Before long, the sun began to rise over Troia Island.
"Captain, why hasn't he woken up yet?"
Leo was standing directly on Moria's massive face, tugging at the giant pirate's eyelid, trying to peel it open to check on him.
Bardock reached over, grabbed Leo by the collar, and placed him safely on his own shoulder. "He'll be up soon. We've healed all of his physical injuries, so he should be regaining consciousness any minute now."
"Bardock, shouldn't we have Leo stitch him up?" Robin asked, glancing nervously at the unconscious giant. "What if he wakes up and attacks us again? Do you really want to fight him a second time?"
It wasn't until the sun came up that Robin truly realized the sheer scale of the devastation their battle had caused. The surrounding landscape was completely unrecognizable. The forest was leveled into a barren wasteland of splinters and dirt, massive boulders had been pulverized into dust, and a massive, terrifyingly deep crater marked the epicenter of their most intense clash. Water from an underground spring was already bubbling up into the crater, suggesting a new lake was about to form on the island.
"It's fine. His ability is tricky. I'm not entirely sure Leo's stitches could hold him if he swapped places with his shadow," Bardock reasoned, shaking his head. "Besides, that fight pushed me further. I was already stronger than him before, and I'm even stronger now. There's nothing to fear."
Since Bardock didn't have any Seastone cuffs, he figured there was no point in half-measures. He'd just leave Moria completely unrestrained. Of course, his Observation Haki was fully active, locked onto Moria's presence. While Moria couldn't defeat Bardock, the Warlord was still a massive, lethal threat to the rest of the crew.
"He's awake."
Bardock sensed a shift in Moria's presence right as the giant's eyelids fluttered open. Robin and the others immediately tensed, watching closely. Sure enough, Moria's eyes were open, but he didn't move a single muscle. He just lay flat on his back, staring blankly up at the morning sky.
"What's wrong with him? Did you hit him in the head too hard?" Perona asked, floating slightly behind Bonez for cover.
"That's impossible! His body is completely healed!" Mansherry protested. As the one who administered the miracle cure, she was absolutely certain of her work.
"Hey, Moria. Don't tell me you're completely broken from one loss," Bardock nudged the giant's arm with his boot, but Moria didn't react in the slightest.
Sighing, Bardock pulled out the Camera Snail and pointed it at the Warlord. He turned to Perona. "Perona. Hit him with a Negative Hollow."
"Eh? Do I really have to?" Perona whined, clutching her parasol tightly. She was still terrified of the towering monster and wanted nothing to do with him. But seeing the serious look in Bardock's eyes, she reluctantly agreed. "Fine. But if he gets mad, you have to protect me! Negative Hollow!"
A glowing white ghost phased out of Perona's body and shot straight through Moria's chest.
Everyone waited for the giant to start sobbing. Instead, the Negative Hollow immediately dropped to the ground, curling up into a miserable ball.
A split second later, Perona herself violently dropped to her hands and knees in the exact same pose of utter despair. "I'm so sorry... I'm completely useless... I have no skills... all I do is throw temper tantrums at Kumashi..."
"EH?!"
Robin, Leo, and Mansherry stared in absolute shock. The Negative Hollow had rebounded?!
"Pfft... hahahaha!"
Robin, remembering her own humiliating experience with the ghosts, couldn't hold back anymore. Seeing the arrogant Perona get a taste of her own medicine was simply too funny. Her shoulders shook with suppressed laughter, and soon, Leo and Mansherry were giggling too. Even Daz Bonez's stoic expression cracked into a faint, amused smirk.
Bardock didn't laugh. He simply focused the Camera Snail, documenting the entire humiliating scene in high definition. He had originally just wanted some blackmail material on Moria, but capturing Perona getting hit by her own Negative Hollow was an absolute goldmine! Aside from Moria in his current state of utter depression, and God Usopp in the future, it was practically impossible to find anyone on the seas negative enough to rebound a Hollow.
The effects of the ghosts didn't last long. Perona quickly snapped out of it, but she remained frozen on her hands and knees. Her face burned bright red. So this is what it feels like! It's so humiliating! I want to dig a hole and die!
"See, Perona? I told you before," Bardock said smoothly, pocketing the Camera Snail. "Relying purely on your Devil Fruit means you'll eventually run into someone it doesn't work on. You really need to start training your Haki."
Robin walked over and gently helped Perona to her feet, dusting off her gothic dress and patting her head affectionately. "It's okay, Perona. We'll all learn Haki together."
"Haki is the most important thing in the world... That's exactly what that bastard told me."
A high-pitched, grating voice suddenly echoed across the ruined landscape. Moria was still staring blankly at the sky, but he was clearly lucid now.
