21

The cool sea breeze buffeted my face as the Marine ship I was on sped upon the rapids towards Impel Down. Less than two hours after my meeting with the Gorōsei, my plan to take the shadows from the inmates had been greenlit. A contract was drawn up, upon which I agreed to make a trip to Impel Down every two years to collect shadows.

I was giddy at first, but…"Is this really necessary? The Fleet Admiral, and our boss, the Celestial Dragons trust me, why did you have to tag along?" Flanked on my left and right were Vice Admiral Doberman, and another Vice Admiral, one with a red pony tail and mustache. I think his name is, Momonga?

"Keep quiet pirate scum! I could be hunting down the Whitebeard remnants right now, but instead I have to baby sit your worthless hide. Tch!" Doberman spit off the railing, and kept glaring holes into my back.

"Ahem, what Vice Admiral Doberman means is that with the advent of recent events, it pays to be cautious. In any case, we're not here simply to escort you, the honorable Shichibukai, Gecko Moria. We also need to take stock of the situation at Impel Down." Momonga attempted to defuse any tension by being diplomatic.

"Ki shi shi shi, you've set my heart at ease Vice Admiral. You have no need to worry about tensions breaking out into a fight between your attack dog and I. Just keep him his leash tight enough, and we won't have any problems. Although…if your mutt doesn't get himself inline, I wouldn't mind neutering him, free of charge. We're all subordinates of the same master after all." I completely ignored Doberman, while I spoke to Momonga. I kept my face devoid of any smirk or smile during my entire delivery.

I was never mad at Doberman in the first place, it's just great to push his buttons. Riding on a boat is fun for the first five minutes sure, but with no conversation partners amongst the rank and file, I've got to find my entertainment somehow.

"That's…" Momonga was once again looking how to defuse the situation. A drop of sweat slowly dripped down his forehead.

"You're fortunate the higher ups value you so much, swine. Your family name shouldn't be Gecko, how about walrus, or hippo? How someone as fat as you is supposed to benefit world security, I'll never know." Doberman stroked his sword, preparing to draw it at any moment.

He clearly hoped I would attack him, but I'm not falling for his bait.

"And you're fortunate…"

"Ahem! Gentleman, we've arrived!" Momonga interrupted our squabble. Impel Down in all its towering glory appeared out of the mist.

Hmm, the outside was massive, but my island and Castle Mast were at least three times larger than this. Although, it's best to keep in mind that Impel Down is larger the further one went down.

As we disembarked, I caught sight of the new Chief Warden, Hannyabal. His back was hunched, and he picked his nose, bored out of his wits waiting for us. In another life, Moria, and Hannyabal could've formed the Lazy Pirates. I don't think there's any two canon characters as lazy as these two, haha. Standing behind him in a position of clear subordination was the ex-Chief Warden, Magellan. To his side, two rows of about one hundred Marine's were saluting us. I'll never get tired of that sight.

"Welcome to Superjail, ahem, welcome to Impel Down, I'm the Chief Warden Hannyabal. The higher ups told me they have a job for you, let's get it done and over with so I can get back to sleep." Hannyabal greeted us in the most bored and dry voice I'd ever heard. Clerks could learn a thing or two from the sheer boredom this guy put into his voice. The only time he perked up was when he introduced himself as Chief Warden.

Without waiting for a reply, Hannyabal turned around, and led us deeper into Impel Down where I could finally get the shadows to empower my army and work force. It felt a lot like I was getting a quest reward at the end of a campaign.

That was a fruitful venture! My pockets were bursting at the seams just trying to contain all of the shadows I'd stolen! More than 3,000 pirate shadows were contained within my clothing. And the worst part was, that there were still thousands more at Impel Down who I hadn't stolen from! I couldn't contain more than three thousand on my body at once, and even then, I felt over encumbered, like a character in Skyrim with too much weight.

Since the shadows I could contain were limited, I had to pick and choose who I stole from. I obtained about 100 shadows from level five, 400 from level four, 850 from level three, and 1,650 from level two. Sadly, I wasn't allowed to visit level six, because of a new policy barring anyone but Cipher Pol or Marine Vice Admirals from going down there. Personally, I was willing to bet most of them escaped, and the World Government doesn't want to admit it.

