"Quick, quick, quick! Something big happened!"
"Grab your weapons and head to the dueling arena for support! Some white-haired lunatic broke in!"
"The second-in-command was sent flying with one punch! Move!"
Footsteps rang chaotically through the passage above the arena.
Gang members swarmed out from every corner like a nest of hornets, sprinting toward the dueling arena.
Beneath that turbulent flow, another squad advanced quietly.
Splash.
A drainage grate was gently pushed open.
Roy poked his head out through the gap and sniffed.
"No one." Roy lowered his voice and called back, "Come up."
Behind him, Moria crawled out first, followed by Glen.
The eight of them climbed onto the surface one after another.
They were at the edge of the underground preparation area beneath the arena, in a corridor piled with training equipment.
Constant tremors and impacts came from overhead, dust sifting down from the ceiling.
"Lin Nuo has started fighting them." Moria glanced up at the ceiling.
"We should hurry too."
Roy nodded, lowered his head again, and sniffed rapidly.
"This way." He set off down the corridor.
The others quickly followed.
Glen and several young men gripped their guns tightly. The corridors twisted in every direction, with countless forks.
But Roy chose the right path every time.
The tremors overhead grew increasingly violent.
One particularly fierce impact shook the entire underground area.
"They're fighting really hard up there..." one young man swallowed.
"Don't lose focus." Moria did not turn around.
"That guy Lin Nuo will make as much trouble as he possibly can. This is the perfect chance for us to act."
After two more turns, a half-open iron door appeared ahead.
Roy stopped before it, pressed his nose close to the crack, and took a deep breath.
"We're close." He gently pushed open the iron door.
What lay beyond made everyone's eyes light up.
It was an underground hall filled with dozens of iron cages.
Children were curled up inside every cage.
Besides the cages, the hall was piled with cargo crates and weapons.
"Found them!" Glen looked immensely relieved.
They immediately put away their guns, took out the lockpicking tools they had prepared, and rushed toward the cages.
"Don't be afraid. We're here to save you." Glen lowered his voice. "Stay quiet. You'll be out soon."
The children stared back at them blankly.
Roy also breathed a sigh of relief and was about to join the rescue.
But he suddenly stopped.
His nose twitched twice, and he frowned.
"What is it?" Moria noticed something was wrong.
"I smell something strange," Roy said softly.
His eyes swept across the dim hall.
Then Roy slowly walked along the wall, his nose nearly pressed against the stone.
At last, he stopped before a rough wooden table scattered with playing cards and empty wine bottles.
Beside the wooden table stood a wall with a large poster pasted onto it.
Roy stared at the poster, his nose twitching again.
"No, the source of the smell is behind this wall."
Moria followed him over and stared at the poster in confusion.
Then Roy suddenly stretched out his right hand. His arm rapidly expanded, thickened, and transformed into a beastly limb.
With a rip, he tore down the entire poster.
Behind it was still a wall.
"Right here!" He stepped back half a pace, his right arm muscles bulging as he threw a punch!
The wall shattered at once, rubble flying as dust filled the air.
"What are you doing?!" Moria rebuked him. "You'll draw people over here!"
But the next second, his words caught in his throat.
Because as the dust settled, a one-foot-square hidden compartment had appeared in the once-solid wall.
Inside the compartment lay a small black wooden box.
Roy extended his beast claw, pinched up the wooden box with his nails, and applied a little force.
The wooden box cracked open.
A fruit appeared within: pitch-black in color, patterned with dark brown swirls, and wrapped in tender green leaves.
"This is—"
Moria took a step forward, his eyes locked onto the fruit.
"Paramecia—Shadow-Shadow Fruit."
"How could it be here..." Moria's voice was dry.
The thing he had dreamed of was now right before him, within arm's reach.
The source of power that could truly make him stronger, so he would no longer be at the mercy of others.
His throat tightened, and he could not help swallowing.
Roy looked at the fruit in the box and raised an eyebrow.
"With all these cargo crates and children here, this should be where they store their 'prizes.'"
Roy scratched his head with his beast claw.
"Didn't expect them to hide a Devil Fruit behind the wall too."
"Heh, being a dog sure has plenty of perks."
Roy was relaxed about it, but Moria's breathing had already quickened.
Several seconds of silence passed.
Moria abruptly lifted his head and looked at Roy, his voice trembling with excitement.
"Roy, can I eat this fruit?!"
"Sure."
Roy casually tossed the fruit over.
Moria caught it in a fluster and hugged it to his chest, completely stunned.
"Y-you're just giving it to me?!" He stared at Roy as if he could not believe him.
"This is a Devil Fruit! Do you know how much a Devil Fruit is worth? Do you know how much power it can bring?!"
Roy shrugged, his beastly right arm returning to human form.
"We're comrades. What's the big deal?"
"Besides, that damn bird always thinks I stole his Hellhound Fruit. He looks at me all day like I owe him money."
"Now I've found a fruit for his most valued Crew member."
He patted Moria on the shoulder, smiling brightly.
"Consider the debt repaid."
Most valued Crew member...
Moria stood there holding the fruit, dazed.
He remembered what Lin Nuo had told him when he first arrived in Tenpan City.
"If you run into someone you can't beat, run away first."
Comrades, companions, most valued Crew member...
"Thanks."
Moria spoke quietly and raised the fruit.
"Oh, right." Roy suddenly remembered something.
"Devil Fruits taste awful, like shit. You'd better—"
Before he could finish.
Moria had already taken a bite.
"Bleurgh—!!!"
The next second, he began dry-heaving violently.
"Hehe, you got hit by it too, huh!"
"Water... water..." he begged hoarsely.
But at that moment, a flood of knowledge poured into his mind.
Knowledge about the nature of "shadows."
Cutting away others' shadows, implanting shadows into corpses to grant them "false life," merging shadows into himself to gain power and traits...
Shadow clones, cages, even weapons...
A few seconds later, Moria slowly raised his head.
He raised his right hand and spread his five fingers.
On the ground, his own shadow raised its hand as well.
Then Moria lightly clenched his fist, and the shadow made the exact same motion.
But before he could carefully study his ability, a burst of footsteps interrupted him.
"Bad news! Roy! Moria!"
Glen hurried over, his voice anxious.
"We checked every cage!"
"But... but we can't find the three people Lin Nuo mentioned!"
"What?!" Roy spun around.
"Ivankov, Ginny, and Kuma aren't here!" Glen spoke rapidly.
"I asked some of the older children. They said those people were taken away separately this morning!!"
Before you continue