Barto subconsciously tapped the little red dot.
In an instant, the screen seemed to go insane, rapidly unfolding upward until the information above stopped at the last point Barto had read. Only then did he begin to read seriously.
Displayed on the screen were real-name avatars and each person's group nickname.
New King of the Giants · Hajrudin: "No, what is going on!? Moria, are you sure Lord Red agreed to let you attack Elbaf!?"
Lord of the Shadow Stream · Moria: "Of course! Do you think I have the free time to amuse weaklings like you!?"
New King of the Giants · Hajrudin: "Impossible! There must be some misunderstanding here! I'm going to ask Lord Red!"
Amazon Empress · Hancock: "No need to ask! Lord Red already messaged me just now. Moria is not lying."
"It's just different from what you all understood. Lord Red's order was never to attack Elbaf at all. He merely wants Moria to take down that lunatic of Elbaf, Loki!"
Lord of the Shadow Stream · Moria: "Tch~ Meddlesome woman!"
New King of the Giants · Hajrudin: "So that's how it is~ As long as it isn't an attack on Elbaf itself, then there's no problem."
Clown Emperor · Buggy: "Hey, aren't you being a little too heartless? If I remember right, that Loki is your own brother, isn't he?"
New King of the Giants · Hajrudin: "Hmph. I have no brother who murdered his father."
"And besides…"
"If Lord Red's order is to deal with that guy, then I, Hajrudin, and the New Giant Warrior Pirates absolutely have to come lend support!"
Lord of the Shadow Stream · Moria: "Heh heh~ Come, all of you! This is the perfect chance to let you witness the might of Pluton!"
Glutton Girl · Bonney: "What? You really dug out that antique? It's been left unused for so long. Can it still even work?!"
Lord of the Shadow Stream · Moria: "Heh heh. You want to know the power of an Ancient Weapon, do you?! If you do, then come to Elbaf! I'll display everything there!"
New King of the Giants · Hajrudin: "N-no… don't say any more! Senior Moria, please, you must let me accompany you this time. I will do everything I can to persuade the warriors of Elbaf to join the Straw Hat Pirates."
Surgeon of Death · Law: "Looks like the lords of the Straw Hat crew intend to make Elbaf choose a side early. After all, it is famously the strongest nation in the world. At a time like this, trying to remain invisible probably isn't possible…"
"..."
"..."
"So that's what happened~"
Half an hour later, having accomplished the grand feat of scrolling back through the entire chat, Barto nodded in understanding. He now had a rough idea of the cause and course of the whole affair.
Put simply, after obtaining Pluton, Moria seemed eager to render a great service to the Straw Hat Pirates, so he submitted a request to Red to bring Elbaf under their control, and received approval.
Afterward, Lord Red seemed uneasy about Moria acting alone, so he told him to contact other members of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet to accompany him, and specifically instructed the Pirate Empress, Hancock, a former fellow Warlord of the Sea, to go along and oversee the situation.
Upon receiving the order, Moria instantly acted like a eunuch entrusted with holy duty and announced the matter in the Straw Hat Grand Fleet captains' group chat.
Ever since Red had the Scientific Research Corps develop a group-chat function for the Personal Terminals, these captains had spent no small amount of time boasting and joking around in the group. Now that a rare serious matter had appeared, it immediately drew everyone's attention and sparked a heated discussion.
At first, everyone was still discussing the matter very seriously. Hajrudin, as Elbaf's hidden prince, even directly proposed accompanying them to prevent Moria and the others from actually clashing with Elbaf and causing casualties among the Giants.
However, after Law brought up the topic of "choosing sides," the mood of the later discussion instantly changed.
What began as wanting to see Moria's abilities somehow turned into forcing Elbaf to choose a side.
After all, they were pirates. And not just ordinary pirates, but powerful pirates who had joined the banner of the largest pirate crew in the world…
Very quickly, the contents of the group chat became: Elbaf had to bow its head, submit, and obey the orders of the Straw Hats.
And so, in order to achieve that effect, the overwhelming majority of captains who had nothing urgent to do chose to sign up to support Moria.
Even those who were busy with work at hand said they would wrap things up as soon as possible and head to Elbaf.
For a moment, a massive force that could still make the seas tremble three times over even without the Straw Hats themselves appearing quietly began to gather.
...
...
At the same time.
Out on the drifting sea, Moria shut off his Personal Terminal and stared blankly at the empty wall in front of him. Then he blinked in astonishment.
