As he watched Gekko Moria change his mind before his eyes, Lorn remained completely unfazed. No matter what happened, Gekko Moria's fate was sealed: he would become an undead warrior in the River of the Dead.
Countless blood bats filled the space and, at Lorn's command, they emitted a piercing screech.
Nightmare Sonic Boom!
The swarm of blood bats summoned by Lorn resonated in unison, emitting overlapping infrasonic waves at three frequencies! Thanks to the special structure of the bats' throats, known as the 'blood resonance cavity', their physical strength was converted into low-frequency vibrations. Each bat served as an infrasonic wave node, and when flying in a swarm, the energy grew exponentially!
Under Lorn's overwhelming attack, Gekko Moria was unable to withstand it.
"Damn it!"
This situation is not looking good!'
At that moment, Gekko Moria felt as though every organ in his body was resonating. Even his vision was affected, causing hallucinations.
"Scatter the bats!"
Realising that something was wrong, Moria immediately split his shadow into numerous bat-shaped shadows in an attempt to block Lorn's attack. But it was all in vain. The blood bats summoned by Lorn had a vast attack range.
"Horned Blade Shadow!"
Transforming his shadow into a spear, Moria aimed to kill Lorn. Moria unleashed his most formidable attack, one he took pride in. In the original storyline, this attack could pierce even the descendants of the Oars — giants taller than any living being. Its destructive power was unmatched. Like a sharp sword, the black shadow pierced Lorn's body on impact. Blood spattered everywhere in an instant.
"You stubborn fool!"
'I'll see how long you can last!'
Seizing the opportunity, Gekko Moria unleashed the same technique again. In no time, Lorn's entire body was pierced by seven or eight shadow spears from different directions. Yet despite this, Lorn remained utterly unconcerned.
"Hahahaha!"
"Moria!"
'It seems that your battle with Kaido hit you pretty hard. Don't embarrass yourself with such a weak attack!"
As they spoke, the holes in Lorn's chest slowly began to heal, wrapped in blood, under the shocked gaze of Gekko Moria. Since his heart hadn't been destroyed, his body could naturally recover quickly. That was the power of a vampire's physique. Even if his heart had been destroyed, it wouldn't have been a big deal. For Lorn, the River of Death had plenty of 'resurrection coins'!
"You bastard!"
"Who the hell are you?!"
After exchanging blows with Lorn, Gekko Moria, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, was extremely alarmed. Lorn's mysterious aura was simply too overwhelming. Not only was he immune to some of his abilities, he could also summon stronger bats and heal his injuries instantly. These signs had already surpassed Gekko Moria's understanding, but he had reached his limit. The previous sonic attack had made Moria's blood boil.
"Hmph!"
"I'll slap you to death, you bastard! Gather, shadows!'
Encouraged by Luffy's sudden defeat of Kaido, Moria, having lost his composure, also brought out his most powerful trump card. He no longer cared about the consequences. Amidst the cries of agony, he used the ability of the Shadow Devil Fruit to absorb all the shadows he controlled on the ship into his own body.
This was the moment Lorn had been waiting for. While Moria was absorbing the shadows, Lorn secretly added something to the mix. As Moria's form began to grow, it suddenly swelled to enormous size, transforming from six metres tall into a giant standing dozens of metres high.
"The humiliation of losing to Kaido all those years ago — I'll wash it away with your blood today!"
Moria's left hand transformed into a shadow fist the size of a mountain. It charged towards Lorn with overwhelming force. Lorn did not hesitate for a moment. A massive black mist surged from his body and transformed into a swarm of blood-red bats. He dodged Moria's powerful punch, which felt as though it could crush a giant. The spot where he had been standing moments ago was now a massive crater.
However, as Moria swallowed all the shadows, this unprecedented power was far beyond his control. After all, the once-confident Moria had fallen into despair after his army was annihilated by Kaido. It could be said that the current Moria was all bark and no bite — a hollow shell!
Gradually, as time passed, Moria's consciousness began to fade. This required immense mental strength, and without sufficient mental energy, he would either lose consciousness or go berserk. In the original storyline, during the 'Great Event' (the Battle of Marineford), Moria used his gathered shadows to confront Jinbe once again, only to be easily defeated with a few moves. This caused the shadows of several people to be expelled once more, and from Jinbe's words at the time it was clear that Moria relied too much on the power of others and couldn't control his own actions. The situation before him was exactly the same as before.
At that moment, Moria was gradually losing his sanity and becoming extremely agitated.
'Then it's time to begin.'
Lorne smiled coldly. Earlier, while Moria was using his Devil Fruit ability to absorb all the shadows, Lorne had slipped hundreds of bats into the mix. The bats and the shadows were both black, making them nearly indistinguishable — especially to Moria, who was already overwhelmed. By this point, Moria had absorbed too many shadows and lost his clarity of mind. He was unable to pay attention to anything else, and his entire body became extremely agitated. Naturally, the opportunity had arrived.
Lorne manipulated the blood bats that had been absorbed, causing them to explode one after another. They broke through from the inside in an instant! Lorn himself wasn't idle either. He aimed his pistol, Gaasel, at Moria's heart and fired five bullets in quick succession. With the inside and outside working together, a huge hole appeared in Moria's chest. As more and more shadows emerged, the hole grew larger and larger.
"Cough... you... I really underestimated you!'
Moria said reluctantly.
"Don't worry!"
Become a member of the River of Death!'
Your good subordinate, Absalom, is waiting for you!"
Loren said with a smile. Several more shots were fired, directly targeting the head and ending Gekko Moria's life completely.
Shortly afterwards, the electronic, mechanical loli voice sounded again in Loren's mind.