"Hm?"
Shut-in Moria lifted his nearly one-meter-long neck in some surprise and looked at the group of uninvited guests.
As a little giant nearly seven meters tall, his face and neck alone were even longer than the bodies of Araki and the others combined.
Ever since his crushing defeat at the hands of Kaido of the Beasts twenty years ago, Moria's spirit had suffered a heavy blow. Having lost his confidence, his Three-Color Haki had weakened year by year, and now he could no longer use it at all.
"Who are you?"
he asked in a shrill, puzzled voice.
"We are the new masters of this sea, Moria."
Araki said unhurriedly, "If you're willing to join us, I wouldn't be against leaving you a seat."
"Join you? What kind of joke is that!"
Moria roared. "I am one of the mighty Seven Warlords of the Sea, the man who will become Pirate King! Scatter Bats!"
He waved his hand, and a mass of pitch-black shadow rose from beneath his feet, transforming into a swarm of scattered bats that lunged at Araki.
As the user of the Paramecia-type Shadow-Shadow Fruit, this level of shadow manipulation was merely basic technique for Moria.
To a certain extent, these shadow creations could be said to possess the characteristics of a Logia-type undying body. They could be dispersed, but not completely erased. Without special means, they counted as a rather troublesome move.
But a technique like this was not worth making Araki draw his sword. Behind him, Guren quickly formed hand seals and shouted in a clear voice, "Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Prison!"
Crack, crack—
With a crisp burst of colliding crystal, a large pale-red crystal suddenly rose from the floor of the room, sealing all the incoming shadow bats inside.
On the other side,