Chapter 169: Moonlight Moria

In the comments section, the greats are discussing whether the famous blade Autumn Water is currently in Wano Country or in Moria's hands at this point in time.

To briefly summarize Saint Saint Saiwen's four years at sea, the story unfolds basically according to the original timeline of the One Piece manga.

Year 1498 of the Sea Calendar.

Golden Lion caused chaos in Marineford, was defeated by Garp and Sengoku, and imprisoned in Impel Down.

Luo Jie was publicly executed in Loguetown.

After Loguetown, Saint Saint Saiwen and Mihawk went to the Sky Island to become the Thunder God, forming the Morning Star Pirates.

After tricking Kizaru, they temporarily parted ways on the Sky Island, agreeing to reunite and set sail again in two years.

In Year 1499 of the Sea Calendar, a pirate uprising occurred in Wano Country; the Beasts Pirates and Moria's Pirates fought a great battle in Suzu.

Moria suffered a crushing defeat and lost all his companions.

While fleeing Wano Country, Moria dug up the grave of the Blade God Fuyuzuki Ryuma, taking away Ryuma's corpse and the famous blade Autumn Water.

The Marines issued a Buster Call to capture Barrett; Barrett was defeated and imprisoned in Impel Down.

Buggy set sail for the first time to find Saint Saint Saiwen but failed, returning to Orange Town in the East Blue.

Tashigi and Kuina were born.

Ace was born; because Saint Saint Saiwen took Rouge to Garp's hometown, Ace was born a year early.

Year 1500 of the Sea Calendar.

Saint Saint Saiwen returned from the Sky Island to the Blue Sea, kidnapped Saint Elaine for the first time at the Sabaody Archipelago, and saved Thasolo and Shi Daila.

That same year, he boldly broke through the Buster Call at Ohara, saving Nico Robin and her mother; after this battle, Master Tenghu (Yi Xiao) joined the Morning Star Pirates.

Afterwards, Saint Saint Saiwen invited Bartholomew Kuma and Jin Ni to board the ship in the Sorbet Kingdom.

Dragon established the Revolutionary Army based on the Self-Defense Force.

Golden Lion escaped from Impel Down, challenged Saint Saint Saiwen, was defeated and captured, and was ultimately lured into joining the Morning Star Pirates by divine means such as the Complete Lion and Senzu Beans.

Years 1500-1501 of the Sea Calendar.

The Morning Star Pirates re-entered the Grand Line, invited Dorry and Brogy to board at Little Garden, and headed for the Sabaody Archipelago.

Saint Saint Saiwen kidnapped Saint Elaine for the second time.

The Marines launched a Buster Call at Sabaody but failed to stop the Morning Star Pirates from heading to the New World.

Saint Saint Saiwen and his party defeated Wang Zhi, reclaimed and modified Honeycomb Island, then proceeded to the Giant Kingdom of Elbaf to rescue the trapped crew.

Buggy set out from the East Blue to find Saint Saint Saiwen at Honeycomb Island in the New World.

Year 1502 of the Sea Calendar.

After staying in Elbaf for half a year, Saint Saint Saiwen and the others returned to Honeycomb Island, where Buggy was arrested.

The five-year pact between Kozuki Oden and Kurozumi Higuruma had expired; Oden was defeated by Kaido and executed.

The current timeline is Year 1502 of the Sea Calendar.

However, since the timeline confirmed by Oda is inconsistent with the previously well-known timeline, there is no clear timeline.

This was my mistake; it affected the reading experience.

Luffy was born in 1503.

These eight hundred words do not count as today's update.

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West Blue, Thriller Bark.

After suffering a crushing defeat against Kaido in Wano Country, Moonlight Moria, deeply struck by the death of all his companions, returned to the West Blue to build a zombie army.

Moria is a Paramecia-type Shadow-Shadow Fruit user, possessing the ability to cut off and steal other people's shadows.

He can also insert shadows into other people's bodies, temporarily granting them the combat power possessed by those shadows.

If a shadow is placed into a corpse, it can be resurrected as a zombie, absolutely obeying the user.

The reason for choosing to build a zombie army

is that Moria bears severe trauma over losing his companions, believing that if his partners had been zombies from the start, he would have nothing to lose.

It can be considered an alternative "correct answer."

Precisely because he once lost his companions, Moria cherishes his capable subordinates even more, and his subordinates are extremely loyal and respectful to him.

"My lord Moria."

A little girl with pink twin tails, wearing a crown and holding a newspaper in both hands, bounced over to Moria's side.

"My lord Moria, the latest newspaper is much thicker than usual!"

Moria displayed a doting smile like an old father.

On the way back to the West Blue after losing to Kaido, Moria's greatest gain was picking up Perona and raising her as his daughter.

Five-year-old little Perona, pink and tender, looked just like a little princess.

She was also the only light in Moria's heart.

When Moria took the newspaper and glanced at it, he suddenly stood up, his towering six-meter-ninety-two frame like an upside-down mountain peak.

"Nani?!"

"Marineford is gone?!"

"Nineteen years old?!"

"Bounty five... fifty-two billion Berries?"

"What a terrifying... fellow."

Even the cook of the former Luo Jie Pirates is this fierce; then how powerful must the old generation of great pirates like Pirate King Luo Jie be?

Moria immediately felt a longing for it.

"My lord Moria."

