With a thunderous roar, the remaining half of the hotel ruins was completely shattered by a massive slash.
Chronos transformed into lightning to evade, reappearing beside Moria the next instant.
Godspeed Kick!
His slender whip-like leg smashed violently into Moria's side, combining physical strength, Haki, the speed of lightning, and the complete explosive power coordinated through his entire muscular and nervous system.
Like a heavy cannon blast, Moria's body instantly bent into a C-shape, sent flying several meters away.
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Moria cursed inwardly—just like those cheap novels from West Blue, after beating the small fry comes the bigger one, after the bigger one comes the vicious one!
Angeles was a young warrior, Jackie Chan was an adult martial artist, but neither were on the same level as the current Moria.
But Chronos was different. After that single kick, Moria could feel it—this was a formidable rival!
Chronos flexed his foot, a look of exhilaration appearing on his face. After obtaining the "Godspeed" skill that allowed free control of muscles and neural reflexes, he had long wanted to find a worthy opponent to properly test it against.
Doflamingo was still just a sub-adult, but Moria was different. He was nine years older than the Heavenly Yaksha, nearly thirty years old—undoubtedly at his semi-peak.
Coupled with his still-unbroken fighting spirit, Moria was an excellent whetstone for Chronos.
Crackling electricity materialized in Chronos' hands as he looked at Moria and declared seriously:
"You're the first worthwhile opponent I've encountered since obtaining this power. I request you fight with all your might!"
Rubbing his injured waist, Moria licked the blood staining his lips and laughed heartily: "As you wish!"
Perfect—this would be his final rampage before retiring to raise children!
Shadow Mage!
The shadow beneath Moria gradually became three-dimensional. Though it had been dispersed earlier by Chronos, shadows were both formless and tangible—essentially indestructible!
An identical copy of Moria's shadow emerged, also wielding a large blade, flanking Chronos from both sides in a pincer attack.
Chronos formed empty grips with both hands as frenzied thunder once again coalesced within them.
A thunder sword gradually took shape in one hand, while a thunder lance materialized in the other.
Thunder Lance - Shining Silver!
He hurled the lance violently, the completely electricity-formed weapon piercing toward the Shadow Mage like a thunderclap.
The lance tip struck the shadow body, triggering an immediate thunderous explosion. With a bang, dancing electric arcs tore the Shadow Mage to shreds.
Gripping the thunder sword tightly, Chronos coated it with Haki.
Thunder Sword - Qinghong!
In the instant the Shadow Mage exploded, Chronos clashed head-on with the charging Moria.
Haki spilled out recklessly as the thunder sword and giant blade screeched and crackled against each other.
Moria's pale demonic face flushed crimson with surging blood, while the veins on Chronos' hands bulged like awakening dragons.
Under this violent collision, the resulting shockwaves swept out in all directions. The hotel ruins weren't just pulverized—they were blown away without a trace.
"Hah!"
Moria let out a furious roar, the torn fragments of his Shadow Mage rapidly recalling and surging back into his shadow.
Shadow Revolution!
Instantly, Moria's shadow violently expanded, inflating his tall, slender frame like a balloon as muscles bulged across his body.
As the shadow transformed, so did Moria's physical form. His originally near-seven-meter height broke through seven meters, his physique becoming massively robust and powerful.
Bigger, taller, stronger—this brought greater power!
With a roar, Moria transformed from "Slender Shadow" into "Tyrant," his savage brute force transmitting to the giant blade as the unstable cracking sounds stabilized.
Clang!
With a heavy impact, Moria deflected the Thunder Sword, and Chronos's arms trembled, his physical strength overpowered.
Chronos's pupils shifted, his body immediately following the momentum to dodge steadily, narrowly avoiding the giant blade. Electric currents surfaced on his body as he flew to the side.
Only the Thunder Sword remained in place.
With a thunderous boom, the Thunder Sword exploded the moment Chronos dodged, sparks of electricity scattering everywhere.
Thick black smoke billowed, and a large hand tore through the haze, revealing a somewhat darkened demonic face.
Electric arcs flickered across Moria's body, along with some scorch marks and small bloody holes—this attack had injured him.
