Pirates: I Loaded the Game Panel

What is he doing? Moria wondered. Why has White Ghost used Ghost Creation to make so many things that look impressive but can't do anything?

The other pirate lackeys had been scared out of their wits when they saw the enormous swarm of ghosts coming. But when Moria easily stopped the white ghosts again, they relaxed and resumed shouting taunts at the sky.

As time passed, the white ghosts gradually formed a huge square maze. It completely enclosed the Cruel Moonlight, steadily dividing the battlefield aboard the ship into smaller spaces.

From a distance, it looked as though a massive white box had appeared out of nowhere on the blue sea, a sight as strange as a mirage.

Moria frowned. He had not expected White Ghost to create a swarm of Ghosts on this scale. Wary of his enemy, he released a mass of shadows to protect everything nearby.

Adrian descended from the sky and slipped silently aboard, concealed by the white Ghosts.

Mini Hollow: Astral Cruise!

He once again released Mini Hollows capable of scouting their surroundings and merged them into the Heart-Ravaging Maze formed by the white ghosts. Every corner inside the Cruel Moonlight came into focus in his mind.

It was like revealing the entire map through the fog of war!

Using the Mini Hollows' detection, Adrian continually adjusted his position while releasing Ghost Bombs. One by one, he picked off the Moonlight Pirates' lackeys inside the cabins, and kill notifications streamed across his panel.

[You struck a vital point! Normal attack converted to a critical attack!]

[You killed a Pirates lackey from the Moonlight Pirates, xx. Based on the level and attribute gap, you gained 200 experience points.]

Most of these lackeys were only around level ten. They might have passed for elite members of a gang, but on the vast sea, they were nothing more than cannon fodder.

Adrian had once wiped out the entire Capone Gang single-handedly. Killing these Pirates' lackeys was even easier now.

If he had not needed to stay hidden, he would have killed them faster!

Before long, every lackey inside the Pirates' ship was dead. Adrian had gained over ten thousand experience points in total.

Now the only Moonlight Pirates left were the elite fighters on deck!

With that in mind, Adrian concealed himself and began damaging the Cruel Moonlight, making noise to draw the attention of the elite Pirates on deck.

After all, his mission was not merely to defeat Gecko Moria. It also required him to [defeat the Moonlight Pirates]!

Crack, crack—

Harsh noises came from every part of the Pirates' ship. Standing amid the elite Pirates on deck, Moria grew increasingly irritated, and his unease deepened.

If White Ghost keeps destroying the ship, there won't be any point fighting! Moria knew full well that even if he won, the damage White Ghost caused could still send the ship to the bottom of the sea.

At that thought, Moria could no longer stand still!

"Jacks, I'm leaving the deck to you!" Moria said solemnly to the deputy he trusted most.

"I understand!" Red-Haired Jacks took a deep breath and answered with equal resolve. "No one can defeat the Moonlight Pirates!"

Moria nodded. After a moment's hesitation, he summoned all the zombies from the bottom of the ship to the deck as cannon fodder.

A sickening stench of rot spread at once, though most of the elite Pirates nearby were used to it.

Gecko Moria had not yet had his ambition beaten out of him by Kaido. He was not yet the Zombie King who would come to believe that "only the living can lose."

Moria had already developed his ability to make zombie puppets, but he did not value it highly. He regarded it only as a way to replenish his cannon fodder.

Once he had done everything he needed to, Moria left the deck and headed straight for the cabins.

At the same time, Adrian noticed the movements of the people on deck.

Just what I wanted!

Beyond blocking sight, the White Ghost's Heart-Ravaging Maze served a more important purpose: splitting the battlefield, separating a united enemy into isolated targets, then harvesting their lives one by one.

By leaving the main body of the Moonlight Pirates, Moria had played straight into Adrian's plan!

Time to wipe out those elite pirates!

