It is said that hatred is a powerful and terrifying emotion. For Gekko Moriah, it was a fire that could, for a fleeting moment, burn away even the coldest terror. As he stared up at the dragon who had destroyed his life once before, all fear vanished from his face, replaced by a mask of pure, unadulterated rage. His pupils turned blood-red as scenes from their fateful battle in Wano Country flashed through his mind—the loss of his crew, his pride, his ambition. Everything.
"KAIDO!" he roared, his voice cracking with fury. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Kaido simply looked down on him with utter contempt, unimpressed by the display. "Kill me?" he scoffed. "Hey, Moriah. Have you taken a good look at your own pathetic state recently?"
The words struck Moriah like a physical blow.
"If you were the man you were twenty years ago, I might have taken you seriously," Kaido continued, his voice dripping with disappointment. "But now? Look at you. You've become lazy and weak. You don't even have the right to stand before me."
Moriah's body trembled, not from fear, but from helpless rage. He was furious, but a part of him knew that Kaido was telling the truth. He didn't have the strength for revenge. He couldn't do it then, and he certainly couldn't do it now.
"Damn you… damn you, Kaido!" he spat. "Did you come all this way just to humiliate me?"
"No," Kaido answered bluntly. "Originally, I came here for only one reason: to retrieve what you stole from Wano Country. The corpse of the samurai Ryuma, and his black blade, Shusui."
This was Kaido's true purpose. To solidify his future control over Wano, possessing the remains of the nation's legendary Sword God and his national treasure of a sword would be an invaluable political tool. Military might could secure obedience, but symbols could win hearts, and Kaido preferred the simpler path when available.
"However," Kaido said, his tone shifting ominously. "Now, I've changed my mind."
"What!?" Moriah gasped, not having time to react.
Kaido's eyes turned a menacing crimson. A massive, suffocating wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted from his body. In an instant, the world was plunged into a blood-red nightmare. Veins of black-and-red lightning tore through the sky, and the very air grew thick and heavy. The entire island-ship of Thriller Bark shook violently, and hundred-meter-high waves crashed against its sides as if a tsunami had struck.
From his vantage point, Eneru looked on in stunned disbelief. He had felt Kaido's Haki before, but this was on another level entirely. He had thought what he'd experienced was the limit, but now he understood. The world fell completely silent. It was as if every sound, every movement, every trace of life had been snuffed out. Even his own powerful Observation Haki was useless; there was nothing left to hear.
As he looked down, he saw that every single person on the island—zombie or human—had collapsed, unconscious. The only one left was Moriah, forced to one knee, trembling uncontrollably with his eyes rolled back in his head, cold sweat pouring down his face.
In the silent world, only one voice remained.
"Moriah, I'm taking your crew," Kaido's voice boomed, a final judgment from on high. "If you want them back, then get stronger. Crawl your way back to the New World and come to Wano. I'll be waiting for you there."
Grand Line, Water 7
Night had fallen on the city of water, and Bruno's bar was empty. Kalifa, a fellow member of CP9, entered alone, her expression tense. Bruno immediately felt a knot of anxiety in his stomach. Without orders from Lucci, they were forbidden from meeting, a rule they'd followed even more strictly since the night they secretly betrayed the World Government and pledged allegiance to Kaido.
Sure enough, Kalifa spoke as soon as the door closed. "We have a problem."
"What is it? Wait…" Bruno nervously glanced outside. Still not feeling safe, he activated his Door-Door Fruit ability, opening a portal to an alternate dimension. Once they were both inside, he turned to her with a grim expression. "What's going on?"
Cold sweat dripped down Kalifa's forehead. "Franky found Iceburg today. I listened in on their conversation. They know the Pluton blueprints are gone."
Bruno's face turned pale. "No. This absolutely cannot get back to Lucci. If he finds out, we're finished."
"Of course I know that," Kalifa snapped. "I can manage Iceburg; he thinks it's for the best that the designs are gone and told Franky to act like they never existed. But Franky is the problem. He's been acting erratically for days. Lucci and the others will notice something is wrong sooner or later!"
The gravity of the situation settled on them. If Lucci discovered Franky's strange behavior, it wouldn't take him long to connect the dots back to that night, and then he and Kalifa would have no way to explain themselves.
"Maybe we should just escape now," Kalifa said, her voice laced with panic. "Once Lucci finds out, it will be too late."
Bruno shook his head firmly. "If we run now, it's an admission of guilt. Besides, how would we even get to the New World? And even if we did, do you really think a man like Kaido would care about the lives of two low-level spies?" He looked at the anxious Kalifa and tried to calm her. "Don't panic. We're not out of options yet."
Kalifa's expression remained grim. She had Kaido's Den Den Mushi number, but she knew Bruno was right. To an Emperor, they were disposable pawns. "Then what do you propose? Can we trade what we know about Pluton for our lives?"
Bruno gave her a look. "What do you think?"
Kalifa bit her lip in frustration. The truth was, their real problem wasn't just betraying the World Government. It was the recording of them speaking ill of the Celestial Dragons. As CP agents, they knew better than anyone that such an offense was unforgivable.
"Then what do we do?" she asked, exasperated. "This won't work, that won't work…"
Bruno's expression grew somber as a plan began to form in his mind. "I've been thinking about this. Betraying the World Government to join the Beasts Pirates… it might not be such a bad thing."
Kalifa stared at him in disbelief, but before she could object, he cut her off.
"I know what you're thinking, but we both know that since becoming CP agents, things like family have become secondary."
Kalifa's expression flickered, and after a long moment, she relented. "Tell me your thoughts."
"It's simple," Bruno said, his voice now cold and calculating. "We have no path back to the government. Joining the Beasts Pirates is our only choice. The problem is, we're just small fries. A man like Kaido won't notice us. So, we need to fight for enough leverage to make ourselves valuable. To make him protect us."
"And you mean?"
Bruno said the name without a hint of hesitation. "Nico Robin. Kaido wants to be the Pirate King. A woman who can read the Road Poneglyphs is an irreplaceable asset to that ambition."
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