Just as Austin had expected,
the moment he expressed his intention to recruit him, Moria's eyes instantly bloodshot as his face twisted viciously.
"What kind of joke is this?! Just because I once clashed with Kaido, you think I'd submit to you?!"
Having lost all his companions to Kaido was Moria's lifelong pain.
But even so, he had never harbored any intention of submitting. Instead, he had returned to his old home to hole up and build his strength through "stupid methods."
A man like him had far more defiance in his bones than the other Shichibukai.
In his rage, Moria could no longer restrain himself. Shadow power surged from his entire body.
With an expression like someone about to unleash everything, vast swathes of shadow transformed into corpses, then into bats filling the sky.
"Oh~ What an impressive range~"
Austin raised his head. Watching the shadows flap toward him like a lifelike swarm of real bats, he smiled helplessly.
"Perfect. I've made a small experimental breakthrough with Devil Fruit ability awakening."
Mihawk watched coldly from the side. Seeing how unhurried Austin was, he seemed to regard the enormous bat swarm as nothing at all, merely folding his arms indifferently.
Austin slowly raised a hand.
At that moment, knowledge related to Devil Fruit awakenings surfaced in his mind.
A Zoan type awakening produced smoke clouds and greatly enhanced vitality, defense, and other traits. It was essentially a wave of beast-form strengthening.
A Paramecia, meanwhile, assimilated or affected the surrounding environment.
Austin wanted to develop the Warp Fruit toward spatial powers, but he could not turn himself into a space-man.
After all, he had not eaten the Chop-Chop Fruit. It was impossible for his body to warp away while his head remained where it was, so he could only find another