25

After receiving directions from the kid earlier, I finally arrived at my destination in the late afternoon. Reaching into one of my voluminous pockets, I pulled out five zombified rats.

"Search for any information about any notable pirates, Marine's, mercenary's, and bounty hunters. If you find anything noteworthy, report back to me. I'll be at this town's castle. Now go!" Giving my rats their orders, I tossed them onto the street, and moved forward.

I began my stroll from the Goa Kingdoms harbor, heading towards the central castle. Along the outskirts, I noticed many dilapidated buildings. The average citizen's clothes were threadbare, or lacked color. Was this true only for the boondocks, or was the poverty stricken image mirrored across the town?

People stopped what they were doing and stared as I passed them by. Like Moses parting the Red Sea, the townspeople scattered to get out of my way. Some rushed into their houses, closing their shutters tight. Others stood silent, mouth agape. A small minority muttered to themselves as I passed by.

"Gecko Moria."

"Shichibukai."

"Government dog."

"Warlord of the sea's Moria."

During my journey through town, a woman, and a little girl blocked my path.

"Mommy, mommy!" The little girl tried to support her mother to the side of the road. However, she couldn't support her mother's weight, and both of them fell down.

Upon closer examination, the woman's legs were bent and crooked. A curious smile appeared on my face.

"Hello there." I approached the two. My towering form completely blocked out their view of the sun as I stood less than two meters away.

"Alexis, run." The women feebly attempted to push the girl away.

"Mommy, no! I won't let the bad man hurt you!" The girl stood before me, and looked me in the eye.

"You misunderstand." I began, only to be interrupted by an orange thrown at me. Before it collided with my body, Doppleman reached out, caught it, and began juggling with a goofy grin on his face.

Turning towards the one who threw the orange, I saw it was a little green haired urchin boy. I slowly, very slowly, to the point of exaggeration pulled my last pistol out. With a grin on my face, I pointed it at the boy with extreme casualness. He wetted his eyes, and soiled himself. The people around us clung to the walls of buildings for support. Several women clung to their hearts as seconds ticked by.

Katcha

The sound of my gun was louder than usual. The noise echoed off the closely packed buildings. A woman couldn't handle the tension, and screamed before passing out.

"That one's free." I smirked, and pocketed my gun, turning back to the women and girl before me.

Between the boy's legs, a small indent could be seen where the cobblestone path had been broken apart. Nestled a couple centimeters in the ground rested a bullet. Knees buckling in fear or relief, the boy fell to the ground and began to dry heave.

"As I was saying little girl. You misunderstand."

"You just shot Garcia!"

"Hey lady, do you want to walk again. To never again be a burden on your precious little girl?" Ignoring the brat, I turned my cheshire like grin towards the mother.

She trembled, and gripped her daughter in her clutches while a wild look took place in her eyes.

"Ow! Mommy, it hurts!"

"I. You, you're lying. You can't fix. Fix me." A hoarse, raspy voice came from the wretched woman.

The words she said would lead one to believe that there was no chance for her. However, her tone of voice held a trace of underlying hope. I had dangled salvation before her, now time to deliver.

"I can understand your skepticism. I'm famous around the Blue's for my ruthless nature, my ferocious combat ability. However, I can do much more than destroy. Behold!" Taking a shadow of a level 1 Impel Down prisoner, I stuffed it into her prone form.

"HnnAAAAHHH" The women screamed in great pain.

"What are you doing to mommy! Monster!"

"My baby girl!" With a gasp, the women stood on her own two feet. The pain of healing overwhelmed by the joy she felt.

Moments ago, her bent and broken legs which had been twisted like a broken marionette had righted themselves. Now she was tossing her daughter into the air, laughing in joy.

"Now do you believe?" I interrupted the mother, child celebration.

"Thank you Moria-sama." The woman deeply bowed, down to the waist. In turn, she pushed her daughter down to bow at the same time.

