Big brother, I want to become the strongest pirate in the world!

Mountain-shattering strike.

Kazan leaped high into the air, using the added weight of the Steel Fruit to raise his twin swords and slash down fiercely at Gecko Moria.

bang.

Gecko Moria raised his hands to block the powerful twin swords. The friction between his Armament Haki and the swords even sparked a few sparks, and Gecko Moria's massive body moved backward half a meter.

Bats scattered.

Feeling the wind rushing from behind, Kazan tried to draw his sword but found himself firmly held by Gecko Moria. Only then did Kazan understand why Gecko Moria had taken his attack with his bare hands.

Furthermore, due to his height, Kazan was in mid-air at this time, his feet could not touch the ground, and he could not use the Rage Burst skill to knock away and scatter the attacking shadow bats.

Fortunately, it's not a big problem.

With his armored and steel-like body, Kazan was completely impenetrable to the shadow bats. Furthermore, with multiple buffs granting him the power required to enter the New World, the shadow bats couldn't even cause him the slightest harm.

On the contrary, under the intense heat of Kazan, the shadow bats' mouths sizzled and burned as they bit Kazan. If these shadow bats weren't immune to harm, they would have been roasted bats by now.

"What kind of Devil Fruit power is this?!"

Gecko Moria was momentarily stunned to see that his opponent could not only unleash attacks like blood but also heat up his body. In his memory, there was no such fruit.

Because the steel-like form appears no different from a normal arm covered in Armament Haki when covered by Armament Haki, neither Hawkeye nor Gecko Moria noticed that Kazan had the ability to become steel-like.

Otherwise, even seasoned sailors with so many years of experience at sea would probably be surprised.

Instead of continuing the stalemate with Gecko Moria while holding down his swords, Kazan flipped over while pressing down on his twin swords, reaching for Gecko Moria's head with one hand.

Moria tilted his head back, and Kazan pressed it against his neck.

Never mind, it doesn't make much difference.

Soul-Devouring Hand!

"Ahhhhh!!"

Shadow Warrior!

Once again, the Shadow Warrior switched positions with the Shadow Bat but didn't seize the opportunity to attack. Instead, he clutched his neck and quickly ran to the side.

Dark red blood was constantly flowing from the huge black hands.

Kazan raised his hand and turned around, but unfortunately, the blood gushing from his palm did not reach Moonlight Moria, who had already escaped.

After landing on the ground, Kazan raised his hands to catch the falling twin swords, and charged towards Moonlight Moria once again.

"Wait! Hold on! There's no conflict between us!"

Moonlight Moria hurriedly said to Kazan who was charging towards him, "I was really scared by Kazan's move of sucking blood out of people's bodies, and the move that forcibly sucked me and the shadow bats together earlier was also something that no human should do."

What kind of Devil Fruit could possess such evil power! Even Armament Haki couldn't stop the blood from bursting out of its body!

"Don't you want my body?"

"...I don't want to think about it anymore. Someone as powerful as you is more valuable alive than dead. Of course, it's better to just take you in as a subordinate. Besides, even if you can't be my subordinate, we might still have something to cooperate on once you enter the New World. If you want to challenge Kaido of the New World, we can join forces!"

"Let's put those things from a long time ago aside for now, and we can also put aside the matter of you coveting my alluring body for now. But you have to explain to me now who gave you the audacity to touch my little girl on my turf."

Gecko Moria clutched his neck, staring at Kazan's self-righteous demeanor, momentarily at a loss for words.

He really wanted to slap him hard twice to make him face reality!

"It's all a misunderstanding! I, Moonlight Moria, swear I'm absolutely not some pervert who likes young girls! I just think she has potential and might become a valuable asset in the future! That's a perfectly normal thought, isn't it!"

"……walk slowly."

Kazan looked Moonlight Moria up and down, and he felt that what the other party said made a lot of sense.

Just like Monet and Sugar back then, Kazan took them in because he saw their potential!

Thinking about it this way, Kazan actually felt like he had found a kindred spirit.

"In that case... can I leave now?"

Moria cautiously glanced at Hawkeye Mihawk behind Kazan. One of the reasons he chose to back down was not only because of Kazan's personal strength, but also because of the man carrying a black sword behind Kazan.

Although Hawkeye is a rising star who has only gained fame in recent years, Gecko Moria once fought him back in the Grand Line, and the result was similar to what he has achieved now—he lost.

There are two people here who are stronger than him, and they seem to be having an affair. Naturally, he wouldn't be so presumptuous as to fight against both of them at the same time.

not to mention.

Moonlight Moria glanced back at his zombie army.

The entire army has been wiped out, and two disheveled figures stand amidst a pile of zombie bodies.

Even their subordinates are inferior to the enemy...

Gecko Moria felt that his defeat this time was also due to the incompetence of his subordinates, which reminded him of the battle six years ago, which had the same result as now.

At the same time, he also became slightly aware of the question of whether he had become weaker, and he planned to reconsider the feasibility of the zombie army after leaving this time.

After this incident, Gecko Moria will definitely undergo some changes, but whether he will repeat the mistakes of six years ago remains to be seen.

As for Sirano's body... we can dig it up again next time after these two leave.

Gecko Moria was thinking about this absentmindedly.

"Leave?... Hmm, you're all done here, you can go now."

For a fleeting moment, the thought of taking Moria under his command crossed his mind, but he immediately dismissed it.

Moria seems to treat his companions well, as evidenced by Hogback and Absalom risking their lives to save him and Perona's constant concern for him. However, Kazan is still somewhat uneasy about him.

Because Gecko Moria was too mature at this point! He had too many thoughts and was difficult to cultivate, which was the most important reason why Kazan gave up on recruiting him.

