Thriller Bark.
Inside the massive castle.
Absalom, the user of the Invisibility Fruit, returned here.
Moria stood with his arms crossed, eating.
"Become stronger, keep getting stronger! Once I gather enough shadows, I can conquer the world!"
Gecko Moria had once relied on strength; now he relied on influence.
From trusting his companions to doubting even himself.
"Absalom? You're back.
Did you find any new pirate crews today?
Let me harvest all their shadows!"
Moria laughed as he looked at Absalom.
Whoosh!
The Nine-Tailed Fox's tail appeared.
Kalifa flashed into existence before Moria.
"Who are you? Where is Absalom?"
Gecko Moria shouted in his shrill voice.
He cherished his companions deeply and hated it most when anyone harmed them.
"So that guy really was your subordinate."
Kalifa said disdainfully.
The nine tails behind her withdrew, and figures emerged one after another.
Invisibility Fruit?
Wrong!
Snake Talisman, perfect!
Ye Zhuo appeared, with Empress Hancock and the others lined up beside him.
With the conceptual-grade Twelve Talismans, the range and number of people who could turn invisible had reached terrifying levels.
"Demon King Ye Zhuo!
What did you do to Absalom?
Empress Hancock, you really joined the Demon King Pirates!"
Gecko Moria was already furious beyond measure.
He rose to his feet, his aura suddenly surging.
He was even about to launch an attack.
"Unforgivable! Since you killed Absalom, I'll use your lives as his burial offering!"
Moria roared as his shadow transformed into a swarm of bats and flew out.
"Spreading Bats!"
"Shadow Night Bats!"
Ye Zhuo snapped his fingers, and the flying Shadow Night Bats appeared at once.
"Damn it, damn it!"
Moria could not believe that the legendary Copy-Copy Fruit truly existed.
"Wind!"
Ye Zhuo puffed out his cheeks.
He forcefully exhaled, and the breath turned into an unstoppable hurricane.
Boom!
The entire wall collapsed.
Even Moria's massive body was blown away.
"Shadow Horn Spear!"
His shadow became a gigantic spear and stabbed toward Ye Zhuo beyond the wall.
"Shadow Samurai!"
Bang!
The Shadow Samurai stood before Ye Zhuo, wielding katanas and clad in armor like an iron wall.
They forcefully blocked the attack. Though some were pierced through, replacements quickly filled the gaps.
Ye Zhuo was even more skilled than Vinsmoke Judge at using an army of modified humans.
"Shadow Mage!"
Moria's shadow clone appeared behind Ye Zhuo.
It threw a punch!
"Shadow Assassin Blades!"
Swish, swish, swish.
The Shadow Assassin Blades appeared and trapped the Shadow Mage with their advantage in speed and agility.
"Why can you use my Devil Fruit ability and even develop abilities that I don't possess?"
Moria could not help but wonder who the true user of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit was.
"Shadow Ninjas!"
Ye Zhuo did not answer. He simply snapped his fingers crisply.
Classic-skin Shadow Ninjas appeared in unison and attacked Moria.
"Shadow Warrior!"
Moria swiftly switched places with his shadow and escaped the layers of encirclement.
The ninjas continued their pursuit without hesitation.
This time, Moria, who had always used shadows to toy with his enemies, could only fight personally.
He kept knocking away the Shadow Ninjas while roaring at Ye Zhuo.
"If you've got the guts, fight me yourself! Why cheat with Devil Fruit abilities!"
"You really have the nerve to say that?"
Ye Zhuo sighed helplessly. It seemed he really had to handle this himself.
He appeared before Moria and put away his Haki. He could not use demonic energy either.
Otherwise, he would kill Moria with one punch.
Only by beating Moria into a cripple could he get Perona to board his ship.
"Kishishishishi! You don't even know Haki!
You're just a Devil Fruit user!
Looks like most of the praise from the outside world was nothing but flattery!"
Moria laughed loudly. He had not expected Ye Zhuo to attack without using Haki.