"Are you a Rumble-Rumble Fruit Ability User?"
Moria questioned Chronos, but his tone was certain.
Chronos responded with a smile, the lightning on his body flickering again and slowly solidifying once more.
"Rumble-Rumble Fruit Ability User, Orpheus Chronos."
"Shadow-Shadow Fruit Ability User, Gecko Moria."
Moria similarly grinned, hefting his giant blade onto his shoulder as he introduced himself.
"How did you do that move just now? It hurt like hell."
"I condensed Haki and Thunderclap together, but lightning is wild. Under the shell of Haki, each collision makes it more terrifying."
The prototype was a grenade. For a force as violent as lightning, simply suppressing it would be missing the point. It requires precise control, like gunpowder.
"And you? Bigger and stronger?"
Chronos asked in return, exchanging information.
Moria was contemplating whether the impact just now hurt more from the Haki or the electric current. Hearing this, he casually replied:
"Shadows are the 'other soul' shared by all living beings.
The body and shadow are interconnected. Whenever the body changes, the shadow changes as well.
So conversely, if the shadow changes, the physical form follows suit!"
Chronos clapped his hands. The Shadow-Shadow Fruit was undoubtedly a power related to concepts, and Moria's development of it was quite impressive. It was just a pity he later became obsessed with figurines.
Not far away, Jade and the others watched the duel between Chronos and Moria with varied expressions.
Now this is an evenly matched battle! Jade cheered inwardly.
As for Jackie Chan, he kept a close eye on Jade, preparing to properly educate her later.
The chaotic crackling of electricity gradually stabilized, materializing into five flying spears beside Chronos.
In the darkness, shadows flowed as Moria once again gripped the air empty-handed, geckos crawling slowly and bats fluttering about.
Pointing at Moria, Chronos smiled, then raised his finger to the sky before sharply bringing it down.
Divine Punishment!
Boom!
Lightning crashed down.
A massive pillar of thunder instantly swallowed Moria. At that moment, the intense flash was like daylight, illuminating the darkness of the area.
Moria had been raising his blade to defend against Chronos's flying spears, never expecting the next move to be this!
The violent thunderbolt pierced into Moria's body, instantly numbing his entire frame.
Nerves, muscles, internal organs... every inch of his body was being eroded as if pierced by countless needles.
Amid the agony, Moria felt half his body go numb.
Shadow Warrior!!!
His Haki barely protected his surface as his Devil Fruit power activated first. A shadow suddenly shot out from the distance, its form stretching over seven meters.
Body Swap!
The Moria within the thunder pillar transformed into a shadow, while the distant shadow became Moria himself.
Having escaped the thunder pillar's range, Moria gasped heavily for breath before glaring furiously at that dishonorable bastard. Who changes a thunderbolt into a Thunder Lance mid-fight?!
Chronos smiled, waiting for Moria to recover. All's fair in war, after all~
Slash!
With his entire body coated in Haki and holding nothing back, Moria broke free from the lightning's restraint. His massive blade swept toward Chronos with pure hatred, while the slowly crawling gecko shadow simultaneously halted its movement.
Horn Blade Shadow!
Crack!
Five floating spears interwove horizontally, forming an intricate prison cage.
With a loud clang, the lightning cage firmly trapped Moria's blade, preventing it from advancing even an inch.
The gecko shadow charged fiercely, its shadow spear thrusting forward and piercing through Chronos's shoulder with a sickening squelch.
Crackle~
Electricity sparked around Chronos's pierced shoulder, yet not a single drop of blood flowed.
Partial elementalization + preemptive movement.
While people can move their limbs, the torso—chest, abdomen, and back—remains the largest target, as flesh and blood cannot shift position.
But after elementalization, every inch of flesh can transform into natural elements, controllable at will.
The thunder body continuously generated electrical waves that spread out and retracted, continuously enhancing his Observation Haki. The battlefield's information lay completely bare before Chronos.
Though shadows possess both physical and non-physical properties, when preparing to attack, they gain physical form—and thus become detectable by electrical waves.
