"What's going on with Straw Hats?" A transponder snail sounded. It was in the hand of a large man. He wore a white hat, and his dark clothes were covered with brown spots.
He was almost as tall as Moria. He wore clear lenses and held a bible in his hand. His name was Bartholomew Kuma.
"Kaido has started his battle with Straw Hat Luffy and Vice-Captain Liam." A calm and collected voice came out of his mouth.
"As for the other Straw Hats, they have gone to face Moria."
"What? Are they trying to piss us off? Who are the people facing off against Moria?" On the other side of the Transponder Snail was Sengoku.
"Except for Captain, Vice Captain, Navigator Nami, and Nico Robin, everyone has gone to face Moria. Do you need me to save Moria?" Kuma asked.
"Of course, I need you to save Moria. That guy might have fought against Kaido, but that was twenty years ago. He might not even be against the cook and swordsman of this crew."
"With the next war coming, we can not lose one of our fighting forces," Sengoku replied.
"Wait a minute!" Another voice came from the side. This voice belonged to none other than Tsuru. She asked.
"Kuma, how far is Moria's ship from Kaido's battle?"
"It is approximately twenty kilometers away." Kuma replied
"If you fight against the Straw Hats, what are the chances of defeating them?" Tsuru asked.
"Wait a minute, Tsuru, are you planning on capturing those Straw Hats?" Sengoku asked.
"Think about it for a moment. Since Ace has been captured, it is almost a certainty that the Straw Hats will participate in this battle. So, if we can reduce their forces right now, it would be much easier in the upcoming war."
Tsuru answered.
Hearing that, Sengoku thought for a moment and nodded.
"Kuma, can you capture them?"
"I am not sure. Vivi, Zoro, and Sanji are all capable of facing off against the Vice Admirals. Unless Moria has some trump card that can distract one of them, it is not possible to fight them with our strength."
Kuma replied.
"Then, attack the weaker members of the Straw Hats. Start from their doctor and shipwrights." Sengoku spoke.
Hearing that, Kuma nodded and disappeared from his original place. In an instant, he appeared on the outermost part of Moria's ship.
But instead of attacking, he began to observe the Straw Hat Pirates.
'I didn't think they would grow up so quickly. Is it true that Luffy didn't grow stronger due to the lack of proper guidance?'
Thinking of Sabo's experience in Baltigo, he was starting to have some doubts. After all, he had trained Sabo and knew just how Sabo had grown in strength at such a young age.
But now, it was clear that Luffy was stronger than his brother. Considering Ace and Sabo were his brothers, it seemed like Luffy had surpassed both in terms of strength.
And then he remembered Dragon and Garp's experiences. He hadn't grown when Garp was young, but he knew Dragon from an early age.
Neither weren't this strong at this age. Unlike Luffy, they had gone through systematic training, but even then, they didn't grow as fast as Luffy.
This made him doubt whether Garp's talent was multiplied in Dragon and Dragon's talent multiplied in Luffy.
'It shouldn't be just their family talent. Nika should have some influence on him as well. If that's the case, will Nika appear in this age?'
'Unfortunately, I can not see it. To save my Bonney, I have to do this.'
As he thought, Kuma saw the start of the battle and decided to interfere.
Poof!
As he disappeared, Merry appeared in his position.
'Is this the one Liam asked me to watch out for? It seems like he is going to interfere in this battle.'
Merry thought to herself and decided to return to the ship.
On the other hand, Zoro's battle against Ryuma was very simple. Before Kuma even appeared next to Chopper, he had finished Ryuma.
Suddenly, a lightning bolt emerged in front of him and turned into Sanji.
"Another Warlord has appeared. He has gone to find Chopper. It's on that side."
After pointing out the direction, Sanji disappeared. As soon as Kuma appeared on the island, Sanji felt it. Since Zoro finished his battle, he must face Kuma.
Zoro's eyes also became dangerous. He didn't think another Warlord would appear in this battle and choose to fight the weaker Straw Hats.
'It seems like they plan to take out weaker members of our crew before fighting us.'
