Chapter 171: [171] : A Man’s Dream! Plundering Moria’s Fortune!

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“Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro, bounty 600 million Beri, a man who possesses Conqueror’s Haki.”

“And Black Leg Sanji, a man with a bounty of 550 million Beri.”

Kuma, seeing Zoro and Sanji step forward, his expression turned grim.

“600 MILLION?? 550 MILLION?? CONQUEROR’S HAKI?” With each bounty Kuma announced, veins throbbed violently on Moria’s forehead.

Previously, Moria had only looked at Rowen’s bounty and battle record, ignoring the other Straw Hat members—

—In his view, after Rowen, how strong could the other rookies on a year-old crew possibly be?? But now, hearing Zoro and Sanji’s bounties, Moria was filled with disbelief—

WHAT KIND OF SICK JOKE WAS THIS??

A bounty was the most direct measure of a pirate’s strength. Even factoring in Rowen’s influence, bounties over 500 million were at the level of an Emperor’s high-ranking commanders!

And his full-power Shadow-Shadow Fruit attack—so easily shattered by those two—proved their strength.

“Oi, Oi! Even though it’s a fair competition, you guys stealing the captain’s spotlight is going too far!” Luffy declared, landing in front of the gloomy castle with a grin.

“Also a user of Conqueror’s Haki—Straw Hat Monkey D. Luffy, bounty 1,035,000,000 Beri,” Kuma’s voice held a strange new tone.

Straw Hat was the son of the man he followed, the Revolutionary Leader, Monkey D. Dragon. To have made such a name for himself, reaching this level of strength in less than a year—Kuma was impressed…

“ONE BILLION!” Moria’s face froze completely. Another user of Conqueror’s Haki! And his bounty exceeded one billion…

Wasn’t that the bounty level of an Emperor’s second-in-command??!

Moria finally understood why Kuma said Rowen was a pirate on Kaido’s level. He wasn’t just referring to Rowen’s personal strength, but the terrifying combat power of the entire crew.

This was, without a doubt, an Emperor-level pirate crew!

Him, alone, facing an entire Emperor-level crew? Moria’s face turned ashen.

No one on these seas could single-handedly face a full Emperor crew!

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Whoosh!

“You guys are moving too fast!”

A sandstorm roiled, coalescing into Vivi’s slender figure, a smile on her face as she looked towards Moria.

“Desert Princess Vivi, bounty 450 million Beri, user of the Sand-Sand Fruit,” Kuma provided the final blow.

Moria felt his mind go completely blank.

’There’s MORE? A woman who obtained Crocodile’s Sand-Sand Fruit and has a 450 million bounty?’

Looking at Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Vivi, all staring at him like he was cornered prey, Moria trembled uncontrollably.

Beside him, his three main subordinates—Perona, Absalom, and Hogback—were already scared witless.

Their captain had a bounty of 320 million Beri. Though bounties froze upon becoming a Warlord, that figure still placed him among the great pirates…

But look at the bounties of these four—

The sheer numbers made them lose all will to fight.

“Moria-sama! What do we do?!” Hogback stammered fearfully.

Moria’s body twitched even more violently; he couldn’t answer. ’What do we do? I WANT TO KNOW WHAT TO DO TOO!’

His gaze darted towards Kuma. Moria knew his ability—the Paw-Paw Fruit could send people anywhere…

“Hey! Kuma! Get us out of here!”

But Kuma shook his head. “I cannot.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CANNOT? YOU’RE A PAW-PAW FRUIT USER!” Moria shrieked.

“Moria, Wake up to reality. The man we’re up against is the World’s Strongest Devil Fruit User. Using a Devil Fruit ability before him is suicide—” Kuma replied, glancing at Moria.

Moria’s forehead veins throbbed. ’The World’s Strongest Devil Fruit User… made Kuma, with his Paw-Paw Fruit, so afraid he wouldn’t even dare activate it?!’

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“Two Warlords, huh? Lucky,” Zoro grinned.

“Heh. More prey means easier to share,” Sanji added with a smirk.

“Shishishi! I’ll take both!” Luffy roared.

FWOOSH!

Luffy instantly activated Gear Second, steam hissing from his pores.

WHOOSH! He vanished, reappearing above the gloomy castle.

“Gomu Gomu no… Jet Pistol——!” Luffy laughed, his fist, wreathed in dense Armament Haki, leaving a terrifying afterimage as it slammed into the horrified Moria!

BOOM!

Moria’s massive body shot backwards like a cannonball!

CRASH!

The gloomy castle, already precarious from Rowen’s earlier Galaxy Impact, instantly began to collapse under this blow!

Moria’s three subordinates’ eyes nearly bulged out.

“Huh? This weak? He doesn’t even know Haki?” Luffy asked, genuinely surprised.

He had expected a thrilling battle against a Warlord. But a mere probing attack in Gear Second sent Moria flying…

“D-Damn you!” Though Moria had lost his Haki, his durability was still decent. Luffy’s probing attack, while humiliating, wasn’t enough for a one-hit KO.

Scrambling from the rubble, Moria’s forehead now bleeding, his eyes bloodshot, he glared at Luffy.

’A brat who’s been at sea for less than a year… calling him WEAK??’ The insult deeply wounded Moria’s pride. Even if he died—he had to take a bite out of this brat!

“Shadow’s Asgard——!!!” Moria roared, his eyes bloodshot, directly activating his Strongest ability. He absorbed all the shadows he could control into his body!

100 shadows… 500 shadows… Moria’s body began to giantize!

“Kishishishi! Straw Hat! PREPARE TO DIE!” Moria yelled, struggling to maintain his sanity.

