Carl wasn't bothered by Luffy's loud, high-pitched shout. He and his crew weren't worried. After all, if Luffy could handle both Kaido and Big Mom, he could certainly handle whatever was on this island. Since Luffy wanted to take Moria's treasure, Carl figured he'd let him.
They continued their walk until they came upon a castle-like structure. Building a castle on a ship was certainly an impressive feat, a sign of Moria's wealth, but the dark, gloomy aesthetic lacked any real sense of grandeur.
Suddenly, the castle shook violently. The entire three-masted ship-island trembled, and a huge, wine-red monster smashed through the castle wall.
"Is that Oars?" Marie asked calmly, munching on a biscuit.
"It is. But he's different from the one I saw on the battlefield. This one's skin is a reddish color, and he's even bigger. Could he be a relative of Little Oars Jr.?" Robin commented, as relaxed as ever.
Despite the monster being even larger than a giant, the two girls showed no signs of fear.
"You're the Straw Hat Pirates' Lightning Swordsman, Carl?!" A plump, long-necked figure with a rounded body poked his head out from Oars's shoulder. It was Moria.
Carl was surprised. Moria had already activated Oars's body, and the look in his eyes was pure murder. Carl wasn't sure what he'd done to provoke him.
"Straw Hat crew, I have no reason to fight with you!" Moria continued. "Oars, kill them!"
And with that, Oars's massive fist came swinging down.
Carl and Robin immediately backed away. Marie calmly patted Ricky's head, then took to the air with Geppo. In the next second, Ricky transformed into a gigantic lion, raising one of his powerful paws to meet the incoming fist.
Boom! A clap of thunder seemed to erupt in the air.
The force of the collision created a hurricane-force wind that swept across the island, shaking the entire ship. Oars stood at almost 100 meters tall, while Ricky was less than 50, but size didn't always matter. Ricky's paw easily pushed back Oars's fist, sending the massive zombie staggering back, almost toppling over.
Moria's eyes widened in disbelief. "How is this possible?! This is a zombie made from the body of the demon Oars! He should be invincible! Why can't he beat a little lion?!"
Ricky didn't like being called a "little lion." He leaped forward and slammed into Oars, throwing the giant to the ground. The impact sent Moria flying off Oars's shoulder and into a castle wall. Bang! Ricky's paw swatted the side of Oars's head, and the sound of cracking bones in the back of his neck was audible.
But Oars didn't even flinch. He simply twisted his head back into place and tried to grab Ricky in a massive bear hug. Ricky was too fast, leaping high to avoid the embrace and landing on Oars's legs, breaking his thigh bones. Now, Oars couldn't get up at all.
Moria pulled himself out of the wall and stared in shock at Oars's pathetic state. His trump card was completely useless, unable to even defeat one of the Straw Hats' pets. It was a humiliating thought, but then again, it was a testament to the power of the Five Emperors.
But Moria's thoughts turned to his crew. "Carl!" he roared, "Where are my partners?! What have you done to them?!"
Carl was taken aback. He hadn't expected this. Moria had started a fight with the Five Emperors because of his crew? But it made sense. Moria might not have been a great pirate, but he was fiercely loyal to his friends.
Moria had lost his crew to Kaido, and that's why he'd started to rely on zombies—because they weren't his friends, he didn't have to fear losing them. But he still had three living partners: Hogback, Absalom, and Perona.
He cherished them all, and his loyalty to them was impressive. In the original timeline, Moria had gone to Blackbeard's territory by himself just to save Absalom. That kind of loyalty was worth respecting.
"The lion-headed guy is locked up on our ship," Carl explained. "I don't know where the others are."
Moria's expression softened slightly, but he still wouldn't back down. "Give me back my partner immediately, or you'll regret it!"
Carl just laughed. "Why so hostile? Are you gonna use your ability or your zombies? Let me tell you something, Moria. The Straw Hat Pirates are easy to talk to, but we're not easy to bully. That lion-headed guy was spying on us, so we just captured him instead of killing him. That's a kindness on our part. Now, if you keep this up, your whole crew might be wiped out!"
Moria couldn't argue. He knew how powerful Carl was. The man had fought against monsters like Akainu and Garp; how could he possibly win? He knew there was a real risk of his entire crew being wiped out.
At that moment, a familiar high-pitched voice rang out.
"Moria! Where are you?! We're here to steal your treasure! Hahahaha!"
Luffy was obviously having a great time, treating the act of robbing other pirates like a game. It seemed like the only time Luffy was serious was during a real battle; other times, he just treated piracy like a game.
Just like now, he was trying to steal from Moria for no reason other than fun. He probably wouldn't even defeat Moria unless he did something truly evil. The real reason Luffy was angry was that Absalom had spied on them, so he wanted to teach Moria a lesson by taking his treasure!
"Moria!" Nami shouted as she and the rest of the crew appeared from another direction. "Where's your treasure?! We're gonna take it all!"
Moria's expression tightened. Luffy spotted Carl and the others. "Huh? Carl, Marie, Robin, Ricky! I didn't expect you guys to be here already! Where's Moria? We wanna take his treasure!"
Carl pointed at the long-necked figure. "He's Moria."
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