"Oh? Was that bastard Kaido?" Bardock asked, feigning ignorance.
"I lost. But you didn't kill me. In fact, you completely healed my injuries," Moria stated flatly, ignoring the question. He finally sat up, glaring down at Bardock. "What is your goal? If you think you can force me to become your subordinate, save your breath. To a true pirate, death is never a threat."
"Oh? Spoken like a true Great Pirate who conquered the first half of the Grand Line. A real West Blue hero," Bardock praised smoothly.
"You...!" Moria's fangs bared, his eyes flashing with fury.
"Relax, I'm not mocking you," Bardock raised a hand placatingly. "To face a monster like Kaido and actually manage to escape back to the West Blue with all your limbs attached? There are very few people in this entire world who could pull that off."
Bardock let the genuine compliment sink in before continuing. "However, I absolutely disagree with your Zombie Army plan."
"What the hell do you know?!" Moria snapped, his pride stung. "A zombie army is immortal! If a body gets destroyed, I just replace it! No matter how strong Kaido is, an endless tide of immortal soldiers will eventually drown him! And my zombies won't just be low-level grunts! Once I get my hands on..."
Moria abruptly clamped his mouth shut, realizing he had almost spilled his core strategy regarding the frozen corpse of Oars.
Bardock simply smiled. "Let me ask you something. You're fully aware that your zombies are completely powerless against fire, and that a handful of salt instantly purifies them, right?"
"Those are minor flaws! No weapon in the world is absolutely perfect!" Moria scoffed defensively. "And I might be able to improve the process later anyway!"
"So you really are just building a cart behind closed doors, completely ignorant of the road ahead," Bardock sighed, shaking his head. "Kaido ate the Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Type, Model: Azure Dragon. One of his signature moves is Boro Breath (Blast Breath). He literally spits a beam of hyper-concentrated fire that can instantly vaporize a mountain."
Moria flinched.
"His right-hand man, King the Conflagration... take a wild guess why they call him that. He's a master of manipulating fire."
Moria's expression darkened.
"His other top commander, Queen the Plague. He's a cyborg loaded with advanced weaponry, including multiple incendiary and flamethrower attacks."
Moria's face turned completely pale.
"Moria. You are literally building an army made of kindling to fight a crew of arsonists. You are walking straight to your death," Bardock stated bluntly. "Do you realize that?"
Every single sentence Bardock spoke drained the color from Moria's face, until he looked as pale as an actual corpse.
"No... wait! How the hell do you know all of this in such detail?!" Moria suddenly demanded, staring at the boy in terror. "I personally fought the Beast Pirates, and even I didn't know some of that! How could a brat in the West Blue possibly know their exact abilities?! You're lying to me, aren't you?!"
"Moria, stop lying to yourself," Bardock said, his tone utterly serious. "A zombie army might be enough to let you conquer some random island and play king, but it will absolutely never help you get revenge on Kaido. You are walking down the wrong path. The further you walk, the further away from your goal you get."
Bardock stepped forward, looking up into the giant's eyes. "Your Shadow-Shadow Fruit is incredibly powerful. You need to actually use it. Stop relying on subordinates. Stop placing all your hopes on fragile, immortal corpses. Only your own, overwhelming personal strength can make you invincible."
Cold sweat poured down Moria's face. He stared at Bardock for a long time, his mind racing. Finally, he asked, "What is your actual goal here? Surely you didn't seek me out and beat me half to death just to give me a reality check."
"Now that's the West Blue hero I know. You calmed down quickly," Bardock smiled. "Your Shadow-Shadow Fruit allows you to perfectly copy the skills and abilities of a shadow's original owner, right? That means if you place a shadow into a living person, that person will instantly gain a brand-new skill they didn't have before. And if they use that foundation to properly train and study the skill, they will master it permanently at an absurdly accelerated rate."
Bardock spread his arms. "For example, if you place the shadow of a Master Swordsman into someone who has zero experience with a blade, and then they begin formally training in swordsmanship... imagine how fast they would actually master it."
"You make it sound easy, but living bodies naturally reject foreign shadows. You can't keep a shadow inside a living person for long," Moria shook his head, instantly rejecting the idea.
"Hmph. First of all, it doesn't need to stay inside them for long. You can just repeatedly insert it during daily training sessions," Bardock countered. "Second, as long as a person possesses enough raw willpower, they can forcefully suppress and contain foreign shadows. You literally proved that today with your Shadows Asgard technique. You contained 250 shadows at once."
Bardock looked up at Moria, his golden eyes burning with ambition.
"You can use this method to make us both grow unimaginably strong, incredibly fast!"