"How did things turn into this?"
"No, wait. Didn't I just want to find a few people to come watch the show? How did it suddenly get blown up this big…"
"Now, if this ends sloppily, I'll lose face in a huge way!"
Moria's face was full of worry.
At this moment, he even regretted proposing the idea of bringing Elbaf under control to Red.
In truth, after the last trip to Mary Geoise, once Red discovered that the World Government was continuously gathering Devil Fruit users, he realized something as well…
Although Devil Fruit users no longer posed any threat to the few of them, the current Straw Hat Pirates no longer referred only to Luffy and the others.
They had already become a massive global force, so naturally, the things that had to be considered could not be measured solely by the standards of Luffy's small group.
Therefore, in order to prevent members of the Straw Hats from being bullied outside, Red likewise gave an order: any members of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet who did not have specific work were to set sail and search for Devil Fruit users and Devil Fruits.
Those who could be taken under their command should be taken under their command. Those who could be communicated with should be communicated with. If that truly failed, they were to be brought back to the Pokémon Sea and made to settle in a fixed location. Perhaps one day, there would be a time when their abilities would prove useful.
As for those still fantasizing about becoming kings and emperors, about dominating a region with their Devil Fruit abilities, he could only regretfully inform them that their dreams had been shattered.
What awaited them in the end was being imprisoned and used as experimental materials until they were willing to behave obediently.
Put simply, every member of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet currently had their own matters to handle.
Moria never would have expected that at such a critical juncture, a single signal from him would summon thousands upon thousands to his side.
This was seriously damned ridiculous~
This was not the result he wanted.
"Forget it. Since things have come to this, I can only grit my teeth and push forward!"
"But if those guys are all coming, I absolutely cannot mess this up. Otherwise, they'll laugh me to death!"
Though Moria was very unwilling to admit it, he had no choice but to admire Red's eye for people.
In the current Straw Hat Grand Fleet, aside from the two veteran Warlords of the Sea, himself and Hancock, all kinds of strong people were also springing up like bamboo shoots after the rain, making their names one after another. Their talent was so terrifyingly strong that even Moria sometimes could not help feeling jealous.
Buggy, the humanoid incubus, could gather a crowd of underlings wherever he went. There were even plenty of members who originally belonged to other pirate crews under the Straw Hat Grand Fleet who, after drinking with him a few times, somehow joined Buggy's command. It was absurd beyond reason.
Barto, with his absolute defense, wielded the Barrier-Barrier Fruit in a way that made countless powerful warriors keep their distance. Yet the man was also outrageously infuriating, making people unable to stop themselves from wanting to hit him, only to waste all their strength against his barriers in vain.
Law, the Surgeon of Death, was clearly still young, yet had completed the awakening of his Devil Fruit ability early on. Paired with Psychic-type moves, his spatial tricks left every enemy completely baffled—physically unable to touch him.
Bonney, the Girl of Time, was said to have an unknown true age. Even within the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, it remained a secret. Yet her ability was strange and powerful… and most importantly, she had a father, Kuma, whose status stood on the same level as Moria and Hancock~
Although Kuma had now returned to the Revolutionary Army's side to contribute to the revolutionary cause, that not only failed to diminish Bonney's value, but instead made her seem even more formidable.
After all, behind her stood the upper ranks of the Revolutionary Army.
At the very least, in the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, aside from Buggy, who had sworn brotherhood with Red-Haired Shanks, no one else had such an impressive background.
Oh, no. Hajrudin probably counted as one too, but he was honestly too weak, so he could be ignored.
As for the others—Castle Man Bege, Tyrannosaurus X Drake, White Horse Swordsman Cavendish, Swamp Demon Caribou…
Perhaps it was because they had not been part of the Grand Fleet for long, or perhaps because of some other reason. Although they were not currently as famous as the people above, they were still powerful figures who could not be underestimated.
It could be said that even Moria, as powerful as he was now, did not dare claim with one hundred percent certainty that he could defeat any one of the people listed above.
After all, he was not the only one who had received the enhancement of Pokémon power!
"No. I need to properly find someone to discuss this with."
"After all, this is an event I organized. If I mess it up, it'll be over!"
After thinking it over and over, Moria ultimately decided to release the pressure in his heart.
As for who he would release it onto?
Naturally, his dear subordinates!
He was no longer the failure of the past who shouldered everything alone.
A truly powerful person was never stingy about seeking help from the weak.
