Gecko Moria ultimately escaped from the Udon quarry.
Actually, saying he escaped wasn't quite right. It was more that after Keiko used him to test some experimental products, she half-pushed and half-let him go.
Although Ren was quite tempted by his Devil Fruit ability, after thinking about it, he decided to let Moria leave Inazuma. Otherwise, our background character Luffy wouldn't have any opponents who just happened to cap the Straw Hats' strength without making them desperate on his journey.
Looking at the current Seven Warlords lineup, you could tell: Dracule Mihawk, Jinbe, Crocodile, Doflamingo, Kuma. These people seemed unchanged, but in terms of strength, Doflamingo and Crocodile were actually a bit stronger than in the original story.
Crocodile was actually okay. After all, he was still following his old path, having given up on Haki training and focusing on the Ancient Weapons. Not practicing Haki for over a decade, and bullying weaklings in the first half of the Paradise, even the strongest person's strength would slowly regress.
On the other hand, Doflamingo was much more formidable than in the original. Previously, he could only touch the weakest of the Three Sweet Commanders, but now he could at least fight the original story's King with a 30-70 chance.
It was just that his Conqueror's Haki was never strong, and after more than a decade, he still couldn't master Advanced Conqueror's Coating. His life was essentially at its endpoint.
The remaining two Seven Warlords: one was Tesoro, who required Gear Fourth to beat, and the other was Katakuri, who even in Snake Man form only won because the opponent held back.
And the current Katakuri had already improved a lot compared to the original. He was a born monster, having inherited Big Mom's talent. After experiencing the rise and fall of the Big Mom Pirates' destruction, standing at the forefront of the storm all these years, he had already stepped into the threshold of Conqueror's Haki coating.
With this lineup, how could Luffy possibly fight his way through?
He couldn't just peacefully pass through the first half and then directly enter hell mode in the New World, could he?
It felt like even Crocodile would become the only disgrace of the Seven Warlords.
Crocodile: Is losing to King Luffy embarrassing?
Moria: Is losing to King Luffy embarrassing?
Katakuri: Is losing to King Luffy embarrassing?
Kaido: Is losing to King Luffy embarrassing?
Precisely because of this, Ren let Moria go. And now even Enel was no longer on Sky Island. Without some setbacks on the protagonist's growth path, it was hard to become stronger.
But you never knew. What if Crocodile directly forced Luffy into Gear Fifth?
After all, Crocodile was the man who had three times pushed King Luffy to the brink of death. Especially without Robin's existence, Luffy might really have died.
Ren actually didn't hope Luffy would die like that. On one hand, because he had been moved by the Straw Hats when watching One Piece, and on the other, he still wanted Luffy to fight the World Government to the death in the front.
But if he really died, there was nothing to be done. Then he would just reclaim the Nika Fruit and do it himself.
As for being a nanny to the protagonist's crew, that was impossible.
For Moria, he didn't know that his escape was because the enemy let him go. So along the way, he was extremely cautious, constantly detouring to avoid pursuers.
He even ran all the way to Ringo.
Incidentally, he dug up the swordsman Ryuma, and Kaido's grave…
So, Zoro, now that Shusui was gone, how about considering a club?
Ren didn't expect Moria to be so ruthless, even digging up Teacher Kaido's grave. After he killed Kaido, he had buried him because he didn't hate the character of Kaido.
But Oden's corpse was gone. That guy's body was taken by Higurashi to Hakumai, saying she would burn a bone every year to cook oden, to honor Orochi.
Presumably, Oden would be happy about this too, after all, this was the highest respect for a good friend!
But to be honest, Kaido's corpse wasn't as terrifying as imagined.
After all, a corpse couldn't use Haki or Devil Fruit abilities, and was limited by shadow power. Even Kaido's corpse, if only talking about muscle strength, might not even be as strong as Oz from the Land of Wano.
Why was the combat power of giants sought after by Marines, pirates, and even various factions?
To support their huge weight, their muscles and bones far exceeded ordinary people, making them born warriors. And while ordinary giants were only about twenty meters tall, Oz's height was sixty-seven meters.
The tall Teacher Kaido was just a fraction of Oz.
Moreover, who could say that a living Oz's strength was inferior to a Yonko? After all, this was the demon of the Land of Wano!
Of course, the fighting instinct contained in a corpse, and Teacher Kaido's agility, couldn't be compared to a monster like Oz. After becoming a corpse, their focuses were completely different.
At this moment, Moria, who had dug up Ryuma and Kaido's graves, had already boarded a stolen ship, blowing the salty sea breeze that hit his face. The feeling was indescribably delightful.
The sea, after so long!
Moria's eyes were filled with hot tears.
Today, he finally escaped from that hell!
I, Moria, am free!
However, although Moria was free, his Thriller Bark lost an important member—Perona.
In the original story, Perona was picked up by Moria when she was young, so she was very respectful to Moria, treating him like a father. But now, Moria, who had eaten prison food for almost twenty years, naturally couldn't pick up a kid.
At this moment, Perona, who looked like a little princess, was moving with Dracule Mihawk…
"Wow! There's even a castle!" Perona's eyes were wide open, sparkling as if glowing. "Lord Mihawk, you're quite good at choosing places!"
She said happily, her tone not as rude to Mihawk as in the original. After all, her worship and respect for Moria had now transferred to this one-handed World's Second Greatest Swordsman.
"The country on Kuraigana Island was destroyed by war. It's a quiet place where you won't be disturbed," Mihawk said lightly.
Actually, picking up Perona happened not long after he failed to challenge the Raiden Shogun. Perona was only a few years old then, and Mihawk didn't expect to start his career as a nanny like this.
But if he was going to be a nanny, he should probably find a green-haired guy to help.
"There are many empty rooms in the castle. Pick one you like. But don't run around outside the castle; there are many wild monkeys," Mihawk said lightly.
Perona had no mood to listen to him. She had already flown out and started exploring the castle.
Mihawk had to go deal with those monkeys alone first, at least to make them behave.
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