Chapter 456

Brook pushes Franky to return to the Sunny, explaining that losing a shadow brings two days of unconsciousness rather than death, which is precisely why the drained bodies are shipped off instead of slain. Killing the body would destroy the shadow with it, so the victims are kept alive but barred from recovering what was taken. He then reveals the zombies' undoing: because their life springs from a Devil Fruit, dropping salt into their mouths returns the shadow to its rightful owner and leaves the corpse still. His own shadow was stolen five years earlier and he was set adrift, but he woke during the journey, came back, and failed to reclaim it, a shadow he must regain to keep a promise made to Laboon.

With Luffy's shadow drawn out, Hogback presents Number 900, a corpse he has worked on for years and calls the mightiest zombie yet. Moria recalls fighting the Emperor Kaido to a draw in the New World. Word then reaches them that Tararan has been beaten and purified, throwing Hogback into a panic as he realizes Brook is loose and cleansing the island's zombies. Unbothered, Moria heads for the freezer, where Number 900 is shown to be the colossal Oars. Still hidden inside Kumashi, the stowaways resolve to seize Luffy's shadow at the first chance.

Salt is confirmed as the fatal flaw of the zombies, and Absalom and Perona's private ambitions are touched upon. Moria admits that Kaido, an Emperor of the sea, once bested him in the New World and shattered his dreams. His 900th creation, the giant Oars, is revealed, and Brook comes face to face with Ryuma, the zombie carrying his shadow. The cover shows Spacey in tears as he relives the Automata's defeat at the hands of the Space Pirates.