"Of course. I plan to forge a deep bond with the Goa Kingdom, and its people are a priority of mine. Now that you're healed, I'll need that shadow back."

As a shadow already under my rule, I could get a distinct feel for the thing I had stuck inside the woman. If I wanted to, could I control her with the shadow I had implanted within her body? Shaking my head at the distraction, I held out my hand in her direction. A moment later, the level 1 Impel Down shadow left her body, and entered one of my pockets. I felt like the shadow of the prisoner had lost some of it's corporeality after being used to heal the woman. Huh. Today sure has brought about some interesting discoveries. Hopefully it regenerates over time. Otherwise I'll have to be much more conservative in my usage of the shadows I've stolen.

"Mommy?! What did you do to my mommy!" For the thousandth time, the annoying little girl complained at me.

After focusing back on her mother, I saw the cause of her consternation. Slumped over, the mother was unconscious. Not everyone was like Luffy, and could sustain a shadow being inside of them. Hell, he lost all sorts of power once they left his body. I didn't think it was all that safe to put more than one in someone, much less someone as 'strong' as Absalom! It's no wonder that without the support of the shadow, the woman would fall unconscious.

"Brat, I just cured your mother of a life as a cripple. Show some respect, all she did was fall unconscious."

Addressing the crowd of spectators, I raised my voice: "Spread the word, I will be healing those in the town square over the next couple of days."

After the spectacle, I once again walked towards the castle. Ordinarily, I wouldn't go out of my way to heal someone like this. Someone else's disability or injury isn't my problem, or obligation to fix. However, I had plans for this kingdom out in the boonies. A little good will can make all the difference. Besides, I figure it won't take much to be more respected than that trash, King Stelly.

I was only a few steps from entering the castle. When I was barred from entry.

"Gecko Moria. What is your reason for visiting our fair kingdom?" A squadron of men dressed in brown greatcoats blocked my path. Each of the guards was armed with a rifle, and sword. Atop their heads, they wore police caps. The Goa Kingdom's flag, a daisy that had three feathers was the defining feature of the hat.

"Lead me to King Stelly. I have a request he cannot resist." I made to take a step forward, but the men held their ground.

"Oh?"

"King Stelly had gone to take a nap. He ordered us that he's not to be disturbed. If we defy his order, he'll kill our families." The leader of the men spoke up, gritting his teeth.

No love lost between subject and sovereign it seems.

"So you won't move, even if I kill you? Am I right?" I questioned.

"That's.." The leader trailed off, and pulled at his shirt while gulping.

"We won't let you bully us. Die to you, or have our entire family wiped out to the fifth generation. It's no choice at all really." A grim faced youth no older than 16 spit to the side, and grit his teeth fiercely.

The guards beside him reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"I see. An admirable decision. I'll make this fast then."

"Wha-" Was all the leader got out before I smacked him in the face.

I sent solid blobs at the men before me with enough force to knock them to the ground. Worse they'd suffer was a concussion.

"Come along Doppleman."

"Please kill me. My family.." A guard struggled to get up. Like a beggar, he stretched out one of his hands towards my back.

As Doppleman was about to pass him by and catch up to me, he threw the orange he had been juggling earlier at the guard's head. Knocking him out.

"You're such a troublemaker Doppleman."

In response, Doppleman mimed laughing before flying over and becoming my shadow again.

When I entered the castle, I was surprised by the wealth on display. It wasn't anything compared to the sights I'd seen at the Holy Land. However, it was impressive nonetheless. Especially since the Goa Kingdom was supposedly plagued with poverty, mountain bandits, and had a pirate problem.

The walls were adorned with exquisite paintings, beautiful glass mosaics were common, and the halls were littered with fancy looking furniture. Heck, the best part about this overly rich place was in fact, the high ceilings! I finally had some breathing room!

A place where I could actually walk that wasn't under the blue sky! I enjoyed my new height; it gave me a commanding presence. However, one of the most serious drawbacks was my inability to go into buildings, and a minus 10 to my sneak skill. Seriously, 90% of people with shadow super powers are stealth masters. Perfect thieves, and assassins, etc. Then look at me. A giant, obese monster guy. Am I even human? I had an ugly look on my face at the injustice of it all.

