Chapter 515

"But..."

One Zhang Jie changed the subject.

Heavenly Tian Tian Long Zhang Jie and the others focused their attention, appearing ready to listen:

Everything fears a "but"; whenever there is a "but," what follows is invariably a massive turning point,

where condemnation can turn into praise, and flattery can turn into interrogation.

This is where the meat of the story comes in.

One Zhang Jie continued: "But this cannot change the fact that Moria is a hero."

"Moria is a hero? Where did you get that conclusion?"

Pirate Zhang Jie frowned, feeling it hard to understand.

Based on his performance in the manga, Moria's actions were nothing but pathetic,

Old Sand's (Crocodile) failure could still be forcibly explained by the Sand-Sand Fruit's fear of water,

but Moria possessed the Shadow-Shadow Fruit and was easily defeated by Wang Lufei, who hadn't even unlocked the Nika cheat yet.

How could he possibly deserve the word "hero"?

Even the Five Elders, who pushed the Seven Warlords of the Sea to balance the Four Emperors and the Navy, couldn't stand it anymore,

and after the Summit War, they directly removed him from the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

"Wait."

Water Margin Zhang Jie suddenly seemed to think of something and asked thoughtfully:

"Is the 'Moonlight' in Gecko Moria his surname, or is it his title?"

"Of course it's his surname; titles are generally related to characteristics.

For example, Mihawk's 'Hawk Eyes' is because he has a pair of eagle-like eyes with sharp vision,

capable of seeing almost every flaw and maximizing the swordsman's ability to 'cut steel'.

Edward Newgate's 'Whitebeard' is because he has an iconic, crescent-shaped white mustache;

Sengoku's 'Buddha' is because the Devil Fruit he ate is the Mythical Zoan, Human-Human Fruit, Model: Buddha,

and the most typical aspect is his disc-like hairstyle and the Buddha form he manifests during battle."

"And Moria ate the Paramecia Shadow-Shadow Fruit, doing things like playing with shadows,

and manipulating corpses; how could that possibly have anything to do with 'Moonlight'?

On the contrary, with his horns, purple skin, full mouth of fangs,

and devil-like appearance, combined with his mysterious fruit ability,

calling him something like 'Shadow Demon' would be more fitting."

Heavenly Tian Tian Long Zhang Jie gave the answer without thinking.

"Moonlight... Moonlight... if you reverse these two characters, isn't it Kozuki!

The Kozuki family, the shogun family that ruled Wano Country before Kaido!"

Pirate Zhang Jie suddenly recalled some distant memories.

"Yes, Gecko Moria should actually be Kozuki Moria."

One Zhang Jie nodded, giving an affirmative answer.

"Kozuki Moria..."

After his reminder, the several Zhang Jies recalled a detail they had subconsciously forgotten.

The reason Moria became a fat shut-in, hiding in the Florian Triangle playing with shadows and corpses,

wanting to create an immortal army, was because his crew

were all killed when challenging Kaido of the Beasts, and he alone escaped with his life.

He, who cherished his crew, couldn't accept it, and from then on, he decided that 'as long as my subordinates are an immortal army,

then I will never again experience the pain of losing companions'.

And here lies another question: why did Moria go to challenge Kaido, who occupied the second half of the Grand Line?

If it were to make a name for himself,

for the overconfident pirate Supernovas, Whitebeard, who bore the title of 'World's Strongest Man'

and had territory closer by, would undoubtedly be their first choice.

That Crocodile, who had his courage shaken by Whitebeard's air quakes, whose Haki even dropped levels,

and who could only hide in Alabasta plotting underhanded schemes,

pinning his hope of defeating Whitebeard on external objects—and objects from eight hundred years ago at that—

only to be defeated by Wang Lufei, who had the protagonist's halo, using water—and not even the seawater that Devil Fruit users fear,

but such a ridiculous loophole—is a typical example.

"Hmm..."

"I remember that in the later Wano Country arc, a tombstone was unearthed with 'Tomb of Kozuki Moria' carved on it."

"Moria seems to have been adopted by people from Wano Country..."

The several Zhang Jies thought it over and finally summarized the cause and effect of Moria challenging Kaido.

In his youth, Moria had been shipwrecked and drifted to the Ringo region of Wano Country,

where he was warmly taken in by the local commoners, who gave him a second life.

Because they recognized his strength and character, the residents even bestowed upon him the surname "Kozuki".

Later, as he grew older and his strength became formidable, Moria went to sea to become a pirate,

becoming a renowned pirate Supernova.

When he learned that Wano Country, which had once taken him in, was suffering under the invasion of Kaido and Kurozumi Orochi,

and the people were living in misery, he resolutely led his entire pirate crew back to Wano Country,

solely to save his benefactors, engaging in a head-on battle with the powerful Beast Pirates.

This battle ended in Moria's crushing defeat, and he lost all his companions.

Ashamed of his failure, he couldn't face the residents of Ringo,

so he quietly left Wano Country and later changed his surname from "Kozuki" to "Gecko".

"If nothing else, this kind of Gecko Moria is a real man."

Having gathered the sequence of events, Pirate Zhang Jie was full of praise for Moria.

Although his strength was lacking, making him the shame of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, this integrity,

daring to draw his blade against a Four Emperor for the sake of gratitude and righteousness, is undoubtedly worthy of affirmation.

The Zhang Jies also hadn't expected that Gecko Moria, who initially seemed like a clown, had such a past.

Oda-sensei filled this plot hole so well; it immediately fleshed out Moria's image, making him a living, breathing character.

Consumption Zhang Jie also had a sudden realization: "I didn't understand before

why Perona admired Moria so much, not even looking at Mihawk; now I understand.

Also, regarding the corpse of the dragon-slaying swordsman Ryuma in his possession, and the description of the Wano Country national treasure,

the Great Grade sword Shusui, whose toughness and power actually exceed many Supreme Grade swords, it was 'possession',

rather than words like grave robbing or theft that people despise.

Looking at it this way, Moria indeed had the qualifications to possess Ryuma's corpse and the Great Grade sword Shusui.

After all, if they had been left in Wano Country, they would inevitably have fallen into Kaido's hands, which would be equivalent to aiding the enemy."

"Just look at Perona's living environment, clothing, and personality; she was spoiled into a willful princess by Moria.

Moria is equivalent to Perona's father; Moria adopted Perona."

With this, Gecko Moria's reputation was reversed.

His later daring to go to Hachinosu Island alone was also to search for his subordinate Absalom,

and although it was somewhat reckless, it was not lacking in affection and righteousness.

The cause and effect of the matter is that after the Summit War, Moria was too weak and was removed from the Seven Warlords of the Sea by the World Government and hunted down,

and it was his subordinate Absalom who saved him using the Clear-Clear Fruit's ability.

But later, Absalom went missing at the Blackbeard Pirates' base, "Hachinosu Island".

In order to find Absalom, Moria led his zombie army and broke into Hachinosu Island.

On the island, Moria mistakenly identified Catarina Devon, who was disguised as Absalom, as his subordinate.

Subsequently, he was ambushed by Shiryu of the Rain, who possessed the Clear-Clear Fruit's ability

(Absalom's killer), and was captured by the Blackbeard Pirates.

Blackbeard had tried to recruit Moria, but was refused.

Later, during the Navy's raid on Hachinosu Island, Moria was successfully rescued by Ghost Princess Perona and did not perish on Hachinosu Island.