Chapter 435: Shadow Gathering Ground

"And his opponent is equally formidable!"

"Gecko Moria!"

"One of the former Seven Warlords of the Sea, preceding Sir Gao Wen!"

Before the projection screen, those familiar with Moria's past watched with immense anticipation for the impending battle.

"I recall the World Economic Journal reporting back then that Kaido of the Hundred Beasts and Gecko Moria once clashed in Wano Country."

"The details of that battle remain unknown to the outside world, but following it, Gecko Moria departed Wano Country and soon after became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea recognized by the World Government."

"He even lost all his companions."

"Clearly, Gecko Moria suffered an unimaginably crushing defeat in that battle."

"Now, twenty years later, these two meet in the quarterfinals of the World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament..."

"This is a battle to settle old grudges and finalize fate!"

The crowd watching the projection immediately stirred with excitement.

The previous few battles had already made them realize that every powerhouse appearing in the World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament was a top-tier monster.

Even though some, like Daz Bones and Kid, possessed strength far inferior to the others, they were still major figures capable of stirring up storms in the Four Blues and could firmly establish themselves in the New World!

Others, such as Algin, Redfield, and Zoro, were unbelievably strong.

And even among these monsters, Kaido of the Hundred Beasts was the most dazzling, even being considered a candidate for the title of World's Strongest.

Whoosh—!

A wild wind howled, whipping the cloak on Kaido's shoulders.

Holding his Eight Precepts Staff, he stood calmly within the Colosseum arena.

With a massive frame exceeding seven meters and extremely muscular, coupled with Haki unconsciously radiating from him, Kaido needed only to stand there to make ordinary people lose the will to fight.

Such a being was born to stand at the top of the food chain, taking whatever he desired from the seas.

Truly worthy of the name 'monster'!

Boom—!

Just as the crowd marveled at Kaido's presence, incredibly heavy footsteps echoed from a distant corridor.

Within the corridor, which stood over ten meters tall, sounds of friction and squeezing constantly emerged, as if some formidable monster was about to emerge from it.

"Hm?!"

Kaido raised an eyebrow, lifting his gaze toward the distant corridor.

There, a huge hand appeared—no, that thing could no longer be called a hand.

Bulging veins, swollen muscles, and ferocious claws; rather than a hand, it looked more like the claw of some monster!

At this moment, not only Kaido, but even Gao Wen, who was observing this battle from the distant municipal building, was slightly stunned.

"So that's it; the one who attacked the prison last night was Moria?!!"

"No wonder those people only lost consciousness briefly and had no issues after waking up; the prison was dim and lightless, so naturally, no one noticed the shadows had vanished."

Gao Wen suddenly felt a spark of interest:

"However, I recall there were quite a few Gold-level pirates inside; if Moria obtained the shadows of all those people..."

Gao Wen could naturally see that the current Moria had undergone earth-shaking changes compared to the original timeline.

Not only in size, but even the aura radiating from his entire body was no weaker than that of other Warlords; although his combat power was far from reaching the Legendary level, it had reached the upper-middle tier of the Gold level.

He was already extremely close to the combat power he should have possessed during his battle with Kaido twenty years ago.

Add to that the shadow amplification from several thousand prisoners in the prison, and his power would be boosted to an absurd degree!

"This battle might actually be worth watching."

Crash-crash-crash—!

Another hand extended from the corridor, gripping the side wall with force and directly tearing the contestant passage apart.

Only then did Moria's massive body barely squeeze out.

At this moment, not only Kaido in the Colosseum arena, but everyone observing this battle was stunned!

"What the hell is that thing?!"

"Is this really a physique a human can achieve?!"

"A giant?!"

"No, a giant's body isn't this deformed; this looks exactly like a twisted monster!"

"This is simply a thoroughbred monster!"

Amidst the crowd's exclamations, Moria placed both hands on the ground, crouching and looking down with lowered eyes at Kaido of the Hundred Beasts before him.

At this moment, his body was completely distorted.

His torso was obese and bloated, resembling a leather ball, while his two legs were so thin they looked like two toothpicks stuck into the ball; yet the strangest feature was his pair of arms, which nearly touched the ground even while he stood.

This was precisely the special ability developed by Moria based on the Shadow-Shadow Fruit: Shadow Gathering Ground.

In this life.

The Straw Hat crew still ventured into the Florian Triangle sea area, clashed with Moria, and defeated him.

At the same time, he saw his own youthful reflection in the Straw Hat and mastered the ability to absorb others' shadows to enhance his own strength!

Shadow Gathering Ground!

The prisoner who attacked the Britannias Prison previously was none other than Gecko Moria!

Among the thousands of shadows he had absorbed, there was no shortage of Gold-level powerhouses; right now, the excessive amount of absorbed shadows was constantly impacting his body from within, like countless parasites wriggling beneath his flesh.

Some shadows even attempted to escape through his lips and teeth, but they were locked in place by an invisible force, unable to move even a fraction.

Moria's body had long reached its limit; the only thing sustaining him now was his resentment toward Kaido.

For twenty years, day and night, all Mo Li saw before his eyes were scenes of his companions being cruelly killed by Kaido right in front of him!

Having lived a nightmare for twenty years, he had long gone completely mad!

"As expected..."

"No matter what, I want to kill you with my own hands!"

"Kaido!"

After this furious shout, Mo Li erupted into action.

His figure was distorted and extremely obese, yet his movements were unbelievably fast.

The spectators watching the battle only felt a black shadow flash before their eyes before the wall surrounding the first layer of the arena exploded with a boom.

As gravel flew everywhere and dust filled the air, Mo Li's ferocious and distorted smile could vaguely be seen!

"Hee hee hee hee—!"

The laughter echoed above the Round Table Arena.

Even those watching through Video Den Den Mushi felt the distorted and terrifying pressure emanating from Mo Li.

Very quickly.

The dust and smoke dispersed.

The Round Table Arena, now missing a huge chunk, appeared before everyone again, yet it only made them feel suffocated.

With just one punch possessing such destructive power, Mo Li, currently empowered by thousands of shadows, undoubtedly now qualified to challenge the Emperor of the Sea.

"So this... is the ability of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit?!"

Standing by the window, Gao Wen could not help but let out a sigh of astonishment.

Among the three types of Devil Fruits, the Paramecia type has the lowest floor, but equally holds the highest ceiling for potential.

With just a little creative thinking, fruits like the Shadow-Shadow Fruit can emerge; as long as the user can endure it, they can stack combat power with almost no upper limit.

The immediate combat power Mo Li displayed at this moment was undoubtedly at the Legendary level.