Aramaki, being the strongest subordinate that could be recruited in such a short time, was entrusted by Black with the critical task of locating Devil Fruits.
From the nearly worthless Flame-Flame Fruit, to the thunderous Lightening-Light Fruit on Sky Island, to the Vampire-type Mythical Zoan Fruit in Sleepy Town, to the Pink Dragon Mythical Zoan of Punk Hazard, and even the Surgical Fruit rumored to exist in the North Sea… some were precisely located, others hinted at by vague clues, but none were to be overlooked.
This mission of finding the Paramecia-type Ghost Fruit was also a small test for Aramaki, a measure of his judgment and capability in the field.
As Black contemplated the potential Devil Fruits ripe for interception, Stella's voice cut through his thoughts:
"Your Highness, the girl has woken up."
Black rose from his chair, motioning for Stella to follow him into the cabin.
Perona was seated on the bed, eyes still clouded with confusion. The moment she spotted Black, she instinctively shrank back, wary and tense.
Black's gaze swept her from head to toe, and a mischievous grin spread across his face.
"Congratulations! From today onward, you're officially my little slave!"
"Wah! I I don't want to be a little slave!" Perona cried out in a mix of fear and indignation.
Black never truly saw himself as cruel, yet whenever he encountered Perona, he couldn't resist teasing her. Perhaps it was because she appeared fragile, like a girl who could cry for hours from a single punch, or perhaps her notorious reputation in the original world amplified this impulse.
"Ha ha ha!" Black laughed heartily at her reaction. "Not bad, not bad. This time you didn't faint from fear. Now, tell me why were you on that ship?"
Perona's sobs gradually subsided. She glanced cautiously at Black, then at Stella standing behind him, and began to recount her story in a soft, hesitant voice.
Her tale was simple: her hometown had been raided by pirates, forcing her into a desperate escape that eventually led her to stow away on the merchant ship. To avoid detection, she hid in the cargo hold, and by chance discovered a hidden compartment within, where she remained concealed.
Upon hearing this, Black chuckled, pinching her little cheek with an affectionate yet teasing gesture.
"So, you have nowhere else to go, huh? Well then, stay on my ship."
Perona noted the gentleness behind Black's grin and felt a measure of relief.
"Am I still a little slave?" she asked, her voice quivering.
"Of course!" Black replied, watching her on the verge of tears and laughing loudly as he turned to leave.
Stella shook her head in exasperation but moved forward to comfort Perona. Though inexperienced with children, Stella's warm optimism quickly calmed the girl, halting her tears. Perona, still a bit resentful, raised her tiny fist toward Black's departing back, silently vowing:
"I will escape from this big bad man!"
Meanwhile, on the merchant ship, Aramaki's search proved fruitless. He had already ascended the Horror Trident Ship, the massive vessel transformed by Moria into a mobile fortress.
The interior was grotesque: dark green slime oozed from floor crevices, shriveled corpses swung from the masts like marionettes, and the ship's shadows distorted in the dim lantern light, sometimes adding phantom arms or removing an eye. Only the slow, methodical dragging of chains echoed through the silence.
"Overly flashy," Aramaki muttered. Massive wooden tendrils sprouted from his body, piercing through the deck as if the ship were made of paper. Two enormous wooden spikes shot forward like javelins toward Moria.
Moria, preoccupied with handling a captured pirate, only realized the attack too late. Though not yet the rotund, self-indulgent figure of later years, he was still formidable. Yet even his initial counterattack was ineffective.
Aramaki appeared in front of him, his three-meter frame seemingly dwarfed by Moria's seven meters. Still, the aura between them was the opposite of what their sizes suggested. Aramaki let out a light chuckle.
"So, you are Moria? The so-called great pirate of the seas? The incompetence of those other pirates is astounding yet you somehow manage this reputation?"
"You! Who are you, suddenly appearing out of nowhere? You how dare you judge me, a great pirate!" Moria roared, enraged beyond reason.
He launched an attack, "Shadow Horn Spear!" aimed precisely at Aramaki's previous location but the boy had already vanished.
"Where are you looking?" two voices echoed simultaneously.
Moria turned in panic to see Aramaki perched atop him, one hand pressing down on his massive, onion-shaped head. The technique, which even Garp's younger comrades struggled to counter, crushed Moria's head into the deck, creating a crater in the wood.
"Trash like you should find a quiet corner and wait for death," Aramaki said coldly, stomping on Moria and kicking his disoriented head. "Where are the Devil Fruits you've collected?"
"You… who exactly are you? How can someone like you exist in the seas without a reputation?" Moria spluttered, frustrated at being defeated without even half his strength unleashed.
Aramaki frowned, delivering a decisive kick: "Now it's my turn to ask. Where are the Devil Fruits?"
Moria staggered, bewildered and furious, shouting in outrage, while Aramaki merely shook his head at the predictable stubbornness of these pirates.
This was exactly why Black had no intention of recruiting these sea-faring rogues they often acted irrationally, fought for meaningless ideals, and cared little for their own lives. Persuasion and intimidation were ineffective.
With no other option, Aramaki used the Great Memory Restoration Technique. After some maneuvering, he finally located two Devil Fruits in a hidden compartment. Without hesitation, he seized them and departed, leaving a bruised and defeated Moria behind.
Returning to Black, Aramaki landed elegantly on deck using his Moon Step, holding two small boxes.
"Your Highness, I've found two Devil Fruits aboard Moria's island-ship," he reported respectfully.
Black opened the boxes, his eyes lighting up as he recognized the fruits inside:
Paramecia-type Ghost Fruit
Paramecia-type Invisibility Fruit
Exactly the Devil Fruits that belonged to Perona and Absalom in the original timeline.