"How about this, Senior Chin Jao—I'll return your shadow once I've fully mastered all its abilities. What do you think?" Moria proposed after some thought.
Chin Jao shook his head. "That won't work. For one, you might never master certain abilities. Even if you do, how would we know if you don't tell us? And you could easily control your progress to remain in a state of 'incomplete mastery' indefinitely."
"Then what deadline do you suggest?" Moria didn't argue further and instead asked Chin Jao directly.
I think it should be zero, but I can't say that outright. After a moment's consideration, Chin Jao said, "I'll give you one year. With my shadow, you should be able to seize other strong shadows within that time."
"One year is too short. I'd say at least ten years," Moria countered immediately.
"Ten years?!" Chin Jao's beard bristled with anger. "I might not even be alive in ten years! No, absolutely not!"
"..."
After a lengthy back-and-forth, the two finally settled on a three-year agreement. However, the Happo Navy would have to cooperate with Moria in certain ways—mainly compensating him—and after three years, Moria would release Chin Jao's shadow by breaking the contract.
"Leader Chin Jao, I'll now cut your shadow. You'll temporarily lose consciousness, but rest assured, you'll wake up with no physical abnormalities. The only restriction is that you must avoid sunlight."
Having achieved his goal, Moria was pleased but refrained from his signature "Kishishishi" laugh. He didn't want to provoke Chin Jao and risk ruining the deal at the last moment."Go ahead. But let me warn you, if you fail to keep your end of the bargain, the Happo Navy will never let this go."
Chin Jao kept consoling himself—this was all to get his pointed head back—but he still felt stifled inside. It was all that damn Garp's fault. If he hadn't lost his pointed head, would the fight with Badak have ended like this?
Meanwhile, at Marineford, the Navy Headquarters near the Red Line in the first half of the Grand Line...
Monkey D. Garp had been dozing off in Sengoku's office when he suddenly felt an inexplicable chill, jolting awake and startling the Fleet Admiral, who had been working diligently.
"Garp, get the hell back to your own office."
Sengoku's roar echoed far and wide, but the messengers were used to it by now, keeping their heads down and pretending they hadn't heard a thing.
"Hahahahaha! Feels like someone's cursing me. Was it you, Sengoku?"
Garp was completely unfazed by Sengoku's words. After all, he was here to keep him company during overtime. He casually opened Sengoku's drawer, swiped his treasured senbei, tore open the packet, and poured it straight into his mouth.
With every move Garp made, another vein bulged on Sengoku's forehead. When Garp choked and asked Sengoku for tea leaves to brew some tea, the Fleet Admiral finally snapped. Grabbing Garp by the collar, he dragged him to the door, threw him out, slammed it shut, and returned to work—all in one smooth, satisfying motion that spoke volumes about his experience with such situations.
Back in the West Blue, Moria successfully cut out Chin Jao's shadow and stored it away, leaving the old pirate in a deep slumber.
Only then did Badak speak up. "Moria, you must have tried it by now—the Shadow Training Program. How is it?"
Badak had fulfilled his promise. Though he could only use Chin Jao's shadow for three years, Moria had begun to trust him. "Just as you said, the Shadow Training Program is feasible. But the issue you mentioned remains—it's extremely easy for beginners to get injured. You either need an exceptionally strong body or a top-notch medical team supporting you."
"What? You haven't approached Dr. Hogback yet?" Badak asked, puzzled.
"Hogback still has doubts. I promised to give him some time to think it over. I believe he'll agree to join." Though Moria had become a pirate, he wasn't the type to force others into his crew.
"Since the Shadow Training Program has already begun, we should act quickly. We're training here anyway—why don't you stay? Having opponents for real combat will help you grow faster."
Truth be told, Badak had half-expected Moria to turn on him, giving him an excuse to seize the Thriller Bark. But Moria was being so cooperative that Badak could only sigh and accept that the ship wasn't meant to be his.
"Gehihihihi! Perfect. I wasn't too happy about losing last time—I'll make sure to settle the score this time."
Moria was convinced by Badak's words. Training alone wasn't very efficient. "I'll go fetch my new subordinates and bring them here."
With that, he quickly left.
Badak shook his head. It was the middle of the night—they could've waited until morning. Glancing at the unconscious Chin Jao, Badak took out some dandelion medicine and healed his injuries. Hopefully, the old man wouldn't feel so bitter when he woke up.Moria arrived after daybreak, accompanied by his subordinate who would later become one of the Three Mysterious Commanders—Absalom. At this time, Absalom still retained a human appearance but had already consumed the Clear-Clear Fruit.
Absalom was wrapped in numerous bandages, and a medicinal scent could be detected up close. It was likely he had been the one helping Moria test the Shadow Training Plan.
Badak generously healed his injuries, and Moria finally witnessed what it meant for wounds to vanish with medicine. No wonder Badak had been so confident in calling himself the key to the Shadow Training Plan.
In the following days, Badak immersed himself completely in training. He had been using the Somersault Cloud as a weighted training suit, which steadily increased his stamina and allowed him to train for longer periods.
A day later, Chin Jao woke up.
"Leader Chin Jao, I'll have to trouble you for now."
Badak quickly made his way to Chin Jao.
"Hmph, I was outmatched. What more is there to say?"
Chin Jao flexed his limbs—they were indeed fully restored, or perhaps even better than before. He felt as if he had regained some youth. Eagerly, he reached up to touch his signature conical head. The sensation was incredible. Unfortunately, his shadow had been taken by Moria.
With his conical head restored, could he reclaim his shadow? After some thought, he still felt uncertain. His inability to face sunlight now was too glaring a weakness.
Badak paid no mind to Chin Jao's tone and said, "I've come to collect on the first and third conditions you agreed to."
Chin Jao's expression darkened. "Fine. I'll teach you the Eight Impact Fist, but only to your crew—no spreading it beyond that. What's your third condition?"
"The third is simple. I hope you won't stop Sai from joining our crew. We've already discussed it, but he insists on your approval."
Badak had planned the third condition from the start, though he hadn't spoken to Sai about it at the time. He had deliberately delayed mentioning it until now.
"What?! Sai is the future pillar of the Happo Navy! You're trying to steal him away?!" Chin Jao's conical head flushed red with anger—if he had hair, it might have caught fire.
"Leader Chin Jao, we're not taking him from you. He can still be the future pillar of the Happo Navy while also being our adventure partner. These roles don't conflict, do they?"
"You—"
"Grandfather, Captain Badak, let me speak for myself." Sai stepped forward at that moment.
"Fine. I'll leave this to you for now."