"Sniper… how did they manage that from such a long distance?"
Rasya no longer dared to expose herself within anyone's line of sight. Just look at what happened to that tree—if she hadn't run fast enough, she would already have been blown to pieces.
That definitely wasn't a cannonball. Cannonballs aren't that small… But if it was a gun, how could it shoot that far at night, with enough power to snap a tree as thick as a waist?
The only gunner in their team was that one called Lena, right? If this mission fails, they'll definitely have to warn the others when they get back.
...
"So you picked up your Haki again, huh? But how is the intensity even worse than mine, a rookie!"
Vane's fighting style grew increasingly violent, sticking close to Moria in relentless close-quarters combat.
A Kaido-style way of fighting.
Moria's attacks weren't completely ineffective. One man and one shadow left quite a few wounds on Vane's body, but those wounds quickly healed.
So fast it was practically flying! A Mythical Zoan! This had to be a Mythical Zoan!
Aside from a Mythical Zoan fruit, what other power could reach this level? At least, Moria couldn't think of anything else.
And the moment the term "Mythical Zoan" appeared in his mind, it triggered flashes before his eyes. He thought again of that man—Kaido—who was also a Mythical Zoan.
As they fought, the Vane before him suddenly vanished, replaced by Kaido wielding a spiked club.
Moria's eyes instantly turned bloodshot!
"Kaido!!!"
Moria's voice was usually sharp and shrill. This time, however, the shrillness was mixed with hoarseness, filled with extreme hatred and unwillingness.
His ambition, his companions—all shattered by that man's spiked club.
Having "fallen into madness," Moria's attacks became even sharper. This was the rhythm of someone fighting to the death.
"That's right! That's right! This is the real you, Moria. Now this is interesting."
"Whirlwind Cutting Fist!"
Zheng—weng!
With a single slash, countless sword energies burst forth. Though Moria had fallen into a berserk state, he hadn't lost his battle instincts. His shadow warrior immediately stepped forward, using its body to block most of the attacks.
With the shadow warrior acting as a buffer, Moria himself gripped his two curved blades, wrapping them in shadow and Haki, and rapidly slashed away all the sword energies!
Clang clang clang… most of the sword energy was neutralized, though some wounds were unavoidable. But in his frenzied state, Moria didn't care at all.
"Die! Kaido, die!"
This time, the shadow warrior did not regenerate. Instead, it transformed back into a shadow and entered Moria's two blades.
"Moon Shadow Slash!"
"Secret Art—Snow-Withered Plum!"
Beneath the bright moonlight, a black crescent moon and a red-and-white plum blossom appeared.
The two collided, stirring the surrounding seawater into turmoil, shattering and reshaping the terrain.
"Now that's more like it! That's the kind of strength someone daring to roam the New World should have."
If Moria didn't possess at least the level of a Yonko officer, how could he survive in the New World? Let alone challenge Kaido.
To leave Kaido's hands alive, that kind of strength was absolutely necessary.
"Too bad—even now, you're not at your peak… Otherwise, you wouldn't have lost to me."
The red-and-white plum blossom ultimately tore the pitch-black crescent moon into pieces. The remaining force of the sword energy swept Moria away, smashing him into a pile of rocks.
Moria! Defeated!
"The Shadow-Shadow Fruit. A Paramecia type."
Vane flew above Moria's head, collecting the Pokémon item dropped from the Paramecia type.
But this time, something unexpected happened.
Because what appeared wasn't an Articuno feather, but instead a fragment of ice crystal, likewise brimming with ice-type energy.
[A fragment of the Iceberg Pokémon Regice, containing dense ice-type energy]
Oh~ so he'd switched to harvesting a different Pokémon now. Had he nearly plucked Articuno bald?
He had already gathered 10 Articuno feathers. Now, this 11th item had turned into a fragment of Regice's energy. It seemed that 10 was some kind of variable.
Maybe once he gathered 20, it would change into yet another item.
But as long as he could absorb the energy within, Vane didn't really care which Pokémon it came from.
After storing the fragment away, Vane looked toward Rasya's location. The woman had already disappeared—clearly having fled after realizing the situation was unfavorable.
Vane pulled out a Den Den Mushi and contacted Meowth: "You can come over now. When you reach the shore, remember to lock up the onion-head on the beach. The Seastone handcuffs can be used on him for now. Minotaurus has been behaving recently."
Even if they'd lost human reasoning and were left only with animalistic violence, they still retained some awareness. Otherwise, Impel Down wouldn't have been able to control them.
Beat Minotaurus a few more times and he'd know who the real boss was. Animals actually submit more easily to the strong.
"No need, meow. We found two pairs of Seastone handcuffs on the wrecked ship."
This operation had targeted Vane's fleet. His ship had many ability users aboard, and Vane himself was the mysterious "Mythical Zoan."
So when they set out, they deliberately brought two extra pairs of Seastone handcuffs. It was the best method to deal with people of unknown abilities.
In the future Marineford War, Marco the Phoenix would be injured after Onigumo seized the opportunity to put Seastone handcuffs on him due to a moment of carelessness.
"That works."
Leaving Moria to his companions, Vane flew toward Crescent Island.
He hadn't forgotten his original reason for coming here—Devil Fruits.
Rasya was a very seasoned spy. She knew that to deceive someone, the lies had to be mixed with truth. The Elegant Kingdom's people were indeed here, and they indeed had a Devil Fruit in their possession.
She had said two. In reality, there was only one—and it was the invisibility fruit she mentioned… or rather, the Clear-Clear Fruit, capable of turning invisible.
"Warp, Through-Through, Clear-Clear… tsk tsk. Collect these three Devil Fruits and your theft skills would be maxed out, right?"
Unless those kings' treasure vaults were built entirely of Seastone—which was obviously impossible. Current Seastone processing technology was highly inefficient. Even the Celestial Dragons couldn't afford to construct treasure vaults from Seastone.
In Vane's memory, the only Seastone structure he could recall was Doflamingo's "factory."
That was because Doflamingo produced artificial Zoan fruits for Kaido, and since Wano was the main source of Seastone, he was able to construct such a building.
"My dear Clear-Clear Fruit, for the sake of my grand theft plan, come obediently into my hands."
Vane quickly arrived at the Elegant Kingdom soldiers' encampment.
Though it was deep into the night, no one was asleep. The commotion from Vane and Moria's battle had already put them on high alert.