One Piece: Blue Scale Admiral

Moria's eerie laughter came from the Shadow Mage's mouth.

"Hehehehe, it's useless. No matter how many times you break me, my body can always rebuild itself. But... if I catch your shadow, you're finished!"

The Shadow Mage's large black hand reached for the shadow beneath the Qilin's feet, but the Qilin swiftly dodged using Moon Step and unleashed a powerful kick that shredded the pursuing Shadow Mage.

"Is it imposing? I'll learn that soon enough."

"You can learn it so quickly? Hehehe, are you kidding me, kid?"

Moria was amused by Qilin's naive words and decided not to continue reassembling the shattered Shadow Mage. Instead, he transformed into countless shadow fragments, which swarmed into the capital like a black swarm of bees. Amid the exclamations of the royal army, they disappeared into various buildings, searching everywhere for the whereabouts of the Hades warship.

The Qilin followed closely behind like the wind, chasing Moria into the capital.

Outside the city, Vivi knew that even if she chased after Moria, she wouldn't be able to do anything to him, so she immediately turned around and rushed towards the zombie army that was fighting against the Kingdom's army.

The Qilin's power exceeded her expectations. Judging from his performance just now, Moria couldn't hurt him at all, so Vivi didn't need to worry about him at all.

I really don't know where this freak came from.

Vivi couldn't help but sigh.

Inside the royal capital, the petite Qilin swiftly chased after Moria, who had transformed into a shadow and was moving about the city.

He was incredibly fast, and his direction of advance was not halted by any buildings in his path. Instead, he crashed straight into them, smashing through the walls in his way with a deafening roar, causing a commotion.

"Annoying brat! You'll never be able to defeat me without mastering Haki!"

Moria felt the relentless pursuit from behind, like a venomous beast clinging to his bones. Frustrated but helpless, he could only speed up his search for the Hades warship.

Soon, the two made their way forward and broke into Cobra's palace.

After searching everywhere, Moria finally found what he had been longing for in the palace's treasury.

The black shadow, without substance or thickness, slipped through the crack in the heavy door of the vault and came into view a huge treasure trove. Inside, there were various chests filled with Berries, and the floor was piled high with weapons and gold and silver jewels. The candlelight on the walls reflected a mesmerizing glow, enough to drive any greedy pirate mad.

But Moriah was oblivious to the treasure before him.

In his eyes, there was only a golden ship placed in a treasure vault.

He had seen this ship before.

Several years ago in Albana, this was the ship that blasted away a large area of ​​sand dunes and desert outside Albana.

Crocodile's short-lived death was also caused by this ship.

If nothing unexpected happens, this ship should be what he's looking for.

Moria grinned, his bloated body trembling slightly. His lips quivered as he stepped forward, like a lover, and gently stroked the not-so-large golden ship in front of him.

"Found it! I found it! I've finally found you! One of the three ancient weapons, the strongest warship known for its ability to destroy an island with a single shot, Pluto, the Hades!"

"Boom!"

Suddenly, the entire vault shook violently. Moria turned his head and glanced coldly behind him, only to see countless fragments of stone shattering from the two heavy stone doors, which were nearly three feet thick, as if they had been violently struck by a battering ram from the outside.

"boom!"

Then came an even louder roar.

The two massive stone doors shook violently before shattering open, blasted through by a terrifying force, sending countless fist-sized shards of rock hurtling toward Moria.

Moria instinctively turned his body into a shadow, trying to dodge the blows from the rubble.

But when he caught a glimpse of the golden ship in front of him out of the corner of his eye, he suppressed his impulse and instead of dodging, he manipulated the shadow beneath his feet to rise up in front of him, turning it into a solid black wall that blocked all the flying pebbles.

Between the broken stone door and the gaping hole, a small figure, with its back to the sunlight, appeared in Moria's eyes.

"I've already mastered Armament Haki, Moria," the child in the shadows said.

This time, Moria didn't even bother to respond to the Kirin.

He scoffed at the Qilin's claim, turned around, and placed his hands on the golden ship behind him. A large black shadow surged forth, like a black curtain, and quickly enveloped the golden ship.

Now that we've achieved our goal and obtained the Hades warship, it's time to leave, take this ancient weapon with us, find a quiet place, and study how to operate this world-destroying weapon.

Once he's finished his research, Moria will make Rorschach, Straw Hat Luffy, Kaido, and this arrogant brat in front of him experience firsthand the humiliation and despair he once suffered.

"Whoosh!"

A whooshing sound came from behind.

Moria didn't need to turn around to know that it was that annoying brat rushing towards him from behind.

He didn't care, because the golden ship in front of him was completely enveloped by the shadow he released and was hidden by Moria in the shadow space he had developed. His own body had also transformed back into the Shadow Mage state, which was immune to physical attacks.

Moria turned around and saw the Qilin clenching its little fist and throwing it at him. He was about to say a few sarcastic words and then turn into a shadow and disappear when he saw that the Qilin's clenched right fist was suddenly covered with a layer of misty deep blue light.

Moriah's eyes widened in disbelief.

Feeling the immense force rushing towards him, he gaped, trying to reach out and stop it, "Wait...wait! You..."

But it's too late.

With a muffled thud, Moria's enormous belly caved in, his skin and muscles ripped and twisted, and his massive body arched backward like a boiled shrimp, revealing intense pain. Blood and foam flew from his wide-open mouth, and a mournful cry of thirst escaped his throat.

