“Uncle, are you okay?”
Zeraora didn’t hesitate. Seeing Hachi fighting Moria, he locked onto his own target and immediately used his lightning to clear out the weapon-clad zombies.
No matter what the reason was, if his father-in-law was fighting someone, he had to help his father-in-law.
So, he struck Moria with a lightning bolt. The high-voltage caused Moria’s body to twitch a bit, but he didn’t lose consciousness. Just as Zeraora was preparing to respond to Moria’s next attack, he found that Moria had taken two steps back.
Although it was very subtle, for a powerful person, this was something that should never happen. The root cause of this was Moria’s fear.
The battle three years ago had become a nightmare in his heart. During the time he had just escaped from Wano Country, every time he closed his eyes, he would see his dead comrades and Kaido’s face.
Although he had always told himself that once he found more powerful corpses and assembled an invincible army of the undead, he could seek revenge against Kaido.
But the fact that he had such thoughts meant that deep down, he had already begun to fear Kaido. It was because he lacked confidence in his own strength that he thought of relying on external forces.
In three years, instead of working on training his own body, he indulged in decadence and directed all his energy into searching for powerful corpses.
Even if he didn’t admit it verbally, the slight step back he took upon seeing Zeraora was evidence of his fear.
Or perhaps, it wasn’t just fear but inability to face that reality, so he had deluded himself and started pursuing useless goals like finding Oars’ corpse.
Because of his complex emotions towards Kaido, Moria knew a lot about the members of the Beasts Pirates. He could recognize any of their pirate if they have a bounty.
“Kaido’s subordinate?!”
Seeing Zeraora, his expression contorted and it was unclear whether it was from anger or fear. His hands, holding the scissors, were trembling at this moment.
“You’re..Gecko Moria.”
After his defeat, Moria had vanished without a trace, and it took him a while to remember him.
“Uncle, be careful; this guy is not easy to deal with.”
Even though Kaido might not have been particularly serious back then, Moria was still someone who could contend with a normal Kaido for a period of time. Therefore, Zeraora remained highly vigilant.
“Is he really that powerful?”
“Yes.”
Upon hearing this, Hachi took out a Moon Stone. So as to not be a hindrance, he directly entered Sulong form.
“Spiky Shadow Lizard!”
Looking at the two in front of him, Moria’s shadow underfoot wriggled for a moment and then turned into a spear before thrusting towards Zeraora. However, it was caught by Zeraora’s palm, which was enveloped in Haki.
At the same time, a puzzled look appeared on his face. If this was all the strength Moria had, he couldn’t have fought Kaido for so long.
Seeing his attack being blocked so easily, Moria’s expression turned ugly.
But what happened next surprised Zeraora. Moria’s shadow turned into a swarm of bats that blocked their vision, and when the bats disappeared, Moria himself was no longer there.
It was not that he had completely lost his courage. Years later, when he heard about Absalom’s news, he dared to enter Blackbeard’s territory directly, and faced Blackbeard’s many officers without any fear.
That was because he wanted to protect his real companion. However, the situation is different now. He has no companions by his side, only lifeless zombies, and reason told him that fighting Kaido’s officer at this time was not a wise choice.
Since Hachi could enter Sulong form, it meant that Zeraora could too. And the brief encounter had already shown one thing: he might not be able to defeat the opponent.
He didn’t know why Zeraora had appeared here. If there were other Beasts Pirates around…
After weighing the pros and cons of the battle, he ultimately chose to leave.
However, he was actually a bit too paranoid. He always regarded Kaido as an archenemy, but Kaido had long forgotten about someone like him. To Kaido, losers were not worth remembering.
Rocks, Roger, Whitebeard, Kozuki Oden—these are the only few pirates worth remembering to Kaido.
“Is this it?”
Watching Moria suddenly disappear, Hachi was confused. He didn’t understand why that big guy suddenly appeared and then disappeared.
Moreover, when Moria disappeared, the zombies around also fell one by one, their shadows taken away by Moria.
“Uncle, let’s go and meet up with Setsuna and others first.”
Zeraora could use his Observation Haki to detect Moria’s location, but he chose not to pursue him. Moria’s abilities were too bizarre, and he was concerned that Moria might return and harm others, so he chose to leave with Hachi.
“By the way, Uncle, why did you suddenly leave?”
“Because of something like a ghost.”
“A ghost?”
“Just like the one next to you.” Hachi pointed to the side, where a white ghost was floating. When it noticed Hachi had spotted it, instead of running away, it passed directly through Hachi’s chest.
“I’m not some proud wolf; I’m just a stray dog, a waste of air.”
Watching Hachi suddenly become dispirited and listless, Zeraora found the ghost quite remarkable. Based on Setsuna’s description and their interaction for some time, he understood that Hachi was an especially conceited person. So, hearing such words from him was like hearing a joke of the century.
But he only stayed negative for a few seconds and quickly stood up again.
“I think there’s something wrong with this country. We should leave quickly. Oh, and don’t tell Rin and the others about what just happened.”
“I understand, Uncle. But aren’t you curious about where that thing came from?”
Through electric currents, Zeraora’s Observation Haki had a wide coverage area. Most of the people in this country had gone to participate in the festival, so he quickly found the presence nearby.
Guided by Zeraora, they soon arrived at another cemetery. In an abandoned tomb, they saw a little girl with pink hair holding a teddy bear.
Perona. If the timeline had developed normally, she would have been picked up by Moria, who came here to search for corpses, and raised by Moria.
But because of Zeraora’s appearance, Moria left this country ahead of time, and she naturally missed the chance to meet Moria.
In accordance with the traditions followed by the Beasts Pirates, Zeraora felt that he should also pick up a child and bring it back, especially since the ability that had left Hachi so negative seemed rather intriguing.
“Little girl, why are you living in this place?”
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