Chapter 461

Coverstory Summary
After punishing the Space Pirates for destroying his Fairy Vearth, Eneru notices the canal that they were digging up.

Plot Summary
Unable to retrieve Usopp and Sanji who fell when Oars crashed through part of the Mast Mansion, Luffy, Chopper, and Robin decide to press forward. Knowing those two would be fine despite what happened, the three Straw Hats hurried to find Moria. They head towards the giant freezer where the Shichibukai was last seen. Before they could get to the freezer however, they go through the dance hall and encounter Hogback and Cindry.

Seeing the enemies before them, Luffy prepared to engage them. Chopper however told Luffy to let him deal with Hogback and go ahead to Moria. Luffy obliged Chopper's request and with a little help from Robin, was able to pass by an attacking Cindry to the freezer. Having gotten Luffy through, Chopper confronted Hogback and expressed at how disappointed he was of his former role model. Hogback, upon recognizing Chopper after the reindeer transformed into his Brain Point, decided to confront him as well with plans to make the reindeer a zombie. As the two doctors confronted each other, the two zombies that Hogback asked from Moria, Inuppe and Jigorou, came forward to Hogback's aid. Luffy meanwhile, reached the freezer and confronted the lazily resting Moria.

Back at the bridge destroyed by Oars, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, and Franky, prepared for what maybe a fight with the giant zombie. The behemoth however instead of fighting, took some debris and placed it on his head due to it's likeness to a pirate bicorne. With his new accessory, Oars continued on exploring the rest of Thriller Bark leaving the four Straw Hats unnoticed. Having been left alone, the four Straw Hats were relived. Usopp however was deeply scared of what had happened.

With the giant zombie gone, the four Straw Hats then faced a new problem. Since the zombie destroyed the bridge, the gap that created was too far for them to jump over and the situation seemed to force them to take another route, an option they didn't have the luxury of taking at the moment. Fortunately, Franky was able to create a bridge across the gap from the debris around in no time flat. He however asked his crewmates to wait a few seconds later since he wasn't yet satisfied with the finish. With the bridge built by Franky, the four Straw Hats crossed the gap and entered the Mast Mansion.

Upon entering the mansion, the four Straw Hats soon notice that they've entered special room. Within it was the owner, Perona, waiting for them. From her, they learn that she, having eaten the Horo Horo no Mi, was the one controlling all of the ghosts on Thriller Bark. With that explanation, Perona wasted no time and sent some ghosts to immobilize the four Straw Hats. Unable to escape, all four of them were seemingly immobilized. Seeing her work done on the four, Perona sent her Wild Zombies on them and decided to take care of the rest of the Straw Hats. However, just as she was about to leave, she suddenly noticed that one of them was still standing and purifying her zombies. Thinking that she might have missed him, Perona sent another ghost towards the pirate, Usopp. To her surprise, Usopp didn't fall down like the rest. Wondering why her powers weren't working on him, Perona asked what trick he was pulling. Usopp stated in response that he wasn't doing anything but told Perona why her powers weren't working on him. To Perona's shock, the reason that Usopp was not overcome by negativity was because he was already negative to begin with thus rendering him immune to Perona's powers altogether.

Unable to comprehend that such a negative person could exist, Perona tried in vain, along with her zombies, to cheer up Usopp. Usopp on the other hand, told his fellow crew mates that he'll take care of Perona himself since they couldn't. Relived by Usopp, the three Straw Hats moved on ahead to rescue Brook and Nami, leaving Usopp to deal with Perona. Unfortunately, Usopp didn't intended for this. He wanted them to stay and take out the surrounding zombies. Unable to get his fellow crew mates to stay, Usopp was left alone to face Perona and her Wild Zombies much to his fears and doubts.

Meanwhile, within the Thriller Bark church, Absalom's wedding was proceeding smoothly to his plans. The ceremony had gotten to the part where all that was left to do was to kiss the bride in order to fully consummate the marriage. With this, Absalom dangerously approached a still sleeping Nami with his lips puckered.