Adrian entered his Ghost form and flew eerily up to the deck, where the Moonlight Pirates' elite fighters, led by Red-Haired Jacks, stood alongside a large horde of rotting zombie cannon fodder.

"It's you, White Ghost!" Red-Haired Jacks tightened his grip on his long blade, his expression grim.

As Moria's chief deputy—and a man whose nickname and name were almost the same as those of a future member of the Four Emperors—Red-Haired Jacks was quite strong. In West Blue, at least, he was among the best!

Adrian took a quick look at Red-Haired Jacks's attribute panel. He was level 45, and all three of his main combat attributes exceeded 100. He was formidable indeed.

"Gunners, fire at will! All of you, fire! Send in every zombie! Everyone else, prepare to fight!"

Red-Haired Jacks issued orders rapidly. The Moonlight Pirates, famous throughout West Blue, naturally had a full complement of fighters.

Unlike crews such as the Roger Pirates, the Red Hair Pirates, and the Straw Hat Pirates, which prized a small force of elites, most pirate crews on the sea favored strength in numbers!

But more people did not necessarily mean more power, especially on this vast sea teeming with ability users.

Mini Hollow: Nova Fire!

Ignoring the gunfire and cutlasses coming his way, Adrian unleashed a simple saturation bombardment of ghosts. It sent the Moonlight Pirates' elites sprawling; only a handful remained on their feet.

"Th-this is impossible!" Red-Haired Jacks shouted in despair. "Why didn't it work?"

"Because... never mind. I don't need to explain it to you." Adrian shook his head.

Mini Hollow: Withering Heart-Piercer!

Another minor pirate whose name resembled that of a future emperor of the sea exited the stage.

At the same time, Adrian dismissed the Heart-Ravaging Maze, exposing the scene aboard the Cruel Moonlight to the sunlight.

Still searching the cabins for Adrian, Moria sensed the white maze around him vanish. His heart lurched. He raced to the deck, where a sight that filled him with despair awaited.

The Moonlight Pirates had been wiped out. Only their captain remained!

The deputy and companion he trusted most had a gaping hole in his chest. He was no longer breathing!

Moria's eyes turned bloodred. He threw back his head and roared like a lone wolf howling at the moon:

"Unforgivable! Unforgivable!! Unforgivable!!!"

"I'll tear you to pieces, White Ghost!!"

[48. A Fierce Battle]

"Nightmare Bat Assault!"

A vast swarm of shadow bats appeared once more and surged toward Adrian. Their numbers had exploded since last time, nearly dyeing half the sky black.

Mini Hollow: Nova Fire!

Adrian had been waiting. Without a hint of panic, he used the same move again. He spread his arms, and Mini Hollows flickered out of the void across the sky. They darted back and forth, weaving an impenetrable net of explosions.

Amid the roar of blasts and flickers of light, the Mini Hollows intercepted every last shadow bat.

But shadows could not die!

The shadow bats blown apart by the Mini Hollows became clumps of black fluid that fell from the sky. They rapidly spread and gathered into a huge rushing current of shadow.

The surging black river bore down on Adrian as if it could swallow the heavens. It slithered across the deck like a giant jungle python, opened its jaws, and lunged for him with a deadly bite.

At the same time, while the river of shadow occupied Adrian, Gecko Moria charged toward him with a huge curved blade. The pressure from his bloodred eyes was terrifying!

Faced with their combined attack, Adrian suddenly vanished.

Free Ghost: Cloud Walking!

Free Ghost was the state Adrian entered when he took on ghost form. As a Ghost, he could fly, change size, pass through physical obstacles, and ignore physical attacks!

Adrian had used the incredible flying speed of Free Ghost to rise higher into the air, evading Moria and his shadow serpent.

Moria's attack missed, but he did not falter. He looked up and beckoned. The vicious shadow serpent rushed to him and instantly transformed into several enormous black spears.

"Multiple Shadow Horn Spears!"

Moria hurled them into the sky, but Adrian easily dodged again.

