One Piece: From Ninja To Pirates

As Moria completely lost consciousness, a massive number of Shadows flew out from his mouth, scattering in all directions to return to their original owners.

Among them, a group of Shadows flew straight toward Echo and the others.

"Ah!!"

"Amazing, it’s our Shadows!!"

"Hahahaha, we won!!"

The crowd erupted in excited cheers, overwhelmed with the relief of having narrowly escaped disaster.

After struggling for so long, they had finally reclaimed their Shadows with the help of the Straw Hat Boy!!

This was... truly wonderful!!

Meanwhile, Meiser quickly checked Luffy’s condition at the edge of the massive crater. Seeing that he had no life-threatening injuries, he quietly sighed in relief.

It seemed the power of the Gomu-Gomu Fruit had helped Luffy withstand most of the damage...

Otherwise, that terrifying force—capable of shattering the ground with a single punch—would have been enough to break a person apart!

"As expected of you, Luffy."

After saying this, Meiser crouched down, hauled Luffy up, and slung him over his back before leaping out of the enormous crater.

"Did I win?"

"Yeah, you won!"

"That’s great..."

Luffy suddenly grinned before promptly dozing off, resting peacefully on Meiser’s shoulder.

"Hey, how’s the Straw Hat Boy doing?"

Seeing Meiser carrying Luffy over, Echo and the others immediately crowded around. "Is he okay?"

This guy was the hero who had helped them defeat Moria—Echo didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

"Don’t worry, he’s not in any danger," Meiser assured.

"That’s a relief..."

"That’s amazing!!"

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from their faces.

Since the Straw Hat Boy was fine, it meant their battle had ended in complete victory!!

"Huh?!"

"Meiser, you’re a doctor too?"

Chopper stared at Meiser in shock—this was the first time he’d heard about this.

"I just know some Medical Ninja Techniques and battlefield first aid," Meiser chuckled. "I can’t compare to the famous doctor Chopper~"

"Famous doctor? Pfft..."

Chopper’s body wriggled with embarrassment as he muttered, "Even if you praise me like that, I won’t be happy, you jerk~"

"Hahahaha!"

Seeing Chopper’s reaction, everyone burst into laughter—this wasn’t "not happy," this was pure, uncontainable joy!

"Hey~"

"Meiser, since you’re also a doctor, let’s exchange knowledge more often from now on~" Chopper blinked eagerly.

"Sure, no problem, Dr. Chopper~" As he spoke, Meiser laid Luffy down on a stone slab before turning to Chopper. "You can check Luffy’s condition too."

Not one to hesitate, Chopper immediately stepped forward to examine Luffy before nodding. "Yeah, nothing serious—just exhaustion."

"Based on past experience, Luffy should wake up after about three days of rest."

Hearing this, the others relaxed even further.

At that moment, an elderly man approached shakily, tears streaming down his face as he said, "Thank you so much... Without you, I would never have had the chance to walk under the sunlight again..."

With his current strength, he couldn’t even defeat one of Moria’s shadow zombies, let alone Moria himself.

Not only that, but his condition was extremely poor... Without the Straw Hat Pirates, he would have been lucky to live another month at most.

"That’s right, everyone, thank you!!"

Lola and the others bowed deeply to the Straw Hat Pirates, expressing their sincere gratitude.

"Don’t mention it," Zoro waved his hand dismissively. "We weren’t just fighting for you—we were fighting for ourselves too."

As he spoke, Zoro drew the sword from his waist and walked over to Tooth. "Thanks for the sword."

"Don’t mention it..."

"This is a fine blade. Take good care of it."

"Don’t worry, Pirate Hunter!" Tooth said earnestly. "I’ll treat it well."

"Good."

After giving Tooth’s shoulder a firm pat, Zoro smiled and returned to his crewmates.

Tooth, meanwhile, carefully stowed away the weapon with great reverence.

At that moment, he recalled something an old man he had once met had told him:

(Treat your weapon like you would treat your lover!)

From this day forward, this blade would be his lover!

Meiser chuckled as he glanced at Tooth. "We’re friends—no need to be so formal with us."

"Even so," Lola shook her head, "we didn’t contribute much in the end. We still owe you our thanks."

"Oh, right—would you like some treasure?" Lola offered. "We don’t have much saved up, but we’re willing to give it all to you."

At the mention of treasure, Meiser’s lips twitched, and he instinctively looked at Nami.

But to his surprise, this time, Nami didn’t show her usual greedy side.

"Lola..." Nami walked up to Lola with a smile, taking her hand. "Like Meiser said, there’s no need to be polite with us~"

"You can keep your treasure—we don’t need it."

Lola blinked in astonishment. They didn’t want treasure?

"Eh?!" Usopp gaped at Nami in shock. "Nami... isn’t being greedy?!"

"Am I dreaming?"

"Hey, Usopp, pinch me."

Without hesitation, Usopp pinched Chopper.

"Ow... That hurt, so it’s not a dream..."

The two exchanged glances before eyeing Nami suspiciously. Had she been replaced by someone else?