"Ah, mercy, mercy!" A old guy with a white mustache, and a thinning head of hair held up his hands as he plead.

"Haa?" I had been casually knocking guards to the ground on my walk through the castle when I ran into this guy cowering on the ground.

"I'm just a butler, mercy my lord!"

"A butler, hm. Then you should know where King Stelly is. Lead me to him, and you shall be spared."

"As, as you wish! Right this way." The butler placed his hand over his heart, and gave a bow. His old timey formal attire had tassels flutter behind him as he led me to an opulent room.

"Announcing the Shichibukai, Warlord of the Sea's, Gecko Moria!" Job done; the butler was quick to scurry away from the room.

Sitting on a throne, and admiring himself in a mirror, King Stelly, in all his bowl cut glory ignored me. So much for sleeping.

"Oh, you're so beautiful. I wish I could look at you forever, and ever, and ever." Stelly continued to hold the mirrior in one hand, as he stroked his face with the other.

"I love you too dear." The woman beside him, who I could only assume was his wife, took the compliment from Stelly to be one for herself.

Besides the two monarchs', there were two servants, and two more guards inside the room. While the rulers ignored me, the other four began to sweat as I let a minute go by without speaking. I was kind of curious how long it would take for this self-absorbed narcissist to recognize me.

Five minutes later, and it wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. Tragic.

"You four, leave us."

Glancing quickly between me and King Stelly, the four came to a decision unanimously, and quickly departed. When they left, I used some shadows, and closed the door behind them.

"Ahem." I coughed to get the royals attention. But it was to no avail. They didn't even notice the guards and servants leaving.

Summoning a shadow, I slapped both of them across the face.

"What?! You! How dare you do that to a royalty! Guards, kill him, guards!" Stelly foamed at the mouth after his slap.

"Guards, guards kill this ugly abomination, it's unfit for a King to lay eyes upon!" Stelly continued to shout.

Honestly, I was impressed. I doubt he knew who Gecko Moria was given his ignorance, but still. I'm a giant pale monster, and the first thing he does is insult me. I summoned a small shadow tendril. One slightly thicker than a string of yarn. In a flash, it went up the Queen's nose, and scrambled her brains. She didn't even have time to scream, her death happened so quickly.

"To keep her fresh. I can't have people notice any abnormalities about you two, you see." I gave the now horrified Stelly a crooked grin.

"You, you just harmed a noble! The World Government won't stand for this! They'll hang you from the gallows!" Stelly gripped his throne tight, and leaned back as far as he could in an attempt to distance himself from me.

"Stop! What are you doing?! No no no no! NO! NOOOOOO!"

The previous night, I had spent wearing the shadows of a dozen Impel Down convicts. Sitting in seiza, I meditated in an effort to keep the shadows surrounding me in a cohesive shape. The conflicting wills of the shadows screamed at me in rage, and yelled at me in sorrow. Each one demanding I set them free. Finally, I couldn't ignore maintain the shadow armor state, and released the shadows. Just before they were about to escape, and return to their original masters, I stretched out my arm, collecting the now drastically smaller shadows into my pockets. For my efforts, I was rewarded with an additional minute longer compared to my usual 10 minutes. Reflecting on my progress, I was interrupted from my musings by King Stelly.

"Citizens of Goa Kingdom, I am proud to announce the appointment of our very first Prime Minister! He's one of the heroes of our era. Gecko Moria!" King Stelly clapped enthusiastically as he made way for me to take center stage.

Down below, there was a sea of people packed so tightly they had no wiggle room. Practically the entire town was forced to witness my ascension.