He flew up, his feet off the ground, and shot backward in a powerful arc.

"Boom!"

A deafening roar erupted in the royal treasury of Cobra.

The soldiers of the Kingdom's army who rushed in from outside were shaken off their feet by the loud noise, and the treasure vault built of heavy stones in front of them suddenly exploded.

The entire stone wall behind him shattered, sending countless fragments of stone and dust flying everywhere. Moria's massive body was thrown out from the rubble and flew into the inner city of the royal capital like a cannonball.

Like a punctured balloon, he plowed across the wide streets of the inner city, scraping the ground and smashing countless eaves and houses. He tumbled and crashed his broad back into the city wall he had come from, knocking down the left wall where Cobra was. With a loud thud, he landed on the sandy ground outside the city, lying there like a lump of mud, unable to get up for a long time.

"Lord Moriah!"

Outside the city, the zombie army, still locked in fierce combat with Vivi's kingdom army, turned deathly pale and terrified when they saw Moria coughing up blood and flying out.

"Wow...so amazing! Even Moria was defeated, and defeated so badly." Cobra was shocked. He looked at the Kirin that flew out of the city, brushed past him, and landed on the sand in front of Moria. Rorschach's image appeared in his mind.

On the sand, Kirin stood with his arms crossed and chin slightly raised, speaking to Moria, who lay on the ground like a small mountain: "I told you, I'll soon learn Armament Haki, why didn't you believe me? Moria, your body has been ruined by your gluttony, and your spirit has been broken by Kaido and my old man. So, like Crocodile, you're now trying to use external forces to solidify your position. Someone like you will never become a strongman like my old man."

"Aaaaaaah, you bastard!!"

Moriah gritted his teeth, panting, and sat up from the ground.

From his gaping mouth dripped shocking blood, and his bloodshot eyes stared down at the tiny Qilin.

At that moment, anger and humiliation filled Moria's mind.

He couldn't stand the fact that he couldn't even beat a seven or eight-year-old kid.

"Go to hell!"

With red eyes, he stood up from the ground, spread his arms, released the golden ship that he had stored in the shadow space, jumped onto it, grabbed the more than ten-meter-long golden cannon barrel with both hands, and rotated the muzzle to aim at the Qilin.

"Die! Die under the bombardment of the Hades warship, you brat!"

Moria yelled and pressed a button on the turret.

When Moria put the golden ship into his shadow space, he thoroughly examined the ship inside and out.

Aside from the button on the turret, he couldn't find any other control panel on the ship that could operate the cannon.

In his extreme shame and anger, he released the golden ship, aimed it at the Qilin, and pressed the button on the turret.

Faced with the massive golden cannon barrel before him, Qilin blinked but did not dodge. He simply watched as Moria howled and pressed the button.

With a click, the button was pressed.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Time passed slowly, but the scene Moria had been anticipating—the one shot that would obliterate the Kirin before him, along with the royal capital behind him—did not materialize.

Everyone held their breath, staring blankly at the scene.

"What are you doing?" Qilin tilted its head, looking completely innocent, as if it were looking at someone with a mental disability.

"Impossible, impossible! There's only this button on the Hades battleship." Moria's eyes bulged, and he pressed it a few more times, refusing to believe it.

But the cannon barrel in front of them still didn't react at all.

An awkward atmosphere filled the air.

"Pfft." Weiwei, who was standing some distance away, finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

She couldn't hold it in any longer.

Moria's actions reminded her of Crocodile's reaction when he saw the Golden Ship; it was exactly the same.

What made her even chuckle was that the ship Moria was standing on wasn't the one Rorschach built, but a replica that she and Cobra had cast from Alabasta's gold to commemorate Rorschach's saving of Alabasta.

It can be said that this is just a model of a gold ship. Apart from one cannon barrel that looks somewhat decent, the level of precision inside is far inferior to the ship built by Rorschach.

"Why? Why isn't it working? Does it need to be recharged?"

Moria was still pressing that button, trying to activate the Hades warship in his mind.

But Qilin couldn't stand it any longer.

He really didn't want to waste too much time on Moria, the weakest of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Qilin stretched out his hand and pressed it against the golden cannon muzzle in front of him. With a squeeze of his five fingers, a barely perceptible vibration was transmitted from his hand, traveling upwards along the cannon muzzle and quickly spreading throughout the entire golden ship.

The next moment, in Moria's devastated gaze, the golden ship in front of him cracked open with countless fine fissures. Under everyone's watchful eyes, it collapsed instantly like a broken block, disintegrating into countless golden fragments that scattered on the sand.

"No, no! My Hades battleship!"

Moria then fell to the ground, scooping up the gold fragments beneath him with his hands, howling in a state of mental breakdown.

Vivi was astonished at how the Qilin had managed to shatter the golden ship into countless pieces in an instant.

Brute force alone should have at most deformed the golden ship, not left it scattered all over the ground like this.

A distraught Moria, with saliva mixed with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, suddenly laughed maniacally as the Kirin approached.

"Hehehe, hehehe, this is fake, right? It's all fake. The Hades warship is just my naive and incompetent fantasy. Such a thing doesn't exist in this world at all."

He shrugged, laughing as if he were crying, and staggered to his feet.

"You're fake too, that brat Rorschach is fake too, Kaido... Kaido is fake too, this whole world is fake, fake!"

The black shadows beneath him churned like boiling black seawater.