Gecko Moria had reached this island by chance.
He had barely escaped the calm of the Calm Belt and had been robbing any ship he could find to steal food and recover his strength. He planned to take all the contraband marked on the map he found on a Mafia ship, and use it as funds until he was fully healed.
He also planned to kill any gang members on that ship, turn them into zombies, and use them as temporary foot soldiers.
The first surprise was that half the gang's contraband wasn't obvious treasure at all but a rare haul called "Marine Slaves."
Worse, all the gang members on land had been killed already, and the ones underground that he thought he could use were being sold—or rather, they were about to be disposed of before that. They were barely trained marines.
Still, soldiers are soldiers. He thought he could use them to bolster his loot count. He cut out shadows, attached them to corpses to make zombies, and waited for the shadows to settle and the servants to become loyal. That was when the biggest surprise showed up.
What the heck? He should be badly wounded, so why isn't he slowing down?!
It was obvious from his movement that speed was his weapon.
He admitted that.
Even wounded as he was, Moria—who'd faced Grand Line toughs—couldn't land a hit even when he concentrated.
The only way to hurt this man was to threaten the marines behind him so that if he dodged, someone else would get hurt. Even then, the man still managed to handle it.
But judging from his speed, Moria thought this pirate wasn't used to pain.
Indeed, there didn't seem to be any obvious wounds.
That's why, the moment Moria's attack caught Kuro's leg, he was sure he'd won—then was blown away right after.
At first it was understandable. If he held on, he could probably unleash one full-power strike.
But again and again. Over and over and over.
—GANGINGONGAGANGIN!!!
Damn it! The more he bleeds, the faster he gets!
He must have been taking damage. A man who had given no sound before started screaming and launched a ferocious attack.
Elbows, shoulders, neck, knees, thighs—
Attacks aimed to slow his movements.
The hits were small, but they added up. And the moment Moria was distracted, the ice Logia's attacks hit him.
The ice power was still developing, but its range and speed were not to be underestimated.
"Those guys, all of them!"
Honestly, Moria knew escaping was the best option.
Behind him sat the Mafia ship he'd taken.
He hated to lose the zombies he'd made, but the pirates—oddly well organized for pirates—were neutralizing them one by one.
They were low-quality fighters to begin with. They wouldn't last long. If they couldn't be used, they were useless.
"Spiky Shadow Lizard"
"Vice Admiral! Seal the ceiling!!"
"You damn brat!!"
Just as he tried to break through the ceiling to escape, a pirate who'd noticed his plan ordered the marines to act.
He tried to raise power to smash through, but the wound from Kaido still hurt him. Also, the continuous beating from the pirates and marines in front of him made his body cry out.
"If there are still people who are zombies, then if sunlight gets in, they'll disappear. Sorry, but we can't let him go yet."
"Kuro—!"
–
Hey! Save that move for a bit later!
If you'd used it after all the zombies were freed, I might've let you go!!
…Okay, lie. I meant pretend to let you go and actually let you go!
"You're the first sly one I've seen, Kuro!"
"…Don't flatter me."
"I didn't say that, kid!!!"
I actually felt a bit embarrassed.
Being called "sly" by Moria—the one who outfoxed Luffy with tricks—felt almost like a compliment. (TL/N: I seriously don't think outsmarting luffy is a feat..)
—Ah, honestly my leg can't take much more. Time to finish this.
If worse came to worst, he'd have Kuzan freeze him along with himself.
A long shot, but if Kuzan kept pouring seawater, there might be a chance to survive.
"Winter Cat—"
He gathered lightning around his foot and readied it.
For some reason, Moria sometimes worried more about this kick than Kuzan's ice. It made a good decoy.
"Stop that kick, Kuro!"
A dark-looking sword—probably the usual one—was swung aside. Maybe sensing no other choice, he felt something like Haki on the blade.
"—You're making me yawn, Moria."
"!? You bastard!!"
Using a weapon with range turned out to be a mistake. Against that quick stepping, it only created obvious footholds.
He looked down at Moria for the first time from the blade.
Moria, clearly furious, tried to send a swarm of bats to attack me—
"No. Don't just focus on Kuro," Kuzan said.
"—Gah!"
Kuzan, who had closed in by then, finally reached out. He jumped down behind the Vice Admiral—
—Ice Time.
There are many techniques, but this one is one of the top-tier dangerous moves.
With cold that had frozen even Jaguar D. Saul in an instant, Gecko Moria's huge body began to freeze before our eyes.
…Still, I wondered what would happen to the future Shichibukai after this. Anyway, thinking about the Thriller Bark arc—well, it's pointless; I'm already in the middle of an important fight as Kuro, so whatever.
—Crack.
…Oh.
—Crack, crack!
Vice Admiral Kuzan—
"Don't underestimate meeeeeee!!"
"Guh…!!"
Just as I was about to ask Kuzan to thicken the ice, a massive ice statue shattered. A huge figure, clearly wrapped in Haki, appeared and knocked Kuzan flying with one blow.
You idiot!!
"I am Gecko Moria! I'm not going to be taken down in a sea like this!!"
This was bad.
The next moment, Moria closed in with unprecedented speed, and his fist drove into my torso.
–
"Vice-Captain!! The last group of zombie soldiers has been defeated!"
"It's safe even if sunlight comes in now!!"
"Robin, can you hear me?"
–
"Perona! Daz is—"
"Leave it to me! Eat this, muscle daruma! Mini Hollow gathered and blown up to the max test move! —Special Hollow!"
As pain nearly took my senses, a huge ghost rose at Moria's feet and wrapped around him. Instinctively, I grabbed the flying Kuzan and put more distance between us.
"!? That's—what's above him!!"
—Kamikaze Rap!!
With a thunderous roar, an explosion burst around Moria and blew away the ice-reinforced ceiling.
"G—ah…!?"
An attack that should have been defendable just by wearing Haki now couldn't be blocked. He could barely stand from the pain.
Well, I was the same.
My ribs…!
"You're wide open, Gecko Moria!!"
Luckily my left leg was still fine.
As long as the left foot that acts as my pivot was safe—
"Winter Cat—"
This time, instead of the usual kicks, I stomped down with a heavy thud. More precisely, I used repeated 'silent steps' to accelerate the kicking leg and then drove it into him.
"Damn…!!"
Instead of multiple small kicks, I put everything into one single strike. The blow drove into the great pirate's chest—
—and sunlight poured in. He was sent flying up into the sky.
I'll never fight like that again.
--
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