"You bastard, still the same as before!"
Moriah was not surprised at all; raising his hands, the Shadow Horn Spear splitting into two, thrusting to the left and right.
Before waiting for the move to hit, Faruga's body split again, from two to four, from four to eight... continuously splitting into strands on the original body, quickly splitting into hundreds, occupying the mountain pass.
Hundreds of identical Farugas drew out flintlock guns with bell-shaped muzzles from their waists, pulled the triggers, and simultaneously exclaimed:
"Split Gunshot!"
Boom boom boom boom!
The Fruit Ability carried his gun and split it together.
Except for the will being of one person, their bodies' quality would uniformly inherit, without any weakening.
"Scattering Bats!"
The shadow Moriah extended forward scattered dots of ink at the center, transforming into a mass of spherical little bats, forming a defense array made of bats in front of him, slammed by lead bullets and reformed into scattered ink dots.
The power of lead bullets is strangely variable, sometimes small enough not to penetrate the body, sometimes large enough to hit even the Four Emperors. As a matter of fact, if one doesn't have Haki, even someone like Whitebeard wouldn't be able to withstand gunshots.
Moriah didn't have time to test if his flesh could withstand the strikes.
"Only a hundred or so, huh? After not seeing you for over ten years, you seem to have grown weaker. I used to see thousands, tens of thousands of you... Shadow Horn Spear · Bat Umbrella!"
With a spread of five fingers, the Shadow Horn Spear in Moriah's hand scattered like a fountain, much like an umbrella, splitting into hundreds, piercing through these bodies.
This time, every attack pierced from Faruga's head downwards, leading to many Farugas falling down, as if melting, sinking into the ground.
And those few untouched Farugas split again, continuing to multiply.
Moriah had fought before and knew this Fruit Ability; if not all are killed at once, even leaving one, that one could be the main body and split again.
Even...
Boom boom boom!
Rapidly splitting into more than a hundred individuals, Faruga pulled the trigger again, firing a curtain of lead bullets.
"Shadow Warrior."
Moriah's body instantly turned black, forming a shadow, as the previously scattered Shadow Horn Spear quickly folded back, switching places with his main body.
The lead bullets hit the body's shadow, creating several holes in the shadow, scattering ink dots, while while Moriah's body appeared in the center of the crowd, his sharp-clawed glove reaching out, grasping the long shadows of the Farugas under the moonlight.
"Heeheehee, your ability has a flaw; if you lose your shadow..."
Slash!
Focusing on his hand, he drew the shadows from the ground with one swipe, cutting through them; the freshly-split individuals instantly fell, not suffering a moment of dizziness or discomfort like normal people who lose their shadow, but melting away even taking with them both the shadows Moriah had just severed.
"They will vanish the same way." Moriah turned to the only Faruga left with a shadow, laughing sinisterly.
Aside from superiority and inferiority, abilities also possess relationships of restraint; perhaps a powerful ability could be countered by an extremely weak one.
Though he didn't know exactly how the Shadow-Shadow fruit related to the Split-Split fruit as a counter, ten years ago during their confrontation, Moriah had once clipped the shadows of Faruga's duplicates.
Back then, Moriah was elated because this guy could infinitely split, producing endless shadows; with enough shadows he could supply ample zombies.
Even though he didn't rely on zombies for fighting then, the ability was still present.
Yet, when he clipped them, the duplicates vanished entirely.
Perhaps it's because the split life only has that single portion, and seizing the shadow would cause that portion to dissolve.
The infinite shadow plan failed, but the counter ability was discovered by Moriah.
It's just...
"You have grown weaker, Faruga!"
Moriah said, "Back then your shadows weren't so easy to seize, where's your Haki?"
Those of strong will can resist the effects brought by abilities; shadow cutting is also a result of an ability, and those proficient in Haki, compete with the ability users on who is more refined.
Faruga of the past, though his Haki level was average, still required some effort to capture, unlike now where the shadows are seized easily, moreover...
"The numbers have shrunk too much!"
Moriah said, "What happened, Faruga..."
"Hehehe, I have grown weaker? And you have the nerve to say I've grown weaker?"
Anger shaded Faruga's face, his own split faster, no longer equal, continuously disintegrating the body, the arm's flesh revealing a lean yet muscular Faruga, the abdomen's tissue splitting out an even more corpulent Faruga.
Strong, thin, short, high; densely at the mountain foot, splitting and resplitting, suddenly forming an army of thousands.
"See, this is my strength; didn't you want to witness the 'Faruga Army' of the past? Now you've seen it again, but you, after these years, becoming flabby and uninspired, actually dare to claim I've grown weaker!"
The Farugas roared in unison.
Moriah gazed at the army aiming flintlock guns at him, with an inexplicable expression.
Just like before, he could split an army in a flash, rely on powerful gun techniques, reaping many pirates' heads across the sea.
But it's not the same as before...
Faruga of old was robust, perhaps for pirates it's inappropriate to mention but was indeed brimming with justice, confidence, and spirited vigor, always accompanied by the little boy he deemed as his own, using dual guns against foes.
Now Faruga, although numbered in thousands, to Moriah...
The moonlight tilts westward, lengthening their shadows, stretching under his feet.
Rip!
With a simple tug, thousands of shadows were held in his hand, with a casual grasp, these shadows were sliced, and this once daunting army vanished, leaving a single bloated body behind the army.
"Yes, you've grown weaker, and I was once weak too, but now..."
He stamped on the shadow just before him, freezing Faruga halfway during splitting, halting the motion entirely.
"Shadow Stepping Technique!"
Moriah dashed quickly on the shadow he stomped on, approaching Faruga with fearful astonishment, extending his claws enveloped in black light and ruthlessly seizing.
Slash!
From face to chest, Faruga's body was sliced wide open into four gaping wounds, fresh blood spurting as a cry of agony erupted, his body listless but unable to complete the falling motion on the shadow stepping technique.
"You of the past wouldn't howl without courage like this." Moriah sighed deeply.
The image reflects the mind.
The erosion and decline of will render one grotesque.
Moriah, and Faruga alike.
But the difference is, he embarked on reclaiming his previous will.
While this person, once deeply impressionable on the sea, now turned grotesque beyond recognition.
And weaker beyond belief.