My Master Doesn't Care!

A human-faced bat flapped his wings frantically and rushed into the top-floor workshop.

Inside, Moria grabbed a captive's shadow with one hand and ripped it violently from the ground. With the other, he used a pair of large black scissors to sever the connection between the shadow and its owner.

"Master, something's wrong! Something terrible has happened!"

"Hm!?"

The corners of Moria's mouth turned down. He turned and said displeasedly, "What happened, Hilton?"

"Lord Moria, there's an uninvited guest on the island, a powerful Devil Fruit user!" the human-faced bat reported hastily. "Lord Perona just had a conflict with him over by the forest."

Moria frowned at the news. He rose, his massive body bloated like an onion, and walked to the window to look toward the forest.

Under the dim sky, a monster wreathed in flames was rampaging through the woods.

A thousand-meter-long trail of lava stretched out from beneath the monster's feet, reaching all the way to the vicinity of the castle.

"This is... a mythical Zoan!"

Moria's pupils contracted sharply. Faced with the sight, he instinctively guessed it was a mythical Zoan, a creature of fantasy with the power to control flames.

But then the corners of his mouth rose, and a cold smile gradually spread across his face:

"Hehehehe, what excellent material! Whoever he is, since he's trespassed here, his shadow is mine!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he waved a hand and pointed out the window.

"Doppelman!"

His shadow rose to its feet behind him, leaving the ground and crossing from two dimensions into three.

The black shadow then scattered into countless little bats, which swept toward the dead forest in a vast swarm.

Meanwhile.

In the captain's cabin aboard a ship on the sea beyond the island.

Dimon reclined on a comfortable bench, a glass of red wine in his hand and his legs propped on the corner of the table, quietly watching the scene.

"Pass my words along..."

Chapter 23: My Master Doesn't Care!

Thriller Bark, the dead forest.

Samael's roars echoed through the trees.

"Who's Lola? Who's Lola!!"

With every bellow, the temperature around him rose a little higher. Even the air seemed to warp.

Suddenly, a gentle breeze swept past, vibrating the air as a command rang out.

"Master's orders: watch yourself, and don't kill the target."

"Uh..."

Samael's roar stopped abruptly, and a trace of embarrassment appeared on his humanlike face. "Ain, please help me look. This place is too big."

His power was well suited to destruction; he could even wipe this island off the map completely. But asking him to find someone was a bit much.

"I'm looking... Someone's coming."

No sooner had the wind's voice sounded than a swarm of black bats came from every direction. Fearless of death, they frantically tried to bite Samael's fire god form.

"Where did these bugs come from?!"

Anger appeared on Samael's face, and flames erupted, spreading rapidly like a sun.

Flame Emperor!

In the blink of an eye, the fireball swelled to a hundred meters across. With an earthshaking boom, it exploded, sending a terrifying shock wave and a blast of heat sweeping in every direction.

The earth was churned up, and the dead trees turned to ash.

When everything fell quiet, the area for several kilometers around Samael had become a scene from hell.

"Hm? They disappeared?"

Samael looked displeased. The ghosts from before had been like this, and so were the black bats just now.

The black bats in particular reminded him of that guy Mammon.

Just then, however-

"Hehehehe, Shadow Horn Spear!"

On the lava-covered ground, a black shadow lay hidden beneath Samael. It suddenly shot up from the earth as a long black spear, piercing straight through his body in an instant.

Samael merely froze for a moment at the attack. Then he reached out with a flaming hand, seized the black shadow spear, and forcibly pulled it free.

"So you're the little thing behind this?"

No sooner had he spoken than the shadow softened from its hardened state, then scattered into countless little black bats that flapped away.

Seeing this, Samael clawed at them from a distance with his flaming hand. Fire sprang into being, setting every black bat alight in an instant.

This time, he saw it clearly: ordinary flames couldn't completely destroy those annoying black bats.

Wreathed in orange flames, the swarms of black bats quickly gathered a short distance away and merged, gradually forming a humanoid black shadow.

The shadow's mouth split into a sneer.

It said nothing, merely mocking Samael's futile effort.

Suddenly, a light breeze swept between them, vibrating the air, and a strange voice that sounded almost human rang out.

"That's Gecko Moria, one of the Shichibukai. He's a Paramecia user with the Shadow-Shadow Fruit."

