“Intruders? That’s rare, Sebastian. Looks like I won’t have time to entertain you. Once I deal with this, I’ll come back and invite you for a drink. In the meantime, you and Wobbegong make yourselves at home.”
Hearing the report of intruders, a smile instead appeared on Kaido’s face.
Because of its geography, Wano Country was easy to defend and difficult to attack, so very few pirates ever made it inside.
Even when pirates occasionally appeared, it was usually because they had been shipwrecked and drifted here.
Judging by what his subordinate said, these people had deliberately forced their way in this time, which made things interesting.
Picking up the kanabo hanging at his waist and calling for the others, Kaido led several hundred men toward Ringo…
When Sebastian returned to find Wobbegong, Wobbegong had already finished studying the relevant materials and was now chatting with a little girl.
She showed no fear of Wobbegong’s Fish-Man appearance. Instead, she listened enthusiastically to the stories he was telling.
“Whose kid is this?”
“Kaido’s child, Yamato. Surprised? He’s such a rough-looking brute, yet his kid turned out like this.”
Hearing that, Sebastian carefully looked her over. Aside from the pair of horns on her head, he really couldn’t see any resemblance to Kaido, though he didn’t find it strange.
After all, the appearance gap between two generations of Fish-Men could be even greater.
“True enough. But what are you telling her?”
“Telling her stories about Boss back in the day. Kids love hearing stuff like that.”
“You…”
By now, Nereus held an extraordinary status throughout the Ryugu Kingdom. The older generation had witnessed his experiences firsthand, while the younger generation grew up listening to stories about him. These former companions who had once sailed with him were no exception.
As for Wobbegong, being a “scholar” and one stationed abroad, much of what he knew came from Morgans’s newspapers and the accounts of other companions. By the time he retold those stories, they often contained a heavy amount of artistic embellishment.
Yamato’s expression at that moment said it all.
Meanwhile, in the Ringo region—the perpetually snow-covered northern area of Wano Country—a pirate crew numbering several dozen was making its way through the snowy land.
“Captain Moria, is this the country you told us about?”
“Yeah. When I was young, I accidentally drifted here. The people were xenophobic, but they still helped me back then.”
This was something that had happened during Moria’s childhood. Simply drifting to Wano Country and surviving was already incredibly fortunate for him.
Even people who deliberately set Wano as their destination often died before arriving. Back then, Moria had possessed little ability to protect himself. To survive the journey, drift ashore alive, and then encounter people willing to take him in was a miracle in itself.
Young Moria had lived in Wano Country for a period of time. Because the locals acknowledged his strength, they had even given him the name “Kozuki.”
However, on the seas beyond Wano, he went by the name “Gecko.”
“According to the information we gathered, that Kaido from the Beasts Pirates has taken over Wano Country…”
“Is that so? Then we’ll have to drive that b*stard out. We can’t let him hurt the people of Wano Country. This is my personal matter, so you guys can—”
“What are you talking about, Captain Moria?! Aren’t we comrades? Your business is our business!”
“Yeah! Let those Beasts Pirates b*stards see what the Gecko Pirates are made of! Lord Moria is a Super Rookie with a bounty of 320 million Berries!”
After Roger’s execution, Moria officially began his voyage. From entering the Grand Line to reaching the New World, it had taken him exactly one year.
Among this generation of rookies, Moria was a true “overlord.”
The others who shared his fame were figures like the Sir Crocodile, and the Marine Hunter, Dracule Mihawk. Throughout their voyage, Moria and his crew had enjoyed a remarkably smooth journey, encountering virtually no setbacks, and they were now brimming with confidence.
Even if Moria wanted to handle these matters himself, his companions did not back down. However, at that moment, laughter came from the other side of a nearby hill.
“Worororo! Drive me out? That’s quite a bold thing to say. I’m standing right in front of you now, what exactly do you plan to do?”
“Kaido? Perfect timing…”
After confirming the enemy’s identity, Moria said nothing more. He simply gripped the long sword at his waist. By now, he possessed considerable swordsmanship and Haki, skills he had learned when he drifted to Wano Country all those years ago.
After years of tempering himself, his techniques had become increasingly refined.
Shing!
“Moria Style • Shadow Slash!”
Snow scattered into the air. Moria, who had been far away only a moment ago, instantly appeared before Kaido, gripping his sword with both hands as he slashed toward Kaido’s face.
At the same time, the shadow behind him changed, transforming into a dark blade shadow that merged into the sword in his hand. Like a long whip, it lashed out along with Moria’s strike.
Boom!
Faced with Moria’s attack, Kaido’s response appeared simple. Accompanied by a thunderous roar, the kanabo in his hand swung forward.
As sword and club collided, a deafening explosion rang out. Though the clash appeared evenly matched, it was not a good sign for Moria. After all, as a Zoan user, Kaido had not even transformed yet.
Zoan users lacked the bizarre and varied abilities of Paramecia users, and they also lacked the terrain-altering, disaster-creating powers of Logia users. What ordinary Zoan users gained was pure physical enhancement.
As a rarer Mythical Zoan, Kaido’s physical enhancement was even more comprehensive, while also granting him additional magical abilities.
If Moria could not suppress Kaido in his Human Form, then he would inevitably be at a disadvantage against Kaido’s Human-Beast Form.
Although Moria’s current strength meant he would not be instantly defeated by Kaido, he still was not Kaido’s match. Otherwise, in the original timeline, he would not have ended up watching all of his companions be slaughtered.
Under the current circumstances, Moria could only defeat Kaido if reinforcements arrived.
And such reinforcements did exist. Kozuki Oden was still capable of inflicting a fatal wound upon Kaido.
Unfortunately, by this point, Oden’s reputation was continuing to decline. While Moria was risking his life fighting Kaido for the sake of Wano Country, Kozuki Oden was choosing to believe Kurozumi Orochi’s lies and persisted in dancing naked every day.
People had once thought that Kozuki Oden simply did not know how to make use of his connections, refusing to seek help from people like Roger or Whitebeard.
But the facts proved that even when someone came knocking on his door, he would still miss the opportunity.
After all his companions had been slaughtered, Moria managed to escape from Kaido thanks to the powers of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.
However, the experience shattered his spirit. In the end, he only took the corpse of Shimotsuki Ryuma and the Famed Sword Shusui before leaving Wano Country, beginning the life that would eventually turn him into an obese shut-in.
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