Chapter 43
31st of March 1522
Alabasta
Vivi stirred, her body stretching luxuriously beneath the silken sheets. The first rays of dawn painted the sky in hues of gold and pink, casting a gentle glow over the courtyard. She blinked awake, her senses slowly coming alive. Her fingers reached out instinctively, searching for the comforting presence of Moria beside her.
But the bed was empty.
Panic surged through her veins, her heart pounding in her chest. Where was Moria? Her love, her everything. Her eyes darted around the courtyard, seeking any sign of him. The sight of the opulent surroundings—the lush gardens, the gurgling fountain, the sheer curtains swaying gently in the breeze—offered no solace. Where was he?
Her gaze finally landed on the nightstand, where a single piece of paper lay. Her breath caught as she reached for it, her fingers trembling slightly. The familiar scrawl of Moria's handwriting greeted her.
"Good morning, my beloved Vivi,
I woke early to tend to the matters of the Kingdom. Rest well, my love.
Moria."
A smile spread across her lips, the tension in her chest easing. Of course, he was tending to the Kingdom. Her heart swelled with pride and affection. Moria was so dedicated, so good to her people. She brought the paper to her nose, inhaling deeply. His scent lingered there, a heady mix of musk and something uniquely him. She closed her eyes, savoring the familiarity, the connection. His smell was intoxicating, filling her with warmth and love.
"Thank you, my love," she whispered to the empty courtyard, her voice filled with quiet devotion. She hugged the paper to her chest, feeling closer to him despite his absence. He was her strength, her anchor, and she would carry his scent with her until he returned.
31st of March 1522
Thriller Bark
In the second highest tower of Thriller Bark, Nami stood naked in her personal ritual room. Her skin was covered in glowing runes. The walls were inscribed with ancient symbols. In the center of the room lay Enel, bound and asleep, held captive by seastones chains. A circle of black candles surrounded Enel, their flames flickering with an unnatural intensity. Nami's voice took on a guttural tone as she chanted in a language lost to time, each word resonating with sinister power.
"Izt'ach tolsar, Izt'ach vilreth,
Qal'ar enoch, qol'ar renith."
Her voice echoed through the chamber. The chains around Enel tightened, eliciting a low groan from his lips. Tendrils of shadow rose from the ground, writhing like serpents, wrapping around Enel's body, drawing out a shimmering essence from his blood. His eyes snapped open, wide with terror and pain, as Nami absorbed the conceptual godhood he had started to collect, and that, if his plans had succeeded, would have created a new Mythical Zoan in a few decades or centuries.
Enel's screams filled the chamber, a chilling sound of raw torment. His body convulsed violently as eldritch energy tore at his soul. The runes on Nami's skin glowed brighter, feeding off his agony. With each guttural chant, a dark, viscous substance seeped from Enel's blood, drawn towards Nami. It flowed into her mouth, eyes, and ears, merging with her being.
Nami's voice rose in intensity, her smile widening into a grotesque, ecstatic grin as she chanted,
"Voroth ki'shel, voroth qil'har,
Ral'ik ni'en, ral'ik somor."
The dark substance entered her, filling her with Enel's divine essence. His screams grew weaker, his body thrashing. The light in his eyes dimmed, his spirit utterly extinguished as he was reduced to a bumbling fool. Enel lay broken, his mind shattered before her, his form a mere shadow of its former glory.
[Oykot Nami]
Class: Witch
Job : Creepy Girl
Fruit : Wara Wara no Mi
Dourikis: 3 185
Potential: S → SS(?)
Fate: S → SS
As the final remnants of Enel's mystical essence surged into her, Nami felt a heady rush of power, a dark energy that electrified every fiber of her being. The room seemed to throb with this newfound strength, and a tantalizing thought whispered through her mind: with this immense power, did she truly need Moria to plunge the world into chaos? Could she not, with the might of gods and shadows at her command, reshape reality to her will? Alone?
31st of March 1522
Alabasta
Gecko Moria, in his more human-looking form, reclined in a plush chair, a glimmer of satisfaction in his eyes as he watched the three dignitaries depart. Each was trailed by a Shadow Servant or Soldier depending on their importance, unaware of the spies and potential assassins embedded within their own shadows. He lifted a glass of water, savoring the brief respite.
Today was a whirlwind. With the guests set to depart soon, he meticulously scheduled personal or small group meetings with the most crucial foreign dignitaries. Alabasta's nobility was already ensnared in his web, blissfully ignorant of the strings he pulled. Earlier that morning, Moria had strolled through the palace gardens with Prince Fukaboshi of Fishman Island. The prince exuded confidence in Whitebeard's protection, unaware of the impending storm. The Marines were set to announce tomorrow that the old pirate would face his end - well, the news of Ace's capture.
