ou can use this to grow incredibly strong, incredibly fast! Only absolute personal strength makes you invincible!
Those two sentences echoed endlessly in Gecko Moria's mind. Ever since his crushing defeat at the hands of Kaido in the New World, Moria hadn't spent a single second physically training his body. Ironically, because he had been obsessively mass-producing zombies, his proficiency with his Devil Fruit had improved, but his actual combat stats had severely stagnated.
Moria didn't know if this method would work for other people, but he knew for a fact that when he absorbed shadows into his own body, he perfectly inherited the physical strength and combat techniques of the shadow's original owner. He just hadn't cared about utilizing that fact for actual, permanent training before. But now, with Bardock shoving the brutal reality of his weakness in his face... if he actually trained his body using this method, perhaps he really could defeat Kaido with his own two hands. He couldn't afford to keep wallowing in despair.
He desperately wanted to avenge his fallen crewmates with his own hands. But he knew the terrifying gap between himself and Kaido. Under normal circumstances, he could train for the rest of his life and never surpass that monster. If he hadn't felt absolute, suffocating despair, a proud West Blue hero like him never would have let himself sink so low.
"I see," Moria muttered, sitting back on the ruined ground. "So after all that grand speech, your true goal is just to use my abilities to accelerate your own growth."
"You're half right and half wrong," Bardock corrected him calmly, crossing his arms. "Even without your help, I can rapidly increase my strength on my own. My primary goal is to accelerate the growth of my crewmates.
"In this sea, individual strength alone isn't enough to conquer everything. Look at 'Red Count' Patrick Redfield or 'Demon Heir' Douglas Bullet. They are absolute, top-tier powerhouses who fought entirely alone. And where are they now? Rotting in Impel Down Level 6. Only a crew of absolute monsters who trust each other with their lives can truly be invincible."
Bardock wasn't lying. With his monstrous innate talent and the analytical power of his Fiery Golden Eyes, he could rapidly learn and steal techniques just by watching his opponents. He could grow at a terrifying rate all on his own.
In fact, his current physical conditioning was already pushing the absolute limits of his nine-year-old body. To significantly increase his combat power right now, he needed to deepen his mastery over Haki, which required high-stress situations.
"Your crewmates?" Moria scoffed, glaring at Bardock. "Just because you beat me and didn't kill me, you think I'm going to spend the rest of my life acting as your personal shadow-transferring vending machine? You're out of your damn mind! I am Gecko Moria! You think you can use me as a tool?!"
Initially, Moria had felt a brief pang of respect for Bardock. 'He cares so much about his crew... just like I used to!'
But then he realized the mechanical flaw in the plan. When a shadow was inserted into a living host, the host's body naturally rejected it. The shadow would eventually tear itself out and fly back to its original owner. If this training plan was going to work, Moria would have to repeatedly track down shadows and constantly re-insert them into Bardock's crew every single day. He'd literally just be their tool!
"Hold on, Moria. Don't get angry yet," Bardock said, raising a hand. "You should remember just how devastating your injuries were an hour ago. Yet look at you now—you're completely, one hundred percent healed."
Bardock continued, "Using shadows to accelerate learning is essentially a hack. A famous swordsman or martial artist has spent decades forging their body through thousands of grueling battles to properly handle the physical strain of their techniques.
"If you shove their shadow into a complete novice, does that novice possess the physical conditioning to handle those techniques? No. If they try to execute a master-level move, they are going to tear their own muscles and shatter their own bones. They will suffer horrific injuries instantly.
"But we possess the ultimate, god-tier healing ability. We are the final, essential piece of this Shadow Training puzzle."
Moria paused, his eyes narrowing in thought. Bardock's logic was airtight. It was a flawless system. But still... he couldn't shake the feeling that he was getting the short end of the stick.
"Fine. If you want me to agree to this 'Shadow Training' plan, it's simple," Moria demanded, a sly grin creeping across his face. "Give me your shadow. I need to master Armament Haki to fight Kaido anyway, and it'll serve as a perfect test to see if your theory actually works."
Moria was deliberately highballing his price, fully expecting a negotiation.
"Absolutely not," Bardock rejected him instantly without a second thought. "Are you joking? We don't have anywhere near that level of trust yet. What if I give you my shadow and you just instantly teleport away and betray me?"
"Tch." Moria clicked his tongue.
