A few days later, on the Sabaody Archipelago.
The sunlight was still bright, and the rainbow bubbles released by the Yarukiman Mangrove's bubble coral drifted lazily into the sky. The chaos and racket of the lawless zones seemed unchanged on the surface.
But for those with a sharp nose, the air now carried a faint new scent.
Order.
A battered single-masted ship lay quietly moored at a pier in the sector farthest from the Marine base, the most chaotic of the no man's lands.
On the bow, the tall figure of Gecko Moria stood like a crooked tower, his shadow large enough to swallow the whole little ship.
The sea breeze tugged at his worn but carefully washed clothes. The wounds he had suffered a few days prior had mostly healed, but the scar of that crushing defeat was carved forever into his soul.
"Moria-sama…"
A small voice spoke beside him.
Moria lowered his head and looked at the tiny pink twin tails at his side.
Perona was clutching his pant leg, her big dark eyes full of unease as she stared at this unfamiliar place, so full of living people.
"Stay on the ship. Do not go anywhere," Moria rasped.
He settled Perona by the cabin door, then turned and stepped onto Sabaody's soil without a hint of hesitation.
He was going to see that man.
Aaron Kael Grylls.
That name coiled in his mind like a curse.
Every time he jolted awake from dreams of his comrades dying, the next thing that came was the image of that man casually smashing the "strongest creature" into the ground.
After despair came the only hope left.
He stood before the villa on the hilltop, staring at the two expressionless guards in black suits at the door, and felt a long-lost sensation rise in his chest.
Nervousness.
Would a man like that even care about a failure like him?
Maybe that strike in Wano had been nothing more than a whim, like stepping on an annoying ant that happened to be in the way.
If he showed up on his own now, would he just be a joke?
No.
Moria clenched his fists so hard his nails bit into his palms.
He had nothing left. His pride, his crew, his future… all of it had been crushed into powder by Kaido on that snowy battlefield.
All he had now was this worthless life and a single obsession that would not die.
He would get power. Power strong enough to protect himself. Strong enough that he would never lose anything ever again.
And the only way to get it was to follow that man.
"My name is Gecko Moria," he said as he walked up to the guards. His towering frame cast a heavy shadow over them, but his voice was low. "I am here to request an audience with Lord Aaron Kael."
The guards exchanged a look. They did not flinch at his monstrous appearance or his massive size. One of them picked up a Den Den Mushi and murmured a brief report.
After a moment, he put it down and gestured politely.
"Lord Kael is waiting for you inside."
Moria said nothing more. He stepped forward and pushed open the heavy front door.
Creak. Boom.
The door closed behind him with a deep thud, shutting out all light and sound from outside.
The world beyond the door was nothing like the glittering, luxurious halls he had imagined.
It was pitch black.
The air held a faint, palpable pressure, like the weight of the deep sea, squeezing down on every exposed nerve.
Moria's heart clenched. He straightened his back instinctively.
He narrowed his eyes, forcing them to adjust to the darkness. Finally, in the distance, at the very center of the hall, he made out a silhouette.
A huge, ornate seat. Calling it a sofa would have been an insult. It was a throne.
A figure was sprawled on it in a posture of extreme laziness, head propped on one hand, one leg cocked over the other. It was as if he had merged with the surrounding darkness.
Moria's breath caught in his throat.
He walked forward step by step. Each footfall felt like it was landing on his own heart.
He came to the edge of the pool of light beneath the throne and stopped ten meters away.
Then the seven-meter-tall giant dropped to one knee in a respectful bow, lowering the head that had once been so arrogantly raised.
"Lord Kael, I, Gecko Moria, wish to follow you."
His voice echoed through the empty hall, carrying a tremor even he did not notice.
On the throne, the figure did not answer at once.
Darkness and silence were the only language in that room.
The air seemed to solidify. Time stretched thin, every second grinding slowly across Moria's already raw heart.
Just when he started to wonder if this was all a fever dream he had invented for himself, that lazy voice finally sounded again, as casual as if it were commenting on the weather.
"Is that so?"
Two light words, but Moria's body tensed.
"Then…"
Kael shifted slightly on the throne. In the darkness, a pair of golden eyes flared to life, like two burning suns.