Then again, he was only a newcomer.
No matter how high his bounty or how impressive his record was,
he was still just a rookie with an absurdly overpowered ability.
"Is there something wrong with your brain? How would we have defeated Logia Marine Admirals without Haki?"
Ye Zhuo felt that Moria really was not very bright.
Maybe he had grown stupid after spending so many years on Thriller Bark.
"Is that so? Then use it!"
Moria laughed maniacally. He truly had neglected his training over the years.
But no matter what, he had once been a great pirate and was now one of the Shichibukai.
"If I use Haki, I'll kill you."
Ye Zhuo shook his head. Moria had a physical body, so he planned to fight using pure strength and speed.
That way, he would not accidentally kill him and fail the mission.
"You arrogant brat, do you really think I'm some rookie pirate fresh out to sea?"
Moria did not believe him. He decided to finish Ye Zhuo with his next move.
"Then let me show you a move you'll never learn!"
"Shadow's Asgard!"
All the shadows under Moria's control rushed over at high speed and merged into his body.
Powerful strength flooded into him.
"Kishishishishi! In this form, I'm invincible!"
Moria looked down at Ye Zhuo from above. With his next punch, he would leave Ye Zhuo without a grave!
His body kept expanding until he became a giant.
He looked considerably uglier as well.
He threw a punch, shattering the ground and opening a massive fissure.
It showed just how much the shadows had increased his strength.
Ye Zhuo had arrived here four years early, which also meant Moria had spent less time wallowing in decline.
As a result, he could control the shadows he had swallowed for longer.
"Uh..."
Ye Zhuo thought for a moment, then directly used the Monkey Talisman to transform into Azure Dragon Form.
He shifted into the humanoid beast form used for combat.
His body became comparable in size to Moria's.
The Demon Sorcerer Form fused with the humanoid beast form of Azure Dragon Form.
In his hand was the Supreme Grade Blade, First Kitetsu.
"This strike has no Haki, only pure strength!"
Azure Dragon lightning wrapped around the Supreme Grade Blade.
"Hey, you actually copied Kaido's Devil Fruit!
Damn it, what are you trying to do?
Die! You disgusting brat!"
Even without using Haki, Ye Zhuo could still shout the name of his move.
"Thunder Bagua!"
Clang!
The blow crashed down.
Moria felt overwhelming force invade his body.
He could no longer control any of the shadows he had swallowed. Opening his mouth wide, he spat them all out.
"Uh, I was just saying hello!"
Ye Zhuo put away the Supreme Grade Blade.
Moria's eyes rolled back as he lost all consciousness.
"That's it? Strength from the past is only strength from the past. Without training and will, one will eventually fall into decline."
Looking at Moria, Ye Zhuo seemed to see the Crocodile of the past and the Donquixote Doflamingo of the future.
A pirate had to spend an entire lifetime filled with ambition and will.
Once on the sea, one could no longer control one's own fate.
Trying to leave was harder than climbing to the heavens.
"All enemies have been cleared."
Empress Hancock appeared behind Ye Zhuo in high heels, not even sparing Moria a glance.
Behind her, even Hogback, one of Moria's three monsters,
had been turned into a statue.
The other zombies fared no better; all had been defeated.
"Good work."
Ye Zhuo put away his blade. A figure flashed past, trying to rescue Moria.
Ye Zhuo stopped her with a palm strike.
Perona fell to the ground. She had not expected Ye Zhuo's reaction to be so fast.
"Damn it, what did you do to Lord Moria?!"
"Perona, sail with me and become my therapist!"
Ye Zhuo's words made Perona take a frightened step back.
A ghost drifted past.
"Negative Hollow!"
Perona tried to make Ye Zhuo lose all motivation.
Yet a puff of white smoke rose, and Ye Zhuo remained completely unharmed.
"Why are you okay?"
"Powerful enough Haki can ignore the effects of Devil Fruits!"
Ye Zhuo smiled and threw a punch.
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