Vice Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates

Sanji spread out his arms and said.

"Who knows? At least I haven't fought a Warlord before. But Luffy has, and I am stronger than he when he fought against Sir Crocodile."

Hearing that, everyone was a little relieved.

After all, Sanji was several times stronger than Gear Second Luffy with half-baked Armament Haki.

And since Moria wasn't the strongest among the Warlords, Sanji had more chances of taking him down alone.

"Anyway, I have something important to tell you. Liam told me, and I think you should know as well."

When he said that, everyone's eyes fell on him with some curiosity.

"We are not normal pirates. You should have felt that a long time ago. Even when we fought against the Marines, our partners were in danger. Our crew was in danger."

"We have saved our crew. We have saved other people's kingdoms. We have fought to save someone. While here, we are also doing the same thing."

"We were always retaliating. We weren't the ones who started the war. But this time, it's different. We are fighting against Moria for our gain. They haven't declared a war against us, but we have."

"So, keep it in mind that we are pirates. Even if they are a crew, even if they have a bond, we have to fight. We have to destroy. We have to loot."

As he made this statement, everyone felt a bit different.

Zoro scoffed. He didn't care about Sanji's statement because he knew what he was doing. He wouldn't hesitate even for a second if it were a Captain and Vice-Captain's order unless they didn't match.

Vivi hesitated. She might have done a lot of wrong things as a pirate hunter, but she did that to pirates. Of course, that wasn't the main reason. Her reasoning, her belief, and her courage came from her kingdom.

She fought for her kingdom, and she killed for her people. This time, it was different. She was doing what any pirate is supposed to do. And she couldn't say no.

So hearing this from Sanji, she hesitated. This hesitation remained in her mind until she confronted her fear.

Fear of becoming the worst of the people, fear of turning into evil, fear of being someone she wasn't.

It took her some time, but when she clenched her fist, everyone knew she was ready.

Chopper had the most reaction. Unlike Vivi's hesitation, he almost rejected the notion of fighting these pirates for the sake of loot and destruction.

That's not what he wanted. If he had to fight, he would fight for his crew.

At this moment, he decided to confront that rejection with his belief in his crew. Since Liam told him this moment was very important for him, he believed in Liam.

He decided to what's going on and confront it.

On the other hand, Usopp, Franky, and Merry had a simple reaction. They just nodded.

Usopp was a coward, but he knew what it meant to be a pirate.

Franky was almost a veteran about pirates, so it was easy for him to go along.

Merry had the experiences of the crew, so she naturally didn't care much.

Brook, on the other hand, was surprised by this conversation. Because it didn't sound like a very pirate thing.

After all, what kind of pirate didn't loot or burn?

Oh, wait, pirates like them. At this moment, Brook couldn't help but see the shadows of his previous companion in this crew.

And that made him smile.

......…

Two Hours Later;

"Lord Moria, Lord Moria, Lord Absalom has been captured."

A bat-shaped zombie minion came running towards a large, fat, onion-shaped being. He was wearing orange pants and a dark top.

He was none other than Gekko Moria, the warlord of the sea. Despite his fat body, he looked quite menacing.

"What did you say?"

He roared as he stood up from his position. His eyes looked a bit red in anger.

The zombie gulped as he feared being killed by Moria, only to realize he was already dead.

So, he immediately answered.

"Lord Moria, that bone bastard captured Absalom. He is asking for his shadow in exchange for Lord Absalom."

"Impossible! Absalom has Clear-Clear Fruit. Even if he can't win, he could turn invisible and run." Moria immediately denied the failure of his crew.

"But Lord, he isn't alone. There were four people with him. I don't recognize them. They must have helped him capture Lord Absalom." The Zombie replied.

He was extremely frightened because not only did they capture Absalom but also killed a lot of zombies, his friends.

"Let's go and meet him then. I don't know what gave him the guts to challenge me." Moria moved his massive body out of the building.

"By the way, what are Perona and Hogback doing?" Moria asked.

"Lord, they are busy. Miss Perona is playing with her stuffed toy while Hogback is busy arguing with Cindry."

The bat minion replied.

"Is that so? Well, it's not like they can fight. Besides, how many of my zombies have been cleared?" Moria asked.

"Sir, all of the Zombies at the front have been captured. The only remaining ones are Cindry, Kumashi, and Ryuma."

Hearing that, Moria narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling in his gut that he was walking toward a trap.

He wasn't sure, but now, he was having that feeling.

After all, those zombies were defeated, but he didn't realize it. None of the zombies came to inform him either until now.

This feeling got intense, but Moria had his pride. He wouldn't run away even if it were a battle.

So, he instantly thought of something and moved back to the castle.

"Lord Moria, aren't we going to meet them?" The bat-shaped minion asked with confusion.

"No, I have a feeling that something is wrong here. It's like I am walking into a trap. Hildon, tell Ryuma to stay alert for a battle. Ask Perona to run a search around the island."

"And tell Hogback to prepare more zombie bodies."

Moria ordered as he entered a large basement.

"And, what are you doing to do, Lord Moria?" Hildon asked.

"Of course, I am going to wake him up."

Moria said while pointing at a massive corpse. It was frozen and kept in his basement. It was the corpse of a giant towering over sixty meters.

Its skin was pink and had large horns. It also had massive teeth and long blond hair.

"It's time for you to wake up, Oars the Continent-Puller." Moria said as his own shadow seeped out of his body and attached to the body of the giant beast, turning it into a zombie.

As his shadow controlled the Oars, Moria finally left the basement on his own. It wasn't needed, but it was just a preparation for himself.

In case this was a trap, he could let Oars free himself from this trap.

But as he proceeded to move toward the location Hildon gave him, his gut feelings got even stronger.

He knew something was off here.

At this moment, Zoro had arrived in front of a Zombie Samurai.

"Hey Zombie, are you the one called Ryuma, the Sword God of Wano?"

Zoro asked while putting his swords in places. One in his left hand, another in his right, and the last one on his mouth.

On the other side of the castle, Chopper and Franky had reached the operation room of Hogback.

When Chopper got there, he was confused. Because he didn't see Hogback saving people. He saw Hogback using dead people's bodies and turning them into weird monsters.

"Hogback, why are you playing with dead bodies?"

Vivi was silently staying inside a place, on a sofa, while sipping tea with Brook. Near her, there were hundreds of zombies caught in a sand castle.

"Miss Vivi, we have brought enough salt. Can't we just use them to rescue their shadows?"

Brook asked.

Vivi shook her head and said.

"We are not sure how his devil fruit works. What if he knows when his shadow is manipulated or released? In that case, he would try to run away, and we can not let that happen."

"So for now, keeping these shadows in check is the best option."

"But in this case, Moria can call back his shadows and increase his strength while facing Sanji-san." Brook replied.

Hearing that, Vivi hesitated for a moment and said.

"Let's wait. Anyway, these Zombies aren't a big deal. After Sanji starts fighting, we can release them, and even if Moria captures some of the shadows, we still have Zoro with us."

Brook thought for a moment and nodded.

"If you say so."

At this moment, Moria had also reached the destination, where he saw a blond man standing there.

"Bastard, who are you? Where is Absalom?"

"He? He is dead. What about you? Are you going to run away now?" Sanji asked with a smirk.

But his words only made Moria enraged.

"Bastard, I will kill you."