"As Prime Minister of Goa Kingdom, I will work towards reducing poverty. Every man and woman will be provided with work! Homelessness will become nonexistent. Everyone will have a roof over their head! Thank you for your warm welcome!" I spread my arms as the crowd cheered. Who knows if it was genuine or not, what mattered was that I now had power over a kingdom. A large grin adorned my face. If the people didn't find work here, they'd find themselves employed at my factory, or underground. They'd always have a roof above their heads. I never once lied them.

Crocodile spent months plotting, and stirring up trouble in Alabasta. All that trouble, just to be defeated by an idiot rubberman who had no concept of haki. How pathetic. Truly. Meanwhile, I simply walked up to Stelly, murdered him, and converted his corpse into my loyal vassal. He was such an asshole to his servants; I doubt anyone will care about his change in mannerisms and personality.

"Ki shi shi, come along King Stelly. Your nobleman are awaiting you in the throne room."

"Of course, Moria-sam" Stelly began before I gave him the stink eye.

"Ahh, ahem, Prime Minister Moria." Stelly finished with a nervous smile.

As we entered the throne room, a throng of about a dozen nobleman and noblewoman stood huddled together in groups of three or four. I overheard several of them whispering to each other about how 'reprehensible' and 'irresponsible' my appointment was. That it was a 'disgrace to nobles everywhere.'

"Your Grace, King Stelly. We know your wisdom is boundless. We only wish that you'd consult us before appointing a Prime Minister."

"He has no dignity. At the very least, appoint a noble to the position your Grace!" A weedily voiced noble interjected.

"As your father, I must oppose this Stelly."

"Give the command Stelly." I pushed Stelly forward.

"Outrageous! How dare you touch the Monarch of the Goa Kingdom like that you upstart! Guards, seize!" One of the noble's yelled in outrage. Before he could complete his sentence, Stelly spoke up.

"Prime Minister Moria, slay these traitors! Guards! Seize the lands, properties, and businesses of the nobles of the Goa Kingdom! Imprison their families! When it comes to authority, Prime Minister Moria has my full trust, and support. His commands are my commands! He is the highest ranked official in this kingdom." Stelly interrupted the outraged noble.

"King Stelly you bastard, I helped you take the throne, and this is the thanks you repay me with!? A curse upon your house!"

"You can't do this; I have a wife. Kids! Seven kids! A beautiful red head daughter, she's only 6 just yesterday! A blue haired-urk!"

Several noble's cursed, shouted, and harangued me and Stelly. All to be cut short as my shadows made quick work of them. In less then a minute, the kingdoms nobility had been purged.

Witnessing the carnage, the guards gulped before going about their tasks.

"That could've been us…"

"Boy, I'm glad the Prime Minister held back yesterday."

"Shut the fuck up! We need to get those estates and properties under control yesterday!"

"Good work Stelly. My ship should be here later today, tomorrow at the latest. Name my first mate, Absalom as the Minister of the Interior. Give him powers and authorities second only to mine. Anything related to business or property, follow his command."

"Thank you for your trusted advice." Stelly smiled my way.

"You, butler. Take me to the treasury. Afterward, find someone to prepare a list or ledger of the King's holdings. Our new Minister of the Interior will need it."

"Yes, Prime Minister! This way." The same butler from last night bowed.

By the time we reached our destination, we entered a large chamber. Within sat a wrinkly old man. He had one of those wispy wizard beards, and was writing on a parchment while using an abacus.

"This is our treasurer, Steeles. He's our late King's bastard great uncle." The butler introduced.

"Steeles, this is our new Prime Minister. Show him the current state of the treasury."

"Not now Gerald, I'm busy! Hm, Prime Minister you say?" The old man shouted everything he said. I had a sneaking suspicion he was likely close to deaf. Joy.

"Holy smokes! My condolences my boy. Devil Fruits are known to have adverse effects from time to time, but I've never met someone as ugly as you! You'll be perfect for my niece! Lady's large as a whale, and horribly single, why!"

"Cough. This is our new Prime Minister, Gecko Moria. Steeles, he was personally selected by King Stelly. I would heavily advise you accommodate him to the best of your ability. This isn't someone you can afford to offend." The butler, Gerald began to accumulate sweat. Through my shadow reading, I could tell he was doing everything he could to warn Steeles of the potential danger he was in.

