Inside the castle's dining hall.
Luffy looked at Perona, who was still lying face down, and couldn't help but say, "Moria is back."
Perona, who had been adopted and raised by Moria since she was a child, always referred to him as her adoptive father, and she didn't seem too concerned.
"Master Moria?!"
Perona suddenly jumped up and tried to run out immediately.
"Get back here. Kneel obediently. Who said you could leave?"
Luffy crossed his legs and spoke in a low voice, "You seemed to be enjoying yourself just now… Looks like I need to change the punishment so you can truly understand what psychological trauma feels like."
"...Who was enjoying it!? That wasn't cute at all!"
Perona was so angry she wanted to hit someone.
"Doesn't matter. You just attacked everyone at once and managed to put 18 of my crewmates into a depressive state. I'm not a demon—I'll just let you experience 18 types of punishment. You've already finished level one. Let's keep going."
Perona: "..."
When Moria returned to the castle and stepped into the dining hall,
He saw one of his subordinates, the Ghost Princess, taking off her black-and-white striped stockings and sniffing them reluctantly.
Luffy, with his straw hat on, was sitting beside her holding a camera, smiling as he faithfully recorded everything.
(What the hell is this perverted game!?)
"Oh, you're back?"
Luffy put down the Vision Dial and turned to greet Moria.
Behind Moria came a group of pirates—the Heart Pirates.
Upon seeing Law, Luffy suddenly got an idea.
Trafalgar Law was a user of the Ope Ope no Mi, a very powerful Devil Fruit.
In the original story, he used his ability to collect the hearts of a hundred pirates and successfully earned the title of Shichibukai.
The person whose heart was taken wouldn't die.
It was an extremely effective method for controlling others!
And right now, there were four CP9 members on his ship...
If he ever got tired, someone could always bring him a pillow.
As Luffy entertained that thought, Moria spoke in a deep voice:
"Straw Hat Luffy, why are you here?"
"You should ask her."
Luffy smiled, glancing at Moria's injuries. "You're hurt? Was it Doflamingo?"
Moria's expression changed.
"How did you know?"
"Just a guess."
There was no way Moria could've suffered such an injury during the War of the Summits.
In the original story, Doflamingo had tried to kill Moria after the war.
It was a good guess.
But here's the real problem.
In the original timeline, Moria was targeted because he lost to Luffy.
But now, he hadn't done anything. He was just a loyal Shichibukai, staying obediently in the Florian Triangle, building a zombie army at most. Why would the government target him?
Keep in mind, even Crocodile, another Shichibukai who tried to take over an entire kingdom, was only imprisoned in Impel Down.
"What did you do? Did you steal a Celestial Dragon's shadow?"
"Don't talk nonsense! Why would I ever attack the Celestial Dragons?!"
With an unhappy expression, Moria sat down across from Luffy, crossed his arms over his chest, and gritted his teeth:
"I'm afraid it's because of this."
Luffy turned to Perona and ordered:
"What are you still doing, frozen like that? Why haven't you served food and wine yet? Can't you see the guests have arrived?"
Perona: "???"
This is Lord Moria's castle! Why are you giving me orders like a master!?
Ugh, how humiliating!
She tossed her stockings aside and went barefoot to prepare food.
At that moment, Law sat at the dining table.
"What exactly is going on here?"
Since Law had saved him, Moria's tone toward him was slightly more respectful:
"I don't know. I just have this feeling."
About half a month ago, deep in the thick mist surrounding Thriller Bark, three enormous figures appeared.
The colossal beings hidden in the fog were many times larger than the Thriller Bark!
Among them, the one in the center had a pair of glowing red eyes.
"I was curious too, so I sent some flying zombies to check it out. But not a single one came back!"
Hearing that, Luffy suddenly remembered.
In the original story, when the Straw Hats defeated Moria and left the Florian Triangle, something like that had indeed appeared.
Compared to those giants, the Thriller Bark looked like a children's toy.
"That's it?"
"No. Those three monsters stayed there for about three hours. Then I went myself, but there was nothing—it was just a shadow!" Moria frowned as he spoke.
He was a Kage Kage no Mi user—he could tell if something was a shadow or not.
Luffy asked, surprised, "Was it like the shadows of the Sky Island people?"
"That's right!"
Of course Moria knew about Sky Island. "Back then, there was something in the sky—something huge—that cast a shadow into the thick mist below due to the sunlight. That's what I saw."
"It looked enormous. And there was a loud booming sound at the time too."
After a pause, he clenched his teeth and slammed the table:
"I suspect it's some kind of government-developed weapon—similar to the Pacifistas. No… even more powerful! A humanoid weapon stronger than the Pacifistas! Those shadows must have been cast by three people!"
Besides that, he truly had no idea why the government was after him.
Something must have happened recently for the Five Elders to send someone to kill him.
If it were something from the past, the World Government wouldn't have waited until now. After all, his hideout had always been in this region, and the Elders knew that perfectly well.
"Hm…"
Luffy fell into deep thought, then suddenly smiled. "I think I know what it was."
"What was it?"
"What was it?"
Moria and Law asked simultaneously, clearly surprised.
"A weapon capable of destroying a kingdom—or even an entire island—in one strike. But… it probably doesn't have enough power to activate right now."
Luffy shook his head slightly, frowning.
It was likely Uranus, one of the Ancient Weapons, restored and perfected by Vegapunk.
At the same time, it was highly probable that this was the "national treasure" Doflamingo once mentioned.
It made sense that the Five Elders would send someone to eliminate Moria, who may have stumbled upon it by accident.
And if you wanted to hide a massive weapon like that, the Florian Triangle was an ideal spot.
A place blanketed in year-round fog, where no one would ever find it.
Before destroying the Lulusia Kingdom, Im had given a reason—it was "too close."
And that country was near the Florian Triangle!
Of course, this was only Luffy's guess.
"Maybe those really were just projections of people. So… three people were standing on top of that weapon? Who could they be?"
Luffy couldn't help but laugh. "You're unlucky, Moria. The government won't let you go."
"You're dead."
---
(End of Chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."