Chapter 137: The Chronicles of Moria's Drift

Gecko Moria, the tallest man among the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Although Moria’s physique—a slender neck paired with a rotund, flask-shaped body—gave him a somewhat comical appearance, his towering height of seven meters still commanded a formidable presence. Yet, this imposing Warlord found himself in a truly dire situation.

His Thriller Bark had been breached by the enemy, his zombie army mowed down like grass, and his three subordinates—the Mysterious Four—lay unconscious, frothing at the mouth. Even Moria himself was pinned to the ground, struggling in vain to rise against the crushing weight of his enemy's Conqueror’s Haki.

"Black Blade Shusui?"

His enemy—an old man with white hair and beard, yet possessing taut, muscular limbs and a vigorous spirit—did not even spare him a glance. Instead, he toyed with the trophy in his hands with casual interest. "I didn't expect to gain such a prize just by coming out to stretch my bones."

Moria’s body, pressed against the deck, trembled incessantly. His eyes were filled with suppressed resentment, yet he dared not lift his head to look the legendary "Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh in the eye. His courage had long since been depleted back in the New World years ago; he was now nothing more than a local tyrant, hiding in the first half of the Grand Line and stealing the shadows of passing travelers.

Moria never imagined that by shrinking away to a remote corner of the world to quietly develop his zombie manufacturing industry, he would attract a "personal visit" from someone like Rayleigh. And all of this was because of a skeleton—a skeleton whose shadow Moria had once stolen.

The skeleton swordsman, Brook, had long since decayed into nothing but old bones, save for his dense, keratin-rich afro, which had miraculously resisted microbial degradation. Through the idle chatter of his three enemies, Moria had pieced together the reason for his misfortune: Brook had made a promise to reunite with his pet whale years ago. That whale happened to know an old ship doctor, who just so happened to be the ship doctor of the Pirate King himself, and that doctor had simply called upon the Dark King Rayleigh—the man who could make a Warlord like Moria grovel in the dust.

"What is this nonsense!" Moria lamented silently, cursing the cruel world and once again realizing the vital importance of strength.

All the shadows he had collected over the years were liberated by Rayleigh. The travelers who regained their shadows were escorted away from this nightmare of an island under Rayleigh’s arrangements. Brook, reunited with his shadow, shared an emotional embrace with his old friend Crocus, promising to return to the Twin Capes lighthouse to reunite with the whale, Laboon.

Once everything was settled, Rayleigh walked over to Moria, who had been beaten into total submission, and observed the giant—now rendered helpless by his "lesson"—with a mischievous gaze. After a moment of contemplation, Rayleigh said in a deep voice:

"Moria, I heard you were once a brave young man venturing through the New World. I never expected you to degenerate to such a state."

"I truly dislike people like you who desecrate the bodies of the dead and deprive the living of their freedom."

"Although I have been retired for a long time, since I have crossed paths with you, I cannot simply ignore it."

Moria’s already ghastly complexion turned even paler, drained of all blood. Then, beneath his desperate gaze, the Dark King slowly raised his sword.

Moria felt his heart turn to ash. His severely injured body didn't even tremble; he simply waited quietly for the final movement of his life's symphony.

However, he worried in vain—he would not die today. Because Rayleigh was the right hand of the Pirate King, a core member of the previous generation's protagonist team, and protagonist teams generally do not kill.

Rayleigh raised the newly confiscated Black Blade Shusui, but instead of aiming it at Moria, he pointed the blade toward the ground and said in a low, resonant voice:

"I have already 'persuaded' you to return the shadows of the living, and the corpses of the dead should no longer be desecrated by someone like you."

"Now, let them rest in peace on the seabed!"

Watching Rayleigh prepare to strike the earth, Moria’s eyes widened in shock. The land they stood upon was not a natural island, but the world’s largest pirate ship—Thriller Bark. It was so massive that it was nearly the size of a mid-sized island. Yet, Rayleigh was now aiming a blade less than five feet long at it.

...

Half a day later...

Perona, one of the Mysterious Four and user of the Ghost-Ghost Fruit, known as the Ghost Princess, slowly awoke from her stupor.

The dense, dark forest was gone; the eerie, ancient castle was gone; even the gloomy, gray sky of the Florian Triangle had vanished. These were the sights the Ghost Princess loved most; she had joined Moria’s ranks precisely because the environment of Thriller Bark suited her tastes.