Following the stroll, Moria joined all the royals guests for a sumptuous breakfast that he personally hosted. In more intimate settings, he met with the key players and influential merchants, securing their support. One notable encounter was with the Underworld Emperor, Giberson. Over a glass of fine whisky, Giberson asked for secure passage through the Florian Triangle. He even asked Moria if he could transport…'delicate' merchandise for him, combining Moria's teleportation abilities with Capone Bege's unique powers. Moria had been impressed the man knew that - he wasn't an emperor for nothing. The man was shrewd, well-informed. Moria, however, declined monetary payment, opting for favors instead—currency far more valuable in the grand game he played.
Subquest completed !
[A Champion] - 1/1
Nami : Dourikis - 3 185
Uh? Already ? It meant…there was only Boa Hancock and her country left. And most of the work was already done there. Moria glanced at his watch. 11:30 AM. He reviewed his evening: meetings with the Underworld Emperors, Stussy at 6:00 PM and Morgans at 7:00 PM, followed by a dinner party, and finally, a whisky with Judge Vinsmoke at 10:00 PM. His schedule was tight, yet with war looming, every moment counted. And he could not wait fro fifteen days for the virus to be inoffensive before going…Plan B? It was. He would have to be sure not to make any direct confrontation, and in the worst case, Hogback had an antidote. Couldhe finish his quests, in only six hours? He peered into the shadows…he could not here anything from the lone shadows positioned in Amazon lily, the one that had unleashed Hogback and Caesar's virus.
He weighed his options carefully. Time was slipping away, but he couldn't afford to be idle. His mind, a maze of strategy, considered every possibility. With a decisive nod, Moria reached into his own shadow, pulling out a gas mask. He secured it over his face and vanished into the darkness.
31st of March 1522
Amazon Lily
Boa Hancock was half-dead, yet her eyes still burned with a fierce determination. She would not die here, not like this. Her once radiant skin was now covered in black dots, each breath a painful rasp as the plague ravaged her body. The Amazon Lily, once a vibrant paradise, had been reduced to a desolate wasteland. She was the last survivor, the final remnant of a proud lineage brought low by an unseen enemy.
Through her haze of suffering, she sensed a presence approaching. Her Haki flared weakly, detecting the intruder before her eyes could see him. She summoned every ounce of her remaining strength, trying to stand, her legs trembling violently. But the effort was too great, and she crumpled to the ground, her vision swimming with tears of frustration and despair.
A towering figure emerged from the shadows, a grotesque seven-meter silhouette with a gas mask that transformed him into a nightmare. The mask, a twisted amalgamation of leather and metal, had dark, soulless eyes and a filter that hissed with each breath.
Hancock's mind raced, connecting the dots. This plague, this devastation—it was his doing. Gecko Moria, the Warlord she had once dismissed as a weakling, now stood before her, exuding an aura of malevolent triumph. He had undoubtedly unleashed this virus to decimate her people, to harvest their corpses and shadows for his twisted ambitions. Rage bubbled up inside her, a final surge of defiance igniting her will to fight. With a cry of fury, she tried to lunge at him, her body driven by sheer willpower. Her legs pushed her forward, but her strength failed her, and she fell to the ground, her hands scraping against the rough earth.
Moria looked down at her, his eyes glinting with mockery behind the mask. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen, Empress. Did you really think you could escape death so easily?"
Her vision blurred, and before she could muster another attempt, a sharp, searing pain pierced her chest. She gasped, her eyes widening as she turned to see a shadowy figure, a samurai with a single, glowing eye, standing behind her.
"No... not like this..." she whispered, her voice a faint echo of her former strength.
Her vision darkened, her body growing cold as life slipped away. The face of the samurai, emotionless and forged from shadows, was the last thing she saw.
31st of March 1522
Amazon Lily
Moria took a deep breath and turned his attention to the lifeless Kuma Warriors strewn across the island. Each had once been a formidable warrior, their mastery of Haki making them truly dangerous. With a grin, he summoned their shadows, watching as the dark, writhing forms coalesced around him. As they merged with his own shadow, Moria felt an intoxicating surge of power, the combined strength of the fallen warriors amplifying his abilities. It was a grim harvest, but it left him feeling invincible. He did not even absorb the shadow of Boa Hancock, and he had already maxed his dourikis.
[Gecko Moria]
Class: Marquis of Dusk
Job: Warlord of the Seas
Fruit: Kage Kage no Mi
Dourikis: 8,000/8,000
Potential: S
Fate: S
Physique : 2,709
Will : 2,529
Soul : 2,762
Moria stood over the lifeless body of Boa Hancock, the third Warlord he had slain. She had been the most formidable of his opponents. In her prime, with her 9,000 dourikis, she would have crushed him. But now, sick and dead, she lay broken and defeated at his feet, her once radiant beauty marred by the plague he had unleashed. The scene was anticlimactic. There was no grand battle, no clash of titans.
Moria looked down at her, a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment washing over him. He had expected more, perhaps even hoped for more, from the woman who had ruled Amazon Lily with such fierce pride. But he was a pirate, after all. Victory was what mattered, not the manner in which it was achieved.