Finding people on level five and four was difficult, because they were all either dying, dead, or hiding. Most of the people on level three died horrible, horrible deaths from Magellan during the breakout. Level two's inmates also got liquified, but there were so many of them that it was easy for me to capture their shadows. Perhaps I'll come back for the shadows on level one someday, even a weak zombie with nothing more than a rifle is a menace. I'd guess 90% or more of the population on this world could be killed by a non-haki empowered bullet. Trash mobs are great for wearing down stronger opponent's stamina anyway.

As the tour came to an end, and we were once more at the surface of Impel Down, I turned to Magellan.

"Oi, Magellan. Join my crew, and capture all the targets you let escape. Redeem yourself in the eyes of the law and Justice." I held out my hand for the disgraced ex Chief Warden of Impel Down.

Magellan glanced at my hand, and responded in a monotone voice. "Ally with a pirate like you? Never." Turning his back to me, he walked away.

"Ki shi shi shi, you didn't sound so enthusiastic about rejecting my request. If you ever change your mind, my offer stands!" I shouted at his back.

"Ha! Magellan may be a disgraced has-been who allowed hundreds if not more than a thousand criminal scum escape, but he still has honor. He'd never join you." Doberman sidled up next to me, gloating at my failed recruitment.

"Don't be so sure. If he really is as honorable as you think he is, he might just join my crew to get his honor back. That being said, I have better things to do with my time than be seen with a mood killer like you. Later loser!" Smirking at Doberman's scowling face, I jumped into the sky, and produced my now classic surfboard shaped shadow, and flew away, following the path of my vivre card. I took a seat, wrapped myself in shadow to secure my body, and sent the surfboard towards the East Blue at full speed.

"Woah, that's fast!" Slowing down a lot, I felt my head spin. I was so dizzy, swirls appeared in my eyes. I almost felt like vomiting from the vertigo.

"Okay, maybe let's just ramp the speed up, and get to a speed I'm comfortable at, haha." Laughing to myself, I gradually increased the speed until I was moving faster than I ever had in my past life. I had once driven my car from Los Angeles to San Fransisco, a total of 617 kilometers. During that trip, there were large stretches of empty flatland, and few cars. The fastest I had ever moved while in a vehicle under my control was at about 201kph. I felt like I could process that kind of speed fairly easily, and still control my vehicle.

With my new body's reflexes, speed, strength, sixth sense, and the ability to manipulate reality, I was now comfortably flying into East Blue at about triple the speed of my past life's self. More than 600kph! I wasn't confident that I could fight like this, at my current level. But if I ever get prediction skills as strong as Katakuri, maybe one day.

Thriller Bark Island

"You don't have to do this Kenji, stay here in the underground village with us. The Rolling Pirates may have perished, but we can still hide!" A wrinkled old man, placed a gnarled hand on Kenji's shoulder, urging him to stay. The old man had a small inflated belly, a hunched back, and was unhealthily skinny.

"No! I can't stay here any longer gramps! You and the other villagers have been stuck here, feeding me all of your extra food. You're worst of all gramps, you won't eat till everyone else has had a bowl of stew! Ever since I ate that weird looking fruit, we've been stuck down here farming mushrooms. Mushrooms! I'm going to the surface, and getting everyone's shadows back!" Kenji proclaimed. Slightly on the short side, Kenji had messy brown hair, a dirt stained face, and wore a burlap vest. The only thing remarkable about him were his green eyes, filled with determination.

"Kenji, your ability to grow mushrooms is a blessing to everyone down here, don't throw everyone's lives away for your selfishness! It's too dangerous in the above world!" Old Man tried to convince Kenji not to go, desperation in his voice.

"You told me that when I turned sixteen, I am an adult. Well I'm sixteen now, and I'm sick of eating nothing but mushrooms, sick of seeing my family barely getting by. I've only been to the surface world three times in my life. Three! I've lived here all my life; I didn't have my shadow taken. The scouts said, the boss of the island is cutting down trees, and flattening parts of the island. It's only a matter of time before they discover the village! Only I can save everyone, that's what Priest says! He said my power was a gift from Kami." Kenji retorted, the fires of conviction in his eyes.

"We call him Priest because he's always preaching about hope, don't be fooled Kenji, please, don't go!" Old Man tried one last time to convince Kenji.

"I'm sorry Gramps, I love everyone in the village too much to see them continue suffering like this. There are now enough mushrooms that even if I do fail, you can breed them and grow more. This village will do just fine without me…But I won't lose! When you see your shadow, you'll know that R. D. Kenji has succeeded!"

"Perona-sama!"

"Perona-sama! Red said you have more training to do!"

"We'll get punished if you don't come back for training. Perona-sama!" A dozen zombies combed the forest in search of Perona.

