Despite appearances of passively waiting for prey to walk into their trap, Gecko Moria and his crew had, over the years, developed a unique method of hunting.
It began with bait—signals disguised as offerings to a sea god, luring ships navigating near the Florian Triangle to reveal their positions. Once a target was identified, the Thriller Bark, Moria's massive ship-island, would set course toward the prey.
Moria's crew currently included three key non-zombie members. Besides Dr. Hogback, who focused on creating zombies but lacked combat ability, there were two formidable Devil Fruit users: Perona, the Ghost Princess, and Absalom, the Transparent Man.
Perona, only sixteen years old, was spoiled and capricious, lacking exceptional combat skills or awareness. However, she earned Moria's trust and became an important officer due to her unique and practical Devil Fruit ability—the Hollow-Hollow Fruit.
The mysterious ghosts that had driven the Starlight sailors mad and rendered the skilled swordsman Brook powerless were summoned using her fruit powers. These comical-looking ghosts, with dark circles around their eyes, sausage-shaped mouths, and flailing limbs, had no physical form. When they passed through a person, they induced an overwhelming wave of negativity, causing the victim to lose all willpower for a period of time.
These ghosts could also fly, pass effortlessly through walls, ship hulls, and other obstacles, making them excellent reconnaissance tools.
Perona's scouting capabilities allowed the Thriller Bark to stay on its target even in the dense mist, adjusting its course as needed. Her ghosts could also incite chaos aboard the prey's ship, buying time for the Thriller Bark to trap the target within its massive outer gates.
If the prey stubbornly refused to come ashore, Moria would deploy another Devil Fruit user—Absalom, who had eaten the Clear-Clear Fruit. This ability rendered him completely invisible, allowing him to sabotage ships and injure enemies covertly, forcing them to seek refuge on the zombie-infested island.
The reason the Starlight had been critically damaged, compelling them to risk landing on the island in search of a doctor, was entirely Absalom's doing.
The elaborate process of capturing prey stemmed from a major limitation of Moria's Devil Fruit power: shadows stolen from their original owners would vanish if the owners died. Thus, Moria not only had to capture his prey but also ensure their survival, preferably in a state where they couldn't interfere with the Thriller Bark.
With reconnaissance, sabotage, production, and a zombie army as combat forces, Moria's crew had, for years, been able to handle any prey entering the Florian Triangle without Moria needing to lift a finger.
Only when the prey landed on the island and their strength had been assessed through a series of tests would Moria finally make an appearance. At midnight, during the large-scale zombie assault, he would linger in his "work area," waiting idly for his subordinates to deliver the targets. Then, with a simple snip of his scissors, he would sever their shadows.
During his downtime, Moria either ate or slept. Without new prey on the island, he often slept for days at a time, only to gorge himself afterward to replenish his energy. Years of binge eating and lack of exercise had left him grotesquely obese, his protruding belly making him resemble a pregnant woman.
Standing at a towering 6.9 meters, Moria was almost as tall as a small giant. His bed, large enough to serve as a room for an average person if draped with curtains, was entirely occupied when he lay on it—a testament to his immense girth.
When the messenger zombie arrived at Moria's bedside, it still had to look up at the reclining warlord.
"Lord Moria! Lord Moria!" the zombie shouted, flailing its arms. Seeing that Moria remained sound asleep, the zombie pulled a sharp stone from its pocket and hurled it at the snot bubble the size of a balloon hanging from Moria's nose.
With a loud pop, the bubble burst like a punctured balloon. What might have been a comical scene elsewhere only made the zombie shiver in fear, as Moria, who had been snoring like a dead pig moments ago, suddenly opened his bloodshot eyes and turned to glare at it.
"L-Lord Moria, you've been asleep for two days. We've prepared plenty of food for you, and a new batch of prey has landed on the island. The night raid is about to begin. Lady Perona sent me to inform you," the zombie reported respectfully.
Moria struggled to sit up, lazily leaning against the headboard. He muttered wistfully, "You woke me too early. I was dreaming of becoming the Pirate King. Too bad it was just a dream."
"That day isn't far off," the zombie flattered.
Moria chuckled, his mood visibly improving. "Any quality prey this time?" he asked.
"Lady Perona says there's a skilled skeleton swordsman among them. She believes his shadow might be barely worthy of that samurai's corpse," the zombie replied.
"And the others?" Moria pressed.
"Both Lady Perona and Lord Absalom said the rest are insignificant, not worth paying attention to. None of them compare to the skeleton swordsman," the zombie answered.
Yawning, Moria finally moved to the edge of the bed and got up. With a double entendre, he said, "Then I can enjoy the feast you've prepared for me in peace."
"Lord Moria…" the zombie hesitated as Moria turned to leave. "Lord Absalom mentioned that one of them is a Marine."
Moria didn't even pause. "So what? It's not like we haven't dealt with Marines before. They're just the World Government's obedient lapdogs—nothing to fear."
The Seven Warlords of the Sea were officially recognized by the World Government as seven powerful pirates. However, expecting a group of outlaws to immediately adapt to their new roles was unrealistic. Like Moria, most warlords harbored deep-seated contempt and hostility toward the Marines.
Politically, the Seven Warlords were nominally equal to the Marines. To emphasize this, the government even arranged roundtable meetings without a head seat to symbolize equality. In most cases, disputes were resolved through negotiation and compromise.
The government had made many concessions to maintain the system, tolerating acts like the release of Arlong, Moria's annual ship raids, and even the deaths of some Marines. However, the unruly warlords rarely cared for such formalities. Meetings were seldom attended, and Moria himself had ignored government summons for years.
Given this dynamic, it was no surprise that Moria and other warlords rarely took the Marines seriously.
(End of Chapter)
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