The Ark Maxim cruised swiftly through the Devil's Triangle. Enel unleashed the full power of his electromagnetic mantra, probing for the dreaded ghost ship—the Thriller Bark.
Souta Kiryuu and Kuma did the same, spreading their Observation Haki across the mist. Souta even transformed into a colossal dragon, soaring away from the Ark to scan the seas himself.
"Hey, Mansherry—guess how high my bounty will be tomorrow!"
Jewelry Bonney, stuck in her nine-year-old form thanks to her own Devil Fruit, strutted proudly before the tiny Tontatta princess. Tomorrow, the name of 'Tyrant's Daughter' Bonney would spread across the world.
"It will surely be as you hope, Bonney," Mansherry replied with a cheerful smile. "You'll earn a bounty worth hundreds of millions!"
Her joy mirrored Bonney's, but more importantly, she had heard that Souta Kiryuu already had plans to move against Doflamingo. Soon, she believed, she would stand alongside Violet and Rebecca to reclaim Dressrosa.
"Heh, actually my target isn't just a bounty in the hundreds of millions," Bonney bragged, wiping her nose with a cocky grin. "One day, I'll surpass even Kuma and Enel."
The path ahead would be hard, she knew—yet she brimmed with confidence that, at the very least, she could outpace Lafitte and Capone Bege. Especially Bege, that overly cautious mafia don.
Meanwhile, a row of children in Seastone shackles stood on deck, all unwilling guinea pigs for Bonney's fruit training. They were pirates captured and transformed into kids, with their very hearts extracted by Law's powers. Their lives now hung entirely in the hands of the Kiryuu Pirates.
"I surrender! Please, let me join you!"
A shrill, childish voice squeaked out—it was Foxy, the Silver Fox, reduced to a three-year-old by Bonney's ability.
Nearby, Rob Lucci and Jabra—both in child forms as well—watched silently with professional, stone-faced glares, their CP9 discipline still etched into their bones.
And then there was Don Accino, the chubby Hot-Hot Fruit user, transformed into a toddler still clutching a cigar. Arms crossed, defiant and scowling, yet helpless.
"Join the Kiryuu Pirates? We have standards!" Bonney scoffed, hoisting the tiny Foxy by the collar. "You're too weak, too cowardly—not fit for the crew that stands against the Celestial Dragons!"
She knocked her knuckles against Don Accino's round head. His cigar tumbled from his lips as he yelped, tears welling in his childish eyes. He puffed out his cheeks, nearly bursting into sobs.
"In our crew, you don't need to be the strongest," Bonney lectured like an adult scolding a child, "but you must never fear the Celestial Dragons or the World Government. That's the real test."
Despite her sternness, she smiled inwardly—at least Foxy seemed willing, unlike Accino, Lucci, and Jabra, who still carried themselves with arrogance.
Elsewhere, Lafitte sheathed his aristocratic blade and drew the sword Enel had stolen: Durandal, the Elephant Sword. With patience, he began taming the Devil Fruit weapon capable of extending its blade.
"This will help me with ranged combat," he murmured.
Capone Bege eyed the Giraffe Fruit stored in the collection chest. "When we return to Sky Island, I'll have Dr. Vegapunk forge me a fruit-sword from this. It'll outstretch that Elephant Sword easily."
"I just hope Vegapunk has finished the combat suits," Law muttered with longing. As a North Blue native, he knew every man from their sea dreamed of donning the Germa 66 transformation suits. Hyped in manga and theater, even marines and pirates craved them. It was the unique romance of the North Blue.
Hours passed as the crew searched. But Thriller Bark, by its own twisted design, sent out bait-barrels to lure pirates into the Triangle.
Three hours later, they found it—the colossal, eerie island ship looming in the mist.
Crack!
Enel struck first, a massive lightning bolt smashing into the gothic fortress atop the ship.
Deep inside, Gecko Moria stirred from his slumber. The Warlord once rumored to have clashed with Kaido stormed from his chambers in rage.
"What's happening?! Who dares attack me?!"
His subordinates—the bizarre trio of monsters—stumbled awake, confused.
Together they rushed outside, and froze. Above them, a golden flying ship gleamed against the storm clouds. A suffocating dread fell upon them.
"Yahaha! Let's see just how strong a Warlord really is!"
Enel's laughter split the skies as he transformed into lightning and dove toward Moria.
"A Logia user? The Rumble-Rumble Fruit?!"
"Shadow Mage!"
Moria snapped awake, splitting off a shadow clone to intercept the thunder god. Lightning crashed against shadow, splitting earth and stone—but in seconds, the clone dissolved under the assault.
The sight made Moria's trio pale.
"Horohoro! So scary! I'll handle the animal and surprise zombies!" Perona squealed, her ghost form slipping straight into the castle walls.
"This lightning man is too much. I'll handle the weaker ones," muttered Absalom, his voice uneasy. He vanished into invisibility, sprinting off to summon Zombie Soldiers numbered 400–799 and Zombie Generals 800–899, ready to unleash a wave of five hundred corpses.
Perona, meanwhile, marshaled her own four hundred—the Animal Zombies and Surprise Zombies numbered 0–399.
"Hissss… I'm just a doctor," Hogback muttered nervously. The mad surgeon bolted back into the fortress, far from the battlefield—fighting was not in his repertoire.
Kuma descended to the island with Bonney and Bege, while Law and Lafitte landed elsewhere. Soon, hordes of grotesque zombies surged toward them.
"Ursus Shock."
Kuma clapped his massive palms together, releasing a compressed air shockwave that tore through the horde, obliterating hundreds of corpses in an instant. He acted quickly, not wanting Bonney, still trapped in her child's body, to be frightened.
But Bonney only grinned with excitement—fear had no place in her eyes.
Boom!
Three to four hundred zombies were blown apart, their shadows fleeing back toward Moria's massive frame.