"Damn zombies, and damn that Red! When can a girl get a break around here! I just want to cuddle with cute things, eat strawberries, and relax! This forest will do for now, but I'm the only cute thing in the entire woods." Perona pouted, while mumbling to herself.

"Haha! Found you! She's over here boy's!" A zombie grabbed onto Perona's wrist to take her back to the Castle Mast.

"Kya! Unhand me!" Perona slapped the zombie in the face.

"Uh, sorry Perona-sama, we're just following Red's orders, and since it's coming from the master, we'll have to disobey your order!" The zombie had a look of regret on his face.

"Unhand the fair maiden, beast!" Charging forward, Kenji encased his fist within a mushroom he had created preparing to strike the zombie.

"Green Mushroom Series: Fist!" When Kenji's fist connected with the zombie's head, the mushroom exploded with a concussive force. As a result, the zombie's head had completely caved in, returning the shadow that had been possessing it back to its original owner.

"Yatta! I did it! Are you okay miss? I haven't seen you around the village before. Did you have your shadow taken? Have you seen the monster yet? Stay away from the tower! I'll have to introduce you to gramps and the rest!" At his first victory, Kenji was so excited, he forgot to pay attention to his surroundings, and spoke nonstop at Perona before she could even react.

"Oi, why'd you do that to Raphael! You're going to pay for that! Get him guys!"

"For Raphael!"

"I didn't really like Raphael myself."

"SHUT IT STEVE! Chaaaarge!"

"Ah, sorry about this. I'll take care of them real quick. My names Kenji by the way, R. D. Kenji!" Kenji beamed at Perona, and took a fighting stance towards the zombies.

"Green Mushroom Series: Cannon!" Kenji formed a mushroom the size of an RPG, and held it on his shoulder.

"Fire!" The head of the mushroom launched out, and blew up five of the charging zombies.

"Damn, I thought I'd get them all with that. Now to face my ultimate technique. Black Mushroom Series: Armor!" Standing at 2 meters tall, Kenji wore a slim, sleek, and shiny suit of amor made from black mushrooms. The shoulder pads ended in mushroom tips, and much like brass knuckles, his gauntlets had mushroom tips covering his knuckles.

"Die zombie!" Kenji crashed into the remaining enemies, utterly pulverizing them.

"Damnit, our swords can't penetrate that armor! Try something else!" Drawing a rusted pistol, the zombie, Steve, unloaded seven shots into Kenji's mushroom armor, near point blank.

"It isn't work-!" *crunch*

"And that's that!" Dismissing his armor, after victory, Kenji walked back to Perona with a beaming smile on his face.

"Did you see me get those zombies! Kuru kuru kuru!" Kenji laughed with boyish innocence.

"O-Oi, are you okay? Why'd your face get red like that, do you have a fever? Is that blood leaking out your nose?! Did the zombies hurt your nose? Tissue! Tissue!" Kenji scrambled around his pockets looking for a tissue.

"Ah? Ah! No no no, I'm okay! Just shocked is all! My name is Perona! And no, I'm not new to the island, I live over there, why don't I show you where I live?" Perona gestured towards the Castle Mast.

"Oh, you're a resident on this island too? Do you also live in an underground village!?" Kenji smiled.

"That smile is unfair." Perona muttered.

"Excuse me?" Kenji tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Uhm. Are you hungry Kenji? We have all sorts of wonderful food at home. Tarts, pies, even ice cream!" Perona ignored any mention of underground homes. Yuck! Who would want to live underground!

"Food other than mushrooms! That sounds awesome, let's go!" Grabbing Perona's arm, Kenji sprinted in the direction she had pointed towards earlier.

"Haaaah~" With a long yawn, and a stretch of the arms, I descended out of the sky onto Thriller Bark Island, directly into my room on the Castle Mast.

Not bad, what would take a ship sailing non-stop a week of travel, I did in five hours. It wouldn't surprise me if the ships I stole from Marineford will take another five to seven days to show up at the pace they're moving. Flying is going to be my preferred mode of travel from now on. Now then, let's see what kind of progress Absalom has made in my absence.

Taking a look out of my room's balcony, I saw that most of the graveyard had been cleaned of debris, and transformed into a shooting range. Even now, zombies were practicing hitting targets. A few were using cutlasses, and knives in close quarters. One had his guts spilled out, and was using his intestines as a lasso to the cheers of his fellow zombies.

