After the Straw Hat defeated the Demon Oars that he had painstakingly crafted, Moriah, who had already been somewhat shaken by Sage, completely lost his fighting spirit. His desire to use the zombie army against Kaido was evidently a failure.
Even the strongest Demon Oars couldn't achieve it, and relying on a bunch of zombies who lived through shadows was utterly useless.
What grieved Moriah the most and left him in confusion was Absalom's death...
He disbanded the zombies, and the shadows returned to their original hosts, many of whom were pirates who wanted to seize control of his Thriller Bark, and they coincidentally clashed with Absalom.
Although skilled, Absalom had just been defeated by the Straw Hat Pirates and was already injured, his invisibility was only able to hold off some, but there were too many people. By the time Moriah reacted, Absalom was already dead.
He lost another companion... in pursuit of the eternal zombies, he lost another one.
Perona also vanished, her whereabouts unknown.
Through Oars' failure, the death and disappearance of companions, Moriah truly understood his heart; the idea of eternal zombies, everlasting companions—all were illusions. The living people were the real companions!
After all, he remained that Moriah who liked to depend on others, preferring to delegate everything.
Not a bit had changed.
"I must try one last time!"
Moriah's expression turned solemn as he stood up and walked towards Shampodi No.60 Region, "One last time, I want to see how far I am from Whitebeard!"
In the past, he even went mad trying to covet Whitebeard's corpse, but after realizing, he just wanted to know how much their gap had grown over the years!
If he still couldn't see any hope of surpassing...
Moriah glanced back at Sage, who was drinking, "Sage, let me see where your gaps with them lie!"
"You will see."
Sage took a bottle of wine from the wooden crate, tossed it forward, caught by the shadow behind Moriah.
The shadow passed the bottle over, Moriah took it but didn't drink it now, holding the bottle as he left with Hogback.
Watching his departing figure, Doflamingo smirked wickedly: "That's wine for acceptance, isn't it? It seems he didn't drink it, hahaha, tomorrow's going to be the liveliest time, hey, Sage, if you join in, it's going to be even more exciting!"
Saying this, he tucked his hands into his pockets, with a swagger that invited a beating, he too headed towards No.60 Region.
"Someone will take over at night, I'm leaving now, Sage."
"Zehahaha, then I'm off too."
Teach drank his last sip of wine, finished the food in front of him, wiped his mouth and laughed, "As for the party, let's have it next time, Sage, next time we'll definitely hold it as the grandest of feasts! All right, let's move, men!"
He stood up, leading his subordinates also towards No.60 Region.
Descending from Mary Geoise, naturally arriving at Shampodi, these Seven Warlords of the Sea were set to gather here, then head to Marineford to stand by.
"Ah... if you survive, good luck, Magellan isn't easy to deal with."
Sage drank from the Gemstone Wine Glass, his smile grew, he stood, stretching out his arms, his laughter evolved into a hearty soundscape.
"Hohoho... Hahahaha, ohohohoho! The sea is truly magical!"
"Betting it all on becoming the overlord invading the New World, some even disregard their lives! These ambitious seekers, wanting to disrupt the world like disgruntled children! And then those once partnerless now feel the need for companions again! Even the ones nearing their final days are set to duel the world's greatest overlord! Fascinating, it is precisely these strange and wonderful figures that make the sea so thrilling!"
"Only as a Pirate can you meet so many interesting people, hahahaha, Lily, don't you think?"
Lily considered and replied, her voice cool, "There's also someone who wants to rule the world."
"Indeed, there's me, hahahaha! Let the excitement continue, men!" Sage waved his hand broadly, "Tonight is the grand farewell to tomorrow's excitement!"
A group drank till midnight, then collapsed to sleep. Amidst this, Umit's subordinates indeed appeared from nowhere, counted the wealth, and took all the money.
Apart from Sage's collection and two billion Belly reserved in the Treasure Vault for his own spending, the remaining fourteen billion, plus jewels worth twenty billion Belly, were all taken away by them.
As for the potential of money being pocketed, Sage wasn't concerned, for money was for trade, development, and merely holding onto it was pointless.
After all Doflamingo recognized the debt, that was sufficient.
Once Umit's subordinates were sent off, the party wound down into rest one by one.
Sage reclined directly on the sofa, feet lifted in casual repose. Beside him, slumbering against the sofa's edge at his feet was Renedia, with Marika cuddled next to her.
Near Sage's head, lay Lily in repose against the sofa's edge, her long, lash-adorned eyelids trembling subtly, signifying her light sleep.