Little Perona asked in a soft, cooing voice.

"Fifty... fifty-two billion is a lot?"

Moria grinned: "Of course it is."

Moria's current bounty is three hundred and twenty million Berries; he needs sixteen of himself just to surpass Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen.

(Moria's bounty before joining the Saint Saint Saiwen Warlords was three hundred and twenty million Berries, which was also his bounty when he first set out.)

"What does this guy eat to grow like that?"

"If we could cut off Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's shadow and stuff it into the body of Fuyuzuki Ryuma..."

"Hiss~"

With his heart pounding faster, a flush of excitement and abnormal redness spread across Moria's deathly pale face.

Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen plus Fuyuzuki Ryuma.

One is a living legendary great swordsman, the other is the strongest great swordsman who has died, and with the black blade Akatsuki present, a union of the strong might truly defeat Kaido and exact revenge.

So the question arises.

How can one cut off Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's shadow and then stuff it into Fuyuzuki Ryuma's corpse?

Moria fell into deep thought.

Judging by his experience fighting Kaido three years ago, Kaido certainly could not have annihilated Marineford in a single strike.

But Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen could...

Moria awkwardly realized: the difficulty of cutting off Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's shadow is even greater than defeating Kaido.

If one truly possessed such strength, why bother with this unnecessary step? It would be better to go directly to Onigashima, defeat Kaido, and avenge one's comrades.

Since the shadow cannot be cut off.

Might as well go join Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen?

A legendary great pirate like Shiki could humble himself under Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's banner, serving as the Honorary Vice-Captain of the Morning Star Pirates.

Then there is no reason why he, Moria, couldn't do the same.

As long as he can avenge his former comrades, joining Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen seems to carry no shame.

Moria admitted he was very tempted; before, he only thought Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen had latched onto Shiki's thigh and become an Emperor of the Sea in the New World.

Now, he annihilated Marineford in a single strike.

Shiki's judgment is truly excellent.

After the Battle of Marineford, the Navy is destined to be severely weakened, and no one in the New World will be able to challenge the Morning Star Pirates.

If not now, then when?

If it were four years ago, Moria would never have had such thoughts, but after fighting Kaido, Moria was completely stripped of his fighting spirit.

Relying on himself, there is absolutely no hope for revenge.

It is better to use Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's hand to accomplish the great work of revenge; it just means handing over this life to Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen from now on.

As the saying goes, action is better than mere excitement.

Moria scooped Perona up into his palm, his voice very soft, very soft.

"Perona, let's pack up and move house."

"Okay."

Since she could remember, Perona had lived with Moria, always viewing Moria as a father, and held him in great reverence and love.

Where the father is, there is the home.

And finally, she can go out and play.

When the father and daughter had packed their luggage, leading a vast army of zombies, and prepared to start the ship and set sail for the New World.

A large ship with a dragon head, red sails, and a flame flag pierced through the clouds and appeared in the sky.

"My lord Moria, look!"

"It's a flying ship!"

Following the direction of Little Perona's pointing finger, the red-sailed ship came into view; Moria rubbed his eyes, feeling it was somewhat unreal.

"Am I hallucinating?"

The dragon head, red sails, and flame flag are the mark of the Morning Star Pirates' flagship, the Donghai Dihuang, and only Shiki can make a ship fly.

Could this be fate?

Just as he was about to go to the New World to join Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen,

Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen comes to invite him aboard? Is it his destiny to join the Morning Star Pirates?

The Donghai Dihuang landed steadily on the sea surface, not even stirring up a single splash.

Beside the helm, Saint Saint Saiwen gave a thumbs up.

"Mr. Lu Bianyi, I give you a like!"

Master Tenghu smiled and sheathed his sword.

"Thanks to Mr. Shi Ji sharing his experience, I was able to master the secret of flying ships so quickly."

Everyone believes the Donghai Dihuang flies because of Shiki's Float-Float Fruit ability.

In reality, Mr. Lu Bianyi's Life's Heavy Burdens Fruit can also make the Donghai Dihuang hover and fly; one only needs to control the direction of gravity.

Yet Shiki was already in the lead, floating over to the neighboring ship like a ghost.

This was because, among the zombie army under Moria's command, Shiki spotted a few familiar figures: former members of the Rocks Pirates—

Zombie Generals

"John... Ganji..."

Shiki held a cigar in his mouth.

"Jie hahaha!"

"You bunch of guys."

In life, he was a great pirate who echoed across the seas; in death, his corpse was stolen and twisted into this thing that is neither man nor ghost.

"The legendary great pirate~ Golden Lion!"

Moria screamed, stepped forward, and silently placed his body in front of Perona.

And as Saint Saint Saiwen and the others gradually arrived on the deck, Moria felt fear yet couldn't help but imagine: if back then he had so many powerful allies,

he would never have lost to Kaido.

Never.

Perona clutched Moria's pant leg, revealing her small head with pink twin tails.

"I saw you in the newspaper."

The soft childish voice instantly eased the originally tense atmosphere; Saint Saint Saiwen could feel his companions' hearts pounding faster the moment they saw Perona.

Especially Jin Ni, whose face wore an auntie's smile, wishing she could rush forward and hold little Perona in her arms.

Oh no, they're all lolicon.

Seeing this, Moria and Saint Saint Saiwen almost spoke at the same time.

"I want to join the Morning Star Pirates."

"Hand over my Autumn Water."