White Shell and the Young Shadow Warrior

Above the harbor.

Several wisps of black smoke rose, streaking the clear sky.

"Big news! This is absolutely huge news! I'm going to be rich!"

A man carrying a box camera charged out of the crowd.

He ran while wildly waving his arms, nearly tripping over a rope on the ground, but he paid it no mind and quickly vanished down the road.

The nearby fishermen gathered again, pointing at the smoldering ships as they discussed it heatedly.

"My god, did you see that? Those wings, that fire..."

"Those bastards got what they deserved."

"But what kind of race was that?"

Their voices abruptly fell silent when they saw Hans approaching with his remaining men.

The crowd backed away, leaving an open space.

Yet Hans and his group did not even look at them. They headed straight for an empty corner and began counting heads.

Hans swept his gaze across his men's faces, then suddenly raised his hoarse voice. "One's missing! Where's that black bastard?"

"Who saw him?!"

The men looked at one another and shook their heads blankly.

Hans cursed under his breath.

"Fuck it, forget it."

He squatted down with his head in his hands, and the others hurriedly followed suit.

Just then, a burst of hurried footsteps approached.

The mayor of White Shell Town arrived at the harbor, panting heavily alongside a group of guards.

When he saw Hans and his men squatting in the corner, he froze, then quickly pulled over a fisherman and asked, "What happened?"

The old fisherman described what he had just seen.

As the mayor listened, the worry on his face faded, eventually turning into a sigh.

"Mayor, what are you doing here?" a voice sounded beside him.

The mayor turned and saw Lin Nuo walking over. He quickly composed himself and gave a wry smile. "I heard there was such a huge commotion at the harbor."

"As the mayor, I had to come take a look, even if I had to force myself."

"I never expected you to have already resolved everything. I don't even know how to thank you."

"It was nothing." Lin Nuo shook his head and looked toward Hans. "What do you plan to do with these people, Mayor?"

The mayor steadied himself. "If my calculations are right, the Marine patrol ship from the West Blue's 78th Branch should arrive within the next few days."

"When it does, we'll hand them over along with the evidence of their kidnapping and seizure of the harbor."

Lin Nuo nodded, quietly weighing things in his mind.

Although he had failed to pry the identity of the mastermind from Hans's mouth.

The other party could casually offer a Devil Fruit as payment, and their target had been the recent refugees.

That level of resources and precision very likely came from Cipher Pol, the intelligence agency directly under the Celestial Dragons.

After causing such a huge disturbance, he could not remain in the Rossini Archipelago for long.

Besides, clues about Ginny and Ivankov had already surfaced. He had to act quickly.

"Mayor," Lin Nuo said seriously.

"I have a favor to ask. I need a ship. It doesn't need to be large, just enough to carry a few people for a period of travel."

"To be honest, I don't have a single berry on me right now."

He paused, then made a solemn promise. "But I, Lin Nuo, will definitely come back to repay this debt in the future, principal and interest included."

The mayor's expression turned thoughtful.

Before he could speak, several fishermen who had been listening in shouted first.

"Hero, I've got a spare fishing boat at home. It's a little small, but it's sturdy!"

"If you don't mind, take it and use it!" a dark-skinned man shouted, thumping his chest.

"I have one too! Mine was just repaired, and the sails are brand new."

"My family has spare rigging and a compass!"

"I've got dried fish and barrels of fresh water!"

For a moment, the docks rang with eager voices.

Teach, held by Alice's hand, looked up in confusion at the adults who had suddenly become so excited and instinctively edged closer to his mother.

This kind of noise was a little different from what he had seen before.

"All right, all right, everyone, quiet down." The mayor raised his voice and pressed both hands downward.

Once the commotion settled.

He looked at Lin Nuo, nostalgia in his eyes.

"Mr. Lin, everyone's intentions are good. But I happen to have a more suitable ship."

He pointed toward the other end of the docks.

Beside a small pier, a medium-sized two-masted sailing ship was moored.

Its wooden hull clearly had some age to it, but it had been maintained remarkably well.

"That was the ship I used in my younger days. I called it the White Shell, the same as this town."

The mayor spoke proudly. "It accompanied me to many places across the West Blue. Later, when I became mayor, it was left unused."

"The basic tools, rigging, and detailed charts of these waters are all still aboard."

"It may be old, but it's absolutely reliable."

He looked at Lin Nuo and said earnestly, "From here to Reverse Mountain, where you enter the Grand Line, there are quite a few islands along the way."

"The magnetic fields in this region are stable. An ordinary Log Pose will be more than enough."

"I'm giving you the White Shell. I hope it can carry you and your companions wherever you wish to go."

Lin Nuo looked at the sailing ship basking in the sunlight, warmth rising in his heart.

He turned to Alice. "What do you think?"

Alice's gaze was firm. "Teach and I have no objections."

"Lin Nuo, we can leave whenever you're ready."

"Good!" the mayor said readily. "The ship hasn't moved in a long time. I'll have someone thoroughly inspect it and stock it with enough fresh water and food."

"Please wait a moment."

He gave several instructions to the captain of the guard beside him, and the man immediately led people at a jog toward the White Shell.

The matter at the harbor was temporarily settled.

Lin Nuo was about to find somewhere to rest for a while and organize his plans.

But the surrounding crowd gathered around him again.