"What’s with those looks?!" Nami glared.

Instantly, the aura of a demon queen radiated from her, making Usopp and Chopper tremble in fear.

Ah, that’s more like it—still the same witch.

After a cold huff, Nami turned back to Lola, her expression softening again. "Lola saved me before, so of course I wouldn’t take her treasure."

"Don’t be so distant with me, alright~?"

In the previous battles, Lola had saved her multiple times from the General Zombies, and she remembered this kindness.

Moreover, Meiser had said they were all friends. Since they were friends... how could she possibly take their money?

Lola blinked, thought for a moment, and said, "Then let us help you move Moria’s treasures onto your ship."

"And food supplies too."

She still remembered how the Straw Hat Pirates’ ship had been emptied of all its food.

The distance to Sabaody Archipelago wasn’t short, and going without food would be miserable.

"Heh, I’ve already taken Moria’s share~" Nami stuck out her tongue. "Including the food and everything."

"That’s right, it’s all with me~" Merry raised her small hand.

Her Space Pocket was currently filled with a massive amount of supplies, all obtained from Moria just moments ago.

Just as Meiser had said earlier, Moria had truly coughed up everything, principal and interest combined.

"Are you a Devil Fruit user?"

"Nope~" Merry laughed. "I’m a Ship Spirit!"

"Eh?!"

"Whaaat?!"

Lola stared at Merry in shock, her face full of disbelief. "A Ship Spirit?!"

"You’re actually a Ship Spirit?"

She had noticed earlier that this little girl looked rather unique, but she hadn’t paid it much mind—after all, the seas were vast, and people of all appearances existed.

But this turned out to be the legendary Ship Spirit?

"No wonder you were traveling with such a little girl..." Echo gulped. "To think it was the legendary Ship Spirit..."

He had initially assumed she was the child of one of the Straw Hat Pirates, but she was actually one of those mythical beings?!

"Honestly, this is my first time seeing a Ship Spirit."

"Same here. I always thought they were just legends—who knew they were real..."

"So adorable..."

"This is a living legend!"

Everyone chimed in, marveling at the miracle of the Ship Spirit.

Lola looked at the adorable Little Merry and suddenly smiled. At this moment, she began to believe that the Straw Hat Boy could become the Pirate King.

After all... even her mother’s pirate ship had never given birth to a Ship Spirit.

"But why does a Ship Spirit have spatial abilities?" Tooth asked, puzzled.

"I don’t know," Merry shook her head. "I just have it."

"An innate talent, then..."

That made sense. It would be strange if such a legendary being didn’t possess some special ability.

"It’s just a shame Moria’s treasure was a bit lacking," Nami said, her smile fading. "I estimate it’s only worth about two or three hundred million Berries."

This was quite different from what she had imagined. She had assumed someone of the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea’s caliber would possess vast riches.

After all... this was one of the Seven Warlords!!

"I think I can guess the reason," Nico Robin said.

"Oh?"

"What reason?"

"Moria has a habit of using corpses to create zombies," Nico Robin explained. "That means he needs to collect the bodies of strong individuals from all over the world. But obtaining the corpses of powerful figures isn’t easy, so he likely spent money on intelligence gathering."

"His money—probably all went into this."

"Hmm, I think Robin’s reasoning makes sense," Meiser nodded.

Otherwise, there really was no explanation for why Moria’s funds here were so meager. After all, a hundred ships disappeared in these waters every year! Even if they were all ordinary vessels, the money couldn’t possibly be this little.

"Damn it, to think he used my money to buy that kind of thing..." Nami gritted her teeth. "That bastard Moria!"

The others:

...Your money?

"How obsessed with money can she be..." Echo muttered.

"Enough to resist Negative Spirits with it. What do you think?"

Echo: "..."

Echo made a complicated expression, at a loss for words.

"Alright, once Luffy wakes up, we’ll—" Before Meiser could finish, he suddenly turned sharply toward a high point, as if sensing something. "This guy..."

Meiser’s eyes instantly sharpened with vigilance. When had this guy appeared? Teleportation? What kind of Devil Fruit ability was this?

"What’s wrong?"

"Uh..."

Following Meiser’s gaze, the group immediately spotted a massive figure sitting atop the tower, holding a Den Den Mushi.

"He... he’s...!!"

Echo fell backward onto the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

"What’s the matter?"

"Hey, who is that guy?"

"One of the Royal Shichibukai... Bartholomew Kuma!!" Lola gulped. "An incredibly powerful being!"

Even in the New World, few dared to provoke someone like him... Why was he here?!

"A Shichibukai?!"

"Hey, why is another Shichibukai showing up?!"

Usopp was completely rattled, a sense of despair creeping over him. They were already exhausted from fighting Moria, and Luffy was in a deep sleep! And now, another enemy of this caliber? How were they supposed to fight this?!

"Prepare for battle!!" Zoro roared.

He didn’t know why this guy was here, but he wasn’t naive enough to think he’d just come to spectate. If this Shichibukai intended to attack, they’d have no choice but to fight with everything they had.

"This is... really a terrible situation."