Shadowkhan vs. Shadow-Shadow Fruit

Thriller Bark.

Inside the massive castle.

Absalom, the Invisibility Fruit user, returned here.

Moria stood with his arms folded, eating.

"Grow stronger, keep growing stronger. Once I gather enough shadows, I can conquer the world!"

Gecko Moria had once relied on his strength. Now, he relied on his forces.

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 tails appeared.

Kalifa flashed into view before Moria.

"Who are you? Where is Absalom?"

Gecko Moria shouted in his shrill voice.

He treasured his companions dearly and hated it most when anyone hurt them.

"So that guy really was your subordinate."

Kalifa said disdainfully.

The nine tails behind her withdrew, while figure after figure emerged.

Invisibility Fruit?

Wrong!

Snake Talisman. Perfect!

Ye Zhuo appeared, with Empress Hancock and the others lined up beside him.

The conceptual-level Twelve Talismans had made both the range and number of people who could turn invisible utterly terrifying.

"Demon King Ye Zhuo!

What did you do to Absalom?

Empress Hancock, you really joined the Demon King Pirates!"

Gecko Moria was already beside himself with rage.

He rose to his feet, his aura surging abruptly.

He even moved to attack.

"Unforgivable! Since you killed Absalom, you'll pay with your lives!"

Moria roared as his shadow turned 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 the legendary Copy-Copy Fruit truly existed.

"Wind!"

Ye Zhuo puffed out his cheeks.

The breath he exhaled instantly became an unstoppable hurricane.

Boom!

The entire wall collapsed.

Even Moria's enormous body was blown away.

"Shadow Horn Spear!"

His shadow transformed into a massive spear and stabbed toward Ye Zhuo behind the wall.

"Shadow Samurai!"

Bang!

The Shadow Samurai stood before Ye Zhuo like an iron wall, katana in hand and armor upon its body.

It forcefully blocked the attack. Though some were pierced through, more quickly filled the gaps.

Ye Zhuo was even more adept than Vinsmoke Judge at using an army of modified soldiers.

"Shadow Mage!"

Moria's shadow clone appeared behind Ye Zhuo.

It threw a punch!

"Shadow Assassin Blades!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

The Shadow Assassin Blades appeared and used their speed and agility to trap the Shadow Mage.

"Why can you use my Devil Fruit powers? And why have you developed abilities that even I don't have?!"

Moria could not help but wonder who the true Shadow-Shadow Fruit user was.

"Shadow Ninjas!"

Ye Zhuo did not answer and simply snapped his fingers crisply.

The classic-skinned Shadow Ninjas appeared in neat ranks and attacked Moria.

"Shadow Warrior!"

Moria swiftly swapped places with his own shadow, escaping the layers of encirclement.

The Ninjas continued their pursuit without hesitation.

This left Moria, who had always used shadows to toy with his enemies, with no choice but to act personally.

He kept knocking away Shadow Ninjas while roaring at Ye Zhuo.

"If you've got the guts, fight me yourself! Why are you cheating with Devil Fruit powers?!"

"Do you have any shame saying that?"

Ye Zhuo was helpless. It seemed he really had to handle this himself.

He appeared before Moria and withdrew his Haki. He could not use demonic energy either.

Otherwise, one punch would kill Moria.

Only by beating Moria half to death could he get Perona aboard his ship.

"Gigishishishi! You don't even know Haki!

You're just a Devil Fruit user!

Looks like most of the praise from outside was nothing but exaggeration!"

Moria laughed loudly. He had not expected Ye Zhuo to attack without using Haki.

That made sense. He was only a rookie.

No matter how high his bounty or how impressive his record was,

he was merely a newcomer with an absurdly overpowered ability.

"Is there something wrong with your brain? How else did we defeat a Logia Marine Admiral 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 madly. 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 only strength and speed.

That way, he would not 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 and decided to finish Ye Zhuo with his next move.

"Then let me show you a move you'll never be able to learn!"

"Shadow's Asgard!"

All the shadows under Moria's control rushed toward him and merged into his body.

Tremendous power flooded into him.

"Gigishishishi! I'm invincible like this!"

Moria loomed over Ye Zhuo, looking down at him. He would use his next punch to leave Ye Zhuo without a grave!

His body continued swelling until he became a giant.

He looked even uglier now.

One punch shattered the ground, opening a huge 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..."

After thinking for a moment, Ye Zhuo directly used the Monkey Talisman to transform into his Azure Dragon Form.

He shifted into a combat-oriented beastman form.

His body became nearly as large as Moria's.

The Demon Sorcerer Form merged with the beastman form of the Azure Dragon Form.

He gripped the Supreme Grade Blade, First Kitetsu.

"This strike has no Haki. Pure strength!"

Azure Dragon lightning coiled 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 call out the name of his move.

"Thunder Bagua!"

Clang!

The strike landed.

Moria felt overwhelming force crash into his body.

He could no longer control any of the shadows he had swallowed. Opening his mouth wide, he vomited them all out.

"Uh, I was only saying hello!"

Ye Zhuo put away the Supreme Grade Blade.

Moria's eyes rolled back as he lost all consciousness.

"That's it? Strength in the past was only strength in the past. Without training and will, one will eventually sink into decline."

When Ye Zhuo looked at Moria, he seemed to see the Crocodile of the past and the Donquixote Doflamingo of the future.

As a pirate, one had to remain filled with ambition and will for a lifetime.

Out at sea, one could not control one's own fate.

Trying to leave was harder than climbing to the heavens.

"Everything has been cleared out."

Empress Hancock, wearing high heels, appeared behind Ye Zhuo without even glancing at Moria.

Behind her, even Hogback, one of Moria's three strange subordinates,

had been turned into a statue.

The other zombies needed no mention. Every last one had been defeated.

"Well done."

Ye Zhuo put away his blade as a figure streaked past, trying to rescue Moria.

He stopped her with a single palm strike.

Perona fell to the ground. She had not expected Ye Zhuo to react so quickly.

"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 flew over.

"Negative Hollow!"

Perona tried to make Ye Zhuo fall into despair.

However, a cloud of white smoke rose, and Ye Zhuo remained completely unharmed.

"Why are you fine?"

"Powerful enough Haki can ignore the effects of Devil Fruits!"

Ye Zhuo smiled and threw a punch.