Gecko Moria

The Thriller Bark, the central castle.

In a dark room, Gecko Moria, with his monstrous physique, lay on his back on the bed, snoring loudly.

"Master... Master..." Moria's subordinates called out in awe, waking him from his slumber.

His large, bell-like eyes widened, clearly indicating he was grumpy upon waking.

"It's been four days since the last night raid... and you've been sleeping the whole time!" a zombie quickly explained, afraid of incurring Moria's wrath. "We've prepared four days' worth of food for you!"

"You've put your heart into this." Moria was ruthless to his enemies, but he was relatively kind to his own men.

"Where are the others?"

The zombies naturally knew that the "they" Moria was referring to were his most trusted subordinates, the three strange men on Thriller Bark.

"Lord Absalom and Lady Perona seem to have found valuable prey and are preparing to retrieve it for you personally, while Lord Hogback is creating a new type of zombie body for you."

"Hehehehehe, well done. I'll leave all of this to you. Make sure I become the Pirate Kings as soon as possible!"

Having learned from Absalom's experience, Perona became much more obedient and dared not make any underhanded moves.

With Perona as their guide, no clueless little zombies dared to jump out, and they made it through without any obstacles.

It must be said that Moria's Thriller Bark is a miracle in the Pirate World; it's practically a moving island.

It is said that this sailing ship came from the West Blue with Moria, which makes Roy suspect that Moria may have crossed the Calm Belt reach the Grand Line. Otherwise, given the size of this Thriller Bark, Roy simply cannot imagine how it passed through the Reverse Mountain.

At the foot of the central castle.

"Captain, shall we overturn this castle and give Moria a little something to say?" Crocodile the Sand was itching for a fight. He had greatly improved his strength, but since he came out of the Sky Island, he had not encountered a decent enemy.

Fire Fist Ace doesn't count, since he was too careless in that battle, and the captain even intervened halfway through.

The most crucial point is that defeating a newcomer doesn't give him any sense of accomplishment; only defeating a veteran powerhouse like Moria can give him any satisfaction.

"Your fight is too noisy, let me handle it." Roy knew that there were definitely World Government spies on this island, otherwise the battle three years later wouldn't have ended with the Five Elders issuing an order to eliminate them.

Although he didn't intend to hide his actions from the World Government," there were still some details he didn't want to be revealed.

He had no intention of killing Moria, as doing so would not only bring him no benefit, but might also provoke the other Shichibukai to share his hatred.

As for making Moria, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, one of his subordinates, that's not currently on his agenda.

While doing so would undoubtedly boost his reputation even further, it would also arouse suspicion and fear from the World Government," and it's not impossible that they might even decide to completely break with Roy.

At Roy's level, every move he makes can influence the global landscape and cause turmoil.

Therefore, his purpose in this trip was merely to plant a seed, which might yield unexpected results in the future.

Inside the castle's dining room, Moria is enjoying a hearty meal.

A long table of food was devoured by Moria in a whirlwind of eating.

There was a reason why his physique changed from lean to bloated.

"Gecko Moria, you're really disappointing. I didn't expect your vigilance to have dropped to this level?"

The indifferent tone that came from behind Moria startled him, and he quickly turned around.

"Hehehe, it's actually that brat who defeated the Heavenly Yaksha and the Crocodile the Sand. Didn't you say you'd been missing for two years?" Moria chatted and laughed as he faced Roy and his crew, displaying a bit of the former hero of the West Blue.

Moria didn't ask about Absalom's whereabouts; the moment he saw Perona bound and appearing there, he already knew the ending.

"Indeed, it is only in living that one can lose," Moria thought to himself, further solidifying his belief in building an army of the dead.

"So, your intelligence channels are really lagging behind. Is it because no News Coo are willing to come here?"

"Intelligence is completely unimportant; my men will take care of it anyway. By the way, why is a man like you on my ship? Are you trying to give me your shadow?" Moria pulled out a pair of scissors and pointed them at Roy, letting out his distinctive laugh.

"If you have the ability, then come and take it," Roy chuckled, seemingly unconcerned by Moria's words.

"Then I'll accept your shadow without ceremony. Forged from the shadow of Shichibukai and the body of the strongest demon, the strongest [Special Zombie] in history, it will surely make me the Pirate Kings, hehehehe." Moria laughed wildly, his huge body gradually darkening. "Feel the fear of darkness, Shadow Warrior."

The shadow pressed against the ground instantly transformed into Moria's body, circled behind Roy, and brandished the giant scissors in his hand, intending to cut off Roy's shadow as soon as possible.

"Full of flaws!" Roy turned and punched Moria, shattering his body into countless black bats that scattered and fled.

"Shadow Horn Spear!" The scattered bats gathered together, coalescing into a black spear that pierced the silent air.

Roy's expression remained unchanged. He gently raised his right hand, and an eerie longsword shot out from his palm, piercing through the black spear with unstoppable force, before returning to Roy's hand.

The sword emitted a dark green light, illuminating the entire room, which instead gave people a sense of gloom and loneliness. Even Perona in her ghost form trembled, as if she would be devoured by that ferocious sword if she looked at it for too long.

"What an evil sword! Aren't you afraid of being attacked by it?" Moria clutched his massive waist, blood seeping from between his fingers, his gaze towards the Seven Star Sword filled with dread.

The moment he was pierced by the longsword, he felt as if a monster was devouring his flesh and blood, and a violent aura coursed through his body, making it impossible for him to even stop the bleeding.

The Seven Star Sword trembled and emitted a soft hum, conveying a desire to Roy. Moria's blood was undoubtedly the most delicious food for it.

"A person who can't even control their own weapon is nothing but trash." Roy tilted his head. "But you, Gecko Moria, I'm very curious. How did someone as weak as you survive a monster Kaido?"