Just as Orin had anticipated, the moment he expressed his intent to recruit him, Moria's eyes instantly went bloodshot, and his face twisted into a feral expression.
"Are you kidding me!!! I might have crossed swords with that bastard Kaido, but there's no way in hell I'd ever submit!!!"
Losing all his comrades to Kaido's hands was the greatest regret of Moria's life.
Even so, he never once considered bowing down. Instead, he retreated to his homeland, holed himself up, and used "stupid methods" to slowly accumulate strength.
A man like him… his rebellious streak ran far deeper than any of the other Seven Warlords of the Sea.
In his violent rage, Moria completely lost control. A surge of shadow energy erupted from his body.
His expression twisted as if he had flipped some hidden switch, and torrents of shadow transformed into countless corpses and swarms of bats filling the entire sky.
"Oh~ quite the impressive range, huh~"
Orin lifted his head, watching the incoming wave of lifelike bats fluttering their wings as they rushed toward him. He let out a helpless chuckle.
"Perfect timing. I've been working on a little… experimental breakthrough regarding Devil Fruit awakenings."
Mihawk stood off to the side, coldly observing the battle. Seeing Orin's calm demeanor and unhurried pace, he didn't so much as twitch a muscle, arms casually folded, utterly indifferent to the swarm of bats.
Orin slowly raised his hand.
Inwardly, he recalled what he knew about Devil Fruit awakenings.
For Zoan users, awakening was marked by steam and significantly boosted vitality and defenses — essentially a form of bestial enhancement.
For Paramecia, however, awakening allowed the user to either homogenize their surroundings or directly influence the environment itself.
Orin wanted to push the Warp-Warp Fruit's development toward spatial manipulation, but he couldn't transform his body into "pure space."
After all, he hadn't eaten the Chop-Chop Fruit. He couldn't teleport his body parts separately while leaving his head behind. He needed another approach.
I wonder… if there really were a Space-Space Fruit, what kind of abilities would it grant?
Orin extended his hand, focusing his mind on a single point in his palm.
"Divine Art — Planetary Devastation."
An invisible "point" detached from his palm and began to collapse the surrounding space inward, or rather, "teleport" the surrounding area into a singularity.
This wasn't gravity — it was pure space compressing toward a single center, giving off the faint impression that the fabric of reality itself might shatter.
Beads of sweat formed on Orin's forehead.
The technique was theoretically possible… but the stamina cost was brutal!!!
Under the spatial collapse generated by that singularity, the countless shadow bats — intangible as they were — couldn't escape. The very space they occupied was compressed into a single point.
"What the hell is this thing!!!"
Moria's pupils shrank in shock as he stared at the slowly rising black sphere, its pull expanding outward. A creeping sense of mortal danger gnawed at him.
His instincts screamed at him:
Touch that thing… and you die!!!
He stumbled backward instinctively.
Fortunately, Orin had no intention of killing him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have wasted so much time talking.
With a wave of his hand, the black sphere returned to his palm.
Orin examined it closely, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
A mass compressed to such extremes… its density had to be absurdly high. It actually reminded him of Kuma's compressed air bubbles.
He casually tossed the sphere far, far out into the distant sea.
The instant it was released, the previously compressed space and matter exploded outward violently, blasting a massive crater across a kilometer-wide stretch of ocean.
Thankfully, Orin had thrown it far enough. Otherwise, the resulting tsunami alone would have swallowed their ship whole.
"Now that's… spectacular~"
This was Orin's first time using the technique, and its effectiveness far exceeded his expectations.
He even mused that he could use it like a mushroom cloud bomb in the future — make a few more of these, and it might rival Imu's island-erasing technique.
Orin was in high spirits, but beside him, Moria felt his head buzzing.
This kind of power…!
It was even more overwhelming than the giant dragon from back then.
Was he really going to die here today?
Deep down, Moria understood the enormous gap between himself and the top monsters of the sea.
But as a proud pirate, he refused to live kneeling.
If this was where he'd fall… then so be it.
"Enough!!! Black Emperor!!! Stop toying with me already! My life's right here — if you want it, come and take it!!!"
Moria roared.
Orin, however, stayed calm. After glancing at the distant oceanic crater, he looked back at the desperate, bloodshot Moria and shrugged.
"What's wrong? Not gonna give it another try~?"
"My shadow's right here. If you've got the guts, come and cut it yourself."
Orin wasn't in any rush to finish him off — he wanted to grind down Moria's pride first.
But to Moria, it was like pouring oil on fire. His face flushed with rage. A man of pride and temper, seeing Orin's mocking expression ignited him instantly.
"If you were trying to piss me off, congratulations — it worked!"
"Black Emperor!!!"
That earlier death wish… all but vanished beneath his surging anger.
At the very least…
At the very least, before dying, he had to hurt Orin — force him to bleed, force him to stumble. That was Moria's final resolve.
"Shadow Horn Spear — Gigantification!!!"
He summoned every ounce of strength he had left, shadows surging wildly as they detached from his zombies and flooded into his own body.
A massive shadow spear slowly took shape, its colossal arrowhead locking directly onto Orin's position.
"Die!!!"
"Oh my, where'd this cute little loli come from?"
Just moments before the colossal spear could strike Orin, he smiled faintly — as though waiting for Moria's breaking point.
Then, with a simple motion, a small figure clutching a stuffed bear appeared in his hand.
Silence fell.
The enormous Shadow Horn Spear froze midair. Moria, partially transformed into his shadow form, watched as his pupils shrank to pinpoints.
"Perona!!!"
That's right. In Orin's hand, fast asleep while hugging Kumashi, was none other than little Perona.
There was no denying it — this was a despicable move on Orin's part.
Shameless, even.
But he had no choice. Moria was a stubborn, iron-headed fool, fearless against gods and monsters alike… yet he had one weakness — he cared deeply for those close to him.
Only this method could force him to calm down enough for a proper conversation.
Not that Orin would've harmed Perona. If this didn't work, he would've put her right back.
"Looks like it worked. Still… using a kid as leverage… I'm really starting to sound like a villain here…"
With a crew full of villains and constantly manipulating future "protagonist" figures, Orin realized he was unknowingly walking further down the path of an antagonist.
"This sort of thing… definitely doesn't suit me. Here — you take care of her, Hawk Eyes."
Orin snapped his fingers, teleporting the sleeping Perona straight into Mihawk's arms. The swordsman jolted, barely managing to catch her.
"Oi!!! Why the hell am I stuck with this?!"
Threatening an old man with his kid? That wasn't Mihawk's style at all — cold, straightforward, and too proud for such underhanded tricks.
"What's the problem? She seems to have some kind of fate tied to you anyway."