"Let's be completely open here, Moria. You are not getting my shadow. But... I know exactly where you can find a shadow far more suited to your fighting style. I can even help you take him down."
"Oh?" Moria raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
"The 12th Leader of the Kano Country's Happo Navy," Bardock announced, having already picked his target. "Don Chinjao the Drill."
"Chinjao?!" Moria's eyes widened in genuine shock. "You've got some serious guts, brat, targeting a monster like him! He's a legendary pirate with a bounty of over 500 million Berries! And the Kano Country behind him is an absolute superpower in the West Blue!"
Although Moria had never personally fought Chinjao, he knew the legend. The man was an absolute powerhouse from the previous era who had clashed with Garp the Fist. He was not someone you provoked lightly.
"Exactly. If you want to grow stronger, you need the shadows of true monsters," Bardock smirked. "Those pathetic, weak-willed shadows you absorbed earlier were completely useless. They're only good for scaring rookies in Paradise."
Moria bristled with anger, but he couldn't deny the truth. "Fine! If you can actually manage to take down Don Chinjao, I will officially agree to your Shadow Training alliance."
"Perfect!" Bardock clapped his hands together, genuinely pleased. "Since we have a deal, I'll give you a free tip. You still seem obsessed with your zombie project, so you should track down Dr. Hogback, the famous surgeon here in the West Blue. He's exactly the man you need. Honestly, if you're going to build zombies, focus on quality over quantity. Keep the ordinary zombies around as basic labor; they're great for heavy lifting and menial chores."
"Hmph. Do whatever you want," Moria scoffed, digging into his coat. He tossed a small piece of paper toward Bardock. "If you actually succeed in taking down Chinjao, call the Den Den Mushi number on that card. You better hurry, though. I'm done wasting time in the West Blue. The shadows I need are in the Grand Line."
Bardock caught the slip of paper, raising an eyebrow. 'A business card? In the One Piece world?'
The moment the card left his hand, Moria's body instantly dissolved into a flat, black shadow. The shadow shot across the ruined ground at terrifying speed, disappearing into the dark forest.
"This guy... he had an escape plan ready the entire time," Bardock chuckled, completely unbothered by the sudden exit.
"Bardock," Robin stepped forward, having remained silent during the negotiation. "Did you really come up with this entire Shadow Training plan just for us? And what's stopping Moria from just abandoning us and doing it on his own? Are we actually going to declare war on Don Chinjao?"
"The Shadow Training plan is something I conceptualized during our fight, yes," Bardock nodded, his expression turning serious. "The primary goal is definitely to accelerate your growth. The New World is infinitely more dangerous than you can imagine. If you run into a true monster before you're ready, the entire crew will be wiped out instantly. Moria is the living proof of that.
"As for Moria betraying us? You don't need to worry about that. Look at this."
Bardock opened his palm, revealing a massive, sharp fingernail.
"We're going to use this to make a Vivre Card. Even if Moria runs all the way to the end of the New World, we can track him down effortlessly. If he plays nice, great. If he tries to screw us over, we hunt him down and make him regret it."
Bardock was still secretly coveting Moria's Thriller Bark. A ship the size of an actual island? It was absolutely perfect for him. He had already picked out a new name for it.
"As for Don Chinjao... whether Moria agreed to the deal or not, I was always planning to fight him," Bardock said, looking toward the horizon. "I'm highly interested in the Happo Navy's Hasshoken (Eight Impacts) martial arts style. It relies on generating unblockable shockwaves, which I suspect is a specialized application of Emission Armament Haki. Plus... there's simply no one else left in the West Blue worth fighting."
"Show-off," Perona muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes. But she couldn't deny it. The boy had just battered a Warlord-tier pirate into submission. Was there anyone left in this ocean who could actually challenge him?
"Boss, are we heading straight for the Kano Country then?!" Daz Bonez asked, his eyes gleaming with excitement. Bardock had hogged the entire fight against Moria, so Bonez was itching for a real battle. The Happo Navy was a massive, legendary organization; they definitely wouldn't be lacking in strong opponents.
"No rush. It's almost the end of the year. Showing up at someone's door to start a war during the holidays is just bad manners," Bardock laughed. "We'll head back to the Ilusia Kingdom, rest up, and celebrate the New Year first."
Perona tilted her head. 'Is showing up to start a war immediately after the New Year somehow more polite?' She was very curious about his logic, but she wisely chose to keep her mouth shut.