The Shadow-Shadow Fruit.
Yuuki carefully recalled the abilities of this Devil Fruit.
Manipulating shadows to attack?
It held no attraction for him whatsoever.
The only thing that truly caught his eye was its ability to cut away the shadows of all living beings, with those shadows retaining the owner's personality and combat power.
Putting aside the so-called "combat ability," it was the preservation of one's personality that truly interested Yuuki.
He remembered Moria once saying that a shadow was a living being's second soul.
Judging from the fruit's abilities, that statement was not entirely without merit.
However—
its weaknesses could not be ignored either.
Anyone who lost their shadow would die the moment they came into contact with sunlight.
Likewise, the death of the shadow's owner would cause the shadow itself to vanish.
Down in the ruins below, the pirates whose shadows had been stolen by Moria began shouting excitedly.
"Wake Moria up and make him give our shadows back!"
"The sun's about to rise!"
"That's right! We have to get our shadows back before sunrise!"
Voices rang out one after another.
The Straw Hat crew, who had just defeated Moria, snapped out of their exhilaration.
Then suddenly—
"There's no need for you to wake me up!"
A furious yet weakened voice rang out from atop Oars' body.
The next moment, everyone looked up in disbelief.
Standing atop the body of the Ancient Giant was Gecko Moria, having risen once more.
The gathered pirates instinctively staggered backward, terror filling their faces.
They had never imagined that after taking such a relentless barrage of attacks, Moria could still stand.
This monster!
"Straw Hat brat!"
"You actually dared to wreck my Thriller Bark like this!"
"As long as comrades are alive, they can be lost!"
"But if they're dead from the start—if they're zombies—then there's nothing left to lose!"
Moria roared, his eyes turning blood-red as he activated his Devil Fruit.
"Shadow's Asgard!"
In an instant, countless black shadows slithered out from beneath Moria's feet like serpents, rushing toward every zombie on the island that had been implanted with a shadow.
One after another, the shadows were forcibly torn from the zombies' bodies.
"He's trying to absorb every shadow on the island into himself!"
Nami was the first to realize what was happening, letting out a sharp cry.
"Straw Hat brat, I stuffed about a hundred shadows into your body earlier, didn't I?"
"Well then—"
"100!"
"200!"
"300!"
"...!"
Moria's face twisted with manic excitement as he shouted.
The sudden turn of events instantly plunged everyone into despair.
On the rooftop balcony in the distance—
Yuuki shook his head lightly at the sight.
"To think someone who managed to escape from Kaido's hands has weakened to this extent."
"He doesn't even understand the limits of his own Devil Fruit anymore."
"How dull."
The moment the word dull left his lips, Marianne immediately understood.
Her figure flashed as she leapt from the rooftop and shot toward Moria.
"Kuma, huh?"
Yuuki's gaze did not linger on the battle below.
Instead, he looked toward another direction.
Then, with a somewhat helpless expression, he lightly tapped his forehead.
I actually forgot about this.
It was only now, after sensing Kuma's presence, that he suddenly remembered.
At this point in time, Kuma had come under the World Government's orders to inform Moria of the new candidate for the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
So, Ace really had been captured.
And the new Warlord candidate was naturally—
Blackbeard.
"Perona has probably already been sent flying by Kuma."
"That's a bit troublesome."
"The last time I met Kuma, I forgot to leave a marker on him."
"Otherwise, I could've locked onto Vegapunk's location long ago."
Yuuki shook his head.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't really his fault for not thinking of it.
Back during Little Garden, his research into Devil Fruits had not yet reached that stage.
Naturally, he had not yet thought of using Vegapunk's Green Blood to collect Devil Fruit abilities.
Below—
Moria's body rapidly began to swell as he absorbed more and more shadows.
Just as he was laughing triumphantly—
"To think a Warlord of the Sea would be reduced to this by a rookie pirate crew. How embarrassing."
The sudden voice instantly drew everyone's attention.
Countless gazes turned toward the source.
Descending rapidly from the sky was Marianne.
Others looked confused.
But the expressions on Luffy, Zoro, and the others changed instantly.
