"Has Moria always lived on this island?"
Ace stood on the small boat, looking at the towering walls in the distance with a look of curiosity.
"This isn't an island,"
Xia Qiu shook his head and said, "It's a ship."
"A ship?"
Heckle looked around, surprised, "A ship that looks like an island?"
"That's right,"
Xia Qiu nodded. "This area has masts and a rudder, so it can change course."
Ace said, "I see. Among the Shichibukai, Hawk Eyes and Moria are the most mysterious. Although the former sometimes goes out to sea, Moria has rarely appeared in recent years. I didn't expect him to be hiding in these waters. What exactly is he trying to do? Why is he attacking passing ships?"
"He's capturing shadows, seizing the members of passing ships, stripping them of their shadows, and then injecting them into zombies created by Hogback,"
Xia Qiu said, looking into the distance. "Those whose shadows have been stolen cannot survive in the sunlight. If they are exposed to the sun, they will turn to ash."
Ace frowned and asked, "Why is he doing such a thing?"
Xia Qiu replied, "To create an army of zombies, hoping to one day return to the New World and defeat his old rival."
"The Four Emperor Kaido."
Ace spoke a name. He had heard about the past between Moria and Kaido. Twelve years ago, Kaido had killed all of Moria's crew, and Moria had returned alone in disgrace. Since then, he had disappeared and rarely appeared in public.
"Our target this time is to deal with him," Xia Qiu said coldly.
Heckle asked, "But President, how do we get in? I can manage, but..."
This Thriller Bark was enormous, circular, and resembled a small island, with towering walls surrounding it.
Heckle could reduce his body weight to one kilogram. With a powerful jump, he could step on the wall and climb up.
Ace could transform into flames and fly up himself.
But what about Xia Qiu?
His massive body was sixty meters tall, and he weighed over three hundred tons.
Although his body was extremely tough, there was nowhere for him to get a grip, making it difficult to climb or jump up directly.
"Don't worry,"
Xia Qiu slowly retreated and said, "This is just a surrounding wall. There's a moat inside. We just need to break through the wall."
With that, Xia Qiu turned his head and swam away into the distance.
"President, you're not planning to..."
Ace saw Xia Qiu's actions and guessed what he was about to do, his expression showing surprise.
Splash, splash.
After swimming away, Xia Qiu suddenly charged towards them.
Xia Qiu's enormous dorsal fin cut through the waves as his body charged forward, getting closer and closer.
The moment he neared the wall, Xia Qiu's six legs suddenly stomped ten times in the water.
Xia Qiu's speed increased again. His head was covered in Armament Haki as he rammed into the wall.
Boom.
A tremendous sound echoed. The spot he hit immediately caved in, creating a fifteen-meter-wide hole that pierced through the wall.
From the center of the hole, cracks spread outwards. Especially above, the wall shattered, and huge rocks crashed down with a rumble.
"That's about it,"
Xia Qiu swam directly through the hole. Inside was a moat, and the island within the moat was where the buildings were located.
"What immense power."
Ace couldn't help but click his tongue at the sight.
To create such a gap in the wall with a single blow, the strength was truly immense.
It would be difficult for him to achieve the same result.
Heckle was already astonished. He was the strongest among the Baroque Works members, but even with all his might, he could only create a small notch.
"Quickly,"
Xia Qiu shouted after entering the moat.
"Let's go in,"
Ace's small boat spewed flames as it followed Xia Qiu into the moat. Then, Xia Qiu climbed onto the island in the middle of the lake.
Heckle leaped lightly, landing on the open ground ten meters away. He then stepped on the edge a few times before directly reaching the island.
Ace, with a powerful leap, transformed into roaring flames and ascended, landing on top.
"Let's go."
Xia Qiu led the two of them forward, but after only a few steps, rustling sounds came from their surroundings.
"Careful."
Ace waved his right hand, and flames erupted, illuminating the area.
Not far away, two strange figures appeared.
One was a tree-like creature with arms, and the other was short with long limbs and an ugly head.
These figures didn't approach but instead ran into the distance, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"What are these things?"
Heckle frowned, but at that moment, Ace shouted, "There's more."
The ground split open, and several decaying figures crawled out.
Their skin was grayish-blue, dull, and shriveled, emitting a foul odor.
Their hair had fallen out, some had panicked eyes, and their bodies bore wounds or twisted limbs.
"Are these zombies?" Heckle furrowed his brow.
These zombies climbed out of the ground, glanced at Xia Qiu's massive form, and then bolted into the distance.
"These guys seem to have intelligence," Ace mused, watching their movements.
Xia Qiu said, "If I'm not mistaken, they're likely ordinary pirate corpses injected with shadows, and those two up front are zombies created by Hogback, still driven by shadows."
"The ability granted by the Shadow-Shadow Fruit."
Ace looked around and said, "I wonder if there are any more powerful zombies."
But the moment he spoke, Heckle's body tilted sharply, his head lolling to one side. In that instant, he instinctively threw a punch backward into the empty space.
Boom.
A figure in the darkness was caught off guard and sent flying heavily, landing on the ground.
It was a man wearing a round hat, with a lion's mouth for his nose, mouth, and jaw.
"Why couldn't I see him just now?"
Heckle wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, looking at the fallen figure, puzzled. He hadn't sensed the man until he was about to touch him.
The figure on the ground was equally surprised. He had landed a punch, yet Heckle hadn't even stumbled and had retaliated with a punch of his own.
The force was immense, far exceeding his own.
"It seems I shouldn't have held back. I'll just kill you now." The figure slowly began to disappear.
"He's vanished again, everyone be careful."
Ace's right hand blazed with fire, illuminating the surroundings.
However, the ground around them was empty, with no sign of their opponent.
"Heheheh, I'll kill you."
The figure reappeared near Heckle, aiming rocket launchers on his arms at Heckle and Ace.
But just as he was about to fire, bang, a massive leg stomped him into the ground.
Crunch.
The opponent's body bent and contorted into a pulp.
"Just because you can't see me doesn't mean you can't feel me."
Xia Qiu snorted coldly. This person was one of Moria's three calamities, Absalom.
A user of the Clear-Clear Fruit, with some of his limbs transplanted by Hogback, giving him immense strength and biting power.
His ability wasn't true invisibility but transparency – he neither absorbed nor reflected light, appearing invisible to observers, yet he had a physical form.
Finding him wasn't difficult; scent, sound, or even Observation Haki could do it.
"An appetizer."
Xia Qiu swallowed Absalom into his belly. He was a cyborg, with Hogback having replaced his mouth and arms with those of a lion, granting him the lion's bite and the strength of an orangutan's arms.
But ultimately, his strength was weak. Under the guise of transparency, he was crushed by Sanji even with his rocket launchers.
The Reinforcement Energy he could provide was minimal, and Xia Qiu didn't expect much.
However, as the second-ranked individual on the list of those destined to die, Absalom's demise brought Xia Qiu a moment of pleasure.
"Let's go."
Xia Qiu led the two forward, arriving before a mansion at the center of the island.
The massive mansion exuded a gloomy aura. Standing before it was a young girl in a gothic lolita style, holding an umbrella.
Not only that, but she floated in the air, with several ghosts by her side.
Perona.
The most dangerous of the three calamities, a user of the Ghost-Ghost Fruit.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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