'It's him, no doubt about it. It's this damn bastard.'
Moria's teeth ground together with a creaking sound, and his hatred almost turned into flames spewing from his eyes.
He had cross-referenced with those surviving zombies many times. Finally, he had identified this bastard who had ambushed him as the person in the photograph who had appeared in the East Blue not long ago.
That day he was sleeping soundly in his bedroom when, without warning, a meteor dropped from the sky, smashed straight into the castle, and nearly buried him in an endless sleep.
Most of the castle was destroyed in the aftershock and countless zombie soldiers were obliterated in a single blow.
The loss was so great even Hogback couldn't salvage it—Thriller Bark Pirates had suffered devastating damage.
But worst of all, what Moria couldn't accept, was that the bastard had killed his subordinate.
Killed Absalom!
For Moria, who had once lost every comrade and created an undead army to keep from ever losing anyone again, it was a disaster that shook him with fear and made him doubt whether what he was doing had any meaning at all.
Is what I'm doing right?
Does turning people into zombies really matter?
Will I lose the ones I treasure again?
He had no answer. After his defeat in Wano Country, he had abandoned the idea that being strong enough would let him protect every friend.
Instead, he'd convinced himself: if my comrades are already dead, zombies who'll stand back up no matter how many times they fall, then nothing can go wrong.
But now, before that conviction could succeed, he had lost a comrade once more.
Doubt gnawed at him, turned to self-questioning, and finally, because he refused to face it, into raging hatred aimed at the bastard responsible.
"Unforgivable. I'll never let you go. Just wait. Wherever you run, I'll hunt you down and grind your bones to dust." Moria cursed through clenched teeth.
That was why he had come to the East Blue.
To make sure the Marines helped him find the man, he had even destroyed one of their surveillance ships, just to make the message clear: he was furious.
If they didn't want him tearing the East Blue apart, they'd better use every Marine here to track the bastard down.
Not the usual farce of him asking, them nodding, then dragging their feet while doing who-knows-what behind his back.
Over the past few days, he had already cut off several calls from Marineford HQ.
By his reckoning, today's call was overdue.
Purururu...
The den den mushi rang.
Moria let it wait half a minute before lazily picking up.
This time, however, the voice on the line made his face darken.
"This is Sengoku," came the deep voice.
Without delay Moria answered, "Moria speaking—"
"Skip the small talk. Let's be blunt: did you come to the East Blue for revenge on someone?"
"That's none of your business."
"So it's true. The World Government just received word that one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea was defeated by some unknown nobody. The Gorosei are questioning whether you're still qualified to hold your title and so am I."
Sengoku showed no courtesy. With pirates this vicious, politeness only encouraged them.
Before Moria could retort he went on, "The Marine branch commander stationed at Loguetown, Smoker, has suffered repeated defeats at the hands of Sea-Cleaving Swordsman Hiroto."
"HQ therefore dispatched Vice Admiral Dalmatian to hold the fort for a while. Two days ago, I also recalled Garp from leave."
Moria's expression stiffened, he caught the threat.
A Marine HQ Vice Admiral watching Loguetown was no big deal but Garp...
He lapsed into silence to make his stance clear.
Noting the softening, Sengoku continued, "As a Warlord, you have the right to demand assistance from the Marines. But we ask you not to cause too large a commotion. If the allied nations complain to the World Government, you'll lose your Warlord title and be hunted again."
"Not long ago Hanafuda was stripped of his status after a defeat and was killed during another pirate's revenge. Moria, you've made plenty of enemies over the years, haven't you?"
"Kishishishi! Truly the famed strategist of the seas, Sengoku." Moria sneered, but made no refusal.
He understood: their aims didn't clash.
Goal one—revenge: Sengoku would have the East Blue Marines assist.
Goal two—replace losses: Sengoku wouldn't let him touch allied nations, but non-allied ones were fair game.
Sengoku said flatly, "I'm only doing my duty. If you scoundrels behaved, I could have retired long ago."
"Kishishishi, then I'll graciously accept the Marines' terms." Moria said.
He then added, "By the way, who's this pirate you mentioned?"
Before arriving, he'd skimmed some intel. Among it was Loguetown's branch chief Smoker, a rare Logia type Devil Fruit User.
Yet according to Sengoku, this Smoker had been repeatedly beaten by some East Blue pirate?
"Sea-Cleaving Swordsman Hiroto, bounty 100 million berries."
Sengoku's tone was cold and even, as if mentioning Hiroto were mere happenstance.
"Kishishishi, 100 million? Decent prey. In that case, I'll rid you of this nuisance."
Moria stressed, "But find that bastard for me—fast."
On the open sea, tracking a flying foe was nearly impossible. That was why he'd enlisted the Marines' help.
Dealing with Hiroto would also let him amass strength for his ultimate revenge. A 100 million bounty suggested decent ability.
As for threat level...
Before becoming a Warlord, Moria himself had carried a 320 million bounty.
The gap wasn't merely threefold.
"Then it's settled."
Sengoku hung up and quietly stared at the silent receiver.
Everything he'd told Moria was part of his East Blue deployment.
Marine HQ was vast—dozens of Vice Admiral-level fighters—but the territory it had to cover was immense.
The Grand Line, the New World, hundreds of bases, and the large New World installations, all required top-grade Vice Admirals to hold the line or lead task forces against high-threat pirates.
In truth, Marine HQ's strength constantly wavered between barely adequate and stretched too thin. Not every powerhouse could be shifted at will.
In the end, true strength was rare in this world and rarer still at the very top.
However, Moria's actions this time were too sudden and crazy, and his attack on the Marine surveillance ship was proof of that—no, perhaps that was exactly what Moria wanted to convey to the Marines.
Dalmatian, who was dispatched to oversee Loguetown, was the second arrangement.
Dalmatian was recently promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral, his mastery of Haki was average, and his level with the Six Powers was decent. In these two aspects, his strength was a notch below average Vice Admirals.
But he was a Zoan Devil Fruit User, and years of combat had led him to develop his Devil Fruit Ability to a very high degree.
With such strength in the East Blue, it should ensure that no unexpected problems would arise next.
The worst-case scenario was simply Moria being killed by the person he was seeking revenge against.
As for Hiroto...
Sengoku didn't think he could survive against Moria.
Even a monster-like genius needs time to realize their potential, a dead genius is nothing.
Besides, Moria himself was another monster genius, someone who once contended with Kaido, one of the current Four Emperors.
As a Devil Fruit user, his growth curve during the same period was even more dazzling than Hiroto's. However, after his defeat in Wano Country, he seemed to have lost his spirit.
But regardless, becoming a Warlord was proof of strength in itself.
From now on, there shouldn't be any issues in the East Blue.