Hovering above him, Adrian looked down and declared proudly, "Gecko Moria, the same move won't work on me twice!"

"Is that so?" Moria snarled. "Then how about this?"

"Shadow Clone!!"

Moria instantly switched places with a giant Shadow Horn Spear flying through the sky. His towering body loomed over Adrian below.

In the sunlight, the enormous shadow Moria cast even covered the Cruel Moonlight.

Grinning savagely, he swung his huge curved blade—half as long as he was tall—and brought it crashing down on Adrian!

Whoosh—

"What?"

Moria's pupils contracted. The blow he had been certain would land seemed to pass through empty air, making only a violent rushing sound.

His blade had clearly sliced through White Ghost's body, yet it had done nothing. It had not even hurt him!

In the next instant, however, Moria remembered how he had blocked a Ghost Bomb with Shadow Screen. He immediately changed tactics, letting his massive body spin with its momentum in midair.

A moment later, his next attack came.

This time, a layer of pitch-black shadow coated Moria's huge curved blade!

"Shadow Blade Slash!"

Clang!

Adrian reacted by raising his blade to meet the strike. It felt as though a ship at full speed had slammed straight into him. His sword arm went numb, and the world around him shot upward!

Moria's full-strength, shadow-coated blow sent Adrian flying. Like a falling meteor, he hurtled toward the Cruel Moonlight below.

Absolutely not!

Adrian gritted his teeth. If he let himself keep falling, the descent might dissipate the force of the blow, but his ghost form would also carry him straight through the ship and into the sea!

His thoughts raced. Adrian forced himself into ghost form, took control of his body, and stopped dead in midair, defying the laws of physics.

Blood kept spilling from the corner of Adrian's mouth, gradually staining his white shirt red.

Stopping himself by force also meant taking the full impact of Moria's blow.

Moria's overwhelming strength had dealt Adrian considerable damage!

A notification appeared on his panel.

[You were attacked by Gecko Moria (LV65 · Enraged). You lost...]

Adrian had time for only a glance before Moria began plummeting toward him from the sky.

"White Ghost! I've found a way to kill you! Hee-hee-hee-hee!"

"[Shadows] can touch [Ghosts], can't they? Hee-hee-hee-hee!"

Moria swung his shadow-coated blade and laughed savagely. "Look at the state of you! Get ready to pay for my companions with your life! Shadow Blade Slash!"

Free Ghost: Firefly Trickster!

The shadow-coated blade missed again. This time, its target vanished entirely.

Boom!

Moria slammed into the deck, his massive body making the battered Cruel Moonlight shudder.

With no time to worry about anything else, Moria searched everywhere: sky and sea, deck and masts. But he could not find White Ghost.

"White Ghost!" he shrieked. "Get out here!"

"I've been here all along, Gecko Moria!"

Adrian, still looking somewhat worse for wear, reappeared where he had vanished.

Free Ghost: Firefly Trickster was one of the techniques Adrian had developed from Ghost's ability to change size. It let him shrink or grow in an instant, much like the Marvel superhero Ant-Man.

Against an enemy like Moria, who had entered something akin to a berserk state, meeting force with force was far from wise. Giving ground at the right moment was the better choice.

"I'm sick of your tricks!" Moria snapped. "I've got it. If I block every direction you can flee, you won't be able to keep this up!

"Shadow Screen!"

Several black screens of shadow rose from the Cruel Moonlight, sealing off every direction. In an instant, the battlefield shrank from open sky and sea to a cramped enclosure.

Adrian looked at the darkness surrounding him. Only a little sunlight fell through the remaining opening overhead, and he could not help feeling stifled.

For a fighter who relied on speed like him, this kind of confined space was the last battlefield he wanted!

But he had no choice. The "host" had picked the venue, and the "guest" would have to make do.

Adrian breathed out slowly, tasting blood's faint sweetness, then looked down at Gecko Moria.

The third round was about to begin!