Spirit Transformation Technique

Gecko Moria could practically be called the shame of the Shichibukai. Other than his slightly troublesome Devil Fruit abilities, the rest of his combat strength was utter trash, nowhere near the level he had displayed when he fought Kaido.

Although the crew under Yota could not be called top-tier in strength, and did not even have anyone at the All-Stars level, once they joined forces, they definitely would not be much weaker than the lower-ranked Shichibukai.

It could even be said that aside from the strongest Hawkeye Mihawk and the most powerful Doflamingo, the other Shichibukai Pirate Crews might not necessarily be able to defeat Yota’s subordinates.

If this group truly swarmed him, then with Gecko Moria’s meager strength and his trashy zombie army, he would most likely end up torn to pieces.

"Is this supposed to be a test for us?" Unexpectedly, it was Page One, who normally did not like talking much, who spoke up. "Gecko Moria isn’t that easy to deal with."

"I remember he was once a powerhouse who fought Boss Kaido for an entire day and night!"

"Gecko Moria fought Kaido for a full day and night?" An interested expression appeared on Yota’s face.

Although the original story had indeed shown Gecko Moria fighting Kaido, with the opening exchange seemingly ending in a draw, Yota had never expected Gecko Moria to have actually lasted against Kaido for an entire day and night.

Well, thinking of the eight-pack abs young Gecko Moria had had, along with that lean, arrogant expression and gaze, he had practically been a non-mainstream version of Iori Yagami.

Under those circumstances, it really was not too surprising that he could have fought the not-yet-peak Kaido for a day and night.

But then Yota recalled the current Onion Moria. Sigh, the Iori Yagami of the past had become Coach Anzai now~~

"That’s right! And over the past decade or so, Gecko Moria has been building up his forces in Thriller Bark. With our current strength, I’m afraid it’ll be difficult for us to be a match for him." Ulti spoke bluntly as well.

Ulti and Page One were not afraid of challenges, but they were at least not as hardheaded as Luffy. Facing someone roughly as strong as them, or just a little stronger, was called a challenge. Facing an opponent vastly stronger than them was just seeking death.

Even if Gecko Moria had not improved at all over the past dozen years, he would still at least possess strength among the very best Emperor Vice-Captains. Add in the massive horde of zombies under his command, and there was no way their group could be his match, right?

After all, they did not know that over the past decade or so, Gecko Moria’s strength had not only failed to improve, but had actually declined considerably, turning him into Onion Moria.

Setting aside the Shadow-Shadow Fruit abilities, Ulti, Page One, or Kyros could probably each kill Moria alone with ease and without injury.

Even factoring in the Shadow-Shadow Fruit abilities, Moria could at most gain a slight upper hand in a one-on-one fight against them. In a group battle, he would never be a match for them.

"Don’t worry. The current Gecko Moria is no longer the Great Pirate who could contend with Kaido back then." Yota said with a grin, then turned to Charlotte Pudding.

"Pudding, can you extract a photo of Gecko Moria from Perona’s memories?"

Hearing Yota’s question, Charlotte Pudding nodded. "Of course. It’s a piece of cake."

As soon as she finished speaking, Charlotte Pudding took out a black-and-white photograph and handed it over.

"Take a look. This is what Gecko Moria looks like now. Do you think he can still maintain the combat strength he had before?" Yota took the photo, said no more, and passed it to Ulti.

Ulti and Page One had been adopted by Kaido when they were very young. Thus, although they had not participated in that war over a decade ago due to their age, they had indeed seen photos of Gecko Moria.

Yet the moment Ulti saw the photograph in Yota’s hand, she immediately blurted out, "Who the heck is this?"

"This is the current Gecko Moria!" Yota told the incredulous Ulti and Page One.

"This is really Gecko Moria? Where did his neck go?" Ulti finally could not help asking. "And that belly of his… did this guy really eat the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, or did he eat some kind of Onion Fruit?"

"That, I don’t know." Yota gave a slight wave of his hand. "Anyway, this is what Gecko Moria looks like now. Do you think he can still have the combat strength he had back then?"

More than a decade had passed. The Kaido of old had gone from a long-legged heartthrob to a super-muscular man, while the wicked and arrogant Gecko Moria of old had become the Onion Moria of today.

The old Gecko Moria could battle Kaido for a day and night. The current Onion Moria facing Kaido would probably be settled with a single Thunder Bagua.

"Ha! He’s turned into this, so of course I don’t need to be afraid of him!" After looking at Gecko Moria’s photograph, Ulti’s confidence soared. Looking delighted, she said, "Leave this guy to me and Pay-tan!"

Brook, who had been ignored at the side the whole time, watched Yota and the others casually divide up the task and could not help muttering to himself, "Is my brain too behind the times? It feels like they aren’t taking Moria seriously at all… though I don’t have a brain. Yohohohohoho!"

Although Brook was still making the ghosts’ trademark cold jokes, he had in fact already recognized Yota and the others’ strength. They were likely no weaker than that Shichibukai, perhaps even stronger. Otherwise, they would not be so calm.

"Before that, I’ll increase your strength a little." Yota looked at Charlotte Pudding. Black mist swept forth and extracted the Devil Fruit from Pudding’s body. He then handed her the Hollow-Hollow Fruit.

Charlotte Pudding did not hesitate and immediately took a bite. Her little face scrunched up, and only after a moment did it return to normal.

Then Charlotte Pudding closed her eyes. A mass of golden light suddenly emerged from her body, eventually taking her form.

"Success! So this is what the Spirit Transformation Technique feels like? Hehehe." Looking at her golden-glowing body, Charlotte Pudding beamed, then turned a malicious gaze toward Ulti.

Ulti Σ(д;)

"What are you trying to do? I’m warning you… don’t come over here! Aaaaah!"

Pudding had been training the Spirit Transformation Technique all along, and as her archrival, Ulti naturally paid close attention to it. She had long learned from Yota about the technique’s abilities—it possessed the power to take over and control another person’s body.

The thought of Pudding controlling her body sent goosebumps all over Ulti.