Aramaki was the strongest subordinate Black could recruit within a short period of time, so Black naturally intended to entrust him with the task of searching for Devil Fruits.
The Mera Mera no Mi—currently drifting somewhere in the first half of the Grand Line after Roger's era—the Goro Goro no Mi hidden in Skypiea, the Mythical Zoan Bat-Bat Fruit, Model: Vampire rumored to have appeared in the West Blue, the Artificial Dragon Fruit on Punk Hazard, the Ope Ope no Mi circulating through the North Blue's underworld… Black had no intention of letting any Devil Fruits slip through his fingers if their whereabouts were known or if clear clues existed.
This search for the Paramecia Horo Horo no Mi was merely a small test for Aramaki.
As Black pondered which other fruits he could intercept along the way, Stella's voice sounded from behind him.
"Your Highness, that girl has awakened."
Black rose and entered the cabin with Stella.
Perona sat on the bed, pink hair slightly disheveled, her large round eyes still unfocused. The moment she saw Black, she instinctively shrank backward.
Black examined her from head to toe, nodded in satisfaction, and revealed a deliberately malicious smile.
"Congratulations. From today onward, you are my little slave."
"Wahhh! I don't want to be a little slave!"
…
Black never considered himself particularly mean-spirited.
Yet whenever he saw Perona, he felt an uncontrollable urge to tease her.
Perhaps it was because she looked like the type of girl who would cry endlessly after being lightly flicked on the forehead. Or perhaps her future image—the arrogant Ghost Princess floating smugly with her umbrella—was too deeply ingrained in his memory.
In any case—
"Hahahahaha…"
Seeing her on the verge of tears again, Black burst into laughter.
"Not bad. Not bad at all. You didn't faint this time. Now tell me—why were you hiding on that ship?"
Perona's sobbing gradually subsided. She cast a cautious glance at Black, then at Stella standing behind him, and softly recounted her experience.
There was nothing extraordinary about it.
Pirates had attacked her hometown. In the chaos, she became separated from her family. After wandering and narrowly avoiding danger, she secretly boarded a passing merchant vessel.
Since she had stowed away, she dared not reveal herself and could only hide in the storage room. By coincidence, she discovered the hidden compartment beneath the floor and concealed herself there.
After hearing her story, Black smiled faintly and pinched her soft cheek.
"So you have nowhere to go now, correct? Then stay aboard my ship."
Perona blinked.
"This guy… doesn't seem so hateful."
Encouraged by his tone, she cautiously asked,
"Am I still… a little slave?"
"Of course."
Seeing her eyes immediately redden again, Black laughed loudly and turned to leave.
Stella shook her head helplessly before stepping forward to comfort the girl.
Though Stella had never cared for a child before, her warm smile and gentle temperament carried a calming effect. Before long, Perona's tears stopped.
She clenched her small fists angrily in the direction Black had left.
"I'll definitely escape from that big villain!"
—
Meanwhile, Aramaki, having found nothing aboard the merchant ship, had already boarded the massive island vessel.
The atmosphere was suffocating.
Dark, murky liquid seeped from cracks in the wooden planks. Corpses, dried and distorted, hung from the masts, swaying in the sea breeze like grotesque marionettes.
The architecture deliberately blocked sunlight, creating permanent twilight. Shadows cast upon the walls twisted unnaturally—sometimes sprouting extra limbs, sometimes missing entire heads.
Chains dragged slowly across the floor somewhere in the darkness.
"Cheap theatrics."
Aramaki snorted coldly.
From his body erupted massive tree trunks, bursting through the ship's structure in an instant.
Two wooden spears—each as thick as two men embracing—shot forward like ballista bolts toward the presence he had already locked onto.
"Who dares—?!"
Gecko Moria, who had been experimenting on a freshly captured pirate, barely reacted in time and rolled aside.
At this stage, Moria was still lean and imposing—not yet the obese warlord of the future. A probing attack of that level naturally could not injure him.
He looked up in shock and fury—
Only to find Aramaki already standing before him.
Though Aramaki stood roughly three meters tall before Moria's towering near-seven-meter frame, their presences were inverted.
Aramaki's aura was calm and oppressive.
Moria's was chaotic and unstable.
"You're Gecko Moria?" Aramaki chuckled lightly. "The seas truly are full of mediocrity. A man like you is called a Great Pirate?"
"You—! You nameless nobody who appears out of nowhere! You dare belittle me?!"
Moria's mental state had been fragile ever since his crushing defeat at Kaido's hands in Wano. Aramaki's words poured oil onto smoldering resentment.
"Shadow's Asgard—!"
Before he could fully activate his ability, Aramaki vanished.
"What—?!"
"Where are you looking?"
The two voices overlapped.
Moria turned in horror.
Aramaki was already above him, one hand pressing down on his onion-shaped head.
The movement was reminiscent of Garp's iron grip—so swift that even future admirals struggled to react.
Boom!
Moria's head smashed violently into the ground, creating a deep crater.
Aramaki stepped onto his back, expression indifferent, and kicked his head slightly.
"Trash like you should crawl into a corner and rot quietly."
He pressed harder.
"Where are the Devil Fruits you've collected?"
"You… who are you? How can someone of your strength be completely unknown on the seas?!"
Moria felt humiliated. He had been defeated before properly engaging.
Aramaki's brows furrowed.
He kicked Moria's head again.
"I'm asking the questions. Where are they?"
The blow left Moria stunned for several seconds.
When he finally regained clarity, he began shouting incoherently in rage.
Aramaki sighed faintly.
This was precisely why Black had not considered recruiting pirates of this caliber.
Many of them clung to pride, dreams, and obsessions more stubbornly than life itself.
They valued illusions over survival.
And the one thing Black could not grant them… was the restoration of broken ambition.
With no alternative, Aramaki employed what Black jokingly referred to as the "Great Memory Restoration Technique."
After a brief but violent struggle, he located two Devil Fruits concealed within a hidden chamber.
Without hesitation, he departed, leaving behind a battered and swollen Moria sprawled in defeat.
—
After teasing Perona for some time, Black was in excellent spirits.
He stepped onto the deck just as Aramaki descended from the sky using Geppo, landing steadily while holding two ornate boxes.
"Your Highness. This subordinate located two Devil Fruits aboard Moria's island ship."
He presented the boxes and opened them one by one.
Black's gaze sharpened.
Inside lay two fruits he recognized immediately.
Paramecia — Horo Horo no Mi.
Paramecia — Suke Suke no Mi.
The very abilities that would one day belong to the Ghost Princess Perona… and Absalom of the Thriller Bark Pirates.