Moria was not so weak as to lose his ability to fight the moment he was scratched.
But under July's dual Haki suppression and her overwhelming advantage in speed and strength, he was defeated soon enough.
After he lost consciousness, his body first swelled uncontrollably.
The countless shadows this fellow had devoured slipped free, pressing against his body and pouring out of his mouth like ghosts.
And so Moria, like a deflated balloon, returned to his original size.
The shadows, unable to find their original hosts, had no choice but to dissipate.
"Tie this fellow up."
After wiping the blood from her hands, July ordered the Oni who stood waiting.
The Oni, who had been standing by for some time, produced Sea-Prism Stone chains and bound Moria hand and foot.
In truth, executing him on the spot would have worked too.
But July thought it over and decided to haul him back, to see what kind of arrangements Ren might have for him.
As for Moria's underlings, naturally they would be taken along as well.
"Wait!"
At that moment, the Marine vice admiral who had been watching from the side for some time leapt forward.
"Many thanks to Miss Dragon Demon for capturing the criminal who attacked the G1 base."
"This heinous pirate has slain so many Marines' lives. I think it best that I escort him to Impel Down from here on!"
July: ???
Who the hell do you think you are?
July had not expected this Marine vice admiral to be so shameless.
When the monster was being fought, he hadn't shown his face.
Now that the spoils were being divided, he leapt out to claim them.
"Heh, you want this?"
July planted one foot on the back of the unconscious Moria's head, looking at the Marine vice admiral with a cold smirk.
Whether the man's skin was simply too thick or he genuinely failed to notice July's displeasure, he actually nodded.
"If Miss Dragon Demon could hand Gecko Moria over to me, that would be ideal."
Saying so, the fellow actually began moving his ship closer, apparently intending to take Moria aboard.
"You old fart, dream on!"
July's face instantly darkened.
She had originally not intended to pay any attention to this batch of Marines, planning to simply take Moria and leave.
Now it seemed that wouldn't do.
"Open fire! Sink every one of these Marines!"
At July's command, the warship's full arsenal deployed.
Before the enemy could close the distance, several laser cannons were already trained on the Marine vice admiral's face!
The Marine formation was instantly thrown into chaos.
"Dragon Demon of Inazuma, are you truly making an enemy of the Marines?!"
The vice admiral, still not grasping the situation, ordered his men to return fire while roaring threats at July.
"Waging war against the Marines—you know full well what the consequences will be!"
How could July possibly be cowed by him?
Setting aside the fact that the Marines would never launch a full-scale war over something like this, even if they did, would Inazuma fear the Marines?
After so many years, Inazuma's military might had grown beyond reckoning.
The Ruin Guards and Ruin Graders alone, combined, were enough to overturn the world.
If the Marines truly launched an all-out war against Inazuma, Inazuma would indeed fall short at the very top tier of elite combatants.
But once those mass-produced Ruin Graders, Ruin Drake LUAs, and Ruin Hunters were activated, they would form an invincible, unstoppable army!
Not to mention the Perpetual Mechanisms and the Ruin Serpent.
What was more, the first Cyclops Colossus would likely be completed in a few years' time.
That thing was a walking natural disaster.
Even an island could be destroyed with a single shot.
The Cyclops Colossus had been in development for many years.
Or rather, from the moment the first Ruin Guard was created, the Cyclops Colossus had been on the drawing board.
Yet even now it was not fully complete.
Building a machine that massive was itself an extraordinarily difficult task, and getting it to move was an even greater challenge.
Even setting that aside, Inazuma's present military strength would not fear the Marines.
As for the World Government, there was even less to worry about.
The World Government, as the ruling authority, desired stability more than anyone.
If they truly had the resolve to launch an all-out war, the New World would not be in its current state.
Thus, facing the Marine vice admiral's threats, July did not fear him in the slightest.
But the man was a Marine vice admiral after all.
Though his ship's firepower was inferior to July's, he could still manage to escape.
Seeing the man flee with his tail between his legs, July did not pursue.
Instead, she took Moria and returned to Inazuma.
...
"Damned pirates, how dare they be so insolent!"
After fleeing in disgrace, the Marine vice admiral seethed with rage.
In truth, he had only recently been transferred from Paradise, and his view of the relationship between Marines and pirates still reflected the situation there.
In his mind, pirates who should have quaked at the sight of the Marines had actually dared to attack their Marine base—sheer suicide.
Yet not only had he failed in his pursuit of Moria, he had lost a fair number of Marines as well.
Then, just in time, he had run into July, who had captured Moria, and so he had tried to threaten her into handing Moria over.
In his view, this Moria fellow was of no use to Inazuma.
Better to sell him to the Marines as a gesture of goodwill, so that when he rose to prominence at the G1 base, he might throw some scraps Inazuma's way.
But that Dragon Demon had been completely uncooperative, opening fire on him without a word.
Since his firepower was outmatched, he had no choice but to flee in disgrace.
"Lord Vice Admiral, what do we do now?"
"What do we do? Report to Marine Headquarters at once!"
"Say that the pirates of Inazuma attacked the Marines and sank three of our warships!"
"We must deploy forces to annihilate them!" he said furiously.
Truth be told, if he had been a Marine admiral, he would have ordered a Buster Call on Inazuma on the spot.
This fellow embellished the report and forwarded it up the chain.
By the time it reached Kong's ears, it had become an entirely different version.
The evil up-and-coming pirate Gecko Moria had attacked the Marine G1 base.
A heroic Marine vice admiral had bravely pursued the pirate, single-handedly crushing Moria's crew with zero casualties!
But then he had been attacked by Inazuma's "Dragon Demon."
Not only had the pirate Gecko Moria been lost, but nearly a hundred Marines had been killed or wounded!
"He's requesting that we launch a war against Inazuma. What do you think, Sengoku?"
"Waging war is out of the question," Sengoku said, shaking his head.
Neither of them doubted whether the Marine vice admiral's report was true.
After all, the broad strokes of the account did match up.
"Indeed. Launching a war—the World Government would never allow it, and even if they did, we could not afford to commit our forces against a relatively minor pirate crew like Inazuma," Kong said with a nod.
"But Inazuma attacking the Marines is a provocation against Marine authority, all the same."
[
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