"Why… why!?"
Boom!!!
The violent explosion erupted like divine punishment from the heavens, and the blazing fire lit up the entire night sky, making the already brilliantly illuminated golden city shine even more dazzlingly.
The Golden Emperor, Tesoro—the embodiment of entertainment and wealth in today's world—lay sprawled on the ground in a wretched state. He struggled to lift his head and looked at the Shadow Demon, Moria, who was steadily walking toward him step by step.
Tesoro was by no means weak.
Having awakened the powers of the Paramecia Gold-Gold Fruit, even if he was not quite on the level of Donquixote Doflamingo, the gap between them was absolutely not large.
Translated into Pokémon levels, even without factoring in his Devil Fruit powers, his base strength alone would at least be around Level 70. He could definitely be considered a powerhouse.
However...
The one standing before him at this moment was Moonlight Moria, whose strength had long since returned to its peak and gone even further beyond it—someone who had mastered Dark- and Ghost-type Pokémon moves, and had separately completed Dark-type Pokémon-ization and Ghost-type Pokémon-ization with his shadow!!!
Ever since he had adjusted his mentality, settled down, and willingly become a subordinate of the Straw Hat Pirates, Moria's life had been changing by the day!
At first, he might have been somewhat resistant.
But once the Straw Hat Pirates selflessly shared the secrets of Pokémon-ization with the pirates of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet who had made outstanding contributions, all of his dissatisfaction and reluctance had transformed into the driving force to devote himself utterly to the Straw Hat Pirates, to the death if necessary!
What a joke!
In this cruel world, everything else was meaningless. Only real, tangible power was the foundation that allowed a person to survive.
As long as one lowered their head and obeyed properly, they could break through their own bottleneck and obtain power beyond this world itself...
A deal like that might not have persuaded the younger Moria.
But for Moria, who was already entering late middle age, with little hope left in life, the temptation was like honey before a bear—completely irresistible.
More importantly...
The Straw Hat Pirates were genuinely generous to their own people!
Red, who possessed Aura, could easily sense how loyal others were to the Straw Hat Pirates.
So when it came to handing out rewards and benefits, he was astonishingly lavish.
The legendary Ancient Weapon, Pluton, was the best example.
All Moria had done was contribute a small movable island, and in return he had gained such a divine weapon...
If anyone dared say a single bad word about the Straw Hat Pirates in front of him now, he would immediately fight that person to the death.
Nothing stirred people's hearts more than real, tangible rewards!
"How pathetic, Tesoro!"
Step!
Moria's mountain-like body easily left a clear footprint on the gold-covered ground.
Beside him, Perona—who had transformed into a ghost form—had likewise turned into a towering giant loli, letting out her trademark "Horohorohoro" laugh.
On the other side, Absalom appeared abruptly from the void like a shadow assassin, dark green ferocity flickering in his eyes as he stared ahead.
In Absalom's arms was Tesoro's loyal subordinate, Baccarat, the user of the Lucky-Lucky Fruit.
But Baccarat was in a miserable state now, her entire body covered in burn marks and traces of explosive impact. It was obvious that she had been viciously ambushed by the invisible Absalom.
The power of the Lucky-Lucky Fruit could only take effect through physical contact.
And against Absalom, a user of the Clear-Clear Fruit who could completely conceal his presence, an utterly unprepared Baccarat had not even understood what had happened before she was taken down, only to be pinned tightly in place by Absalom's filthy hands.
As for Tesoro's other subordinate, Mr. Tanaka...
Although he possessed the ability to move freely through the inorganic world, Perona in her ghost form could also pass through the material world at will.
In front of Perona, Mr. Tanaka's Devil Fruit ability had no unique advantage whatsoever.
Especially after being surrounded by ghosts capable of using all sorts of Ghost-type moves, Mr. Tanaka had not even had time to say a single threat before passing out on the spot.
Meanwhile, at the outer edge of the battlefield, Hogback—riding atop the head of a Nine-Tails zombie—was also cackling in his bizarre voice while wantonly wrecking the city's buildings. One by one, he drove the wealthy residents into an open area and ordered them to stand properly and prepare for the robbery to come.
This was a sudden assault!
There were only four attackers in total, yet within a mere half hour, they had completely brought the entertainment city of Gran Tesoro to its knees.
Everything had happened far too suddenly. Tesoro had not even found a chance to counterattack before he was directly ambushed by Moria in his Shadow Demon form.
The current Moria always kept several Sea Kings' shadows prepared at his side. Once he entered combat mode, he would have those shadows devoured.
Shadows from beasts did not grant him more combat technique, but they gave his strength the ultimate boost.
Combined with the intelligence-lowering debuff caused by the shadows, once he entered battle, he became even more vicious than usual.
"Damn it!!!"
Seeing that Moria had not only ambushed him, but was now humiliating him to his face, Tesoro immediately clenched his teeth and roared in fury.
The gold around him suddenly liquefied, like flowing magma, gathering toward his body.
But just as he was about to use his Devil Fruit power to enter his golden giant form, Moria spoke first, threatening him as if he had already anticipated his move:
"Stop struggling, Tesoro!"
Boom!!!
A pitch-black energy sphere suddenly crossed through the air and struck the golden pillar behind Tesoro with perfect precision. The surging energy seemed to possess corrosive force, instantly blasting a massive hole through it.
The towering thick pillar toppled backward at once and crashed to the ground with a thunderous rumble, shattering into fragments of broken gold.
"In the face of absolute power, everything you do will only make you look even more ridiculous!!!"
Moria continued forward, his arm shrouded in shadows stretching out as he grabbed directly toward Tesoro.
Endless gold immediately shot toward his palm in spikes, then clung to it as if parasitic, trying to envelop Moria's arm.
However, under such utterly overwhelming combat power, even a powerhouse like Tesoro—someone comparable to a top Emperor's commander—could not stop Moria at all, no matter what methods he used.
Rather, once Pokémon-ization had been popularized by the Straw Hat Pirates, the pirate world had already entered an entirely new dimension.
The extreme enhancement brought by Pokémon-ization was enough to let any strong fighter cross two entire tiers.
And Moria, who had already been stronger than Tesoro to begin with, after crossing two tiers, now possessed power comparable to an Admiral.
Someone like Tesoro, who relied almost entirely on his Devil Fruit ability, simply could not contend with him.
And yet...
After grabbing Tesoro in his hand, Moria did not launch a second attack.
Instead, his eyes flickered as he looked at Tesoro, who was still desperately controlling gold to attack him, and said:
"Perhaps... you really are very much like me."
"The former Celestial Dragon slave, Gild Tesoro..."
(End of Chapter)