Let's rewind time a little bit again.
The central church plaza in the ruined Bell-Ringing Village.
Victor, chased by a large number of shadow bats, threw Perona towards the western residential area. Although there was a Marine Six Styles expert there, Victor believed that Perona, after rigorous training, would not lose to such an old man.
Unburdened, Victor suddenly braked, raising both hands, fingers splayed, the tip of each finger gleaming with a metallic sheen. Then he crossed his arms and swung them violently, ten golden chain blades extending rapidly like meteors, then intertwining into a huge net, a deadly net formed of sharp chain teeth!
"Metal Zipper: Sleeping God's Weaving Wheel!"
Sparks flew from the intersections of the chain blades, and then new zippers quickly shot out, connecting with the opposite sides. In an instant, the entire chain blade net became impenetrable, and the hundreds of shadow bats that followed were completely intercepted and annihilated by the violently vibrating, sharp chain net, not a single one remaining!
The bodies of the shadow bats scattered on the ground, melting into dark, lightless liquid, quickly coalescing into a huge torrent of shadows. The black river of shadows, like a giant python, slithered rapidly along the ground towards Victor!
On the other side, Gecko Moria, wielding giant scissors, swiftly approached. At this time, he was not as obese as he would be in later manga chapters; his figure was only slightly bloated, but mostly robust muscle! Coupled with his massive stature of over 6 meters, the oppressive feeling he exuded was immense.
In just two or three seconds, as Victor's hand zippers finished retracting, with a sinister laugh, Gecko Moria's Giggantic scissor blades appeared above his head, while the shadow torrent, still about 3 meters from Victor, transformed into a huge shadow beast, roaring as it lunged to bite him!
But Victor himself suddenly disappeared. The huge shadow beast bit empty air, and Gecko Moria's Giggantic, gleaming scissors plunged deep into the empty ground.
Gecko Moria noticed a zipper rapidly closing at the spot where Victor had stood, and the grin on his face became even more sinister:
"Good lad, you've got guts!" He raised a hand and beckoned, and the shadow beast immediately transformed into flowing black mud, surging towards his hand, then coalescing into a Giggantic long-handled horned spear.
He weighed the shadow spear in his hand, then suddenly threw it towards an empty spot! And precisely at that location, a zipper opened just as Victor emerged from the zipper space, only to be directly struck by the Ferocious Chains, enormous shadow horn spear, severing him in half at the waist!
Gecko Moria hadn't even felt joy before he noticed that Victor's severed waist had no blood or internal organs, but rather a profound zipper space—it was 'Resin Zipper: Spotted Pocket'! Victor, in the nick of time, had relied on powerful Observation Haki and the ability of the Zip-Zip Fruit to instantly open a dismantling zipper at his waist!
Then, the zippered ends of Victor's upper and lower body each shot out small zippers as links, forcefully pulling his body back together. His right arm stretched back, index finger glinting with metallic luster, just as he was about to unleash a fierce Steel Chain Finger, he suddenly turned his head to look at the residential area to the west.
Perona was in danger!
Victor had no time to think further. He swung his right arm fiercely, and an infinitely extending metal chain blade, like a golden meteor, directly and powerfully scattered the Rankyaku vacuum blade that was about to hit Perona in the distance!
The moment was lost! A rapidly surging shadow stream appeared in front of Victor, and then Gecko Moria burst out from it, swinging a Giggantic, darkly glowing fist with a sinister laugh, fiercely striking Victor!
Bang—!!
Victor felt as if his entire body had been directly hit by a full-speed train. His struck chest and the side of his face went numb first, then the surrounding scenery rapidly receded!
Victor was sent flying by Gecko Moria's full-force punch, infused with Armament Haki, crashing through several residential ruins before smashing violently into the main hall of the church in the center of Bell-Ringing Village.
Boom!!!
The already half-destroyed church trembled violently! Stones and dust crumbled down, and the church interior was filled with smoke.
"Hehehehe!! Zipper Boy, you dare to be distracted while fighting me? You've got guts!" Every step he took caused a slight tremor in the ground. The laughing Gecko Moria strode quickly towards the half-destroyed church.
Beside him, a tide of shadows first surged forth, then transformed into various fierce shadow beasts, encircling the church and charging inward.
"Yes, surround him like that! Zipper Boy, you can't run! Bring me 'Morrigan'!" From the surging shadow spring, a huge pair of scissors was lifted. Gecko Moria snatched the scissors and strode directly into the church hall.
This church would normally struggle to accommodate a massive body like Gecko Moria's, but due to Victor's previous island-wide rotating chain blade sweep, the upper part of the church had been directly destroyed. At this moment, the half-destroyed church hall was filled with dust.
