Arceus’ Pirate Journey

“Boss Kaido! We’ve found the enemy!”

The members of the Beasts Pirates were very excited. The promotion mechanism within the Beasts Pirates made them pay even more attention to strength.

They were well aware of their own strength and knew that to achieve a qualitative leap, they either needed a powerful Devil Fruit or Arceus’ blessing.

This made merits even more important within the Beasts Pirates; it was their main means of promotion.

The lottery system was popular within the Beasts Pirates. Previously, Kaido had sent away half of the elite members in Wano Country. Besides the officers, the difference in their individual strengths wasn’t significant.

The regular members were divided into several teams, and the lottery was conducted by their leaders. Although guarding Wano Country was much more comfortable than seizing territories outside, the effort and rewards were directly proportional.

Rather than retiring within Wano Country, they are more interested in going out and earning military merits.

While on other islands, some reckless individuals may occasionally appear, however due to Wano Country’s geographical factors, such incidents are nearly impossible to occur. So, they felt somewhat disappointed on staying behind.

But now, an opportunity to earn merits had presented itself, which made them much more excited than Kaido.

More and more pirates appeared on the hillside, waiting for Kaido’s orders.

“So, you are the intruder? You’ve got some skills.”

Looking at the dozen or so Beasts Pirates members lying at Moria’s feet, Kaido cast a few extra glances at Moria. The fact that he was able to come to Wano Country and easily handle his subordinates indicated that there was still a significant difference between him and the small fry.

“Hey! Show some respect for Captain Moria! He’s a powerful pirate with a bounty of 320 million! A man who aspires to become the Pirate King!”

“Pirate King? You dare say anything, huh? Vajra Arrow!”

Kaido swung his kanabo towards the person. Although he wasn’t a swordsman, he unleashed a cylindrical shockwave resembling a flying slash.

The cylindrical shockwave had a wider range, and the snow on the ground was stirred up by Kaido’s Vajra Arrow attack, forming a snow dragon that rushed towards the people next to Moria.

“Be careful!” Moria quickly waved his large hand, pushing his companions aside, and then gripped his sword with both hands, slashing upwards.

The snowflakes in front of Moria split in two halves, and he successfully intercepted all of Kaido’s attacks. Although he took a few steps back, he managed to block them.

“You b*stard! What are you trying to do to my companions!”

“Worororo, of course, I wanted to kill him, but now I’ve changed my mind. Moria, right? I’ll give you a chance. Join my pirate crew with your people.”

Although the attack just now wasn’t with his full strength, Moria, who blocked his attack, was obviously not using his full strength either. He had already proved his abilities.

“What a joke! I’m going to become the Pirate King. How could I join you?”

“Normally, I wouldn’t mind playing with you, but I’m not in a good mood today. This is your last chance. You really don’t want to join?”

He had been having a great time playing with Yamato. At least in Kaido’s eyes, they were playing. He thought Yamato must have been having fun too, despite all the yelling and running away, it was much more entertaining than before.

Arceus was right. He should play and teach at the same time. But just as he was about to continue teaching, news of Moria’s activities reached his ears.

His newly ignited enthusiasm was disrupted, and his mood turned bad, so he didn’t plan to waste too much time with Moria.

“Of course! Kishishishi, I have the best companions on this vast sea. I will defeat you here, take away your treasures, and then head to Laugh Tale! How could I join you and stay here?”

“If that’s the case, then you can just die here. Everyone, kill them all, leave no one alive!”

He said, leading the charge down the hill, followed by his pirates rushing forward one after another. Moria also didn’t back down and faced them with his own crew.

As the pirates charged forward, both sides quietly dispersed to the sides, leaving the center of the battlefield for their captains.

Moria has a tall stature and was still muscular. He hadn’t lost his body shape yet and turned into an onion. His long sword dragged along the ground, and as he swung it, it also lifted the snowflakes on the ground.

In battles in Paradise, these inconspicuous little tricks would have still been somewhat useful, but even though he has reached the New World, he still maintained this habit. Even if they have Observation Haki, many people still have the habit of relying on their eyes, except for those like Fujitora who blinded themselves.

So after Moria swung his sword around, he found himself at a disadvantage after a few exchanges. However, the battle was still evenly matched with both sides exchanging blows.

“Not bad, you’re different from those Paradise’ small fries. I should also get serious. Thunder Bagua!”

Thick Armament Haki surrounded Hassaikai, with lightning twined around it. Kaido adjusted his grip on the kanabo, exerted force with his legs, leaped into the air, and swung his weapon with tremendous force toward Moria’s head.

“Doppelman!” Suddenly, the shadow beneath Moria came alive. It no longer mirrored his movements but formed a pitch-black Moria in front of him, which crossed its arms to block Kaido’s attack.

Although he could manipulate shadows, it was limited to human shadows. In the hands of a user with the Shadow-Shadow Fruit ability, shadows were considered a part of life. However, inanimate objects like swords and spears were not within his control.

The shadow clone didn’t feel pain and was impervious to harm, completely obeying Moria’s commands. It was his best helper, but its power still fell short of his actual self.

Although it slowed down Kaido’s assault, a few seconds later, Kaido’s attack surpassed the Doppelman’s limits. The shadow split into numerous black balls, which then transformed into bat-like shadows biting at Kaido’s arms, trying to hinder his movements.

But against Kaido’s Haki-infused defense, they were meaningless. Those bat shadows couldn’t pierce through his Haki defense.

Once again, the weapons of both sides clashed. Compared to Thunder Bagua now, the previous attacks were just child’s play.

The bat shadows coalesced into solid forms not far away, and Moria, who had been grappling with Kaido, instantly transformed into his shadow.

“Shadow Warrior…”

Moria could freely swap positions with his own shadow using his Devil Fruit ability. When he sensed something was amiss, he made this choice. Then he opened his trenchcoat and took out the bottles containing the shadows.

“You b*stard, now let me show you my true power!”

Then he opened the caps of the two bottles, and around twenty shadows entered his body.