"Nonsense Gerald! The kingdom couldn't run without me! Even that fool, boy King Stelly knows who butters his bread!" Steeles cackled as the abacus continued to clack away.

"You don't understand Steeles the Prime Minister, he is…" Gerald trailed off.

"Don't keep me in suspense man! He is…what, fat? Anyone with eyes could see that!" Steeles guffawed.

I don't know if it's a super power or a disability to have this many people ignore me, but this is ridiculous. Unlike Stelly, I was hesitant to straight up murder this guy. At least not until all of his knowledge was placed solely in Absalom's hands. By then, I wouldn't have to interact with him, so killing him might be more detrimental than helpful.

With a sigh, I slapped the old man upside his head.

"I just purged all the nobles on King Stelly's command. You're related to the nobility, quit slacking about or get in line. What's it going to be?" I narrowed my eyes as my shadows formed a vice like grip around his neck.

"I'm old, I've lived through three kings! Like I give a shit!" The old guy spit at me, even as he was slowly being strangled to death.

"As you wish." I released my hold on him, and pulled his shadow to me. After a quick snip, Steeles fell unconscious. I turned to the butler.

"Sorry about this." A shadow javelin pierced his heart, causing the butler to fall down dead.

Grasping the still wriggling shadow in hand, I stuffed it into the corpse of the butler. It's a shame, but some people refuse to be intimidated. I had considered absorbing the shadow myself, but then I would only have the abilities of a treasurer, not the memories. Implanting a shadow into a zombie would give basic memories for a day or two before they dissipated. Luffy's shadow wanted meat, wanted to become Pirate King, and knew who Sanji was. I was banking on the same concept to get this treasury zombie to work for me. A day's memories were all I needed.

After my usual spiel of loyalty, and imprinting the shadow with my commands, I was ready to review the treasury.

"Okay treasury zombie, give me a summary of King Stelly's holdings." I rubbed my temples, the whole interaction between the butler and treasurer was much more rigmarole than I had expected.

"Of course, Moria-sama. Currently, the treasury has over 300 million beri's worth of liquid cash. Additionally, we hold gold bars, gems, and precious minerals estimated at over 500 million stored further down. The King personally has a stake in more than half of all local businesses, owns a coal mine, and collects rent from a quarter of the apartments. Including costs, King Stelly typically earns over 100 million in profit from his businesses alone." Treasury zombie went over a ledger he had collected from the unconscious Steeles.

"And what about taxes? How much does the King collect, and how much do we pay the World Noble's in tribute?"

"We collect 10 million beri from the local nobles. Port tax generates 5 million. Coal tax generates 12 million. And finally, our taxman directly collects 25 million from the populace every year. For a total of 52 million beri. The World Government demands we pay 30 million every year, or we risk withdrawing from the World Government. Worse, the Marine's may depose King Stelly, and place their own puppet monarch."

"Hm, seems the World Government likes that 30 million number. The Goa Kingdom must pay that amount, and the same is demanded of me. Small world." I muttered to myself.

"Moria-sama."

"Hm, you say something treasury zombie?"

"No sir."

"Moria-sama." The same voice from earlier repeated itself.

Ah, it's the mice! Through my shadow reading ability, I had finally noticed the tiny mice crawling near my shoes.

"Ah, spy mouse, you have something to report?" I held out my hand, and held the mouse close to my face. Just what could this thing discover in a day that it thought it was important enough to report to me?

"That's right Moria-sama, I did just as you commanded! While sniffing around in a bar, I heard some rumors. That in a nearby mountain range, a disgraced Marine martial arts master has formed a bandit group."

"How certain of this are you mouse? Did you catch the name of this Marine?" I looked at the shadow inside the mouse for any deception.

"Squeak! Very certain! The story teller had a fresh bandage around a missing arm. Blood was still dripping through the wrappings. As to the name of the former Marine, it was, Saga."

