Chapter 153: Perona Hangs Onto a Powerful Coattail

Garen stood holding the black blade Shusui, a dazed look still lingering in his eyes.

The black blade Shusui was originally one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords, a legendary weapon renowned among swordsmen.

Ever since Shusui ended up in Rayleigh's hands, the blade had been branded by marines like Dalmatian as the "Sword of the Pirate King."

Yet now, Rayleigh had handed it to him, and under the guise of "spoils of war"...

Garen could already imagine the massive uproar this black blade would cause the moment it appeared in his possession.

However, Rayleigh did not hesitate at all, merely casting his gaze aside toward Gecko Moria, who was sitting on the deck.

When he had just unleashed his Haoshoku Haki, he had deliberately avoided this direction.

Consequently, out of the entire vessel, only Gecko Moria and Perona, who was cowering beside him, had escaped the sweep of the Conqueror's Haki and retained their consciousness.

Yet Moria felt no relief from this; instead, he plunged deeper into utter despair.

He knew why he was still awake—because Rayleigh saw no need to waste his Haki on a dead man.

Rayleigh walked slowly up to Moria, his expression solemn.

"Gecko Moria!"

Rayleigh called out the name syllable by syllable, every tone imbued with an oppressive momentum.

This soaring murderous intent caused Moria, already on his last legs, to involuntarily shiver all over.

"I didn't kill you before to give you a chance to turn over a new leaf."

"To think that not only have you failed to find your conviction, but after escaping, you have gone even further in creating tragedies."

Rayleigh fixed Moria with a piercing gaze:

"It seems some people truly deserve to die."

Moria remained silent.

A moment later, Moria laboriously moved his battered and bruised body, and actually knelt down before Rayleigh.

"Are you trying to beg for mercy?"

Rayleigh looked down at the figure prostrated before him, frowning deeply as he said, "It's already too late."

"I understand."

Not a trace of hostility remained on Moria's face; instead, there was only an indescribable sense of release:

"I've done so many wrong things. I have no complaints about being killed by you."

"However..."

Moria used his massive palm to push Perona, who had been hiding behind him, shoving her forward right up in front of Rayleigh:

"I hope you can spare my companion's life."

"Lord Moria!"

Despite trembling with fear, Perona could not help but cry out Moria's name with a pang of heartache.

Perona held deep affection for Moria, the master who had practically raised her. It was not the dutiful loyalty of a subordinate like Bon Kurei, but rather the warmth of family.

Moria said nothing more, simply pushing Perona a few steps closer to Rayleigh.

Seeing this, the sharpness in Rayleigh's eyes softened a fraction.

He sighed lightly and said to Moria:

"I grant your request."

"I will protect this young girl."

"Thank you!"

Moria bowed deeply to Rayleigh, then said, "I am ready to die."

Rayleigh made no further remarks. He simply held his hand flat like a blade, aiming from a distance at Gecko Moria, who was baring his neck for execution.

"Wait!"

Garen stepped forward with an air of absolute righteousness, proclaiming in a solemn and stern tone:

"Why trouble the Dark King with such a task? Leave the execution to me!"

"Oh?"

Rayleigh looked at Garen with some confusion:

"Does it matter who kills him?"

Garen had no choice but to maintain his righteous expression, putting on a look of profound emotional agitation:

"When I was freeing those prisoners of Moria earlier, I witnessed far too many horrors."

"Before those blood-soaked scenes, I swore an oath..."

"I swear I will kill Gecko Moria with my own hands, to avenge those innocent souls who perished!"

Garen had indeed been pushed to the verge of losing his sanity by those horrific sights earlier, angered to the point where even his usual fondness for cute girls had been cast aside.

Therefore, his words now rang quite true and sincere.

This heartfelt speech had a great effect, even moving Rayleigh:

"Very well."

"Since that is the case, leave Gecko Moria to you to deal with!"

"Alright."

Garen rolled up his sleeves, eager and ready to lift his sword and cut off Moria's head.

Moria remained in his prostrated posture, offering his proud head unreservedly beneath Garen's blade.

"Lord Moria!"

Before the edge could touch Moria's neck, Perona's shrill cry rang out once again.