To the side of the graveyard, a section of forest had been cut down, de-stumped, and currently in the process of having the ground flattened. Part of my long-term money-making schemes was to have a factory go there. Put tireless zombies in a factory where things like working conditions or carcinogens won't affect production is a win-win in my book. Zombies can't get pregnant, zombies don't need food, and most importantly, zombies can't rebel!

Thinking about it now, if I keep people prisoner, what would I do, have them work underground? I'd have to feed, clothe them, and worry about potential uprisings. Maybe I'll pay them minimum wage and treat them slightly better than this world's peasants. Have them sign a ten-year contract where I'll give them their shadow back for ten years of labor. Give them chances to move up in the social ladder, become officers in my army, or learn skills like accounting or carpentry. The current world order isn't much different come to think of it. I planned to live a long life in this world, might as well plant the seeds today for tomorrows harvest.

Rubbing my chin lost in thought, I noticed something strange. Some boy was utterly destroying my zombies where I planned to set up the factory. Not only that, he was a devil fruit user! My first instinct was to jump down there, and put a stop to this mess, but caution won out this time. Better to observe his abilities, and then attack from an ambush, then to go the direct way.

"I'm sorry Perona, the villains must've broken into your home. There's more of them this time, so stay back! Green Mushroom Series: Cannon!" With an explosion, half a dozen zombies were destroyed.

"Again!" Firing his RPG a dozen more times, Kenji defeated the zombie workforce, and put scars into the landscape.

"Quick, lets find your home Perona!" Kenji went to go tug on Perona's arm, but she didn't move.

"There's something I have to tell you Kenji." Perona was looking at her toes, her eyes were covered by her hair.

"This is my home."

Before Kenji even had time to react to Perona's statement, he was encased from the neck down in a bubble of shadow. The normally upbeat and cheerful Kenji didn't even struggle as he was cacooned.

"That's a lie." Kenji whispered.

"I'm sorry Kenji, but ti's true." Perona bit her lip, and twisted her hands in nervousness.

"IT'S A LIE! You're lying." Kenji's head slumped in defeat.

(Line Break)

"Ki shi shi shi, good work capturing the brat Perona. With the strength he displayed, his shadow will more than make up for the pitiful performance of the zombies we lost. Where did he come from anyway?"

"He, he was lost adrift in the ocean, Moria-sama. I found him in the forest, and lured him here promising food and snacks." Perona looked down at the boy in question.

Hmm, didn't think I'd have to take care of an incident like this right when I got back. Oh well, the world works in mysterious ways. Whistling a merry toon, I floated the cocoon of shadow next to me while I walked back to the tower. I couldn't wait for the ships full of zombies and corpses to arrive. I had all these shadows, and very few suitable corpses to place them in. Perhaps that deep freeze chamber has more corpses waiting to be turned into zombies.

"Uh, Moria-sama…" Perona spoke in a small voice. What's this? Isn't she always boisterous and bossy?

"What's the issue Perona?" I asked in a slightly concerned tone of voice. Perona was one of my employees, not to mention a cute young girl. I didn't have any romantic feelings for her, but I felt responsible to give each of my subordinates at least some attention.

"C-can I have Ken-, uh, that boy as my servant? I promise to take care of him, and that he won't cause any trouble!" A nervous Perona entreated.

"So, let me get this straight, you want this boy as your servant, and not the zombie servant I'm going to make from his shadow, correct?" I asked in confusion.

"Yes, that's right!" Perona looked at me with an intense focus I had yet to see from her before. Usually her expressions are cold disdain, female fury, or clear disinterest. Huh, interesting.

"Okay Perona, I'll let you have this servant. On one condition." I smirked.

"Wh-what condition would that be Moria-sama?" Seeing the smirk on my face, Perona became slightly apprehensive.

"You have to double your training."

"I-I'll do it! I'll do it Moria-sama!" Perona clenched her fists adorably, and looked at me with fierce determination.

"Ki shi shi shi, very well. Once I take his shadow, he's yours to do with as you please."

"Thank you Moria-sama!" Perona ran into my back, and gave me a bear like hug.

"!"

"D-did I do wrong Moria-sama?" Perona looked at the ground.

"I was surprised is all, you're a good kid Perona." I patted her head, and smiled.

AN: I've been fast and loose with my measurement system, from now on I'm going to be using Meters, Kilometers, Centimeters, etc. I typically use miles, feet, and inches, but since I work in a lab and am used to that measurement system, and the rest of the world (outside of U.S) uses the metric system, that's what I'll use for this story.