Moria's First Battle! The Wild Dog Pirates Wiped Out

On the seventh day after Moria joined, Lin Yuan decided to send him out to "see the world."

"There's no use staying on the island and training all the time." Lin Yuan stood at the harbor with his hands in his pockets. "Real combat is the best teacher."

"Who am I fighting?" Moria asked.

Lin Yuan pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. The name of a pirate crew was written on it.

"The Wild Dog Pirates. Their captain has a bounty of 120 million, and he has seventy or eighty men under him. They robbed a few merchant ships on the edge of the New World and are hiding on a nearby island."

Moria glanced at the paper, then at Lin Yuan.

"Just me?"

"Just you," Lin Yuan said. "If you can't beat them, I'll step in."

"Ororororo..." Kaido laughed. "Don't die, kid."

"I won't." Moria tightened his grip on his scissors.

Lin Yuan raised a hand and opened a door beside Moria. Beyond it was the sky above the target island, about thirty meters above the sea.

"Go on. Come back on your own when you're done."

Moria took a deep breath and stepped through the door.

On an unnamed island in the New World.

The Wild Dog Pirates were drinking and eating meat in a shack at the center of the island. Their captain was a burly man with a brutish face. A cigar was clenched between his teeth, his legs were crossed, and a trembling woman was held in his arms.

"Boss, when are we heading out to sea again?" one of his men asked.

"What's the rush? We'll lie low for a few days first." The captain blew out a mouthful of smoke. "That space user's been active nearby lately. We'd be in trouble if we ran into him."

"I heard his bounty's one billion..."

"So what if it's one billion?" The captain snorted. "It's not like I've never killed anyone with a high bounty. Back then, that guy worth five hundred million..."

Before he could finish, a door opened in the center of the island. Moria stepped through it and landed on the ground, scissors in hand.

"Gecko Moria." The captain narrowed his eyes. "You're that space kid's subordinate?"

Moria didn't answer. He simply glanced over the pirates present.

There were seventy or eighty of them, more than he'd expected.

But he didn't retreat.

"Lin Yuan sent me," Moria said. "He said you shouldn't be alive."

The captain's expression changed. He sprang to his feet, shoving the woman out of his arms.

"Are you alone?"

"Just me."

The captain grinned, a vicious smile spreading across his face.

"You dare come here alone? Get him, boys! Hack him to death!"

Seventy or eighty pirates charged at once, brandishing swords and guns, their battle cries shaking the air.

Moria remained calm. He stood his ground and spread his hands.

"Shadow Horn Spear!"

The shadow beneath his feet surged up, forming several black spears that stabbed out in every direction. Several pirates at the front were pierced through their shoulders and thighs, falling with screams.

"Shadow Scatter!"

The shadow burst apart into countless tiny black needles that rained down on the pirates, blotting out the sky.

"Aah!"

"My eyes!"

"What the hell is this?!"

The pirates fled with their hands over their heads, but many were still struck by the rain of needles. They rolled across the ground in pain.

The captain's face turned livid.

"You're all useless! Out of my way!"

He shoved aside the men blocking his path, gripped his broadsword, and charged.

"Die, you little brat!"

His broadsword, coated in pitch-black Armament Haki, came chopping down at Moria's head.

Moria dodged to the side, and his shadow wrapped around the captain's feet. The captain stumbled and fell flat on his face.

"Shadow Horn Spear!"

A black spear shot up from beneath him, aimed straight at his chest. The captain hurriedly rolled out of the way, but it still pierced his shoulder.

"Aah!"

Blood splattered.

Gritting his teeth, the captain slashed through the shadow binding his feet and staggered backward.

"You... you little brat..."

Moria gave him no chance to catch his breath. He waved both hands, and his shadow turned into countless fine threads that bound the surrounding pirates' arms and legs. The seventy or eighty men were tugged around by the shadow threads, stumbling into one another in a tangled mess.

"Shadow Box!"

The shadow rose from the ground, forming a massive black box that trapped the captain inside.

"Let me out!" The captain hacked away wildly from within, but the shadow box didn't budge.

Moria was panting heavily, his forehead covered in sweat.

That combination of attacks had nearly drained all his strength.

"Lin Yuan said..." He walked up to the shadow box. "I can spare your life so you can go back and tell the others. The New World isn't a place for the likes of you."

He dismissed the shadow box.

The captain slumped on the ground, covered in blood, his face deathly pale.

"You... you're not going to kill me?"

"No." Moria turned around. "Killing you would dirty my hands."

He raised a hand and threw a signal flare into the air.

A green point of light streaked across the sky.

A moment later, a door opened in front of him. Lin Yuan walked through, glanced at the mess covering the ground, then looked at Moria.

"Nice work."

Moria wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Not bad."

"Come on, let's head back."

Back on Hachinosu, Moria recounted how the battle had gone.

After listening, Kaido patted him on the shoulder.

"Ororororo... nice work. Winning your first fight against a whole crew is no easy feat."

"It wasn't enough," Moria said. "My shadow's attacks are still too weak. That captain's Armament Haki nearly blocked my Shadow Horn Spear."

"Then keep training," Lin Yuan said. "Haki can overcome a fruit, and a fruit can overcome Haki. It depends on how well you develop it."

"You'll help me develop it?"

"I will."

Lin Yuan walked to the center of the training ground and raised his hand, opening several doors around him.

"Starting tomorrow, you'll train inside these doors. There's no light in the space inside them. You'll have to imagine the shadows entirely on your own. Once you can control shadows in a place without light, your training will be complete."

Moria looked at the pitch-black doors and fell silent for a few seconds.

"All right."

"Ororororo..." Kaido laughed. "Don't die, kid."

"I won't." Moria clenched his fists.

That night, Lin Yuan sat on the terrace at the top of the castle, gazing at the starry sky.

King came up.

"Lin Yuan, a black-market intermediary sent word that a shipment of 'cargo' will soon be escorted from the South Blue to Mary Geoise."

"What cargo?"

"People who oppose the World Government, apparently. A few of them are being singled out for special attention. One of them is a woman named Ginny. She's very capable at gathering intelligence."

Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes.

"Ginny..."

"Do you know her?"

"No. But I've heard of her." Lin Yuan stood up. "Keep an eye on her for now. Don't make contact. We'll make our move when she's being escorted."

"You're planning to hijack the ship?"

"Yes."

King asked no further questions. He turned and left.

Lin Yuan continued gazing at the starry sky.

"Heh heh heh..." he chuckled softly.

"One. One more."

(End of Chapter 18)