Interesting, maybe I'll soon find myself with some new workers, and a powerful shadow. Clearing the nearby region of bandits and pirates was one of my goals for two reasons. First, to supplement my army with new bodies or shadows. Second, to generate some good will among the populace. If I'm lucky, this will also translate towards a more efficient workforce.

"I've decided. Mouse, direct me to this Saga's location."

"Squeak! I'm a rat, not a mouse!"

"Whatever you say mouse."

"Squeak, squeak!"

"Do you have any further orders for me Lord Prime Minister?" The treasury zombie interrupted.

"Ah, I forgot you were here. As a matter of fact, there is. Prepare the ledger, and all relevant information regarding the economy of Goa Kingdom. I'm expecting my chief manager, Absalom to arrive later today, tomorrow at the latest. Hand all the relevant information to him, and help him with whatever he asks."

"Yes sir!"

Looking around, I spotted a den den mushi resting on Steeles's table.

"Ah, I should've taken one of these with me. What if there was an emergency on Thriller Bark, and Absalom couldn't contact me?" Picking the snail up, I gave Absalom a call.

"Hello, who is this? How did you get this number?" Absalom's voice shouted from the other end.

"It's me."

"Moria-sama! You left us worried after your sudden departure. All is well I hope?"

"Everything is going according to plan. I've become Prime Minister of Goa Kingdom, and all of our financial woes are at an end. Hurry here, and review the treasury. I've appointed you as a cabinet member, and purged all of the obstacles standing in our way. You have authority to command the people as you please. However, I'm trying to build a public image as being fair. Don't mess this up, don't go hogwild."

"Hueh! Heahrk!.Kerah!." Sounds of gagging and barfing were taking place on the other end.

"Absalom, are you okay? Are you being held hostage?" Concern entered my voice as I prepared to launch myself in Absalom's direction. No one was going to threaten my crew. My island, and base of operations!

"Ah, no, everything's okay, uhh, Blue just fed me the worst soup of my life. But I'll get better! You have no worries Captain, I won't go hogwild, I can assure you!" Absalom sounded more serious than usual, and repeatedly denied he'd do anything untoward.

"Hmmm. Call this den den mushi if you're in trouble, and pass the number around to Hogback and Perona too. I'm going into the nearby mountains and see if I can't wrangle up some new recruits."

"Happy hunting Captain!"

I had taken flight, directly leaving town for the hills. Within five minutes, I had locked on to my target.

"That way, Moria-sama. They're just over that ridge." The spy rat pointed its small pink finger towards a hill.

Down below, I spotted a hundred men drilling with a sword in a clearing. I lowered my surfboard shaped shadow a bit, and jumped off.

"Squeak! We're going to die!" The rat in my hand cried out in terror.

Voom!

With a crash, I tore into the middle of the training square. Dust spilled out in every direction, obscuring my visibility.

"Good thing I don't need to see to read." I closed my eyes, and focused solely on the shadows near my position. In combination with my current level of haki, I knew exactly where everyone was within a hundred meters.

"Tentacle Explosion!" I thrust my hands to the side, and a swarm of tree branch shaped shadowy tendrils rushed outward. In an instant, all one hundred of the shell-shocked bandits fell dead to my attack.

"Tentacle Explosion." The rat asked in a deadpan voice.

"I've had enough of the backseat driving mouse into the pocket you go." Stuffing the rat into my pocket, I took stock of the battlefield. After the dust blew away, I saw a sea of corpses. All in all, this was easier than I thought. Then again, it is the East Blue.

"Ah, my mistake. I got 99 of them." Standing furthest from the epicenter of my attack, a silver haired tan guy, who was in a red ancient chinese style vest.

The branch I had shot out towards the guy had been sliced to pieces.

"You must be Saga." I stood still as I directed the remaining tree branch shaped shadows at Saga.