Gecko Moria impatiently swung the huge scissors in his hand, sweeping the dust away and revealing Victor, lying amidst a pile of rubble and shattered furniture debris.
Victor looked very bad at this moment; he lay motionless on his back in the ruins, blood continuously oozing from under his nose and the corners of his mouth. His refined black suit was now covered in scratches, tears, and dust. His limbs were still, but he managed to prop his head up and look at Gecko Moria, who was slowly approaching him.
"Hehehehe... Zipper Boy, this time I'd like to see how you run." Gecko Moria chuckled as he strolled in front of Victor, looking down at him: "Your boring 'gangster game' should end now. Don't worry, I'll try to keep your corpse intact; you'll make an excellent zombie general!"
"I don't understand..." Victor coughed twice, which made the broken ribs in his chest ache even more, while Gecko Moria, carrying his large scissors, watched Victor's pained expression with great patience. After a while, Victor caught his breath, panting as he continued: "Huff... I don't understand why you came back to West Blue, huff... wasn't the scenery of the Thriller Bark to your liking?"
Gecko Moria's lips curled into a sinister smile: "Still being glib at a time like this, should I praise you for having 'guts'?"
Beside him, shadow mud surged, forming a huge wide chair. Moria sat comfortably on it, propping up his large scissors as he continued to chat with Victor: "I came back to the West Blue merely to retrieve the treasure I had stored on Solinhalpa Island back then; your new intelligence officer was just an unexpected bonus."
Victor was too tired to crane his neck, so he lay weakly in the rubble, stating feebly: "...Damn luck!"
Gecko Moria let out a loud, strange laugh: "Hehehehehe!! That's right, if you hadn't run into me, perhaps you could have successfully entered the Grand Line and made a name for yourself. What a pity, destiny didn't favor you~"
Saying so, Gecko Moria stood up, the shadow chair behind him transforming into a menacing, Giggantic shadow beast. He raised the gleaming 'Morrigan' scissors in his hand and spoke in a melodious, chanting tone: "Hehehehe~ So, 'Ferocious Chains' Victor, I, Gecko Moria, acknowledge your strength, and hereby grant you eternal slumber, while you shall contribute your body to become my sharp blade!"
"It's over! Let this 'Morrigan' bring an end to your life!"
The huge scissor blade plunged fiercely towards Victor's chest!
Sparks flew everywhere, and the tip of the scissor blade plunged deep into the empty ground.
Gecko Moria suddenly looked up, only to see Victor clutching his chest, swaying unsteadily in the nearby ruins, the scattered sparks around him gradually fading.
Metal Zipper: Spark Pilgrimage.
In that moment of life and death, Victor made a zipper appear on his back and forcefully connected it to a zipper on the ground, using the automatic closing motion of the zipper to move himself to safety.
Gecko Moria pulled out the large scissors, bringing up a pile of shattered stones. He looked at Victor, who was swaying and seemed unable to stand steadily, with a sneer: "Look at your pathetic state, even if you dodged that one, can you dodge the next? I was going to give you a quick end out of pity, but you don't seem to appreciate it?"
The huge shadow beast behind Gecko Moria let out a fierce growl.
Victor, head lowered, exhaled a bloody breath, and his left hand, clutching his chest, dropped. Everything seemed so quiet.
At this moment, Gecko Moria felt something was amiss. When he looked down, he saw the shattered ground cracks where he had pulled out his scissors, and a metallic glint shimmered faintly within. Metal? ...No good!
"Horned Blade Shadow!!"
Without time to think, Gecko Moria suddenly reached out and beckoned. The shadow beast beside him instantly transformed into a surging stream of shadows and immediately coalesced into a Giggantic shadow lizard, its four limbs constantly scuttling in the air. Its head was like a sharp, flattened blade tip, and its overall tail end extended into a long black shadow. With a fierce wave of Gecko Moria's hand, this huge shadow lizard blade, like an extremely fast-flying black, lightless meteor, charged towards Victor with an unstoppable, fierce momentum!
At the same time, the ground beneath Victor's feet instantly shattered and cracked, and countless zippers surged from the fissures—these were the 'materials' he had secretly manufactured and transformed in the underground layer while Gecko Moria was spouting nonsense! He gripped a zipper with his right hand, and thousands of zippers quickly twisted and condensed into a massive knight's lance. Its spearhead was formed by spirals of inverted, hook-shaped, Ferocious Chains teeth, and every single chain tooth spun at high speed!
Victor firmly gripped the spear's hilt with a reverse grip, then twisted his entire body's strength and fiercely hurled it at the attacking shadow lizard blade!
"Metal Zipper: Gungnir!!"
The shadow blade and chain spear violently collided!
Then, an incredibly violent fluctuation instantly shattered the floor of the church hall!
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