This was something he had learned from Red.
Very soon, a small meeting belonging exclusively to the Moonlight Pirates was held in Moria's office.
Perona, Hogback, Absalom, and the baffled Carina sat one after another opposite Moria.
After listening to Moria finish explaining his worries, the four of them immediately revealed different expressions.
Perona looked worried. She was the quickest to empathize with Moria, though whether that was because her own way of thinking was similarly abnormal was unknown.
But since she only had her ghost techniques, she could only be like Moria and place her hopes in others.
Hogback, on the other hand, looked excited. Even wearing black sunglasses, one could still see the light flickering beneath them, as if he were pondering something. He even looked as though he wished he could immediately rush into his laboratory and create a pile of strange, bizarre zombies.
In any case, they were all disposable. If he did not need to consider long-term use, he could completely let loose and go all out, then have Captain Moria request a few reliable shadows.
That's right~
Moria could now be considered to have returned to normal social life. In addition, with chat software available, he had made at least a few friends within the Grand Fleet.
These people more or less had one or two powerful prisoners in their hands, such as World Destroyer World in Barto's hands, or Edward Weevil in Law's hands.
Borrowing their shadows for a short period of time would have no effect on them and would allow Moria's subordinates to gain a few more powerful zombies.
By comparison, Absalom's position at this moment was somewhat awkward.
His talent was not especially good, and his Devil Fruit ability development was not impressive either…
Although he had obtained a batch of powerful equipment from the Scientific Research Corps and could barely handle some smaller scenes, when facing the strong members of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, his tricks truly could not make the rankings.
He did not have Perona's strange ghost power, nor did he possess Hogback's masterful corpse-stitching skills…
His current role within the Moonlight Pirates was just like his Devil Fruit ability: a small invisible person.
Only Moria had never abandoned him. Even though he had not made any real contributions for a long time, Moria was still willing to trust him without hesitation and give him the corresponding respect.
To say Absalom was not moved would be impossible.
But the more moved he was, and the more he failed to play any useful role, the more deeply inferior he felt.
Facing Moria's gaze, he could only say weakly:
"I obey the organization's arrangements."
And perhaps the one in an even more awkward position than Absalom was Carina, who had been summoned here for reasons she could not understand!
As the saying went, minor matters required big meetings, while major matters required small meetings.
In truth, the moment Carina entered the room, she had already realized something was abnormal.
After all, aside from herself, everyone here was an officer of the Moonlight Pirates. This scene was as strange as a swingers' party suddenly having one single man added to it.
She clearly had no official status at all, yet somehow, she had inexplicably ended up sitting here. She had even received everyone's welcome~
Strange. Truly strange~
When she saw that Moria's gaze ultimately landed on her, Carina suddenly felt her body go numb.
But Moria spoke directly:
"Carina, do you have any good ideas?"
"After all, this incident also began because of you. I imagine you must have a way to resolve it."
No, wait. Are you seriously pinning this on me now?
Carina was speechless for a moment, inwardly sighing that Moria's shamelessness in making her work for free had already reached half her own level.
Given time, this child was sure to achieve great things.
"Ahem~"
Carina lightly cleared her throat, emptying the chaotic thoughts from her mind.
Inner thoughts were inner thoughts. What proper person would show their inner thoughts on their face?
She respectfully replied to Moria:
"Lord Moria, strictly speaking, this matter isn't something an outsider like me should speak too much about."
"But as luck would have it, I really do have an idea that can help you solve your current problem."
"Oh? Let's hear it!"
Hearing Carina say this, Moria's eyes suddenly lit up, and inwardly, he sighed that as expected of someone capable of being friends with Lady Nami, her brain was useful.
But then again, that made sense.
Anyone whose brain was not useful would have long since been turned into a tool by Lady Nami.
Under Moria's expectant gaze, Carina gave a sly smile and slowly said:
"It's very simple~"
"Since everyone in the entire Straw Hat Grand Fleet wants to watch you make a fool of yourself, Lord Moria, then we should directly blow this matter up…"
"Let the whole world know that you are about to attack Elbaf. When that time comes, for the glory of the Straw Hats, I imagine even those fun-seekers you mentioned, my lord, definitely won't want the prestige of the Straw Hat crew to be damaged because of your actions."
"Maybe they'll even compete to turn around and help you with everything they have, all for the sake of letting you proclaim the strength of the Straw Hat Pirates on the battlefield~!"
(End of Chapter)