OPTC Chapter 206: One Less Shichibukai
The massive mast—large enough to house a castle within—collapsed with a thunderous crash. In the end, the Thriller Bark was still just a ship, and when the enormous main mast came down, the impact sent the entire island-sized vessel shaking violently.
Waves surged around the hull, and even the moat inside the ship churned like boiling water.
"My gosh!" Rui Meng Meng, standing at the bow of the Amber, was flung forward, clutching the railing desperately as the ship rocked up and down.
"What in the world… just happened?" Brook tumbled head over heels into a mast, his teacup spilling all over his skull face.
"I'll go take a look!" Lu Dashan dissolved into mist and drifted toward the battlefield.
The situation there was just as chaotic. The few remaining intact structures finally collapsed, while rubble, debris, and even Tom the cat rolled uncontrollably with the ship's violent swaying.
Everyone struggled to stay balanced while dodging unpredictable flying objects.
The calmest of all were Artoria and Shark Chili. One relied on pure skill, the other on sheer toughness.
Zhang Da Ye, however, had it the worst—not because he was weak, but because Tom clung to his face right when he was trying to show off some moves.
Panicked, Tom clamped down hard, wrapping his paws around Zhang Da Ye's head and refusing to let go. With his vision completely blocked, Zhang endured for a few seconds before the two of them rolled together across the deck.
"Ow, ow, ow…" When the rocking finally eased, Zhang rubbed the back of his head with one hand while yanking Tom off with the other. "Now I get why people always told me vision was everything in games. Losing sight is terrifying."
Tom grinned, flashing his sharp little teeth. He didn't really understand what his master was saying, but it seemed like he'd gotten into trouble again. Best to play cute and hope to slip by unnoticed.
Zhang squeezed Tom's face and rubbed it roughly. From Tom's eyes, he could tell the little guy hadn't meant it. Then again—wasn't it always like this whenever Tom wrecked something? Never on purpose, but it always happened anyway.
He was about to ask, "Is everyone alright?" but after looking around, he realized he was the one who looked like he needed concern the most.
"Damn it!" A giant onion sprouted from the ground—not really, but that's what it looked like when Moria crawled out of the ruins, head bloodied from the earlier shockwave.
Seeing someone worse off than himself, Zhang Da Ye immediately felt better.
Moria spotted Absalom's lifeless body nearby and his fury flared. "You… you killed Absalom… You destroyed my castle, ruined my Oars! I'll—"
Zhang cut in, "Well, uh, the invisible guy and Oars, we'll take the blame for that. But your castle? Oars did most of that damage."
"…" Moria paused, then forced himself back into rage mode. "You damned pests! Unforgivable! Shadow Asgard Spear!"
A black shadow stretched before him, transforming into a giant spear that lunged straight at Zhang, who had chosen the worst time to interrupt.
Instinctively, Zhang drew his sword and parried while twisting his body aside. Steel clashed against the shadow spear with a metallic screech—it was harder than he'd expected.
The spear snapped back into a shadow, then morphed into a forty-meter-long blade sweeping sideways. Moria roared, "Die, all of you! Shadow Giant Blade!"
Clang! Artoria stepped forward, her sword intercepting the colossal strike. "It feels like steel, even though it's just shadow. But if I cut down the user, the power ends, doesn't it?"
The others prepared to rush in while she held the blade, but Moria sneered. "Not so fast! Bat Scattering!"
The giant blade shattered into countless black bats, swarming toward the group. Zhang found his folding chair extremely useful here—every swing knocked several bats from the air.
"They sting a bit, but can't hurt me." Shark Chili discovered the bats couldn't even pierce his skin. He swatted them aside with punches and kicks.
Artoria let them claw harmlessly at her mana armor. She focused on slashing the ones targeting her head while charging straight at Moria.
The bats that were struck collapsed into ink-like puddles, slowly gathering again until they formed another black Moria.
But by then, Artoria was already upon the real one. Her blade flashed, cleaving through his body.
"Shadow Doppelgänger!"
The figure she struck dissolved into shadows, while Moria himself swapped places with it.
"Your speed is impressive, but it's useless—I can switch with my shadow anytime I like!" Moria shouted. "Shadow Mage, attack!"
A poor man's Flying Thunder God technique, or maybe a knockoff substitution jutsu? Zhang found the move impressive in theory. Used well, it could be an assassin's dream skill. Sadly, Moria was only slightly better than a child playing pretend.
"Ye Yan, strike the gong!" Zhang barked.
BOOOONG!
Ye Yan didn't even need the reminder. His combat instincts were sharp, and he had already slammed the Soul-Settling Gong the moment Zhang spoke.
"Huh?!" Moria froze in panic. "W-what's going on? I can't move! Is this some kind of power? You—are you the gong user?!"
"You're the gong user, your whole family's the gong user!" Ye Yan snapped, insulted for the second time that day. He hurled his Soul Hammer straight at Moria's forehead.
"Move! I need to move!" Moria's body trembled desperately, trying to break free. Whatever that hammer was, getting hit by it couldn't be good.
In truth, it wasn't so bad. Ye Yan's hammer, outside its special timed strikes, was just a physical attack with limited power. Not much more threatening than a regular weapon.
But Moria didn't know that. Panicked, he swapped with his shadow again. "You can restrain me, but you can't stop me from using my power! I've found your weakness!"
"That's true," Ye Yan admitted casually. "The Soul Gong can pin someone down, hurt them too. But it can't block powers controlled by thought alone. Thing is—unlike you, I have teammates."
"Wait—!" Moria's eyes widened. A sword flashed past, pain seared through his body. Too late, he remembered his shadow was still standing in front of the swordswoman.
"I… impossible… I haven't become Pirate King yet… my crew… Kaido…"
He never imagined his life would end like this—not at the hands of the Marines, nor in battle with other great pirates—but quietly, meaninglessly, taken by prey he'd once dismissed as insignificant.
The hulking body, nearly seven meters tall, toppled to the ground. Moria, one of the Shichibukai, once a dreaded name on the seas, ended his life with his unreachable dream fading away.
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