A knock suddenly sounded at the door on the second floor of the castle.
"Come in."
With a hoarse voice, the door was pushed open.
El and the others stepped inside—calm, composed, and almost polite.
The moment they entered, all four of them instinctively stopped.
Their eyes were drawn to the enormous figure seated lazily on a long sofa.
There was no better word for him than—
A monster.
Twelve years ago, the then thirty-nine-year-old Gecko Moria had been nearly seven meters tall, his body honed by battle.
That was before he was crushed by Kaido in the New World and fled in humiliation.
Twelve years was a long time.
Long enough for a once-terrifying pirate to drown himself in indulgence and luxury.
The lean, powerful physique Moria once possessed had long since bloated into a massive belly—still monstrous, but clearly degenerated, much like his later canon appearance, only slightly less exaggerated.
Back then, Moria had been famous across the seas not only for his Shadow-Shadow Fruit, but also for his formidable Haki.
But after his defeat—
Something broke.
He knew how to use Haki.
He could still feel it inside his body.
Yet whenever he tried to draw it out, it was as if it had been locked away in a sealed cabinet—completely inaccessible.
The current Gecko Moria was, without question, the weakest among the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Even last year's newly appointed "Pirate Empress,"Boa Hancock, had already surpassed him in raw combat strength.
And that—
Was precisely why El dared to come here.
In this world, the weak were always bullied.
And today, El was here to do the bullying.
"Kishishishi…"
Gecko Moria's distinctive laughter echoed through the room.
But as his eyes focused on the four unrestrained children standing before him, his expression changed.
His laughter stopped.
"Little brats… who are you?" he demanded darkly.
"And where are Absalom and the others?!"
El stepped forward calmly.
"Hello, senior. My name is El."
He rested a hand on the hilt of his sword, smiling faintly.
"As for the one who can turn invisible," he continued casually,
"I'm afraid he's already been killed by us."
Moria's pupils shrank.
El's smile widened.
"And next—"
He drew his sword in one smooth motion.
"It's your turn, senior."
"Hakoku Sovereignty."
The moment the words left his mouth, El swung his blade.
A colossal shockwave erupted at point-blank range, roaring forward like a hurricane.
"Shadow Warrior!"
Moria reacted on instinct.
Despite twelve years of decay, his mastery over the Shadow-Shadow Fruit had not vanished. A purple-black shadow surged upward, trying to form a humanoid warrior in front of him.
But—
It was too slow.
Before the shadow could fully take shape, both it and Gecko Moria himself were swallowed by the overwhelming shockwave.
BOOM!
The entire castle shook violently, as if struck by an earthquake.
Moments later—
A huge, translucent white beam of light burst through the castle walls, tore apart the dense fog, and shot straight out of Thriller Bark.
The flying slash continued onward for nearly five kilometers before finally dissipating.
In the first half of the Grand Line, an attack with a range measured in kilometers was already absurd.
Even in the New World, excluding Devil Fruit monsters, only a handful of true powerhouses could unleash such a blow—
Unless they were top-tier master swordsmen, whose flying slashes were measured in kilometers rather than meters.
Faced with such an attack, even ten large ships lined up together would be erased instantly—
Just like Ace's Fire Fist when he first demonstrated his power.
Even a small mountain would be split in half.
That was the level of power contained in El's strike.
And Gecko Moria had taken it head-on.
Although El deliberately did not coat the attack in Armament Haki, intending to catch him completely off guard—
This was still Hakoku Sovereignty, derived from the Spear of Elbaf.
Even giants used it as a finishing move.
Moria's body was flung violently across the room. Blood burst from his mouth as his insides felt as though they had been crushed by a mountain.
If not for the fact that—even after twelve years of indulgence—Gecko Moria's body still possessed a monstrous baseline toughness—
He would have been blown straight out of the castle alongside the flying slash.
Even so, if this were a game—
Moria's full HP had instantly dropped to critical levels.
With that opening strike, El had seized the absolute advantage.
As the white beam finally vanished, Gecko Moria struggled to remain standing, supporting himself against the shattered floor.
He glared at El, his face twisted with rage and disbelief.
"Damn little devil…" he snarled.
"You actually sneak attacked me?!"
El rested his sword casually on his shoulder, looking genuinely puzzled.
"Senior… is today your first day as a pirate?"
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he added thoughtfully,
"Ah—right. I almost forgot."
"You once had a title, didn't you?"
"The Hero of the West Blue."
El tilted his head.
"You should've been the kind of person who charged straight at friends and enemies alike, full of honor, right?"
Moria's eyes widened.
Being dragged back to that distant past left him momentarily stunned.
El looked at him with something that almost resembled pity.
"Pirates aren't playing house, senior," he said quietly.
"Didn't Kaido's lesson teach you that already?"
"Damn brat—!!!"
Whether it was the pain, the humiliation, or having his deepest scars ripped open—
Gecko Moria suddenly roared in fury, killing intent exploding outward.
"I'll kill you!"
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