Hoo—
Cross let out a heavy breath.
The pitch-black, metallic sheen of his Armament Haki rapidly receded, his body returning to its original state, a hint of undeniable fatigue on his face.
In front of him, Moria, lying on the ground, rapidly shrank as the shadows within him escaped. His body, which had been over ten meters tall, quickly reduced to his original height and weight.
He remained unconscious, however, covered in injuries.
At this moment, Scáthach, with her feminine form, materialized beside Cross. She tilted her head silently, seemingly looking at the shadows erupting into the sky with great curiosity, as if deep in thought.
"Well done!" Cross turned his head to glance at Scáthach beside him, praising her wholeheartedly.
Scáthach turned her head, met Cross's gaze, then silently transformed back into a shadow, reappearing on the ground behind him.
Scáthach's presence had, to some extent, kept Moria in check; otherwise, this battle would have been even more troublesome.
Next, Cross looked at the unconscious Moria, feeling a dilemma. He wondered whether to kill him or contact the nearest Marine branch to send a warship and imprison him in Impel Down.
After much deliberation, Cross looked up at the silver giant eagle still circling in the sky and loudly commanded, "Go, find my sword!"
Caw!—
The silver giant eagle in the sky cried out in response, then turned and flew towards the main dock of Thriller Bark.
Suddenly, Cross's expression subtly changed. His Observation Haki detected something abnormal. When he looked at Moria again, the opponent had vanished, leaving only an empty space.
"Where is he? Did he run away?" Cross's face was blank with confusion; his mind instantly rebooted. The next second, he rubbed his eyes hard, looked again, and still nothing was there but the scarred, shattered earth and overturned, broken pagoda trees.
"No! That's not right!" Cross rubbed his cheeks, forcing himself to calm down, analyzing to himself, "Moria was knocked unconscious by me, and all the shadows inside him were expelled. He couldn't have woken up so quickly!"
"Besides, I only looked away for a moment; there's no way he could have slipped away so silently..."
Suddenly, he remembered that Moria had three subordinates in the original plot: 'Ghost Princess' Perona, who was still a little girl, and 'Genius Surgeon' Hogback of the West Blue, who hadn't joined Moria yet. The third was Absalom of the 'Graveyard,' who possessed the Paramecia-type Suke Suke no Mi (Clear-Clear Fruit) ability!
With this thought, Cross secretly guessed that it must have been Absalom who took Moria.
The Clear-Clear Fruit's ability could conceal Moria's presence, allowing for a quiet transfer. In the original plot, after the Summit War, when the World Government intended to assassinate Moria, Absalom used his ability to rescue Moria from Donquixote Doflamingo and several Pacifistas.
"Where is he..." Cross squinted, scanning the surroundings. His Observation Haki, like invisible radar waves, rapidly spread outwards.
The Clear-Clear Fruit's ability only allows the user and objects they touch to become transparent, rendering them invisible under normal light. However, transparency only hides form; sound and scent cannot be concealed.
Therefore, Cross didn't believe the Clear-Clear Fruit's ability could completely block Observation Haki's perception. At most, it would only reduce its sensing capability.
For example, if a Observation Haki user wasn't paying attention to their surroundings or relaxed their perception, they might overlook Absalom's presence.
Cross strongly suspected that Absalom was able to save Moria from Doflamingo precisely because Doflamingo, after heavily wounding Moria in conjunction with the Pacifistas, relaxed his guard and neglected to perceive his surroundings, allowing Absalom to succeed.
And just now, because he had defeated Moria, he had relaxed his guard and his perception of the surroundings, which allowed Absalom to rescue Moria.
However, Cross's distraction was very brief, and Moria was a large man, so Absalom couldn't have gone too far. He had to still be hidden nearby.
"Found him!"
Moments later, Cross's eyes suddenly widened, looking towards a graveyard several tens of meters ahead. A very familiar but extremely weak voice source, and a very unfamiliar but stronger-than-average zombie voice source, were located within that ravaged graveyard.
"Enliven: Earth: Inorganic Reincarnation!" Cross roared lowly. He suddenly crouched down, touching the ground with his hand, and an invisible force rapidly imbued the earth with life.
Rumble—
The earth churned, and countless clumps of soil and stones were kneaded together, forming several gigantic mud and stone tentacles, easily twenty to thirty meters long, writhing with flailing movements.
"Poke dozens of holes in that graveyard for me!" Cross waved his hand, ordering in a low tone.
Immediately, the six mud and stone tentacles around Cross, like gigantic knight's lances, simultaneously stabbed towards the graveyard ahead.
The air whistled with a strong wind.
"Hands of the Dead!!!"
Whoosh—
A piercing scream ripped through the air.
Boom! Boom!
One of the giant mud and stone tentacles exploded for no apparent reason. Its body, over a meter in diameter, was blasted into three sections, two of which directly crumbled into a shower of mud and stone that fell to the ground.
Boom, boom, boom, boom...
But the next moment, the other five mud and stone tentacles heavily landed in the graveyard. Sturdy stone crosses were smashed to pieces, deep craters were punched into the ground, and countless gravel bits splattered in all directions.
The immense force caused the ground to violently shake in waves, kicking up thick dust.
At this moment, a long eagle's cry echoed in the sky. Cross looked up to see that the silver giant eagle had returned, circling above his head with flapping wings. In its sharp talons, it clutched a katana without a sheath.
Then, the silver giant eagle loosened its grip, dropping the katana towards Cross below. Cross extended his hand, accurately catching the hilt of the katana falling from the sky. He then brought it before his eyes to examine it.
The blade had a noticeable large chip, and Moria's blood still stained the blade. It was indeed his beloved sword, the Skillful Grade Blade, Kagehide!
"After I take care of Moria, I'll search his castle for that famous blade!" he muttered to himself. He then took out a piece of white cloth from his pocket, casually wiped Kagehide's blade a few times, and re-sheathed it at his waist.
By now, the five massive mud and stone tentacles gradually ceased their attack. The area ahead was covered in a pervasive, earthy dust, and the dimly visible graveyard within was a scene of devastation, riddled with countless craters.
Cross stepped forward, quickly entering the graveyard. He saw the unconscious Moria lying in a grave pit, covered in blood, with an unknown number of broken bones. Besides him, another young man, scarred and bloody, lay unconscious with his eyes rolled back.
He wore a black top hat adorned with Moria's emblem, spherical earrings, a shirt and trousers, a high-collared long trench coat, and long boots. His wrists were each strapped with a damaged, portable short-barreled rocket launcher.
Seeing this person, Cross knew his guess was correct.
This was Absalom, who had not yet undergone Hogback's medical modifications. It seemed that by this time, Absalom had already joined Moria's crew.
Of the three Mysterious Four, only Hogback, still in the West Blue, had yet to join. However, after today, Hogback would never get the chance to join Moria's crew.
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