Having foreseen Moria's Horn Blade Shadow, Chronos preemptively elementalized the area to be pierced before shifting the elementalized components aside, resulting in zero damage.
There exists a world of difference between different applications of elementalization.
Aokiji used partial elementalization with preemptive movement to evade Whitebeard's slash during the summit war.
Smoker expanded his elementalized form's surface area, only to be struck down by Vergo's Haki.
Grasping the Horn Blade Shadow, Chronos felt quite satisfied with his current condition—lacking nothing in speed, reaction time, strength, or attack velocity.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit truly lived up to its reputation as one of the invincible abilities.
Crack!
With a forceful squeeze from Chronos, accompanied by flashes of lightning and thunder, he shattered the Horn Blade Shadow completely.
Moria's pupils contracted sharply as he yanked his blade back, knocking aside the five flying spears before reassuming a combat stance.
The thunder pillar behind them finally dissipated, revealing scorched earth and a massive crater—though the Shadow Mage within remained almost completely unscathed.
As the saying goes, shadows are immortal and indestructible.
Moria's body now appeared charred black, with occasional arcs of electricity still dancing across it. The damage from that massive thunder pillar was substantial, particularly the internal-to-external devastation.
Chronos assessed his test subject's condition.
Each developed ability was gradually being confirmed, though the accuracy of indiscriminate bombardment remained quite low. Doflamingo could block it, Moria could teleport away—it seemed this high-output technique only worked well against low-health stationary targets.
"What needs improvement next is physical strength," Chronos thought to himself. The stronger his physique, the more powerful his converted Rumble-Rumble Fruit abilities would become.
The strength of the three future Logia Admirals lies not only in their Logia abilities but also in their vastly superior physical prowess compared to other Logia users.
Akainu engaged in a life-or-death battle with Whitebeard at Marineford, enduring island-shattering punches while remaining mobile; Aokiji brawled with the aged Garp, combining his ice gauntlets with Haki; Kizaru embodied "speed is power," his defenses never once breached.
Observing Moria before him, Chronos no longer let his surface-level electricity run wild. Instead, he gradually stabilized it through controlled breathing.
Like smoothing out raised splinters, the electric currents were slowly tamed by Chronos. The five floating spears dissolved back into lightning before gradually merging.
Hum—
With a soft hum, a Thunder Sword entirely different from its predecessor materialized in Chronos' grasp.
Thunder Sword - Kunwu!
Gone was the lightning's frenzy. The currents now coalescing in Chronos' hand carried the sharpness of thunder-struck wood.
Chronos was certain: though Moria's current strength was considerable, he could exhaust him to death through constant hit-and-run bombardment.
But that would defeat the purpose of training. Thus, close-quarters combat commenced.
Raising the Kunwu Thunder Sword, Chronos pointed it at Moria and declared solemnly:
"I've taken note of your power, Moria. You haven't established your faction yet, have you? I'm planning grand undertakings. Why not join me?"
Moria froze, clearly unprepared for Chronos' recruitment attempt.
Though pride remained, it had been tempered through raising Perona—so much so that he contemplated retirement for her sake.
Chronos had proven his worth through combat. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit would never languish in obscurity.
Most importantly, Moria glanced at Jade nearby. This fellow also traveled with a child. Perhaps Little Perona would find companionship if she joined?
Though thoughts cascaded through his mind, Moria raised his massive blade and laughed heartily:
"It's too early for such talk! Besides, why shouldn't you be the one joining me, Chronos!"
Chronos laughed in turn. Indeed, Moria's temperament suited him far better than Doflamingo's ever could!
"Then we'll settle this through combat!"
"Bring it on!"
As the words faded, Moria and Chronos charged simultaneously.
Swinging his colossal blade enhanced with Haki, Moria's swordsmanship embodied overwhelming force.
But Chronos differed. Having mastered 'Gale Force Lightning,' he could perceive enemy movements through hostile Haki fluctuations, reacting with instinctual precision—the essence of perfect parrying!
The moment Kunwu touched Moria's blade, Chronos' reflexes identified a flaw.
Clang!
Chronos struck a specific inch below the massive blade. Vibrations traveled up, numbing Moria's sword-wrist.