But now, when Perona opened her eyes, all she saw were blue skies, clear seas, and the warmth of the sun, accompanied by the moist sea breeze.

"It’s too bright!" Perona complained instinctively, suddenly waking up from the lingering effects of her dizziness. Before she had fainted due to that strange old man’s invisible pressure, she had been in the castle; now, she found herself floating on the sea, sitting on something, surrounded by an endless expanse of water.

The only relief was that she soon discovered her two companions lying nearby: Dr. Hogback and Absalom, the user of the Clear-Clear Fruit. Perona tentatively nudged their limp bodies, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not rouse them.

"Sigh..." Perona sighed helplessly. "Where am I? How much time has passed?"

"Also, I have no idea where Master Moria is now..."

"Right here."

A fierce, gravelly voice came from beneath Perona.

"Ah—!" Perona shrieked in terror and leaped off the "small raft" she had been sitting on.

"Shut up." The familiar voice from below sounded even more miserable.

"M-Master Moria?!" Perona exclaimed, only then realizing that the soft "raft" she had been sitting on was not a raft at all, but Moria’s seven-meter-long, flask-shaped body.

"Why are you floating in the sea!" Perona’s eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at her master, who was serving as a raft. "You’re a Devil Fruit user!"

"None of your business." Moria struggled to lift his head from the water and glared fiercely at Perona, causing the "Moria-ship" to wobble violently.

After collecting herself, Perona asked in confusion, "Master Moria, where is our ship?"

Moria clearly did not want to talk, his words becoming increasingly clipped: "Sunk."

"Sunk?!" Perona said, unable to believe it. "That ship was... it was as big as an island..."

Moria’s expression grew even gloomier. The sinking of Thriller Bark pained him deeply; it was the largest ship in the world, which he had spent his life's effort building in the West Blue, and it had accompanied him through his entire pirating career. No one knew how such a massive ship had traversed Reverse Mountain from the West Blue, nor did anyone know which god-tier ship-coater had applied the bubble coating that allowed an island-sized ship to reach the New World.

Seeing the silent Moria, Perona, who was accustomed to being cheeky in front of her boss, couldn't help but shrink back. However, faced with the embarrassing situation of using Moria as a raft, she couldn't help but grumble:

"Master Moria, really... if the ship sank, why didn't you find a lifeboat? You’re a power-user who can't touch water!"

Moria still didn't answer, but his mind flashed back to when Thriller Bark sank half a day ago. As the island was going down, he had indeed had the chance to reach his lifeboat hidden in the castle. But just as the waves were about to swallow everything, Moria had seen his three loyal subordinates, knocked unconscious by the Conqueror’s Haki... For some reason, he thought of his own pirate crew that had fallen apart long ago because of Kaido.

And so, as if possessed, Moria chose to use his final moments to save his people. Fortunately, Moria was fat and sturdy enough that, even with a body weakened by the water, he could use his natural buoyancy to stay afloat. Having escaped the maelstrom of the sinking island in such a panic that he hadn't even grabbed a wooden plank, he had no choice but to place his three subordinates on his large, floating belly.

"Master Moria..." Perona, being a chatterbox, couldn't stay quiet for long. After ten seconds, she couldn't help but ask the man she was standing on again: "Thriller Bark is gone, the zombie army is gone—where are we going now?"

"..."

Moria, fed up with the chattering girl, barked, "Perona, if you speak again, I will kill you!"

"Oh..." Perona shrank back, frightened by his shout.

After a long silence, Perona still let out a sound that was incredibly annoying to the depressed Moria: "Master Moria?"

"What?!" Moria’s voice was filled with impatience and exhaustion.

"Do you still have any strength left?" Perona asked cautiously.

"A little. Why?" Although Moria was currently serving as a human life raft, his formidable strength meant he still possessed decent stamina despite the corrosive effects of the seawater.

"Floating on the sea like this isn't a long-term plan. It would be terrible if we ran into any enemies." Perona pointed at Moria’s long arms and suggested earnestly:

"How about..."

"You paddle a bit faster?"

"..."

Moria’s voice, thick with killing intent, drifted across the sea: "Once we reach land, I am definitely going to kill you!"

A moment later...

The seven-meter-long "Moria-ship" life raft began to backstroke.