Welcome Home

"Welcome home, my master!"

In front of the castle.

Doctor Hogback, who made it easy to suspect that he and Moria shared a bat ancestor, spread his arms wide.

He warmly welcomed Moria's arrival.

"Nice work."

Moria moved his nearly seven-meter-tall body forward, his footsteps making the stones tremble.

There was a note of surprise in his voice.

The castle before him had been restored quite a bit.

Look, even the framework was intact. Hogback must have put in a lot of effort. It was a rare thing for the man not to be thinking about that woman again.

Moria remembered how the castle and nearby buildings had been reduced to rubble by Oars, the demon giant under his control.

"It was my duty."

Hogback forced a smile.

With his face stitched up, that was only natural.

"I even found a very interesting corpse a while ago. I'm sure you'll be interested!"

"Oh?"

Hearing there was a corpse, Moria finally stopped on his way to his big bed.

His mouth stretched from ear to ear.

"Yes, it's on the second floor," Hogback said, beckoning enthusiastically.

That kind of enthusiasm was unusual for him.

As a renowned surgeon, he was usually the one people begged for help.

But whenever he thought of that awful fellow, carelessly tossing Sindri's head around in his hands like a ball,

Hogback felt a pang in his heart.

The castle's stairs seemed to have been built without any thought that its owner might grow to his current size.

When Moria stepped on them, sand and stone dust fell like a shower.

"This time, we'll build a Zombie Army capable of ruling the world. Abrosam brought back plenty of corpses from the battlefield."

"Mm. I'll leave such important work to you two."

Moria emphasized this as he walked.

"But the world is still a dangerous place..."

The second floor of the castle was empty, and it had been one of the few places left untouched by the earlier battle.

Moria had later stored the corpses of General John and Silver Axe here.

But now, a lavish-looking coffin stood in the middle of the second floor.

Could it be the corpse of another famous pirate? he thought excitedly, already wondering what number to give this zombie.

The coffin lid wasn't very thick. Compared to Moria, it looked like a child's toy.

He shoved it open and looked inside expectantly...

A grinning clown.

He wore a purple suit, had blue hair, and bright red lipstick painted at the corners of his mouth.

With his eyes open, he waved and greeted Moria.

"Good morning."

"Gah—!"

Moria was startled by the sight.

At some point, that hand had landed on his shoulder, waving at him.

But that wasn't the only thing that alarmed him.

He recognized the grinning clown's face. He had seen it recently on the big screen at Marineford, and on the Bounty Orders the World Government had plastered everywhere.

What the hell was he doing in my house?!

Hogback?!

As if realizing something, Moria whipped his head around and saw Hogback fastening something around Absalom's wrist. Absalom immediately collapsed to the ground, limp.

"Don't worry."

"They're just Seastone Handcuffs, though they're a special edition from the Celestial Dragons' collection."

The clown in the coffin helpfully explained.

"You betrayed me, Hogback!"

That was what made Moria truly furious.

Sure, he was a homebody, and maybe a little weak...

But he had always treated his subordinates well!

He only had three living officers at present.

But this was the first time he'd ever been betrayed!

"Sindri..."

Hogback's smile was strained.

Moria had treated him well, certainly, but Sindri was the foundation of their partnership.

Bringing Sindri back to life was the reason Hogback had stayed with the pirate crew. He had no interest in ruling the world.

"Fool!"

"He's just a clown hiding behind a screen, and he dares look down on me?!"

"I was a Shichibukai, after all!"

After his brief shock, Moria's red onion-shaped head quickly turned as red as if it had been set on fire.

"Shadow of Moria!"

He growled. The shadow beneath his feet writhed, then rose as if it had become solid.

The shadow was black as ink and as tall as Moria. Its hideous grin made it look like a terrifying devil.

Grab the clown and slap him hard!

Moria commanded it in his mind.

He was a Paramecia Devil Fruit User with the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, and he should have complete control over his own shadow.

But the shadow didn't move at all.

What was going on?!

Moria was taken aback and pushed his ability even harder.

The edges of the ink-black shadow bristled, as if resisting him.

How was that possible?

The product of his ability was resisting him, its user!

"What have you done?!"

Moria's voice was filled with uncontrollable shock.

"Try smiling a little."

Buggy stood up and spoke leisurely.

The shadow's mouth stretched from ear to ear.

"From the moment we were born, we've been on a road that keeps leading us toward the bizarre."

The shadow nodded in agreement.

As something created jointly by the Four-Way Split-Split Fruit and the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, every second it remained alive pushed the meaning of "bizarre" even further.

"Splitting?!"

Moria suddenly recalled Buggy's ability: the Four-Way Split-Split Fruit.

"No, that's impossible."

"Your Fruit Awakening—you've already awakened your Devil Fruit ability!"

"You split off my shadow?!"

At last, uncontrollable trembling crept into his voice, but he still tried to take his shadow back.

"You finally caught on."

Buggy laughed and praised him. He seemed to remember saying something like that to someone else before.

"But I have to correct you on one thing."

"I didn't split off your shadow. What I split was you."

The little hand that had been resting on Moria's shoulder waved at just the right moment, making sure to draw attention to itself.

This was one of the ways Buggy had thought of developing his power when he entered the Foggy Sea Area.

Why only split objects?

Could nonphysical things be split too—thoughts, or even emotions?

He had made his first attempt in Black Shadow's dream.

Moria was the second.

Reality's answer was clear: yes.

"Damn it, how is this possible—"

Moria had only just begun to roar when his own shadow suddenly raised a fist and swung at him.

It was his own fist!

The force of the punch felt familiar.

Bastard!

Moria scrambled to his feet in fury and pulled a wide pair of scissors from the shadow behind him.

These were for cutting shadows!

Using my own shadow against me? How laughable!

Moria thought bitterly. But when he looked up, the shadow had produced an identical pair of Shadow Scissors.

The nightmare had truly begun!