Gecko Moria

Chapter 42: Moonlight · Moria

The moonlight on the sea is sometimes a intoxicating, flushed red.

Reflecting on the deep, dark sea, it was as if a whole ship of red wine had been suddenly poured out.

Sinister, yet exceptionally alluring.

Of course, it's also possible that what was poured out was...

Blood.

Plop.

On a crimson date colored pirate ship.

A tall man wearing a pirate captain's hat tossed a nobleman dressed in luxurious silk into the sea like a sack of rags.

Fresh blood continuously seeped from the nobleman's body.

Like an orchid suddenly blooming on this intoxicating sea.

The pirate captain's eyes were slightly hazy, but he couldn't help but take a swig of the tequila in his hand, which was adorned with exquisite carvings.

This was the nobleman's private collection, and their spoils of war.

Compared to this strong liquor, everything he had drunk before could only be called wheat juice.

And that wasn't all.

On the somewhat messy deck, several unrecognizable corpses were casually discarded.

There were men and women.

All spoils of their recent raid.

The reeking pirates indulged in wine and meat, rewarding themselves for slaughtering several unarmed civilians and burning a village that only knew how to beg for mercy to ashes.

The cheers of their companions and the wine and meat could suppress all unnecessary emotions.

Leaving only pleasure.

Someone impatiently asked, "Captain, when are we going to the next village!"

"You son of a bitch, how long have we been at sea and you're already thinking about the next village?!"

The captain licked the bottle's opening and casually tossed it aside.

The ornate wine bottle hit the deck and instantly shattered.

"Just you wait!"

"I'd rather take a few extra days to get there, just to avoid that Foggy Sea Area."

"So, are we heading to the Sabaody Archipelago? I heard it's pretty chaotic there right now."

"Go my ass!" The Pirate Captain, snatching another bottle of wine from a subordinate, staggered along.

"I'm out at sea for money and women, why would I fight with those Monsters!"

"You think I'm a crazy guy like Joker?"

"Right, women and money!"

"And booze and meat!"

"Hahahaha!"

The Crewmates echoed in agreement.

Their unrestrained laughter instantly heated up the atmosphere on the ship.

The Pirate Captain took another gulp, the taste not as good as that bottle of tequila.

But he enjoyed this feeling of being half-drunk, half-awake.

His gaze fell upon the surging sea, veiled by a faint white mist under the crimson moonlight.

"Compared to those Monsters, I'd rather run into a Ghost, hehehe."

The Pirate Captain couldn't help but laugh at his own thought.

His laughter hadn't stopped.

A surging wave, hidden by the white mist, crashed directly into the ship.

The violent shaking and the increasingly dense fog instantly sobered up this pirate crew, who had been wandering the Paradise Section.

"...What is that?!"

"Something's moving underwater!"

"Bullshit!"

The Pirate Captain, refusing to believe it, flung his wine bottle aside and drew the saber at his waist, pointing it at the white mist.

"I am a Pi--"

The Pirate Captain's words abruptly stopped.

He saw.

From the white mist, a Horrible Gecko Head, comparable in size to a Sea King, suddenly emerged.

Immediately after, another surging Sea Current struck.

The gecko, dragging a palm similar to a Frog's, lunged forward.

The Pirate Captain saw it even more clearly.

But this clearer sight...

Made the courage stirred by the Strong Liquor vanish instantly!

This was a Giant Gecko that had died an unknown time ago, yet still roamed the Great Sea.

Half of its skull was rotten.

The other half of its face was horribly swollen, as if it had been submerged in water for countless years.

Its skin was a ghastly white.

Its solitary, occasionally moving eyeball sent shivers down their spines.

"Sail, there's a sail!"

A Crewmate, trembling, pointed at the night sky.

A completely black Skull Sail emerged from the white mist, with a ring of flickering Dark Flame around the white skull's eyes.

Beneath the black sail stood an island, perched on the back of the dead gecko.

The Pirate Captain seemed to recall something, his eyes fixed on the black sail as he muttered:

"Moonlight. Moria."

A former Shichibukai.

After nearly a decade of silence, people had forgotten how this former Shichibukai, who only sailed at night, and his terrifying Ghost Ship, had once stirred countless dreadful legends on the Great Sea.

The gecko's horrifying head slowly glided past their pirate ship.

Its remaining ghastly white pupil seemed not to even glance at them.

The gecko's movements were very gentle; if not for the ceaseless surging Sea Current beneath the mist, they wouldn't have discovered it so early.

It let us go!

Tears welled up in the Pirate Captain's eyes. The heart that had been lodged in his throat suddenly relaxed.

"Phew, thank goodness. We're just insignificant little pirates."

He turned his back, his previously flushed face now completely pale.

"Leave this place."

Before the Pirate Captain could finish speaking, he felt a chill crawl from the base of his spine to the crown of his head.

The Gecko quietly turned its head.

It opened its mouth, and its already rotted, long tongue wrapped around the entire pirate ship.

With a crunch.

It swallowed the entire pirate ship whole.

Buggy, standing on the black sails, took it all in.

He had been wondering before what powered Moria's ship.

Now, the answer was clear.

A dead Gecko, or rather, a Gecko-shaped Sea King that had been dead for a long time.

Its skin was similar to Moria's pallor, with a faint layer of smooth mucus membrane.

This was probably how he avoided the weakness of Moria's shadow control failing when encountering seawater.

As for why this Gecko could float on the sea, and even support the weight of an island, Buggy remembered a foul-smelling gust of Gas that emerged from its intestines when the Gecko opened its mouth.

This was the same principle as why dead bodies float.

The inside of this Giant Gecko had long since rotted and spoiled, and the various gases produced by this decay were propping up its massive body.

And Moria was controlling this Gecko through shadow manipulation.

However, Buggy wasn't sure whether the island was built on the Gecko's corpse after it died, or if the Gecko had been carrying the island long before that.

After all, the difficulty of building an island was far beyond that of a pirate ship.

"Heeheehee!"

"Advance, Thriller Bark! I will definitely let the World Government know of the terror of the great Moria!"

Not far away.

Moria, for the first time in a long time, picked up his long sword again, pointing it at the empty night sky and shouting incessantly.

Perhaps it was because too much blood had been spilled, but Moria's physique had shrunk by two full sizes. However, the long saber he held, from his younger days, still looked somewhat miniature in his hands.

He appeared flushed with excitement.

It seemed he had left too much of the black [color/substance] on himself.

Buggy stroked his chin and bit the corner of his mouth.

He thought of a more interesting question.

He wondered if this gecko could climb the Red Line.

After all, its appearance on the Grand Line indicated that it had successfully passed the Reverse Mountain.