Suddenly, Zoro remembered Liam's training and realized.
'No wonder Liam worked so hard to train Nami and others. And he only stopped after Cook got that lightning devil fruit.'
As he thought, he ran toward the opposite side.
If Sanji could see this, he would've slapped himself in the face. Because of the urgency, he forgot about Zoro's disease and trusted him to find Chopper.
It was his biggest mistake.
"Oh! Zoro-san is so efficient. It only took him a minute to solve my shadow."
Brook looked at his shadow in surprise. But instead of crying in joy, he fell on his knees and cried.
"It only took him a minute to solve me."
"Brook-san, he fought Ryuma, who was stronger than you." Seeing this, Vivi couldn't help but remind him.
Suddenly, she stood up in shock.
"What? Another Warlord?"
"Is there a problem, Miss Vivi?" Brook almost stopped his deprecating act and spoke with a serious tone.
"Another warlord has appeared. He is going after Chopper and Franky. I need to fight him. As for you, just finish them off."
Vivi said as she turned into sand and disappeared from the room.
"It seems like bigger trouble has arrived." Brook shook his head and started feeding the zombies salt.
Since Vivi left, these zombies were no longer caught by the sand, but they weren't able to defeat Brook.
While he was feeding them salt, Vivi was marching toward Hogback's room.
This was thanks to her new ability, 'Sand Eyes'.
This ability works by constantly using her body in its elemental form. Even though Vivi was using her human form while she was in the room with Brook, it was just a simple transformation.
Sand Eyes weren't created out of normal sand. It was created out of her body, which turned into sand. That's why it was mentally connected to her.
By giving that sand some properties of eyes, she was able to see far distances.
But this also had one problem. She could look through eyes that were near her.
If they weren't staying in the same castle, Vivi wouldn't be able to see his arrival.
As soon as Kuma arrived, he naturally startled Hogback, Chopper, and Franky.
"Y-y-yo-you are Kuma. You are also a Warlord like my Captain, right? Are you here to help us?"
Hogback was using Cindry to fight Chopper, but Franky was easily able to capture her. So Hogback, who had almost no fighting power, was forced to face Chopper, who had learned Armament Haki.
It didn't take Chopper more than twenty seconds to beat down Hogback, but just when he was asking Hogback about his true nature, Kuma arrived.
His arrival gave Hogback a ray of hope.
But Kuma didn't move. He just stared at them and said.
"After you finish him off, we can fight."
Chopper and Franky reacted heavily when they heard of his title.
"No, what are you doing, you tyrant? I am a member of Moria's Crew. You are a warlord just like him. You have to help me."
Seeing his attitude, Hogback lost that ray of hope and roared towards him.
Kuma was completely unaffected by his voice.
Seeing this, Franky turned towards Chopper and said.
"Finish him off. If he does anything, I will stop him."
Chopper nodded and walked toward Hogback in his strong-arm form.
"You, you damned reindeer, don't come near me."
Hogback roared in fear and tried to flee, but Chopper instantly transformed into his deer form and rushed in front of Hogback.
"Hogback, I used to respect you a lot. You were my inspiration. You were able to treat anyone. But now I realize you were just another Moria."
Liam had told the crew about Moria's defeat at the hands of Kaido and his current situation.
So, it didn't take Chopper long enough to match the dots. Because Hogback couldn't save those who were on the verge of death, he gave up on himself and used the corpses to create zombies for Moria.
It was he trying to escape from his failure.
"But I won't let you disturb any more dead people."
Bang!
Chopper returned to his Strong-Arm form and coated his fist with Armament Haki. He wasn't sure about killing, but he could heavily injure Hogback.
So he punched with all of his strength.
Crack!
Hogback's head struck the ground, and he passed out on the spot. Chopper turned to face Kuma, but at this moment, sand covered Hogback before turning into a corpse.
"It's better to finish our enemy than let them live. Don't you think so, Mr.Warlord?"
As the voice rang, sand manifested in front of Kuma and turned into Vivi.
She was looking straight at Kuma's eyes, with no fear in those eyes.