"So anticlimactic," he muttered, his voice carrying a hint of irony. "But we are pirates. I don't fight; I win."
Hidden Quest 2 :
? : 2/3 → 3/3
Completed !
[Hidden Quest 2 - A true King suffers no rivals]
Slay three Warlords : 3/3
1 - Crocodile
2 - Jinbe
3 - Boa Hancock
Finally…
Congratulation!
You are promoted to [Duke of Twilight]
Moria felt an exhilarating surge of power. The shadows whispered secrets to him, their essence infusing him with an almost intoxicating energy.
Your limit of Named Shadows increased by 2
4/4 → 4/6
You gained two new class skills
[Shadow Sacrifice]
Passive : You can permanently sacrifice shadows to permanently improve the Fate or the Potential of one ally. The greater the stat to increase, the greater the sacrifice.
Active : You can permanently sacrifice shadows to temporarily become a shadow yourself, allowing yourself to regenerate and blend even better in the shadows. By sacrificing a large number of shadows, the user will also receive a temporary boost in Dourikis.
[Shadow Fusion]
Thanks to your affinity for darkness, you can already blend into the shadows as if you were a shadow yourself. This skill allows you to take it a step further—you can now fuse with the shadows, swim within them, and travel through continuous shadows, becoming one with them and rendering yourself completely undetectable.
Skill Upgrade!
[Shadow Exchange]
The Player is able to switch places with any of his summons.
Cooldown time: 6 hours → 3 hours
Skill Upgrade!
[Shadow Absorption]
The intelligence and autonomy of non-named Shadows have improved.
"Kishishishi!" Moria's laughter echoed through the desolate halls of the Amazon Lily palace. He turned toward the broken corpse of Boa Hancock. Once the epitome of beauty and power, she now lay in a tragic heap, her body marred by the ravages of plague and death. Moria approached slowly, the air thick with the stench of decay. Extending a hand over her body, he summoned the shadows, which coiled around his fingers like living serpents, crackling with dark anticipation.
"Arise," he intoned.
Shadows seeped into Hancock's lifeless form, causing her body to twitch and rise, animated by a newfound dark essence. Her hair, once lustrous, now moved like tendrils of shadow, and her eyes blazed with cold blue fire. The shadows clung to her form, enhancing her movements with spectral fluidity. Her skin turned ashen, and her eyes, now glowing with an eerie blue light, opened slowly, revealing a predatory gaze.
Moria's attention was drawn to a mark on her back—a Celestial Dragon tattoo that flared to life in a brilliant red. The sight of it took him aback, his grin faltering. "She was... a slave?" he muttered, surprise coloring his usually mocking tone. The tattoo pulsed with a life of its own, casting an ominous glow that contrasted starkly with the shadows enveloping her, amplifying her newfound power.
[Boa Hancock]
Class: Named Shadow
Job : Empress
Dourikis: 5 872
Rank : SS
Merge shadows to enhance
Moria stepped back, admiring his new Named Shadow with a mix of pride and satisfaction. Now…He would definitely have a chance against Kaido and his crew. "Welcome back, Hancock," he purred. She bowed her head, the glow in her eyes intensifying as she acknowledged her new master, while he turned back to the notifications. Now, was the moment of truth. Where would the system try to nudge him?
New Class Upgrade Quest
[Class Upgrade Quest]
To upgrade your Class from [Duke of Twilight] to [Prince of ?]
Subquests:
1. Have a Fate of at least SS: 0/1
2. Have a Potential of at least SS: 0/1
3. Main Quest : [The Summit War] - 0/1
4. Secondary Quest 1 : TbD
4. Secondary Quest 2 : TbD
5. Hidden Quest : ? - 1/3
Main Quest - [The Summit War]
Gol D. Ace is about to be executed. His captain, Edward Newgate, will mobilize all his forces and launch an assault on Marineford on the day of the execution in a bid to save him.
Pick a choice. Your decision will influence your secondary missions and determine your next class.
Choice 1 : Side with the Marines :
Ensure Ace is killed : 0/1
Kill three Whitebeard Commanders : 0/3
Kill three Whitebeard Fleet Captain : 0/3
Unlocks 'Prince of Order' quests
Whitebeard's fleet and allies will try to kill you
Choice 2 : Side with Whitebeard :
Free Ace, deliver him yourself to Whitebeard and ensure he stays alive until the end of the War : 0/1
Kill three Vice Admirals: 0/3
Kill a Marine with a Fate of SS-rank or higher : 0/1
Unlocks 'Prince of the New World' quests
The World Government will try to kill you
Choice 3 : Side with Blackbeard:
Kill Whitebeard with your own hands: 0/1
Unlocks 'Prince of the Abyss' quests
XXXXX X. Shanks will personally hunt you.
Choice 4 : Side with Garp:
Free Ace : 0/1
Kill three Whitebeard Commanders : 0/3
Unlocks 'Prince of Justice ' quests
The World Government and Whitebeard's fleet will try to kill you
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