Kazan originally intended to make things difficult for Gecko Moria, but he had more important matters to attend to, so he decided to leave him alone for the time being. In fact, Kazan had even forgotten why he had attacked Moria in the first place.

Anyway, there must be a legitimate reason.

Chapter 052 The Disdainful Little Sugar

Kazan remained silent as he watched Grim Moria drag away the zombies that weren't quite dead yet.

At this point, although Gecko Moria's physical abilities and dual-color Haki had been greatly weakened, he was not as weak as he was at the beginning of the story. However, his development of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit was not as advanced as it had been then. From this battle, it seems that Gecko Moria has not yet learned the technique called Shadow Gathering Ground—a technique that continuously strengthens himself by absorbing the shadows of his zombie subordinates.

Kazan easily won his battle against Moria. Although Kazan didn't do much damage to Gecko Moria, it was still much better than Gecko Moria being completely unable to do any damage to him.

However, if Moria had already mastered the Shadow Gathering Ground technique, given that his physical condition hadn't deteriorated to such a terrible state, he should be able to accommodate quite a few shadows. That would likely provide him with a considerable boost, and Kazan might not even see a chance of winning.

Gecko Moria had actually done a pretty good job developing his Devil Fruit, but he was unable to make full use of it.

Leaving aside the ability to cut off shadows, which is almost a guaranteed kill, the moves just shown have unlimited potential.

Shadow Warrior – capable of instantaneous teleportation, with the ability to evade deadly attacks and deliver a surprise strike.

Shadow Mage – With the attribute of being immune to damage, Shadow Moria is the best tank, and it is no exaggeration to say that he has absolute defense.

Shadow Spear – possesses powerful penetrating force. If Gecko Moria's Armament Haki hadn't deteriorated so much, and if the Shadow Spear had been wrapped with a high density of Armament Haki, it could have even achieved the same destructive power as Doflamingo's sixteen Sacred Bullets.

Logically, there should be another move called Shadow Revolution, which is also the most promising move. However, Gecko Moria may not have developed it yet. That move can make the body do all sorts of strange things by changing the shadow, and it can even achieve the same effect as other Devil Fruits.

Overall, the Shadow-Shadow Fruit can be considered a very powerful fruit, and Moria developed it quite well. It's just that his dual-color Haki was too weak, so he couldn't fully unleash the power of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.

However, Moria was unlucky enough to run into Kazan, who had the ability to unleash his fury. Whenever Moria tried to get close to Kazan and cut off his shadow, he would be immediately forced back by the fury, rendering Moria's most powerful move useless.

"Well... it's time to deal with 'more important things'."

Kazan turned around and looked at the pink-haired little guy that Monet was holding in her arms on the other side, and couldn't help but show a gentle smile.

(√.)

At this moment, Kazan, who had emerged from his Blood Frenzy state, was a strikingly handsome man, except for his red eyes and demonic hands.

Kazan puffed out his chest and lifted his buttocks, striking a pose of authority as he approached the little girl Perona, looking down at her with disdain.

"……elder brother."

Perona felt a little scared looking at Kazan's blood-red eyes and almost released her negative ghost. However, encouraged by her older sister Monet, she still let out a soft cry.

"Hmm... sweet baby, how old are you?"

She'll be nine years old soon!

Hearing the little girl's soft voice, Kazan's stance faltered. He crouched down and snatched Perona from Monet, holding the frail Perona in his arms. The little girl was warm and cozy, like a hand warmer, which warmed Kazan's heart and soul.

Perona's current scent reminded Kazan of the scent Monet had when he first took her in at age eleven. Now that Monet was more mature, that scent was gone.

Perona felt warm and cozy in Kazan's arms and wanted to stay there forever. The months of wandering and the fear she had just experienced had left the little one exhausted, and this comfortable environment made her stick to him.

Kazan gently stood up, holding Perona, and secretly used his Iron-Steel Fruit to heat himself to Sugar's usual preferred temperature. He then patted Perona's back, and immediately felt the little one relax a lot, limply nestling in Kazan's arms and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Perona, got it!

Monet stood directly in front of Kazan and happened to see Kazan's expression at that moment. He was slightly speechless and then sighed, but quickly showed a happy expression again.

On the other side, Bon Clay and Bellamy, both covered in injuries and exhausted, looked curiously at the little girl in Kazan's arms, feeling quite happy.

After all, the monster family has gained another member. As the family grows larger and more members join, both of them feel happy, but at the same time, their sense of responsibility also grows stronger.

Perona's arrival not only brought vitality to the family, but also put more pressure and motivation on the three men in the family. After all, they had another sister to protect! They had to work even harder to become stronger!

However, the monster family is not just these people. There is also a little green-haired creature standing foolishly on the ground, ignored and admiring itself.

Little Sugar stared blankly at her older brothers and sisters.

All eyes were on the pink-haired monster!

How dare she! I'm clearly my brother's favorite child! How dare she, a third party, steal my brother from me!

Seeing her special spot taken by that pink-haired monster, who was enjoying the same special treatment as her, a raging fire burned within Little Sugar! She wanted nothing more than...

The innocent Sugar didn't know what she could do to that pink-haired monster; she was just angry!

She had made up her mind. She was going to severely suppress that pink-haired monster and let that wild outsider know who had the highest status in this family!

Who is the real little princess?

"Quack!"

“...Oh, right, Mihawk, that’s Syrano’s tomb over there. I bet Gecko Moria was eyeing it earlier.”

Just as Sugar called out to Kazan, Kazan simultaneously walked over to Mihawk, who had been watching from the side, and began to chat with him.

Hawkeye Mihawk had no time to listen to what Kazan was saying; he only glanced at Kazan's monstrous hand out of the corner of his eye from time to time.