At the center of the Florian Triangle was an enormous ship, one so massive that it was known as Thriller Bark.
At this moment, inside Moria's lair, a figure was busily repairing a small boat.
He was Hogback, the man the Victims' Association had spoken of.
Because Moria had died outside, Hogback, who had no real strength, could only choose to flee.
He had never imagined that Moria would suddenly die outside, causing all the zombie soldiers on the island to collapse.
Knowing full well that the people of the Victims' Association would never let him go, his only choice was to run.
"Damn Moria! Of all the times to die, why did he have to die now? Is he trying to screw me over?"
"Damn it. Once I escape, I will definitely find the person who killed Moria and dragged me into this mess."
Hogback was furious.
His strength was nothing worth mentioning on the Grand Line.
It was only because he and Moria were the same rotten kind of person that he had been able to become one of Moria's subordinates.
Without Moria's protection, he could only flee the Florian Triangle in disgrace.
Although many ships ran aground here every year and were slaughtered by Moria, there was no one else on the island now. Hogback could only choose one of the smaller vessels.
Even so, repairing a smaller ship was still extremely difficult for him.
He had already spent an entire day and night on it, yet the repairs were still not finished.
"This is such a damn pain!"
He cursed under his breath, but for the sake of survival, he had no choice but to swallow his anger and continue repairing the boat.
Right now, he was racing against time.
If he could repair the boat and escape before the Victims' Association arrived, then he would still have a chance to live.
...
At that moment, on the outer edge of the Florian Triangle, dozens of Marine warships were lined up neatly on the sea.
Their dark cannon muzzles faced the enormous Thriller Bark.
On the ships, many young soldiers were whispering among themselves.
"So this is the Florian Triangle? It really does look terrifying."
"Yeah. I grew up hearing stories about this place. I never thought we would come here to wipe it out."
"Heh. If we destroy the Florian Triangle, I can brag about it for the rest of my life."
"Same here. I am definitely going to tell all my friends back home."
A captain who had returned from the Four Blues looked at the chattering soldiers under him in confusion and asked curiously, "Is this not just Gecko Moria's lair? Aside from that, is there anything special about it?"
The soldiers on the ship froze for a moment, then quickly realized what he meant and hurriedly explained.
"Captain, this is the Florian Triangle. We grew up hearing its legends."
"According to legend, there is a terrifying demon inside, along with an immortal army raised under his command. No matter what kind of powerful person or ship enters, they will eventually lose their way in these waters. By the time people find them again, they will already have become part of that immortal army."
"Yes, and it is said that this place is connected to the gates of hell. From time to time, demonic voices from hell drift across the sea."
The corner of the colonel's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
He barely understood what they were talking about, but he did grasp one thing.
All of this was probably Moria's doing.
After being defeated by Kaido, Moria had fled back to the Florian Triangle to lick his wounds, so he had deliberately spread rumors to confuse the public.
As for the claim that this place was connected to hell, there were two reasons for it.
First, Moria's ability allowed him to steal people's shadows and create zombie soldiers.
Second, too many ships had disappeared here, so ordinary people had simply repeated and exaggerated the rumors until they became something monstrous.
The captain shook his head helplessly.
"There is nothing supernatural in this world. If there is something you do not understand, then someone must be manipulating things behind the scenes."
"I do not believe this place is connected to hell. As for the so-called immortal army, that is only Moria's ability. He merely gathered a large number of zombie soldiers."
"All hands, prepare to bombard!"
Crack!
A bolt of lightning suddenly tore through the dark clouds.
Immediately afterward, a massive ship pierced through the clouds and floated above the warships.
"It's Vice Admiral Enel!"
The young Marine soldiers below immediately cheered.
Among the Marines, aside from the Fleet Admiral and the Admirals, the most popular figure was Enel.
Among the Vice Admirals, he was the only one who was young, handsome, and terrifyingly powerful.
His strength had almost touched the threshold of an Admiral.
The colonel also revealed an expression of yearning.
"It seems Lord Enel will be taking action in this operation."
Enel flew out from the Ark Maxim, electricity crackling around his body.
The mythril on his wrist melted and formed into a trident.
"Two hundred million volts—Raigo!"
Enel threw the trident in his hand into the dark clouds. Then the clouds churned violently, and terrifying bolts of lightning began swimming through them.
"Fall!"
Rumble!
Bolts of lightning rained down like a storm, crashing onto Thriller Bark in an instant and purifying every zombie on the ship into ash.
At the same time, the tremendous penetrating force shattered every part of the three-masted vessel. Cracking and splitting sounds rang out everywhere.
The entire Florian Triangle was plowed by Enel's thunder!
"Order them to fire."
Enel recalled the trident from the sky. It transformed back into a bracelet and returned to his wrist.
Then he issued the military order to the forces below.
"Vice Admiral Enel has ordered three full volleys, then free fire!"
"Yes, sir!"
Rumble!
One cannonball after another drew beautiful arcs through the sky before landing on Thriller Bark.
Even though the ship was as enormous as an island, it could not withstand such a terrifying assault.
Explosions set fires everywhere and everything within sight was burning.
The ship.
The fallen zombie soldiers.
This was what truly looked like hell.
Scorching waves of heat surged in every direction.
The Marine soldiers firing the cannons were drenched in sweat, yet they continued loading and firing shells without stopping.
Enel sat at the bow of the Ark Maxim, looking down at Thriller Bark as raging flames consumed it. His expression did not change at all.
In his hand, a mass of Conqueror's Haki and lightning began to gather. His gaze turned directly toward the sky.
"Go."
Lightning wrapped in Conqueror's Haki fell directly above Thriller Bark.
With a thunderous boom, it blasted apart the clouds overhead.
A beam of sunlight pierced through the gap and shone down upon this place that had not seen the sun for more than twenty years.
...
Across the Grand Line, the busiest places now were the Marine branches responsible for recruitment.
Every day, countless civilians came forward to sign up.
They came from all age groups, and there were even elderly people with white hair who wanted to enlist and fight for the Marines.
The personnel in charge of selection at the Marine bases could only gently persuade them to go home.
Even so, large numbers of people continued coming happily to register.
"Hey, look. That man is so tall!"
"Yeah. Even if he is not a Devil Fruit user, with a height like that, he could still become strong."
"He really does seem to be a Devil Fruit user."
"Really? Then he will definitely be accepted by the Marines. I am so jealous."
Amid the crowd's cries of surprise, a towering man appeared before them.
Wherever he walked, fresh flowers and grass sprouted from the ground, as if he were a god who controlled the power of nature.
The Marine responsible for selection could tell at a single glance that this was an extremely powerful Devil Fruit user.
"Yo, soldier. Can I sign up to become a Marine?"
The Marine soldier in charge of selection quickly nodded.
"Yes, yes. Please come this way and sign your name."
No one could have imagined that Ryokugyu, one of the Admirals who would one day shock the world, would appear on this sparsely populated island to enlist as an ordinary Marine soldier.
Of course, the Marine soldier responsible for testing abilities sent all of Ryokugyu's information to Marine Headquarters at Marineford that very night.
When Raleigh received the file, he could not help laughing.
"Green Bull has already appeared, Is Fujitora also close to joining?"
"Or perhaps… he is already in the Marines."