"It's the one who took Usopp!"
Nami and Chopper cried out in alarm.
Already furious after suffering heavily at the Straw Hats' hands, Moria's face darkened further at those words.
"Who the hell are you?! Die!"
His massively swollen body—despite being enlarged by all the shadows he had absorbed—showed no signs of sluggishness as he swung an enormous arm toward the sky.
BOOM!
Facing the overwhelming giant palm, colorful ink suddenly surged from the sketchpad on Marianne's back, transforming into a pair of wings in midair.
Her falling body halted.
With ease, she dodged Moria's attack.
The next instant—
her colorful wings gave a slight flap.
Her speed exploded.
In the blink of an eye, she was already above Moria's head.
Hummm—
Jet-black Armament Haki coated her arm.
"Lie down already!"
Marianne shouted as she drove her fist down onto Moria's skull.
BANG!
The force of the blow produced a heavy, muffled crash.
"GAH! Y-You...!"
Moria cried out in pain.
The process of absorbing shadows was forcibly interrupted.
The impact of Haki slammed through him, blasting all the shadows he had swallowed back out of his body.
BOOM—
Moria's body rapidly shrank back to its original size before crashing headfirst into the ground, unconscious.
Because Shadow's Asgard had forcibly extracted every shadow previously implanted into the zombies—
now that Moria had suddenly been knocked out and lost control—
all those freed shadows spun in the air.
After pausing briefly, they shot back toward their rightful owners.
"Our shadows are back!!"
"Thank goodness—it's my shadow!"
"We don't have to hide in the dark anymore!"
"Moria's been defeated!"
"...!"
As their shadows returned, the gathered pirates burst into tears of joy.
"We meet again, Straw Hat Pirates."
Marianne descended from the air and landed atop Moria's unconscious body, staring expressionlessly at Luffy and the others.
"It's you!"
Only now did Luffy fully recognize her.
His eyes blazed with anger.
"Where's Usopp?!"
Zoro and Sanji immediately moved to his sides, their expressions guarded.
"Usopp?"
Marianne tilted her head as though thinking.
"By now, he's probably forgotten all about you."
Then she smiled faintly.
"The captain asked me to bring you back, Robin."
The moment those words were spoken—
Nami and Chopper, who stood beside Robin, widened their eyes in disbelief.
Shock, suspicion, and incomprehension flickered across their faces.
Franky, having only recently joined the crew, looked utterly lost.
He had no idea what was going on.
"What kind of stupid nonsense are you spouting?!"
"Robin's my crewmate!"
"And give Usopp back! This time, I won't let you escape!"
Luffy roared, utterly refusing to believe Marianne's words.
Spreading his legs, he crouched heavily.
The next moment, both of his legs bulged like pumps forcing air through his body.
His skin rapidly turned crimson.
White steam billowed from his body.
Seeing the transformation, Marianne showed no surprise.
She had already witnessed it from the balcony earlier.
Compared to Skypiea, he had indeed grown stronger—
but only that much.
"Escape?"
Marianne's voice remained calm, but a deep chill laced her tone.
She didn't care if Luffy and the others cursed her.
But she would never allow anyone to insult the Magic Eye Pirates.
"Last time, I simply couldn't be bothered with weaklings like you."
"This time, we don't mind sending you on your way."
She took out her brush and spoke coldly.
There had been a few things she hadn't understood before—
but after learning that Robin was one of their own, Marianne had pieced some of it together.
She knew very well that her captain possessed the ability to strip away Devil Fruits.
Robin's reason for staying with the Straw Hat crew was most likely to gather information on powerful Devil Fruit users along the way.
And now that the captain had called Robin back—
then, in Marianne's eyes—
this Straw Hat crew had outlived its usefulness.
"Tres Fleur: Rope!"
At that moment, Robin's voice rang out.
Three arms suddenly sprouted from Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and the others, binding both their legs and arms.
"Robin, you—!"
Nami fell to the ground and looked up at Robin, both shocked and furious.
"Miss Robin!"
Sanji's face was full of disbelief.
The steam surrounding Luffy's body dissipated.