The children especially had completely forgotten their earlier fear.

They were all eager to reach out and touch the black wings folded behind Lin Nuo's back.

"Mister, are your wings real?"

"Are you from Sky Island?"

"Does Sky Island really exist?!"

Lin Nuo was overwhelmed and could only answer as best he could with a wry smile.

Just then.

Thud... thud... scrape...

A familiar strange sound flowed through his ears and into his mind.

Lin Nuo's movements halted.

Voice of All Things—had this ability activated on its own again?

He immediately closed his eyes and immersed his mind in his senses.

Beside his ears came the scraping sound of something heavy being dragged.

There was also the muttering of a young voice, filled with vicious resolve:

Strength... I need it... I can't keep...

Lin Nuo opened his eyes and looked toward the source of the sound.

Among the cargo piled up at the harbor, a small dinghy was partially visible.

Just as he looked over, a pair of human feet was dragged over the edge of the dinghy and disappeared into the shadowed cabin.

"Alice, wait here for me."

Before his words had even faded, Lin Nuo's figure shot out.

Amid the crowd's cries of alarm, he stopped precisely in midair above the dinghy.

Inside the dinghy, a boy abruptly raised his head, his gaze colliding directly with Lin Nuo's.

He looked around eleven or twelve years old, with a sturdy build for his age.

His face was pale, and his hair was shaped like strange flaming scallions.

He gripped a corpse by the ankle and stared at Lin Nuo with vicious eyes.

West Blue... barely a teenager... scallion-shaped hair... a ruthless temperament...

Several keywords connected in Lin Nuo's mind.

Combined with what the boy was doing, a name was about to emerge.

Gecko Moria!?

This boy before him.

Was the future Shichibukai who had dared to challenge Kaido, only to have his spirit crushed by a single club strike and retreat into the Florian Triangle as a shut-in.

A man whose personality had been twisted by failure.

He was cruel and cunning toward outsiders, but he treated the subordinates he acknowledged quite well.

That could be seen from Perona and Absalom.

Looking at this vicious boy, a thought arose in Lin Nuo's mind.

If... he could intervene before Moria had completely wasted himself away.

Perhaps in the future, he could cultivate him into a master of shadows—someone proficient in Haki, formidable in hand-to-hand combat, and capable of using the Shadow-Shadow Fruit for top-tier assassinations and battlefield control.

Lin Nuo slowly descended and landed at the other end of the dinghy, keeping a safe distance from Moria.

"What are you doing?"

Moria did not answer.

He tightened his grip on the corpse, while his other hand quietly reached behind him.

"Don't be nervous." Lin Nuo softened his tone.

"Who is this person? Why did you kill him?"

"He tried to take my things." Moria finally spoke, his voice hoarse.

"So I killed him."

"What's your name? Have you been working for Hans along the way?"

"Moria." The boy gave his name, his eyes flickering.

"I'm not one of them. I just do odd jobs."

Lin Nuo nodded, roughly understanding.

The young Moria had ended up here, perhaps for survival or some other purpose.

"Then, Moria," Lin Nuo got straight to the point, his gaze sharp.

"If I give you a chance to leave this life where you never know if you'll survive tomorrow."

"Would you be willing to follow me, see a broader world, and gain the strength you desire?"

At those words, Moria's pupils contracted sharply.

But he slowly shook his head.

"No..."

"I won't leave until I get what I want."

"What you want?" Lin Nuo's heart stirred as a guess surfaced.

He suddenly asked, "Are you a Devil Fruit user right now?"

The moment that question came out, Moria's expression visibly changed.

But he still did not answer.

Seeing that, Lin Nuo seemed to recall something and turned to look at Hans at the harbor.

He extended his right hand. Blue flames rose from his palm and shot through the air.

They precisely coiled around Hans, dragging him out of the corner and pulling him over.

"Ahh!" Hans crashed onto the wooden boards.

When he raised his head, he saw the corpse inside the dinghy.

Hans was stunned at first, then shouted, "Black bastard! You were hiding here? You..."

Before he could finish, he realized Lin Nuo was looking at him and jolted violently.

Remembering Lin Nuo's earlier order to gather everyone, he began trembling all over in fear.

"B-Boss! I didn't deliberately leave him out!"

"I looked for him, but I really couldn't find him! I..."

"Quiet." Lin Nuo cut him off.

He crouched down, meeting the terrified Hans's eyes, and asked word by word.

"You said earlier that someone used a Devil Fruit as payment to have you capture people."

"What was that fruit called?"

Hans froze, stammering.

"I-I've never seen the Collection Catalog, big brother. How would I know what it's called?"

"Describe what it looked like." Lin Nuo's voice brooked no doubt.

"Every detail."

Hans racked his brains, trying to remember.

"Th-that fruit was deep black. The patterns on its surface were very dense, brownish."

"Oh, right. That fruit was wrapped in lots of tender green leaves. I remember it clearly."

He did his best to recall it, and the traits he described made Lin Nuo's gaze grow sharper and sharper.

Deep black, spiral-shaped, wrapped in flower buds...

Lin Nuo looked at Moria, who was forcing himself to remain calm in the skiff, his fingers tightly clasped together.

At last, his gaze returned to Hans's face.

He already had the answer.

The Shadow-Shadow Fruit.