Entering the room, Moria saw several key figures of the Beast God Pirates standing inside.
King, Smoothie, Queen, and an elderly woman with a scarred face.
On the sofa lay Katakuri and Yamato, both heavily bandaged.
Smoothie, the long-legged woman, was gripping a terrified pirate with both hands, twisting him like a towel until his body contorted grotesquely.
Glowing white droplets seeped from the pirate's twisted form, dripping steadily into a glass.
When the pirate's cries grew weak, Smoothie casually tossed him aside into a corner.
Moria gaped—the corner was stacked like firewood with dozens of shriveled pirates, men and women alike, all deathly pale and barely conscious.
But none seemed dead.
King wordlessly picked up the glass and poured half its contents into Katakuri's mouth, then the other half into Yamato's.
Almost instantly, color returned to their faces.
Smoothie frowned. "There aren't enough people. My ability can extract Life Force, but the numbers are too low. King! Can't you find more?"
King sighed. "These were all paid volunteers, Smoothie. Whole Cake Island has no prisoners right now. Sure, draining their Life Force won't kill them, but no one's lining up for this—especially with your ability's reputation."
"Hmph! Then get others from the crew! Can't they spare a little energy to save our top fighters? If not, just eliminate a few of the newly joined pirate crews!"
Smoothie was visibly agitated.
Katakuri's severe injuries had her on edge—along with Brulee beside her and the others waiting outside.King shook his head.
"I don't dare let too many people know about Katakuri's severe injuries. His identity is too sensitive—there's no guarantee there aren't spies from other factions within our Beast God Pirates."
After speaking, he turned to Moria and asked, "Moria, why are you here? Any news from Gin?"
Moria nodded and handed over a Den Den Mushi.
"Hey, Gin? How's everything on your end?" King spoke into the receiver.
"The fight's over. Two enemies dead, one severely injured, and one escaped. Doflamingo's wounded. We need to return to Whole Cake Island now. Is your mirror-ability sister around? Have her assist us."
King was stunned: "Two dead, one severely injured, and one escaped? You guys did that well? Who died? What were their identities?"
Gin's impatient voice came through:
"Save the questions for Doflamingo to answer when we get back. Hurry up!"
Gin was furious, especially after seeing Doflamingo and Crocodile team up to take down a top-tier fighter.
And him? He'd eagerly sought out a decent opponent alone, only to find some speed-reliant flea who kept dodging around, refusing to engage properly!
And then the bastard just ran away!
Every time he thought about how Doflamingo—after getting thoroughly beaten by Beckman—had somehow developed a flawless technique within days that could restrain a top-tier fighter for several seconds...
Gin felt deeply unbalanced.
That bastard Gaban from Roger's Pirates was no better—promised him a proper fight but had now disappeared who-knows-where.
Everyone was improving!
Even Moria, under his watchful care, was motivated to lose weight.
Only him.
He'd boasted to Caesar but failed to deliver.
Worst of all, since his fight with Redfield, Gin felt his strength hadn't progressed much.
King's voice came through again: "Do you have any mirrors there? Brulee says all mirrors on Sweet Island are sealed by some energy—probably Aokiji's ice. If you have a mirror, you can return through the mirror world."
"A mirror? Why would three grown men carry mirrors?" Gin snapped.
Ahem...
"I... I have one here."
Suddenly, Crocodile coughed, a vortex of sand swirling at his chest before slowly revealing an antique bronze mirror—spotless, as if regularly polished.
...
Minutes later, the three emerged from a large mirror beside Brulee into a room on Whole Cake Island.
When King saw the severed head Gin was carrying and heard their account of events, his expression became... complicated.
Moria was utterly dumbstruck, staring at Doflamingo and Crocodile in disbelief.
Back on his Thriller Bark, he'd once created several grotesque zombie generals.
Some wielded giant axes, others greatswords or liquor bottles, some with horns or fur.
Few knew these zombie designs were actually Moria's interpretations—based on rumors—of various Rocks Pirates crewmembers, meticulously crafted to resemble them.
Back then, Moria's ambition was to harvest the shadows of the remaining members of the Rocks Pirates and stuff them into these pre-prepared zombie bodies.
This way, a fully obedient "Zombie Rocks Army" under his command would be complete.
So the first person he sought out was actually Caesar, but Caesar was off sleeping somewhere.
Kaido looked somewhat similar to Caesar, so Moria ended up confronting Kaido instead.
As for what happened later…
Well, let's not dwell on that.
But today, Moria stared in disbelief at the head in Gin's hands.
"Kishishishi… Doflamingo, Crocodile, you two teamed up to kill Golden Axe? This guy was a captain-level figure in the Rocks Pirates back in the day, a monster on the same level as Caesar, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion."
Crocodile sat coolly atop a pile of defeated pirates, a cigar dangling from his lips, looking rather smug.
Doflamingo, however, just laughed.
"It wasn't that exaggerated. This guy was just good with his axe and Haki—his physical prowess was nowhere near Caesar's. Plus, the old bastard was arrogant and didn't take us seriously at all."
"Blah blah blah, I'm not listening," Moria mentally tuned out.
Right now, Moria and Gin shared the same miserable mood.
"How's Katakuri's condition? Is he alright?"
Gin walked up to Katakuri, frowning as he asked King.
"He's badly injured. Smoothie used her juicing ability to restore a bit of their vitality, but these guys are too weak—their Life Force is far from enough."
"I know Katakuri might have a bottle of Caesar's blood. If he hasn't used it yet, then waking him up could restore all of them—even Doflamingo—to full condition."
Gin immediately strode over to Smoothie and thumped his chest.
"Drain my Life Force to heal them! Moria can pitch in too—he's too weak to be of much help anyway. The situation is too delicate right now. Katakuri needs to wake up and take control!"
Moria: "…?"