I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

Moriah was well aware of this.

Over the years, he has suffered three crushing defeats, at the hands of Kaido, Higuma, and Barrett respectively.

And once Sieg returns... then all his efforts over the past ten years will be in vain; he cannot possibly rescue his three companions in front of Sieg.

"No, there's another way." Moria gritted his teeth, revealing a mouthful of sharp, menacing teeth.

"Attack Sig's old forces now, use his men as hostages, and we can threaten Sig, then we can exchange hostages... Hmph, is this what the person who sent the anonymous letter wants me to do? Using me as a pawn?"

Moria sneered.

He no longer cares who's using him as a pawn behind the scenes.

If Wang Rixiong is Sig, then Moria needs to hurry even more.

If not... then it's not a loss.

Unbeknownst to Moria, within the deep green alternate dimension, Dol was always beside him, quietly watching him read the letter.

"Get ready to leave. Time is of the essence; we must get back before he returns!"

He summoned his men to his castle, preparing for the decisive battle.

It was dusk, the setting sun was blood-red, and night was about to fall.

Moria looked up at the rising crescent moon, a wide smile spreading across his face, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth.

"Nighttime is when I'm on my own."

He got up and quickly went to a secret room deep inside the castle, inside a stone door locked by a sea tower.

Moria opened the door with the key and stepped inside alone.

Inside the room, an ice coffin lay quietly, its lid transparent, allowing a tall corpse to be seen through it.

The body was a man, preserved in formalin.

It's clear that this person underwent excellent embalming after death. The face is lifelike, though the skin is somewhat pale, as if the person had simply entered a deep sleep rather than eternal rest.

Behind Moria, Dol, from the alternate dimension, curiously turned his head and glanced at him.

Then he almost turned to stone.

“Lox D. Gibbek.” He read out the corpse’s name:

"Where did Moria get his body from?"

Moria wasn't particularly outstanding among the Seven Warlords of the Sea, but at this moment, Moria pulled out Rocks' corpse right in front of Admiral Dolphin.

He stared in shock at the man sleeping eternally in the coffin, then at Moria's devilish face, as if he were seeing Moria for the first time.

Over the years, Moria has been traveling all over the sea, and it's certainly not just about losing weight.

Years ago, in order to deal with Kaido of the Beasts, Moria prepared the corpses of Ryuma, the dragon slayer, and Oars of the Kingdom of Oon.

After taking Sieg as his hypothetical enemy, the corpse he collected was that of a man who was once the strongest in the world.

........................

The night was dark.

In the conference hall of the Ministry of Shock's mansion, Aaron was enthusiastically describing the grand future blueprint of "Aaron Paradise" to Kro.

Gilman sat to the side, his eyes half-open, somewhat distracted, listening only intermittently.

But suddenly.

His eyes widened suddenly, and his sleepy expression turned serious. A hard shell appeared on his back, and he transformed into a snail-man.

"The alarm signal from the Den Den Mushi... was cut off?"

"There was a night raid, and the attackers were quite strong. Our sentries didn't even have time to issue a warning?"

Gilman's heart skipped a beat, and Kro and the other stopped talking and looked over.

"Are you trying to stop me from opening Ah Long Paradise?" Ah Long revealed a mouthful of sharp teeth, looking terrifying.

"No, they're obviously trying to raid our base while Lord Wang Rixiong is away." Kro said with a forced smile and a cold expression.

Over the past ten years, everyone's status has changed.

Of the three, Aaron became the amusement park owner, Crowe became a businessman on the island of everything, and Gilman became the editor-in-chief of a newspaper, responsible for breaking news.

But these are only their public identities. They are only able to gain a foothold on Wanwu Island because of the protection afforded by the name of the Mountain Bandit King.

They still haven't forgotten the hardships they endured back then.

Chapter 1043 The Resurrection of Rocks

"Then, let's discuss tactics."

Kro pushed up his glasses with the heel of his hand, the lenses gleaming coldly.

"Tactics?" A Long grinned maliciously.

"Why don't we gather all the brothers and take care of those guys outside before the boss gets back?"

Kro glanced at the two people in front of him and remained silent for a moment.