Rayleigh could not help but glance at Perona:

Tears shimmering in her eyes, tear tracks streaming down her cheeks, her petite and fragile frame making her barely reach his waist even when standing straight, and a remarkably flat figure that possessed an otherworldly purity.

She was still just a child!

"Sigh..."

With a pang of pity, Rayleigh pulled Perona close to his side and said to Garen:

"Wait until I take this young girl away before you do it!"

"Fine by me."

Garen was in no rush. He simply lowered his sword and stood quietly to the side.

However, his blade remained hovering right beside Moria's neck, maintaining the posture of an executioner ready to strike at any moment.

Perona glared at Garen, her eyes splitting with rage, biting her silver teeth hard, yet not daring to utter a sound against this god of death.

Before this 'child,' Rayleigh unconsciously adopted the benevolent expression of a retired old man, and gently coaxed her:

"You don't need to hate him."

"Moria's actions were wrong, and he deserves this punishment."

Seemingly sensing Rayleigh's kindness, a sudden sense of security welled up in Perona's heart, and the words she had been holding back finally slipped out:

"This guy is a maniac!"

"He even wanted to kill me earlier!"

"What?"

Rayleigh frowned and couldn't help saying to Garen:

"Isn't your bloodlust a bit too heavy? Do you really have to leave none alive?"

"This..."

"It is true that my emotions were running a bit too high."

Garen smiled wryly, shook his head, and sighed:

"However..."

"If you went down to the ship's hold right now and took a look, you'd probably want to kill people just as much as I do."

"......"

Rayleigh fell silent for a moment, then sighed with a hint of melancholy: "Perhaps..."

He gently patted the shoulder of the weeping Perona beside him: "But she is still just a child!"

"I..."

Miss Perona, who was a full twenty-one years old and nearly five years older than Nami, desperately wanted to argue back.

However, realizing her current predicament, Perona instead adopted a tragic expression, threw her arms around the Dark King Rayleigh's thigh, and wailed:

"I'm still a child..."

Garen covered his face in helpless exasperation.

"There, there..."

Rayleigh comforted Perona in a gentle tone: "From now on, you will travel with me!"

"Okay!"

Perona cried even louder, unconsciously tightening her grip around Rayleigh's thigh.

Rayleigh helped the tear-stained Perona to her feet, then turned to Garen and said:

"In that case, I shall take my leave."

"Very well."

Garen nodded in acknowledgment, while the greatsword he had kept poised near Moria's neck quietly inched just a fraction closer to that head.

With one hand, Rayleigh hoisted the unconscious Cavendish over his shoulder, and with the other, he held the hand of the "badly traumatized, wayward underage maiden" Perona, turning to leave.

Yet just as Rayleigh lifted his foot, he suddenly paused.

"Garen."

Rayleigh asked with a solemn expression:

"When you were rescuing the prisoners, did you happen to see a child?"

"A child?"

Garen immediately looked down at the attachment clinging to Rayleigh's leg. The only "child" he had encountered on this ship was precisely Miss Perona here.

"No."

Garen shook his head.

Rayleigh's expression abruptly turned stern, and he barked directly at Moria, who had been waiting for death for several minutes without anything happening:

"Moria!"

"What did you do to that child?"

"What child?"

Moria raised his head with a blank look of utter incomprehension:

"I've never captured any kids?"

Seeing that Rayleigh seemed unconvinced, Moria had no choice but to bite the bullet and explain further:

"Children have frail bodies. You can't even make good zombies out of them..."

Rayleigh furrowed his brow tightly and simply said:

"He's around ten years old, a boy, and his name should be Faruru."

"Faruru?"

Perona gasped in astonishment.

"You know where he is?"

Rayleigh asked earnestly.

Since Rayleigh had promised Cavendish that he would help him find his cherished "little brother," he intended to see it through and give him an answer.

"I know... He should be hiding somewhere on the ship..."

Perona replied with a peculiar expression:

"Unlock my Seastone handcuffs, and I can find him for you."

Now that the situation was entirely settled, Garen wasn't worried about Perona pulling any tricks, so he stepped forward and unlocked the shackles on her wrists.

Perona flexed her sore wrists, then waved her hand to summon a dozen translucent floating spirits, commanding them to disperse and search through the vessel.

A moment later...

A white horse came galloping out of the ship's hold with a look of absolute terror on its face.