"Perona, come out right now!"
Moria walked down the hallway, furious as he searched for Perona.
He was practically driven mad by this subordinate who hadn't even outgrown her rebellious phase.
For three whole days.
Perona had completely vanished, as if she had run away from home.
Unable to find Perona, Moria even tried appealing to her emotions. "Perona, if we capture that guy, Hogback can make more zombies. You can even customize the types you like!"
After waiting for a while, Perona still showed no sign of appearing. Moria grew even angrier. "I don't need disobedient subordinates!"
Even after switching to threats, Perona still didn't show up.
Just as Moria was about to go find Absalom and Hogback to see if they had any leads, a voice filled with surprise suddenly came from behind him.
"Perona is missing?"
Moria quickly turned around, only to see a fist covered in Armament Haki growing larger in his vision until it filled his entire field of view.
Boom!
Moria crashed through three walls in a row before finally embedding himself in the fourth. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Who was that?"
Moria was severely injured. That punch reminded him of his battle with Kaido in Wano Country all those years ago.
At that moment, a lean man stepped through the holes in the walls and walked up to Moria.
"It's you... Dr. Reddy!"
Moria's face darkened as he stared at the man in front of him, but his mind was in complete chaos.
Wasn't this guy's true body supposed to be weak?
Right!
This must be a clone!
The real Dr. Reddy must still be hiding somewhere else.
Moria quickly thought of Perona and concluded that the man before him wasn't Reddy's real body.
"Come out!"
Moria was once a powerhouse who had fought against Kaido.
Even though Kaido had beaten him into submission, there was still a fighting spirit buried deep in his bones. He refused to lose to a mere clone.
"Shadow Spear!"
Moria's shadow suddenly extended forward, sharpening into a spike for a sneak attack.
Before the shadow could reach the clone, a door opened in the air to Moria's right.
A black figure instantly appeared beside Moria and threw a punch.
The hallway exploded.
Moria crashed through two floors and landed heavily on the ground in the first-floor hall.
The clone stepped back, opened a door into another dimension, and disappeared. The next moment, it reappeared in front of Moria.
By then, Moria had just gotten up from the ground. Before he could react, a large foot came flying toward his face.
Moria was sent flying like a cannonball, slamming into a wall and spitting out another mouthful of blood. His consciousness nearly faded.
Spiderweb-like cracks spread across the wall behind him.
Pale-faced, Moria knelt on the ground, gasping for breath as he struggled to stay conscious.
At that moment, three clones approached from three directions, surrounding Moria.
"Come... out!"
Moria strained to lift his head, squeezing out the last of his strength to roar.
He couldn't accept being defeated without even seeing Reddy's real body.
Light footsteps echoed through the hall.
Moria's spirits lifted as he desperately turned his head to look.
A clone walked toward him, dragging a strange man by the collar before casually tossing the unconscious figure in front of Moria.
"Absalom!"
Moria was shocked, then filled with rage. He raised his head and roared, "Come out!"
The light footsteps sounded again.
Moria turned sharply and saw Hogback being carried over, soon joining Absalom in unconsciousness.
"As expected of Gecko Moria, someone who once fought against Kaido."
Moria followed the voice and saw a lean man with his hands in his pockets stepping out of a door that had opened in the air. His eyes turned bloodshot.
So he was hiding there!
Moria glared at Reddy with venomous hatred.
With such powerful clones, the real body was still this cowardly. Where was the pride of a strong warrior?
"May I ask where Perona is?"
Reddy bent down politely with a smile.
"I won't tell you!"
Moria wanted nothing more than to stab this guy to death with his shadow, but he couldn't.
The two punches and one kick he had taken earlier had brought back the psychological trauma from his defeat at Kaido's hands.
Every hit was terrifying!
After just two punches and a kick, Moria was severely injured, barely able to stand.
Reddy snapped his fingers.
One of the clones walked over with a pair of Seastone handcuffs and locked them around Moria's wrists.
Moria immediately lost even the strength to hold himself up, collapsing onto the ground in disgrace.
After seizing the Punk Hazard research facility, Reddy was no longer short on Seastone handcuffs, the ultimate weapon against Devil Fruit users.
Reddy crouched down and asked politely again, "May I ask where Perona is?"
"I'd rather..."
Before Moria could finish, he saw one of the clones raise its fist, aiming at the unconscious Hogback.
The rest of his defiant words died in his throat.
"Perona is missing... Where would she go?"
Hearing Reddy's question, Moria realized that the voice from earlier had indeed been Reddy's real body.
Seeing Moria remain silent, Reddy snapped his fingers.
The clone's raised fist suddenly swung down.
"No... I'll talk!"
Moria's eyes nearly burst from fury as he finally abandoned his tough act.
Reddy snapped his fingers again.
The clone stopped instantly, its fist less than a centimeter from Hogback's head.
The powerful punch sent a cloud of dust flying from the floor.
Moria, utterly broken, muttered, "I really don't know where Perona went. Just kill me."
He wasn't stupid. He knew that if he were killed, Absalom and Hogback wouldn't survive either. So he sought death outright, not begging Reddy to spare his two subordinates.
His battle with Kaido years ago had shattered his fighting spirit.
Today's battle had left him in despair.
Rather than live to see his subordinates beaten to death, he'd rather die here and now.
Seeing this, Reddy stood up with a regretful expression.
To Moria, that regretful look was no different from summoning the scythe of death itself.
Moria closed his eyes, waiting for death to come, secretly relieved. "Perona, don't come back."
Reddy sighed gloomily. "Even Moria can't find Perona. Where did that big loli go?"
What a failed first move!
The first battle after taking over Punk Hazard had ended in nothing.
Did he lack genes of Moria's level?
Did he lack the Shadow-Shadow Fruit or Clear-Clear Fruit abilities?
Not at all!
His sole purpose in coming to Thriller Bark was to obtain the Hollow-Hollow Fruit ability.
He had thought it would be simple, but the moment he used the Door-Door Fruit ability to infiltrate the castle, he heard Moria's shouts. Reddy was stunned.
If even Moria couldn't find Perona... had she run away before Kuma even arrived?
"Horohorohorohoro..."
Hearing that highly distinctive laugh, Reddy turned in surprise and saw a gothic lolita standing behind him.
Perona floated in the air with three ghosts beside her, declaring confidently, "Lord Moria, I'll defeat him..."