Chapter 51: Buffon’s Innovative New Technique

After Lola’s experiment succeeded, Buffon didn’t tell Moria about it. He considered it his trump card, and now felt the fewer people who knew, the better.

As word spread that Lola could walk in sunlight without a shadow, the members of the Victims’ Association aboard the Terror Three-Masted Ship became extremely excited, each secretly seeking Buffon’s help. But Buffon refused them all, because Emperor Dong had calculated that within a year, Luffy would arrive. Regardless of how things unfolded, Buffon intended to return all their shadows. The reason was simple—they were too weak.

Yet Saul’s decision troubled Buffon. After witnessing Lola’s transformation, Saul proposed donating his own shadow to be placed in the corpse of a giant, which would essentially mean two versions of himself serving aboard Buffon’s ship.

If it had been someone irrelevant, Buffon would have felt no burden. But Saul was different; after spending so much time together, there was some bond between them. After their last battle with Teach, Perona had mentioned that when Buffon was caught between Ace and Teach’s attacks, Saul had risked his life to try to save him, only to be stopped by Moria.

"Saul, are you sure about this?" Buffon asked seriously.

Though Buffon believed the technique was perfected, with no side effects or dangers, it still meant taking something from a person—anyone would have some thoughts about that.

"It’s fine! This way I can stick with that zombie version of myself all the time," Saul replied with remarkable openness.

Buffon knew Saul was doing this to help him.

Buffon nodded, then went out to find Moria.

He still couldn’t reveal that he possessed the Shadow-Shadow Fruit’s powers, so he needed Moria to help put on an act.

Moria was surprised when Buffon came to request a shadow for the giant zombie. "What’s going on, Buffon? Want to make do with what’s available for now?"

Buffon nodded. "Yes, we’ll use it for now. If a better fit comes along, we can switch. Otherwise, leaving these giant zombies in the freezer is just wasteful!"

Moria nodded, then casually summoned a zombie puppet whose shadow had already been extracted, took its shadow out, and stuffed it into the giant zombie Buffon had brought.

Immediately, the giant zombie let out a roar. "This old fool has been reborn!"

"Why is it that old man?" Moria muttered.

"Hmm?" Buffon looked at Moria, puzzled.

Moria laughed. "Hehehehehe! It’s just the old man from the Victims’ Association!" The Victims’ Association was no secret aboard the Terror Three-Masted Ship.

Buffon instantly understood—it was Spoyle, that guy. Looks like his presidency could be handed off now.

Buffon took the giant zombie back to his laboratory, switched to his Shadow-Shadow Fruit powers, and released Spoyle’s shadow.

Then he carefully cut Saul’s shadow and inserted it.

At once, the giant zombie let out a mighty roar. "Tai-lai-hee! It feels wonderful to be young!"

Buffon shook his head. "Saul, go get used to it for yourself. I still need to handle your original body!"

"Alright, Captain Buffon!" Saul’s shadow controlled the new body and headed out.

Saul’s height was nearly five times that of Baggio, so Buffon spent almost ten hours finishing the process.

A dose of stimulating hormones brought Saul awake, and the two headed together to the lookout.

Saul clearly trusted Buffon deeply, exposing his body to the sunlight without hesitation. As expected, apart from lacking a shadow, everything else was just as before.

"Tai-lai-hee! Captain Buffon’s technique is extraordinary. Is there anything related to the human body you can’t modify?" Saul asked.

Buffon actually pondered the question. It seemed that, aside from lineage factors and cyborg modifications, there really wasn’t anything he couldn’t do.

Oh, right—he couldn’t extend someone’s life like Lola!

"Captain Buffon, you should name the giant zombie. We can’t just call it Saul, too," Saul continued.

Buffon thought for a moment. "Salong."

Saul nodded. "Tai-lai-hee! That sounds like a brother!"

Back in his lab, Buffon was approached by Spoyle, whose face was deeply wrinkled and bore a scar over his right eye.

Before Buffon could speak, Spoyle grabbed his hand, overcome with emotion. "Thank you, Lord Buffon! I know you’re the one who returned my shadow. Only you could do it at this moment. Moria the devil would never be so merciful!"

Buffon didn’t respond, but the scar over Spoyle’s right eye made him uncomfortable.

With a swift hand strike, he knocked Spoyle out. Five minutes later, the wound over Spoyle’s right eye was gone.

To Buffon’s delight, he gained a skill from Spoyle he had always wanted—the ability to craft Life Cards.

And the skill had no level requirement—once learned, it could be used freely.

When Spoyle awoke, he gazed into the laboratory mirror at his face, tears streaming down as he clutched Buffon’s hand. "Thank you, Lord Buffon! Your miraculous medical skills are wasted stitching together corpses here. When I leave, I’ll spread your fame across the Grand Line!"

Buffon shook his head. "Stay here a while longer. When I set sail again, I’ll take you with me."

Spoyle nodded, gazing at Buffon with reverence. "Thank you, Lord Buffon!"

…

The next morning, Buffon and Saul were on the lookout, sipping coffee and basking in the sun, when Buffon’s Den Den Mushi rang.

"Buffon, a strong enemy is coming! Get down and prepare; we might be in for a fierce battle!" Moria’s voice was uncharacteristically serious.

Buffon didn’t ask further, hung up, and jumped down from the lookout with Saul.

On the way to the port, Buffon kept pondering: who would come seeking trouble, and what kind of opponent could make Moria so wary?

Moria might not know Buffon’s full strength, but he had a rough idea.

To inspire caution in Moria in these circumstances, the visitors must be formidable. If pirates, they’d be at least Warlord level; if Marines, it would have to be an Admiral-led force.

Thinking this, Buffon had Saul summon Baggio, Ryoma, and Salong.

Arriving at the dock, he saw Moria with Absalom and a group of general-class zombies waiting.

Once Buffon arrived, they boarded the Juventus and sailed toward the outskirts of the Terror Three-Masted Ship.

"Who is it?" Buffon took the initiative to ask.

Moria didn’t answer, but gestured toward the bow. "You can already see them!"

Buffon turned and peered ahead, instantly understanding.

"It’s those people! What are they doing here at this time?"