Chapter 18: Akainu's Sense of Crisis, Taking Luffy Seriously for the First Time!

Moria's terrifying demeanor certainly frightened everyone.

Although the image was horrifying, it made countless people in different regions and countries watching the live broadcast gasp.

Everyone believed that the Straw Hat crew would fail in this battle.

After all, they had already expended so much effort just to deal with Oars.

Even Luffy, the captain, was exhausted...

But now, Moria not only remained standing, but had also absorbed a thousand shadows, becoming even more terrifying!

What could the Straw Hat crew do to fight him?

Even if the scene before them was touching and moving.

The outcome of this battle would likely still end in Moria's victory.

Many of the Navy and pirates thought so...

But some others had slightly different opinions.

Whitebeard looked up at the sky, narrowing his eyes, "Moria's at the end of his rope, his power is almost depleted."

Many captains looked over, as if it was unbelievable.

At least from the image, Moria's momentum was terrifying.

How could he be at the end of his rope?

"Are you kidding, Pops? He swallowed a thousand shadows!"

"You've got it wrong, it should be the Straw Hats who are at the end of their rope..."

Whitebeard laughed at their words.

"Moria has lost his mind, and he's on the verge of going berserk."

"With his personality, he wouldn't take action himself unless he was at the end of his rope."

"Moreover, he's been controlling Oars, constantly exerting effort. Now, revealing his last resort is an act of desperation."

"Controlling a thousand other people's shadows also means containing the power of a thousand people."

"This might not be a good thing. Maybe... it's a bad thing?"

"Being able to push Moria to this extent, the Straw Hat kid has indeed caught my eye..."

Hearing Whitebeard's words, the people on the ship were also deep in thought.

They all trusted Whitebeard, including his words.

Pops was far stronger than any of them, and he could see more issues.

If Pops said so, there must be a possibility.

Perhaps this battle would indeed have a different outcome...

And those who agreed with Whitebeard included Sengoku, Garp, and others...

Because those who were far stronger than Moria knew that he couldn't maintain this form for long.

It might not even last as long as Luffy's ten-minute persistence.

Even though his power was now terrifying, the more the battle went on, the more out of control he would become.

As long as Luffy and the others could hold on, Moria might even self-destruct!

Of course, apart from them, almost everyone else was pessimistic about Luffy's battle!

Simply because the gap between the two sides was too large...

[Although the Straw Hats' unwillingness to leave affected Lola and other pirates, they couldn't believe that the scale of victory would tip in their favor.]

[After all, Moria had absorbed a full thousand shadows, including the Straw Hats' shadows!]

[How could they possibly defeat him?]

[Many pirates still couldn't hide their fearful expressions, and some even shouted at Luffy and the others, urging them to run together!]

[But these words fell on deaf ears among the Straw Hats.]

[Only Zoro, who was getting annoyed by the clamor, coldly replied: "If you want to watch, just watch quietly. We're going to win this battle!"]

[His determined expression and confident words left all the pirates speechless...]

[They didn't know what Luffy and the others had to win with, and they probably thought it was just bravado before their deaths...]

[But only Luffy and his crew knew that what they were afraid of wasn't the transformed Moria, but the sunlight!]

[Having lost their shadows, they feared the sunlight. Moria was already at his breaking point and could collapse at any moment.]

[The most crucial issue now was whether they could defeat Moria and reclaim their shadows first or be annihilated by the sunlight.]

[Moria had reached the peak of his rage, and his only thought was to kill everyone in sight!]

[Just as he was about to attack, Luffy and the others... sprang into action!]

[Luffy activated Gear Second and, in an instant, charged at Moria!]

[A powerful burst sent Moria flying backward, and he coughed up some shadows from his mouth.]

[Following that, Zoro, Sanji, Robin, and the others joined in, one after another, launching their attacks on Moria!]

[Moria, who was taking the brunt of their attacks, continuously spat out one shadow after another.]

[In a short amount of time, he had coughed up the shadows of over a hundred people.]

[As he lost more shadows, Moria found it increasingly difficult to control his power...]

[After all, a person's limit is always finite, and his control over the shadows was weakening, and his will was fading...]

As the broadcast continued, countless people were once again shocked...

The battle's beginning was nothing like what they had imagined!

Moria's transformation had made him terrifyingly powerful, but against all odds, Luffy and his crew seemed to grow stronger with each passing moment!

This development... didn't seem right, did it?

Especially at the Marine Headquarters, apart from Garp and Sengoku, who were prepared for this outcome.

The Warlords of the Sea, including Akainu, Kizaru, and Aokiji, were all visibly taken aback by this turn of events.

Akainu, in particular, instantly changed his expression.

His face visibly turned a dark shade of green.

Garp's grandson seemed to be more of a threat than he had initially thought...