"Prove it to me."
The moment his words fell, an indescribable aura erupted.
Boom.
Black-gold arcs of lightning crackled around Kael, snapping through the air. The entire villa seemed to groan and twist under that will.
Conqueror's Haki.
Moria's huge frame lurched. Holding his kneeling posture suddenly became a brutal ordeal.
The invisible weight bore down on him like a mountain suspended upside down, pressing on his head, his shoulders, even his soul.
His bones creaked under the strain. Cold sweat soaked his shirt in an instant.
He bit down hard, veins bulging on his twisted face as he tried to resist that primal, soul-deep fear.
"A captain who could not protect his own crew," Kael's voice floated over, unhurried and sharp. "A loser whose entire crew was wiped out by the enemy."
"What makes you think," he went on, "that you have the right to stand before me?"
Each word speared straight into Moria's deepest wounds.
"Your comrades, your family, were slaughtered before your eyes. And you, like a stray dog, could not do a thing."
"N… no…"
Moria squeezed the denial out between his teeth, breath ragged.
"No?"
Kael's tone carried a faint mocking edge.
"Then what do you plan to do? Hide in the fog stealing people's shadows, play with cold corpses, and wallow in the illusion of power?"
Every sentence was a hammer blow to Moria's chest.
Unbidden, his mind conjured the image of that blood-drenched snowfield.
The last roars of his dying crew. Kaido towering like a demon god above them all. And the kanabo that shattered his dignity and his dreams in a single swing.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Moria let out a choked roar. His massive body shook, and his other leg finally buckled, crashing to the floor.
Beneath his knees, the thick hardwood planks splintered, spiderweb cracks spreading out from the impact.
"Look at yourself," Kael said coldly. "You cannot even endure my will. What are you going to use to take revenge? That heart of yours that is already stuffed full of fear?"
"Shut up… shut up!"
Moria clenched his fists. Nails dug into his palms until blood oozed between his fingers, but he did not feel a thing.
Pain, regret, helplessness, despair… all those emotions surged like a broken dam, threatening to drown what was left of his reason.
No.
He could not fall here.
If he collapsed now, then it was really over.
He had nothing left. He could not lose this last shred of hope.
"I…"
Moria lifted his head. Bloodshot eyes locked onto the shadowy figure on the throne.
"I want power!"
"I want to become stronger!"
"I want the kind of absolute power that lets me control everything!"
"I never want to live through that again! Watching my comrades die while I stand powerless!"
"I never want… never want to lose anything ever again!"
He roared with everything he had, every word packed with the stubborn will that had somehow survived after being crushed to pieces.
As that will spiked to its peak, something changed.
Hum.
It was a new, raw presence. Clumsy and unrefined, but brimming with grudges and stubbornness.
Under the ocean-deep pressure of Kael's black-gold Conqueror's Haki, it was like a tiny seed forcing its way through a mountain of stone. Small, but radiating a life force that could not be ignored.
Newborn Conqueror's Haki.
A flicker of genuine approval finally appeared in Kael's golden eyes.
The corner of his mouth curved up slightly. The dreadful pressure smothering the villa vanished in the next heartbeat, as if it had never been.
The lights in the hall came on one by one, driving out the last of the darkness.
Moria gulped down air, his entire body drenched in sweat. He looked a mess, but his eyes were no longer the same.
Kael rose from his throne, golden eyes filled with an unconcealed glint of satisfaction.
He walked forward, step by unhurried step, and stopped in front of Moria, looking down at him.
The warm light sketched out his lean figure. His face wore a faint, elusive smile.
Then he extended his hand.
"I recognize your will."
Moria's head snapped up, staring at that hand.
It was not especially large, but for some reason it felt like it could hold the world.
"Become my shadow, Moria."
Moria froze.
He stared into Kael's calm, deep golden eyes. There was no pity in them, no condescension. Only an even, level acknowledgment.
Slowly, he lifted his own huge hand and gripped Kael's.
Strength flowed from that hand into him, hauling him up from the floor.
As he stood, the confusion in his gaze faded away, replaced by a clarity and resolve he had never felt before.
"I pledge my loyalty, Lord Kael."
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