They looped behind his back, from above, and beneath. The tree branch shaped shadows swiped at him all to no avail. At every turn, he would dodge, duck, and weave at just the right time. Whenever there was a gap in my attack, he would slash at the shadow, and dissipate it. Over time, Saga destroyed nearly all of the shadows I had spawned earlier. During his fight, I noticed his right arm hung ragged in the wind, completely useless.

"This is nothing! Youkazan!" With a shout, Saga launched a wave of fire at the remaining shadows, utterly destroying them.

"That's a nice sword you've got there, is it master grade?"

"Pathetic worm. Your attack was useless! Prepare yourself. You'll make a beautiful sacrifice for Shichiseiken!" Saga launched several fireballs my way in succession.

In response to the flames, I formed some shadows in front of me, and had them spin in a vortex, completely nullifying Saga's fiery attack. I then took the shadows formed from the vortex, and launched a swarm of brick bats at Saga. He destroyed all but one of them easily. The bat that got through began to chew on his ankle before he destroyed it.

"Enough with these parlor tricks!" Saga shouted as he charged in my direction once he realized he'd lost the ranged game.

"Ki shi shi shi, I'm surprised you would have the spine to attack me so ruthlessly. You don't recognize me? I thought you were an ex-Marine?!" I pulled out my dual swords, and lunged at Saga.

"Should I recognize every random who falls before my blade?" Saga smirked as he closed with me, and we began to trade blows.

After numerous clashes, there was no clear victor. Fighting this guy was similar to my fight with Cigar Guy back at Marineford. This Saga was more skilled than me with a blade, his footwork was indeed superb. It even felt like he occasionally could predict my attacks. I doubted he had haki, but even with mine, it was slightly difficult to get an accurate read on the guy. As we locked swords in a power struggle, I easily overwhelmed him in strength. With little struggle, I flung Saga backwards, and into the side of a mountain.

"And what of your crew?" I questioned.

Extricating himself from the human shaped hole his body had created, Saga stretched his shoulders as he scowled at me in irritation.

"Weaklings holding me back! With this blade, I will become Emperor of the World!" After his declaration, Saga began to yell fiercely as a wild green glow began to intensify all over his sword.

Rushing forward, it appeared that he wanted to exchange blows with me once more. Through shadow reading, I could get a vague sense of his intensions. Looks like he was sour over losing our last power clash! He wanted to blow me up in a torrent of flame the next time our blades met. Very well, I'll give him his wish. An evil grin appeared on my face as I moved to meet him.

After a few more swipes, we once more locked swords.

"Youkazan!" A bright green, fiery inferno exploded out of Saga's sword. The small mountain he had crashed into earlier had been reduced to molten slag by the intensity of the heat.

"Ha, ha. Trash like that belongs in the incinerator." Breathing heavily from the fight, Saga sheathed his sword, and turned around to count his losses.

In the process of turning around, Saga bounced right off my belly, and fell on his ass.

"Hey."

Saga took a deep breath, and stood up, unsheathing his sword. He took a defensive position for the first time since the fight began. "I saw you burn to death. Not even your shadow survived the power of Shichiseiken. So how? How are you still alive?"

With narrowed eyes, Saga asked his question with a cool confidence.

His will to win still hasn't been extinguished. Ha ha, this kid! He wants me to talk, and buy himself some time to heal from his exhaustion! I'll play that game. Soon, Saga, you'll discover your hope is a false messiah.

"I'm a devil fruit user. Mine is called the kage-kage no mi. I'm the ruler of shadows, I can generate, and control shadows among other things. What you saw disintegrate was my shadow. Ki shi shi shi" Without explicitly explaining things, I let him come to his own conclusion as to how I escaped his attack.

Slowly stepping backwards towards the corpses of his dead crew, Saga kept asking me questions.

