perona inside her room, while a trio of small zombies named Gyoro, Nin, and Bao rouse their dozing master. Moria, an enormous figure of near-giant scale, begins to stir as rain comes down. The crew sights a towering pirate sail and grasps the staggering truth: Thriller Bark is no island but a colossal pirate ship, with Moria's home built into the mast. Absalom orders that the chase begin once midnight strikes, Perona readies herself for combat, and Moria swears the place will bring nothing but nightmares. Luffy, meanwhile, heads indoors.

As the reanimated soldiers chant Absalom's name, the background score lifts a passage from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, specifically its fourth movement. Several figures make their first appearance: Gecko Moria himself, the ghost princess Perona, the small zombie trio of Gyoro, Nin, and Bao, plus Spoil, Kumashi, and the Hippo Gentleman.