The person who arrived was Bartholomew Kuma, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, also known as The Tyrant, whose true identity was a cadre of the Revolutionary Army.
Although he and Moria were both Warlords, their strength wasn't remotely on the same level. Kuma's power could easily rank him among the top three Warlords. His Paw-Paw Fruit ability was so overpowered it was later essentially banned.
Of course, for the current Chiga, these abilities no longer held much weight. No matter how formidable Kuma was, he was far from reaching a Yonko's level.
In the original story, Kuma had come to inform Moria that Crocodile had been defeated by Luffy, but from his current words, it seemed he had come here specifically for Chiga.
Moria didn't care why Kuma had shown up to find Chiga — he was currently furious.
"This is my territory! What are you doing here?!"
Ignoring Moria's protests, Kuma walked directly toward Chiga, each of his heavy steps thudding against the ground.
Chiga folded his arms, studying Kuma's movements. He noticed a stiffness in Kuma's gait and wondered if he'd already undergone modifications by Vegapunk.
When Kuma reached Chiga, his towering seven-meter frame made him seem imposing, though in front of Chiga, it felt like he was looking up.
Kuma managed a stiff, awkward smile and spoke.
"We meet again, Admiral Purple Kirin. I have something to tell you."
Chiga narrowed his eyes for a moment, then gave a slight nod, indicating for him to continue.
With permission, Kuma leaned in close, whispering in Chiga's ear.
"Someone wants to meet you."
"Hm?"
Chiga raised an eyebrow, unable to immediately guess who this could be. Could it be Vegapunk? Or perhaps… Dragon?
"Who wants to see me?"
Kuma shook his head slightly and murmured, "His identity isn't something I can disclose. I hope you'll understand."
From those words, Chiga had a good idea of who it was. It had to be Monkey D. Dragon.
If it was him, though, wasn't he worried that Chiga, as a Marine Admiral, would simply capture him and deliver him to Garp?
Amused at the thought, a knowing smile appeared on Chiga's face.
"Is the person you're referring to Monkey D. Dragon?"
Kuma's expression instantly stiffened. His identity was a closely guarded secret. How could Chiga know?
That reaction told Chiga he had guessed correctly.
If it had been Vegapunk, Kuma wouldn't have been so surprised. After all, Vegapunk worked directly under the World Government, and it wouldn't have mattered if a Marine Admiral knew.
On the side, Moria watched the two whispering and, though desperate to listen in, caught nothing, which irritated him to no end.
He decided that once Chiga left, he'd teach Kuma a lesson.
Seeing Kuma frozen in place, Chiga chuckled and walked past him.
"If he wants to meet, tell him to come to Marine Headquarters himself. And…"
Chiga paused, then added meaningfully,
"In a while, will you still be you?"
Without waiting for a response, Chiga transformed into a streak of lightning and vanished.
As soon as he left, Moria couldn't hold back his fury anymore. He roared at the stunned Kuma.
"You bastard! Is this your playground now? Who's in charge here?!"
But Kuma still ignored him.
Enraged, Moria manipulated the shadows around him, sending them crawling towards Kuma's feet.
When the shadows reached him, Moria's face lit up with malicious delight, and he shouted,
"Shadow Horn!"
A black spear shot up from the ground, aiming to pierce Kuma.
But Kuma simply extended a hand to meet it.
Puff!
The black spear struck Kuma's glove and vanished into thin air.
Without a word, Kuma removed the damaged glove and discarded it, revealing an oddly soft-looking paw pad in his palm.
It was one of the abilities granted by the Paw-Paw Fruit: with those pads, he could repel anything — physical attacks, intangible forces, even pain and fatigue.
It was similar in some ways to the Almighty Push, but more versatile. In the original story, Perona's ghosts were scattered by this very move.
The only real drawback was that aside from compressing air for ranged strikes, Kuma had to physically touch his target.
It was undeniably a top-tier Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, though for the current Chiga, it no longer held much appeal.
His own abilities covered a vast range — time, space, recovery, destruction, defense — and his Op-Op Fruit hadn't even reached its full potential yet. The possibilities within its ROOM ability alone were endless.
In comparison, the Paw-Paw Fruit was little more than a gimmick.
Still, Kuma's mood soured after Moria's attack. He teleported directly in front of Moria, placing a paw against his bloated stomach.
"Go on a trip."
Bang!
Moria, like the attacks he'd fired earlier, instantly vanished.
Without a word, Kuma turned and disappeared from Thriller Bark as well.
Perona and the others were left in shock. Their captain and Kuma had both vanished in the blink of an eye.
On the other side of the island, Chiga was entirely unaware of Moria's sudden "trip." He stood in front of an animated Brook, who was practically dancing with excitement.
Having realized his shadow had returned, Brook was overjoyed. At last, he could stand in sunlight again. The outside world was within his grasp.
After leaping around for a while, Brook approached Chiga, bowed deeply, and gratefully said,
"Thank you so much! Please, take my Devil Fruit."
This time, Chiga accepted the gift without hesitation. He used Human Path to extract Brook's soul, then used Preta Path to absorb the Revive-Revive Fruit.
A fifth black tomoe formed in his left eye.
However, when he tried to return Brook's soul to his skeleton body, something unexpected happened. The soul fiercely resisted the vessel.
This was troublesome.
Chiga stood there, holding Brook's soul, momentarily stunned.
His Human Path technique could indeed extract souls, but preserving them indefinitely was a different matter. If left for too long, a soul would either dissipate or return to the underworld.
Wait… the underworld?
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