Shadow’s Asgard also had a drawback: the shadows contained remnants of their original owners’ consciousness.

Absorbing too many would cause the user to lose control and go on a rampage. 500 shadows was Moria’s current limit while retaining his sanity.

Though enraged, Moria wasn’t a fool—he knew against a pirate with a bounty over a billion, his other tricks were useless. Only his strongest move, Shadow’s Asgard, could be used.

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“Is this the best a Warlord can do? Relying on others’ power,” Sanji exhaled a puff of smoke, his eyes filled with disappointment.

Zoro felt the same…

They were no longer the frogs-in-a-well from East Blue. They were now high-ranking commanders of a new Emperor’s crew. Their strength and perspective had changed completely.

Sanji and Zoro’s Observation Haki could clearly sense how chaotic and weak Moria’s spiritual state was in this form.

He was just forcibly inflating his combat power with others’ strength. It might work against pirates with 100-200 million bounties, but against them? It was utterly laughable.

“SILENCE!” Moria roared, his voice now a distorted, muddy bellow due to his enlarged form and the numerous consciousnesses within him.

“DIE! STRAW HAT PIRATES!” Moria swung his giant hand, swatting towards Zoro and Sanji.

“Diable Jambe!”

“Nitoryu Iai: Rashomon!”

Facing Moria’s all-out attack, Sanji and Zoro didn’t even use their full power. An attack like this wasn’t worthy of Sanji’s Ifrit Jambe or Zoro’s Three-Sword Style—

—Sanji instantly activated Diable Jambe, infusing his kick with Armament Haki. Zoro used one of his Two-Sword Style’s signature techniques, Rashomon.

SLICE!

BOOM!

An “X”-shaped slash mark appeared on Moria’s body, blood spraying everywhere. His body was also engulfed in the flames from Sanji’s Diable Jambe.

His eyes began to roll white.

“MORIA-SAMA!” The three subordinates shrieked.

“WH-WHY…?!” Moria gasped, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Why was he defeated so miserably?? He was a Warlord—yet against three rookie brats, he was utterly powerless…

The humiliation… the crushing defeat by Kaido… flashed before Moria’s eyes like a revolving lantern.

He recalled Rowen’s earlier words… ’Your pirate career ends here.’

NOO!!

“SHADOW’S ASGARD!” Moria roared, refusing to accept defeat. He disregarded the risk of losing consciousness, absorbing even more shadows into his body!

600! 800! 1000!

As 1000 shadows poured into Moria, his eyes turned completely white. Under the power of Shadow’s Asgard, he completely lost control, going on a rampage!

“ROOOOAR!!!” Moria let out an inhuman bellow and began destroying everything around him, even lashing out at his own subordinates.

“MORIA-SAMA!” Perona screamed as a giant foot came stomping down on her.

WHOOSH!

An Air Door appeared beside Perona, a suction force pulling her in instantly—Kamui!

WHOOSH! Another Air Door opened beside Rowen, and Perona tumbled out.

“How unsightly, Moria. You used shadow zombies to delude yourself because you lost your comrades—and now you don’t even care about the only comrades you have left?”

Rowen commented, looking at the pathetic man.

SQUISH!

Hogback, one of the three subordinates, was instantly crushed under Moria’s foot.

The user of the Clear-Clear Fruit, Absalom, managed to dodge, then, gritting his teeth, activated his fruit and vanished.

“Hm? That ability is—!” Sanji froze, as if struck by lightning, staring at the spot where Absalom disappeared.

“Paramecia, Clear-Clear Fruit,” Rowen stated with a knowing smile.

As expected, the Clear-Clear Fruit didn’t just turn the user invisible—it erased their presence, actions, footsteps—everything… Without breaking the ability itself, even Observation Haki couldn’t detect the user’s presence.

This was how Shiryu managed to land a sneak attack on Garp in the original story. Observation Haki, being a sensory extension and not a direct attack, couldn’t perceive a user whose presence was completely erased.

To counter this ability—

CRACKLE! BOOM!

Countless arcs of crimson-black lightning roared across the sky above Thriller Bark.

“AAAAAHHHH!!!” A scream of agony echoed as Absalom reappeared, heavily wounded by the force of Haōshoku Coating, writhing in pain.

“It really is the Clear-Clear Fruit!” Sanji stared, his breath hitching, at his childhood dream.

“Sanji, do you want that Devil Fruit?” Rowen asked, looking at Sanji.

“Hah…” Sanji took several deep breaths, then smiled. “No. I don’t!”

The Clear-Clear Fruit was a man’s dream, yes. But he had a more important dream. Finding the All Blue—he couldn’t become unable to swim!

Besides, the Clear-Clear Fruit offered little boost to his combat power; it was best suited for assassins. It would only hinder his Haki development.

He still had to help Rowen become the man who stood above all—and help Luffy become Pirate King… He couldn’t let a mere Clear-Clear Fruit get in the way of his dreams!

“Excellent,” Rowen smiled.

“Plunder.”

A slight exertion of Haōshoku Coating, and an ant like Absalom instantly fainted. The Clear-Clear Fruit’s ability was plundered by Rowen.

BOOM!

Without warning, Moria, who was still rampaging, was instantly obliterated.

His massive body, empowered by Shadow’s Asgard, simply disintegrated.

“That’s…” Kuma’s forehead also beaded with cold sweat. Silently, devastatingly—the energy just appeared. Kuma looked at Rowen, who was pointing a single finger towards the sky, and felt a profound sense of horror.

The Clear-Clear Fruit had made the Rumble-Rumble Fruit… INVISIBLE!

“Plunder Fortune!”

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