Moria's Miscalculation

Wano Country, Ringo.

The snow was still falling.

Fine snowflakes were swept up by the cold wind, spinning through the air before settling over the ruins, corpses, and shattered rooftops.

White covered everything, yet it could not conceal the thick stench of blood.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Moria stood atop the wreckage of a collapsed roof, his arms spread wide.

Behind him stood the Moonlight Pirates, while before him were the people of Wano Country who had just been rescued.

They knelt.

They cried.

They laughed.

Some pressed their foreheads to the ground and kowtowed without end, while others trembled as they shouted, "Savior!"

Since Oden's death, they had gone too long without seeing "hope"—so long that they had forgotten how to express it.

The sight made Moria's chest swell.

A sense of expansion, of being looked up to and depended on, spread through him like poison.

He threw back his head and laughed. His laughter echoed through the wind and snow, growing ever more unrestrained. "People of Wano, don't worry!"

His voice was high and brimming with absolute confidence.

"Now that I'm here!"

He swung his arm sharply, and shadows churned across the ground as though answering his will.

"A guy like Kaido—"

"I'll personally beat him into the ground!"

"Wano Country—"

He lifted his chin and looked down at the crowd.

"I will liberate it!"

As his words fell, cheers erupted around him once more.

At that moment, Moria believed he was the one who could change everything.

But then—

"No... don't..."

A tiny voice pierced the fervor like a needle.

Moria froze, his smile stiffening for an instant.

He abruptly turned, his gaze locking onto the source.

Not far away, a female pirate was holding Perona.

The little girl's face was covered in tears. She was crying