"Otherwise, why would a damn news coo risk its life coming all the way out to these cursed waters?" Moria muttered in confusion, his deep voice echoing in the ruined throne room.
"It's not like it's afraid of getting lost."
A flicker of genuine curiosity stirred in his heart, a rare emotion for him these days.
He reached out a massive, stitched-up hand to take the rolled-up newspaper.
Before he could touch it, a shadow suddenly detached from behind him, instantly morphing into the shape of a leathery bat.
The shadow-bat zipped through the air, swiftly snatched the newspaper and flew back to hover before its master.
With Moria deft control, the shadow unfurled the paper slowly, ensuring every word was clearly visible.
The moment Moria eyes landed on the first line of the newspaper, his already pale face drained of all remaining color.
He gasped.
"What?! Whitebeard's bounty… has reached seven billion Berries?!!!"
His voice was thick with a profound, world-shattering disbelief.
"No way! Absolutely impossible!" Moria shook his head vehemently, convinced the newspaper was spouting utter nonsense.
He couldn't fathom Whitebeard's bounty soaring to such an astronomical height.
It defied all logic, all reason.
Then, as he continued scanning downward, his gaze abruptly froze on a detailed report about the Battle of Marineford, accompanied by a horrifyingly clear photo of the Navy Headquarters' main tower reduced to a smoking crater.
And when his eyes inadvertently skimmed over the words "Whitebeard—A Confirmed Three-Fruit Ability User," it was as if an electric current had jolted through his massive body.
His scalp tingled, and an overwhelming wave of incredulity crashed over him, threatening to drown him.
"This… this can't be real," he whispered hoarsely, his tone laced with a frantic confusion.
"That old man was already on death's door! He was frail and withered, hooked up to machines!" His mind reeled, his thoughts in complete disarray.
"How could he suddenly become a so-called 'Three-Fruit Ability User'?! This is pure fantasy! Utter madness!"
He shook his head again, trying to steady himself, but the shock refused to fade.
"And this nonsense about multiple fruits… do they take me for a fool?" he growled, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white.
"Everyone knows that in these seas, a person can only consume one Devil Fruit! That's an unbreakable law of the world! Anyone who dares to eat a second will instantly suffer an explosive backlash, reduced to nothing but dust!"
As he continued to delve into the unbelievable contents of the article, the skepticism in his eyes gradually gave way to a cold, dawning horror.
A direct quote from a Marine officer sealed his fate.
"It's all true! Every participating Marine can testify to this!"
These words struck his heart like a hammer, forcing him to accept the cruel, new reality.
In the end, Moria felt utterly drained, as if his very life force had been siphoned away.
He slumped against the cold damp wall in the corner of his ruined throne room, his vacant eyes staring blankly at the perpetually dark sky above.
The layers of thick, oppressive fog seemed to mirror the gloom that had settled in his heart, obscuring all hope for the future.
"Seven billion Berries…" he muttered to himself, his voice laced with a complex mixture of envy and despair.
"Tsk tsk tsk. Back then, Roger was only worth five and a half billion. Whitebeard… he has truly become the new Pirate King."
Becoming the Pirate King had always been his most cherished dream.
Yet now, it had been achieved by another while he wasn't even in the game.
"Just a few days in a coma," Moria voice carried a trace of profound bitterness and helplessness.
"and so much has happened…"
In just a few short days, the world had undergone an earth-shattering change, and he had missed it all, lying broken and defeated in his own dark corner.
He slowly turned his gaze back to the newspaper, where a young, unfamiliar face caught his eye.
The description was brief, but each word struck his heart like a hammer.
"Whitebeard Pirates' Vice Captain, Ron. The true power behind it all."
"Is everything… because of him?" Moria murmured, his voice trembling faintly.
Just as he was about to put away the shocking news, his fingers accidentally brushed against another folded sheet of paper tucked inside the first.
Out of curiosity, Moria carefully unfolded it.
It was another, more recent newspaper.
"What's going on?" he frowned. "The news I received isn't even the latest?"
It turned out the terrified news coo, in its haste to flee the Devil's Sea, had dropped its entire bundle.
Brimming with questions, Moria continued reading.
When he saw the new headline, even someone as slow as him couldn't help but gasp in shock.
A World-Shaking Transaction! The Whitebeard Pirates Are Selling Devil Fruits to the Entire World!
These bold, world-breaking letters dominated the entire page, their significance impossible to ignore.
Moria inhaled sharply, his eyes widening in utter disbelief.
He knew that if this report was true, the entire balance of power on the seas was about to undergo a seismic, irreversible shift.
While Moria was engrossed, Perona who's bored and listless, floated over and picked up the already-read paper.
Initially just curious, she found herself deeply captivated as her eyes scanned the shocking headlines.
The seas had undergone such tremendous changes!
Even a new Pirate King had appeared!
Seeing the new, even more shocked expression on Moria face, she realized the second newspaper must contain something even more earth-shattering.
Unable to contain her impatience, she flew up and perched on Moria massive shoulder, peering over to see for herself.
"What?! Three billion Berries for a single Devil Fruit?!" Perona's high-pitched voice was filled with anger and indignation.
"They might as well just rob people blind!"
Moria however, barely glanced at her.
"What do you know, little girl?" he grumbled, his eyes still glued to the page.
"Look closely. It says you can freely choose any ability you want."
"Freely choose an ability?" Perona asked, puzzled.
"Kishishishi," Moriah let out a dry, cold smirk.
"Exactly. The power to pick any ability you desire, for just three billion? That's not robbery, little girl. That's a bargain."
His mind, for the first time in years, drifted back to his younger days.
Back to a time before the shadows, before the despair.
He remembered a time when his power and agility were unmatched, when he was a rising star with boundless ambition.
Yet fate had a cruel sense of humor.
The arrival of that monster, Kaido, had shattered his peaceful life, forcing him down a different, darker path.
Had Kaido not relentlessly pursued him, had he not lost his entire original crew… he might never have chosen to eat the Shadow-Shadow Fruit out of pure, desperate need for a different kind of power.
Though the fruit had granted him immense, strange abilities, it had also transformed his body, making the martial arts he once took pride in completely obsolete.
Now, a new, intoxicating thought wormed its way into his mind, a thought that was both a burning regret and a new, terrifying hope.
'What if I could have chosen a different fruit back then? What if I could choose a new one now?'
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