Instantly, the Kunwu Thunder Sword glided seamlessly along the great blade's surface.
Evading the main weapon, the lightning edge breached Moria's defenses.
Simultaneously, Observation Haki screamed warnings—Moria knew danger approached.
Yet evasion proved impossible.
His conscious reaction speed paled against Chronos' instinctive movements.
Sschick!
Blood sprayed as Chronos carved a long gash across Moria's torso.
Upon contacting the Thunder Sword, the blood vaporized into crimson mist, obscuring the gruesome wound.
Thud!
Chronos pressed his attack relentlessly. No sooner had one strike landed than he advanced again, his sword blooming like a flower.
The Kunwu Thunder Sword cut through Moria's body as effortlessly as a hot knife through butter, leaving fresh wounds with each pass. The lightning energy simultaneously "healed" the injuries through cauterization the moment they appeared.
This inflicted double the pain. If Moria moved too violently, the "healed" wounds would tear open again, tripling his agony.
In less than a single exchange, Moria realized he was outmatched both at range and in close combat—he was no match for Chronos!
Shadow Warrior!
The Shadow Mage waiting in the distance shifted, but this time, rather than swapping places entirely with Moria, only Moria's torso transformed into shadow, leaving his limbs intact.
Chronos's blade sliced through Moria's shadowy torso, but it was useless—the shadow reformed instantly.
"My Shadow-Shadow Fruit isn't just for show, you know!" Moria roared, swinging his massive blade. Did he not realize that even special Paramecia-type fruits could achieve something akin to elemental intangibility?
Clang!
Chronos flashed like lightning, sidestepping and raising his sword to block the heavy blade firmly. Seizing an opening, he struck hard, slid his blade along Moria's, and then—
Zap!
Chronos's sword swept across Moria's sword-wielding arm, leaving another long gash.
Meeting Moria's shocked gaze, Chronos grinned.
Of course he knew—even Mythical Zoan types could achieve effects similar to elemental intangibility!
Caught off guard, Moria's rhythm was completely disrupted by Chronos.
The Kunwu Thunder Sword flashed repeatedly. Every time Moria tried to swap with his shadow, Chronos would accurately strike and wound him first.
Yet every one of Moria's attacks was either perfectly dodged or cleanly parried by Chronos's blade.
The outcome was clear to see!
Zap.
Lightning flickered once more as Chronos leaped onto Moria's shoulder, the Kunwu Thunder Sword resting lightly against Moria's slender neck.
"Checkmate."
Chronos smiled.
Feeling the searing heat against his neck, Moria grimaced and finally sighed in resignation.
"I lose."
With that, Chronos opened his hand, and the Thunder Sword slowly dissipated.
He jumped down from Moria's body, having roughly gauged his current strength.
"Hey, you… you weren't fighting at full power, were you?" Moria asked irritably, using his shadows to slowly restore his original form.
"Weren't you holding back too? I recall the Devil Fruit encyclopedia mentioning that the Shadow-Shadow Fruit can absorb people's shadows to strengthen the Ability User," Chronos replied casually, making Moria click his tongue in further annoyance.
That was his last-resort technique—not something to use in a situation like this. Shadows weren't easy to collect!
"How about a drink? My treat. But first, I need to settle the debt here," Chronos said with a laugh. This version of Moria was undoubtedly a promising candidate to recruit.
"Debt? What debt?" Moria asked, puzzled.
Chronos glanced around at the surrounding buildings, battered and broken from their fight, and apologized:
"Just paying for our recklessness, of course."
Moria was taken aback, then felt a twinge of guilt—he rarely concerned himself with such matters.
"Tohru, return Moria's child to him. From now on, he might be our comrade!" Chronos called out toward Tohru.
"And Jade, you little mischief-maker, come over here and apologize!"
"Hey now, I haven't agreed to this yet!"
Moria waved his hand dismissively, don't try to get familiar!
"Sorry."
But seeing Jade being brought over to apologize obediently, Moria still snorted coldly before letting the matter drop lightly.
Chronos smiled, thinking to himself - just as expected, someone who likes children can't be all bad.
This was a lesson Pops had taught him.