Luffy and the others immediately turned their attention to Moria and the giant zombie, Oars.
"I heard a weird noise just now," Sanji said, lighting a cigarette. "A huge monster was causing a commotion. It must've been this guy."
"Wait, is that Oars?" Nami asked, a bit startled. "He looks way bigger than Little Oars Jr., and he's a zombie. Where did Moria even find a corpse this big?"
"He just looks bigger," Usopp scoffed. "He was taken down by Ricky without a problem!"
Their careless comments struck a nerve with Moria, who nearly vomited blood in frustration. But what they said was true—this Oars zombie might have been huge, but his size didn't mean he was strong.
Moria couldn't take the insults anymore, especially with his partner still held captive. He decided to attack. "Shadow Mages!" he yelled.
Moria's shadow twisted and formed a black clone that charged at Luffy. Luffy threw a Rubber-Rubber Pistol, but his fist passed right through the clone without a scratch. The clone used the opportunity to get close, its claws swiping at Luffy.
"What's going on?" Luffy muttered, confused, dodging the attacks with his hand on his straw hat. The clone's claws were sharp enough to gouge deep marks into the ground, a clear sign that even Luffy's rubber body wouldn't be immune to the damage. He was frustrated by the multiple physical attacks that had no effect.
"If I can't attack the clone, I'll attack the real body!" Luffy figured out. He dodged past the shadow and got right in front of Moria.
"Rubber-Rubber Gatling!"
Luffy's fists became a storm of blows aimed at Moria, but Moria was ready. "Shadow Warrior!" he yelled. Moria and the clone instantly switched places. The clone kept attacking Luffy, completely unaffected by his rubber fists.
"They just swapped places! That's an incredible move!" Luffy exclaimed, genuinely impressed.
The Shadow Warrior was a powerful trick. It swapped Moria's position with his shadow clone so fast that even a regular person using Observation Haki couldn't perceive it. Not only was the clone immune to physical attacks, but it was also completely unaffected by Armament Haki.
Luffy had been a little dismissive of Moria before, not bothering to use his Observation Haki or even Gear Two, let alone Armament Haki. Now, he realized this Warlord wasn't going to be an easy opponent.
"Scatter Bats!" Moria shouted. The shadow clone turned into a swarm of black bats that flew around Luffy, biting him relentlessly.
Luffy stomped the ground and instantly reappeared in front of Moria. "I bet you can't swap places with the clone now!" he taunted.
Luffy was right. The shadow clone was now a swarm of bats, so Moria couldn't use the Shadow Warrior technique. Luffy immediately launched a Gatling attack. Moria gritted his teeth, pulling out his giant scissors and breaking them in half to use them as dual blades. He wielded them with surprising agility, deflecting Luffy's attacks and making it hard for him to get a hit in.
"Shadow Horn Gun!" Moria yelled. The bats instantly re-formed into a massive black spear that shot toward Luffy's back.
Luffy just smirked. He turned around, his fist coated in Armament Haki, and shattered the spear.
Moria, who had been ready to land a sneak attack, froze. A look of horror spread across his face. "That's impossible! My shadow is immune to physical attacks! How did you break the Shadow Horn Gun?!"
Luffy chuckled. "Nothing's impossible! When your shadow attacks, it's no different from a real body, so it can be hit!"
Moria was speechless. Luffy had guessed it right. While his shadow could normally phase through solid objects, when it was used to attack, it became a solid object itself. He hadn't expected Luffy to figure that out so quickly.
Luffy rolled his shoulders. "Alright, the warm-up's over. I underestimated you, I'll admit it. I can't beat you without Gear Two… so you better be careful from now on! I won't hold back!"
He started pumping air into his body, his eyes turning white and his skin turning a reddish color. Moria immediately went on the defensive, but it was too late.
Luffy pointed his open palm at Moria. "Rubber-Rubber Jet Pistol!"
Bang! Moria was hit square in the face and sent flying. He was too slow to react, even with Observation Haki, and his large body made dodging a challenge.
Moria tumbled and rolled a few times but quickly got back on his feet. He knew he was no match for Luffy. If he kept fighting, he would surely be defeated, perhaps even killed. But his partner was still in the other crew's hands, and he would never give up.
"It doesn't matter! Shadows Asgard!"
Moria roared, and countless shadows from all directions swarmed toward him, pouring into his body. The zombies on the island, including Oars, fell to the ground, completely motionless. As more and more shadows gathered, Moria's body swelled to an enormous size. His consciousness began to fade, overwhelmed by the sheer number of shadows.
"Straw Hat boy! Give me back my partner! Or I'll take you down with me!" Moria's raspy voice boomed.
Luffy was briefly surprised, but then Moria completely lost his autonomy. The gigantic, black figure swept a massive claw at Luffy, who just stood there without moving.
Bang! Luffy was sent flying, smashing into the castle wall.
"Luffy?!" his crewmates cried out, astonished that he hadn't dodged the attack.
Luffy pulled himself out of the wall, pushed his straw hat down, and hid his expression under its brim. "So you're fighting for your partner? Heh, that's amazing!"
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