"Master told me to tell you: his real body is in the castle."

At those words, Moria's pupils contracted sharply. His real body was far away on the castle's top floor.

There was a second person here?

No, the question was, a master?!

Before he had time to think further, the distant flame monster suddenly transformed into a huge fireball and hurtled toward the castle.

"Shadow Shield!"

Moria let out a roar. His real body instantly turned pitch-black, starting from his legs, and the black shadow twisted into a massive shield outside the castle.

Boom!!

The huge fireball slammed into the Shadow Shield, but couldn't do it any real damage.

In the blink of an eye, the scattered flames gathered back into Samael's form. He hovered several meters above the ground, looking thoroughly displeased.

The black wall likewise contracted and returned to its original form. The shadow receded, revealing Moria's true appearance.

"Hehehehe... You're not a mythical Zoan. So you're a Logia? No wonder my Shadow Horn Spear didn't work earlier."

Normally, a blow through the chest would have injured even a mythical Zoan, yet his opponent was unharmed. Clearly, he had no solid body.

Moria narrowed his eyes and snorted coldly. "Who are you... no, who are you people?"

"I'm Samael of the Seven Deadly Sins!"

Samael grew even more displeased.

A mere Paramecia user actually dared to act so smug in front of him.

If he weren't forbidden from destroying the island for fear of catching the mission target in the destruction, he would really have liked to swallow the fat bastard opposite him in one bite.

Moria, however, frowned at his words.

"Seven Deadly Sins...? Never heard of them. A strong fighter like you couldn't possibly be unknown!"

He had to admit this guy was a little difficult to deal with: a Logia user who had developed his ability to a very high level.

Fighting a monster like this, he only had the advantage of information; his opponent simply didn't understand his Shadow-Shadow Fruit.

If they kept fighting to the death, it would be hard to say who would win.

"Hehehehe, what do you want on my territory?"

"You talk too much... human!"

Samael looked at him with contempt. He had no interest in wasting words on a Paramecia user; it was beneath him!

Moria's expression changed at that. He was just about to make a threat when his opponent's attack came without warning.

There was no sign at all. The only thing he could see clearly was the flame monster suddenly glaring at him.

The next instant, Moria's body caught fire, and flames engulfed him.

"Aaaargh!"

Moria let out a piercing scream and hastily bellowed:

"Shadow Dancer!"

In an instant, a black shadow spread from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, turning his entire body pitch-black.

"Hm? This is... a shadow clone?"

Samael curled his lip. All flash and no substance.

But even as he thought that, the black shadow suddenly collapsed from three dimensions back into two. It then raced along the ground and crept behind Samael.

When he turned to look, he couldn't help showing a trace of astonishment.

The black shadow had slipped into his shadow, leaving only a head outside.

Now the black faded from the shadow, revealing Moria's face once more.

"You seem to be looking for something?"

Moria's tone was mocking. "My guess is I happened to capture one of your people. Is that it?"

"Is Moria really that smart?"

Aboard the Wave-Breaking Warrior, Dimon wore a complicated expression.

In the original story, Onion Head had taken a thorough beating from Luffy, yet now he was acting extremely cautious and cunning.

But on second thought, it was only normal for Moria to be cautious when facing a Logia user.

When he fought Luffy, he had simply looked down on a rookie pirate and never expected things to go wrong for him in the end.

Shaking his head, Dimon continued watching the battlefield.

He didn't care much how things played out, as long as they didn't kill the target.

"Kekeke, you guessed right. Too bad there's no prize."

Samael let out a strange laugh.

"If you're looking for someone, that's easy to settle. I'm not interested in being your enemy either. Tell me who it is, and I can let him go and give you back the shadow."

Moria was feeling a little inclined to back down.

He was already struggling to handle one Logia user, and he hadn't forgotten that a second person was hiding nearby.

Not only that, but there was even a mysterious "master"!

"You're putting on too much airs, human!"

Samael was dismissive, his expression contemptuous. "What makes you think you're in a position to bargain with me?"

Moria's face darkened at those words, and he was furious.

"I heard your master tell you not to kill the target! If you keep fighting me, aren't you afraid your mission will fail?"

"Kekeke..."

Samael laughed wildly, slowly lowered himself, and said, enunciating every word:

"My master doesn't care!"