His eyes went blank for a moment.
"I'm sorry, everyone."
"I betrayed your trust."
"I really am a member of the Magic Eye Pirates."
Under the furious gazes of Nami and the others, Robin expressionlessly brushed the dust from her clothes and walked toward Marianne.
The surrounding pirates stared in utter confusion.
Even they could tell the Straw Hats were clearly in the middle of internal conflict.
Marianne frowned as she watched Robin approach calmly with her bag slung over her shoulder, the brush spinning between her fingers.
"Let's go," Robin said calmly, her dark blue-black eyes fixed on Marianne.
"You're trying to save them, aren't you, Robin?"
"Don't tell me you've actually grown attached to this pirate crew."
"That doesn't sound like someone as fond of betrayal as you."
Marianne tilted her head, the ends of her dark red twin tails swaying lightly.
"You can think of it that way."
Unexpectedly, Robin did not deny it.
She simply nodded.
"Then… are you going to kill me?"
"You—!"
Marianne glared at her.
The two women locked eyes—
one openly angry, the other perfectly calm.
"ROBIN!!"
Suddenly, Luffy's voice thundered from behind.
Robin's body stiffened.
Then she let out a soft sigh.
"Tell us!"
"You're being forced to do this, right?!"
Luffy stared straight at her.
There was no anger in his voice.
Only unwavering seriousness.
"I'm sorry."
Robin answered quietly.
Luffy lowered his head slightly.
Then he looked up again.
Steam surged from his body.
His skin turned crimson once more.
With a burst of force, he shattered the arms Robin had created.
BANG! BANG!
Zoro and Sanji broke free immediately afterward.
They knew Robin's powers well.
A sharp wave of pain shot through Robin.
She let out a muffled groan and clutched her arms.
"Then from this moment on, you're not my crewmate anymore."
"We're enemies!"
Luffy pulled his straw hat down firmly and shouted.
"Don't flatter yourselves!"
"You think you can stand against the Magic Eye Pirates?!"
Marianne's gaze turned icy.
Purple light began to radiate from the brush in her hand.
"Painting Magic — Phantom Dragon Viver's Roar!"
This was one of the most powerful spells she had painstakingly mastered.
Not only did she intend to wipe them all out in one blow—
she also wanted the captain to see how hard she had worked.
ROAR!
A gigantic half-dragon with purple-and-white wings and a feminine upper form appeared above Marianne.
A terrifying magical aura exploded outward.
Purple magic flared around her body like flames.
An invisible pressure wave swept across the area, blowing away the weaker pirates entirely.
"What the hell is that?!"
Cold sweat formed on Sanji's forehead.
Clack!
Zoro immediately gripped his swords with both hands, another clenched between his teeth, eyes locked forward.
"Go."
Marianne's eyes flashed.
"ROOOAR!"
With a deafening roar, a blinding purple-white beam of destructive energy erupted from the dragon's mouth.
Everything in its path was annihilated.
The ground itself was pulverized.
At the sight of that power, despair spread across the faces of everyone present.
"Damn it!"
Luffy clenched his teeth.
After their battle with Moria, their stamina was already nearly exhausted.
Now, faced with an attack of this magnitude—
even with Luffy's iron will, he knew they had no way to stop it.
Then suddenly—
a black figure appeared in the very center of the battlefield.
It was none other than the man who had been concealed in the shadows all along—
"Tyrant" Bartholomew Kuma!
Facing the oncoming purple-white energy beam, Kuma raised his left hand—the glove already removed—and casually pressed his palm forward.
Hummm—
With a faint vibration, the terrifying blast simply vanished.
Most of the people present blinked in confusion.
"...It disappeared?"
Luffy froze.
All he had seen was the sudden appearance of a man—
a single motion of his palm—
and then the overwhelming attack was gone.
For a moment—
the entire battlefield fell into a strange silence.
With one shocking development after another, everyone was already dumbstruck.
They had only just managed to reclaim their shadows from Moria.
And yet—
the current situation gave everyone the chilling feeling that they could die here at any moment.
(End of Chapter)
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