"Who goes there!" Jabura shouted nervously, even instinctively adopting an attack stance.
Lucci thought disdainfully—if you didn't notice at first, why not pretend to be calm? Isn't this just making you look even more incompetent?
"Hmph." Sig snorted coldly, maintaining his aloof persona.
"This is the Captain I've found... Crimson Reaper, Vladimir!" Moria said as agreed.
"The Scarlet Reaper?" Jabura looked at Sig with suspicion.
Is there such a person on the high seas?
Although Jabura knew that there were many people stronger than him, there shouldn't be many who could arrive before him so quietly!
Even now, he and Lucci don't understand how Vladimir did it. After careful recollection, they can't even recall when Vladimir appeared.
"It's getting dark. Let's show them what fear is!" Moria said confidently.
After all, Captain John and "Mountain Mover" Pawa are nowhere to be seen, so they're not afraid of being proven wrong when they make threats.
"Scarlet, Pawa is here too. You... were you prepared?" Moria asked, feigning seriousness.
By specifically mentioning the Giant Race, Pawa was clearly trying to ask Sig— "Is Oz's body usable now? Why are you the only one who came out?"
"Don't worry," Sig replied.
At the same time, Moria saw from his own perspective that Sig's shadow, after a moment of Distortion, not only became grotesque but also took on the shape of Oz!
Moria's pupils constricted. Although he didn't know how Sig had done it, it seemed... Oz was hiding in Sig's shadow?
Captain John was more cowardly than expected. He watched as zombies flooded the harbor and darkness fell completely, but he didn't see any particularly skilled fighters. The strongest ones were easily defeated after Moria and Sig made their moves.
Lucci and Jabura wanted to see what "Vladimir" was capable of, but they had absolutely no chance.
On Mayo Island, a "night of a hundred ghosts" unfolded as the Zombie Army advanced toward Captain John's base camp on the mainland.
Moria had his doubts, wondering if this was a trap, but after being mocked by Jabura, he still rushed forward in a fit of rage.
Captain John is clearly not very brave. His current strategy of remaining inactive and not engaging in battle might be a ploy to lure the enemy in, but... look at the location of his main camp—it's actually in a valley on the island?
That's far too cowardly; it's beneath his status as a top-tier pirate!
As they approached the valley, the Zombie Army encountered resistance once again, with a large number of Captain John's pirate crews gathering there.
For ordinary small-time pirates, it's all about numbers. Take Admiral Clark from the Middle East in the original work, for example—he had the most people and the largest fleet, which made him incredibly powerful.
However, for "Great Pirate," the effect of numbers begins to diminish—Clark's fleet was easily wiped out by Hawk Eyes alone.
However, at a higher level, such as the current pirate overlords or the future Four Emperors, especially when they are truly determined to seize hegemony, "numbers" become extremely important!
When Whitebeard went to Marineford, he had to bring along all his sons. Kaido, in Wano Country, was worried about being attacked and resisted by the allied forces within Wano Country. Only after weakening them layer by layer did he feel comfortable exploiting them. On the contrary, when Luffy's crew and the remaining samurai forces of Wano Country attacked Kaido, they were once considered to be "too few in number".
Of course, there is also a reason for this shift in "quality"—the number of people who can play a role in battles of that level generally has some strength, and it is not just ordinary people who can make up the numbers.
Furthermore, with more people, there are generally more skilled individuals.
The current Battle of Mayo Island is similar – even CP0 deeply felt that without a foundation of combat power, it would be impossible to achieve their goals with only top-tier combat strength. That's why they cooperated with Moria and promised him a position as Shichibukai.
Captain John had already gathered his pirate crew, preparing to annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop and deter the World Government from making any further moves against him.
The Zombie Army wasn't cowardly at all—their initial role was that of cannon fodder, and Moria was prepared for this, so he wouldn't feel the same pity for his living comrades.
However, just as Moria gave the order for the Zombie Army to charge, before the battle even began, a hail of rocks rained down from a nearby hill, decimating the Zombie Army.
Enraged by this, Moria stepped forward and smashed a boulder with a single punch. He then glared towards the hill, only to vaguely see several enormous figures!
"The Mountain Mover Pirates?" Moria realized that the giant Shichibukai was stationed on the nearby mountain with his men, forming a pincer movement with the pirates at the valley entrance.
If they continue to charge recklessly, the Zombie Army will likely be quickly and completely depleted!
"Aren't your men going to make a move?" Moria glared at Lucci and Jabura.
He looks down on CP9 and wants to accuse the guy behind CP0!
"We will make our move at the most opportune moment," Lucci said coldly.
Just as he pretended not to know that Moria's ship was imprisoning many sailors, he also didn't care about Moria's zombie losses or his mood.
"You bastard..." Moria glared at him, but Lucci didn't care at all.
"Hahaha, Captain Moria, don't be impatient. Your friend hasn't made a move yet, has he?" Jabura then looked at Vladimir.
Sig smiled politely and said, "Unexpected indeed... Moria, then I'll go check on the giants over there."
Moria hadn't expected that Pawa would team up with Captain John, and neither CP nor Captain John had anticipated the presence of another "Vladimir."
"I'll also bring some men to provide some assistance," Lucci said proactively.
Only five members of CP9 showed up. Of those, only Lucci and Jabura usually spoke up and interacted with outsiders. Jabura made up 80% of the conversation, while Lucci expressed his disdain for the other 20%.
However, Lucci then brought two other CP9 members with him, intending to join Vladimir in either containing... or defeating Pawa!
Sig glanced at him twice, then nodded with a reserved and indifferent air.
Sig was more familiar with the name Lucci, but while he was ostensibly looking at Lucci, Sig was actually looking at a CP9 agent with horned hair behind him.
At this time, Lucci did not yet possess Devil Fruit powers, but the horned man behind him already exuded Devil aura. After gaining the approval of the Prison Demon and having his Devil Fruit powers fully unlocked to Sig, which is known as "Awakening," Sig himself could sense who possessed Devil aura!
Judging from his hairstyle, Sig could roughly guess his identity...