One day later, East Blue, a non-affiliated nation.
On the port's watchtower, a young girl asked curiously, "Hey, what are you looking at?"
Van Augur put down the scoped flintlock in his hand and responded coldly, "Watching for when the winds of fate will blow for my departure."
The girl curled her lip. "Do you want to go to sea? You'll be wanted and turned into a pirate."
As the sea breeze blew, her hand pressed down on her wide-brimmed hat. "And if you leave, who will talk to me to relieve my boredom?"
Who cares about you!
Van Augur's lip twitched, knowing that even if he said it, the girl would just ignore him and continue to pester him.
But even so, it didn't stop the girl from initiating a conversation.
"Hey, how is your mother's illness?"
"Incurable. It depends on fate." Van Augur became even colder.
"Why do you always like to talk about fate?"
"Because every day is a turning point in my fate."
Van Augur was about to say something when he suddenly froze.
He raised his scoped flintlock and looked into the distance, but he could see nothing through the scope. It was too far, the danger he sensed was too far away.
So much so that Van Augur almost thought it was an illusion, but his senses had been incredibly sharp since childhood, and it was because of these senses that he became a marksman. Or rather, the rarest kind among marksmen: a sniper.
Using this ability, he had become a captain at the port of the capital.
There was no mistake. In the oncoming sea breeze, there was a thick sense of malice. It was just that the scope on his gun couldn't see that far.
This made Van Augur long even more for the gun named "senriku" that was still being fine-tuned, the one most suited for him.
"Leave this place!"
Van Augur raised his gun and fired a warning shot with a bang.
As the girl stood dazed, this shot signaled the beginning of the disaster for this kingdom.
Shortly after, an island-ship nearly half the size of the kingdom appeared outside the port of the capital.
"Kishishishi, let's start from here!"
Holding a pair of giant scissors, Moria laughed and gave the order.
Thriller Bark approached the port, and countless Zombie Soldiers roared as they charged into the kingdom.
Treasures, supplies, and slaughter.
The weak were slaughtered, their corpses preserved as materials.
Stealing the shadows or corpses of the strong, using the blood and tears of others to rebuild an undead army.
By hunting like this, he would surely form a powerful enough zombie army before finding that bastard. Along with the Zombie General and himself, he would take his revenge and snip off that bastard's shadow.
A powerhouse like that should be worthy of awakening Oars in the underground freezer.
Half a day later, Thriller Bark departed fully loaded, leaving behind devastation as it headed to the next hunting ground.
Amidst the wailing and blood everywhere, a blood-covered Van Augur opened his eyes.
Pinned under heavy rubble was... the tattered remains of the girl. Their skin touched, but he felt no warmth.
He silently pushed off the "rubble" and limped out of the ruins, walking with a hunched back as if he were carrying a heavy burden.
Returning home, the last person he cared about was gone. In an instant, he had lost everything.
Van Augur chose to go to the craftsman's house.
Inside the basement entrance pinned under the craftsman's corpse, he found Senriku.
He picked up the black hat hanging on the wall and then left.
Before today, Moria moved for revenge.
From today onward, so did Van Augur.
"This is... fate."
The emotionless murmur vanished into the sea breeze.
The destruction of this Kingdom caused almost no stir, but as Moria advanced, more and more non-affiliated nations were destroyed.
His targets were small kingdoms with little size and weak resistance.
After significantly replenishing his number of Zombie Soldiers, Moria turned his claws toward the pirates he encountered along the way, mass-producing core combat forces.
Soon, a massive uproar was sparked in the East Blue.
[Warlord Gecko Moria Appears in the East Blue and Goes on a Killing Spree: The End for East Blue Pirates?]
Newspapers with such headlines reached all parts of the East Blue via News Coo.
Inside the attic, Koushirou saw such a newspaper just as he woke up from his hangover, seeing Moria's name and the words "Appears in East Blue."
Almost subconsciously, his hand pressed onto the hilt of the sword at his waist, making a move to stand up.
"Aren't you trying to live in seclusion?" Issho's helpless voice sounded.
His friend was always like this. Though he didn't falter in major matters, he sometimes made decisions based on sudden emotions.
As a friend, he still reminded him, "Gecko Moria is a Warlord. If you slay him, living in seclusion will be out of the question."
"..."
Koushirou's movement paused, and after thinking for a moment, he sat back down.
He was thinking of letting the Revolutionary Army take action but the matters involved there were even more numerous and significant.
Purururu...
The ringing of the den den mushi suddenly sounded.
Issho was stunned for a moment, then pulled the den den mushi out of his waist pouch.
He answered with some surprise, "Hiroto?"
"It's time to repay the second favor. How about acting as my 'transportation tool' for a while?"
On the other end of the line, Hiroto looked at the newspaper on the table, his voice filled with unconcealable excitement.