"And you said you were surprised I hadn't recognized you. I've lived in these hills for the last month, should I recognize you?" Now upon the corpses, Saga stuck his blade in one of the corpses. He leaned deeply into his sword, acting like he was completely exhausted. Through shadow reading, I could tell that the blood from the corpse was entering the sword, and restoring his energy.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised then that you didn't recognize me. My wanted poster is ancient, and I haven't made a public appearance in more than a decade. You may be familiar with this name. Gecko Moria, Royal Shichibukai." I grinned as Saga's face began to change in dawning recognition.

"That's right, it's no wonder your defeat is certain. My former bounty of over 320 million beri."

"I don't believe you." A disinterested Saga moved on to the next corpse once the first one had dried up.

I took a deep breath, and exhaled.

"I'm fine. Everything is fine now." I spoke aloud to myself.

"Hm hm hm. Call yourself whatever you want, fool. Gecko Moria, Whitebeard, the Hero Garp. Makes no difference to me. Trash will always be trash! While you were busy answering my questions, the holy sword Shichiseiken has completely healed all wounds, and returned my energy!" Saga began to laugh like a madman, as his sword charged with an even stronger glow than last time.

"This is the end! You're one small step on my road to hegemony!" Saga charged forward.

"Kuh!" Saga spit out a massive goblet of blood.

Mid charge, Saga fell to the ground. My shadowed clawed fingers had gone clean through his chest. The tip of each of my fingers was wider than your average sword. I held Saga aloft before flinging him to the side.

"Kuh!" Spitting out another bucketful of blood, Saga climbed to his knees.

My entire form was clad in shadow armor as I stared deep into Saga's eyes. Standing silently, I flicked the blood off my hand in contempt. As if that was some sort of signal, Saga roared to his feet.

"I am the future Emperor! I will not be held back!" Saga's silver hair grew to his waist, his muscles bulged from an even toned form to body builder worthy, and a red tint shaded his eyes as he lost all reason.

Faster than he'd ever moved before, Saga launched a combination of fireballs, fireblasts, and flame slices at me. While launching these elemental attacks, Saga moved to close distance with me.

It wasn't enough. For each of his attacks, I perfectly side stepped each fireball, fireblast, and flame slice. Those that got close, I went flat with the ground to easily avoid. When Saga got close, I teleported into his shadow, and raked my claws across his back.

"Aargh!" Saga cried out like a wounded animal. His attacks became much wilder and more ferocious. The surrounding landscape was utterly pulverized. What he lacked in precision, he more than made up for in attack power.

Again, he attempted to close with me. Again, I teleported to his shadow. This time, he launched a scathing inferno right when I teleported behind him. In that split second, I replaced myself with the nearby Doppleman. With his back still turned, I lashed out, and cut all of his tendons with blades of shadow.

Like a puppet with its strings detached, Saga dropped to the ground, unable to move. He struggled and thrashed, defying the fate he had found himself in. With the power of my shadow, I took no chances, and took the sword away from him. Less than a minute later, Saga's vigorous struggling came to an end. His hair had shrunk back down, and his muscles deflated like a balloon bereft of air.

In return, I dissipated my shadow armor, and looked down at the man. Remarkably, he was still conscious.

"Ordinarily, I wouldn't use my ultimate technique lightly. But for you, I had to make an exception. To truly understand the gap in power between us, and the powers you would face in the New World. You have much to learn before even thinking about conquest. You're young still, and have plenty of time to grow. Some of the Yonko didn't achieve their current status until their 30's, maybe even their 40's. You're what, in your early 20's? You have time to learn and grow.

Join my crew Saga! I don't require you to be loyal. I do expect you to obey orders. I respect your dream Saga, most people make fun of those who wish to conquer the world. While I don't know if you'll succeed, yours is a future with great potential. Don't let it end here in the weakest Blue. Nod if you agree, and I can save you. Otherwise, it's as you've said, this is the end."

AN: Saga is from the 5th One Piece Movie. I used my author powers to change some of his abilities/the timeline.

If Moria ever went to Skypiea, how do you think he should cheese their technology? How could a zombie exploit explosives to the max?

Moria 2020. "Everyone will have a roof over their head."