"Moria is a user of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, possessing the ability to single-handedly create an army, while we were caught off guard by the attack and our forces within the manor are insufficient—"

"Fine... I'll just get straight to the tactics."

“Gilman, now that you know from the alarm that your opponent is a Shichibukai, don’t let your guard down.”

"So our strategy is... to notify that person immediately via Den Den Mushi."

"Is this really how it should be?" Gilman asked, somewhat disapprovingly.

"I was hoping to resolve this matter quietly without alerting him."

“No, you all listen to me,” Kro said in a low voice, speaking rapidly as he outlined his strategy.

"Ah Long, you go first to draw the enemy's attention..."

Soon, Aaron and Gilman's expressions changed, revealing surprise, and they gradually became serious.

..................

Night falls.

Within the manor surrounding the Ministry of Shock's white mansion, the shadows under the night sky lengthened quietly, then transformed into countless shadow spears that pierced through the guards.

"enemy-----"

Occasionally, a few guards would notice something amiss and try to shout, but the shadow beneath their feet would twist and coil around their bodies, tightly covering their mouths, before being pierced by another shadowy blade.

Only after the silent, shadowy attack did Moria's zombie army begin its advance.

These zombies had a clear division of labor: they collected the bodies of the guards one by one, and then transported the unconscious people to the rear of the battle line, piling them up into small mountains.

But their stealthy attack didn't last long.

Alarms blared, and a large group of burly men poured out of the manor, each armed with swords, guns, and cannons, ready for battle, clearly having discovered their attack.

There were Arlong's group of fishmen, as well as henchmen and pirates recruited by the Shock Department as it expanded over the years.

These people swarmed out, numbering over a hundred, and their momentum was not weak, but compared to Moria's zombie army that surrounded them from all sides, they paled in comparison.

Ah Long was walking at the very front of the crowd.

He strode out from the crowd, carrying a large serrated knife on his shoulder, and without saying much, led his men out.

The large serrated knife was his weapon back then, but this time, upon entering the battlefield, Ah Long suddenly grinned maliciously and pressed a button on the hilt.

hum hum hum!

The serrated edge of the blade began to spin rapidly; it was clearly a chainsaw.

"Jinbe's Fishman Karate is still not suitable for me. I still prefer this kind."

Ah Long muttered to himself, the large serrated knife in his hand covered with jet-black Armament Haki, which looked like ink under the moonlight and reflected the cold light of metal.

Clang! Clang!

Ordinary fish-men possess ten times the strength of humans.

After training, Ah Long's arm strength also increased.

With Arlong's power and Armament Haki, the large saw blade appeared exceptionally sharp.

He charged into the horde of zombies, wielding his large serrated blade, often splitting the zombies and their weapons in two with a single blow, as if he were in an empty field.

The electric version of the large serrated blade is incredibly sharp, slicing through armor wherever it goes, and sending zombie limbs flying everywhere.

"What a bunch of scum... I just wanted to be an ordinary amusement park owner, why are you forcing me? Huh?"

Ah Long, wielding a chainsaw, angrily questioned the zombies before him.

Although the zombies were already dead and felt no pain, Ah Long's intimidating aura and the way he killed people like mowing grass shocked them and slowed their pace considerably.

"This merman... I feel like I've seen him before?"

Moria frowned slightly.

He couldn't remember what the fishman looked like, but when Ah Long made his move, his attention was drawn to him, and he ran towards him.

Moria's shadow split off beneath his feet, transforming into countless black bats that surrounded Arlong from all sides.

"How annoying!"

Ah Long wielded his chainsaw with great force, cleaving the shadowy bat in two.

But the bat that had just been cleaved twisted in mid-air and miraculously transformed back into a bat, swooping down on his body and tearing at it relentlessly.

"Shadows have no physical form... Heh, even if you master Armament Haki, you can't cut through everything."

Moria chuckled, his massive body standing before Arlong, casting a shadow.

Ten years later, he has regained his youthful charm, his physique has changed from bloated to robust, and he exudes a strong sense of presence.

Moria's tactic this time is a blitzkrieg; he wants to capture the hostages as quickly as possible before Sieg returns.

Therefore, he completely abandoned his previous style of hiding behind powerful zombies and remotely controlling them, and rushed into the battlefield personally at the first opportunity.

.....