Clearheaded Moria

"Are newcomers these days all this rude?"

Moria's fury ignited instantly. He was not some play-acting pirate completely unconcerned with outside news; he read the papers and kept an eye on the latest bounties. Dawn's bounty was merely 70 million Beli, hardly worth fearing in his eyes.

Having his deepest scar so bluntly exposed by a rookie like this instantly enraged him. He had already been brooding over the matter, his heart filled with pain and self-reproach.

"Let this senior teach you what manners are!"

Bang!

The ground shattered as if struck by a massive hammer, sending dirt and grass flying everywhere. Moria's huge body shot forward at a speed utterly disproportionate to his size. Almost the instant the sound rang out, he had crossed dozens of meters and abruptly appeared before Dawn.

The enormous longsword in his hand tore through the air, descending straight toward Dawn's head with a shrill howl.

The air wailed like cloth being forcibly ripped apart in the blade's wake. Sharp gusts were pushed aside, and a trace of Armament Haki silently surfaced along the sword's edge.

Moria was confident. Though he admitted that years of decadence and neglected training had caused his physical abilities and Haki to decline, he firmly believed that no brat with a mere 70 million Beli bounty could withstand his Armament Haki slash.

This strike was enough to split this ignorant brat in two!

However, just as the blade was about to touch Dawn's head, Moria's pupils suddenly contracted.

He could clearly feel that his certain strike seemed to have cut into an invisible yet highly resilient mire. Its speed inevitably slowed, as though a strange force field were impeding it.

"Hmm?!"

Moria was startled, but his wealth of combat experience made him react immediately. The muscles in his arm