If one were to say which of the Shichibukai was the most dedicated, it would be Gecko Moria.
At least, that was how it was in the eyes of the Marine.
The Florian Triangle blocked off a large stretch of sea leading to the Sabaody Archipelago.
Any pirates who wanted to go to the Sabaody Archipelago and accidentally strayed into it would likely have their shadows stolen by Gecko Moria.
Besides balancing the three great pirates of the New World, another reason the World Government and the Marine created the Shichibukai system was to have the Shichibukai deal with the ever-increasing number of pirates.
But the others who became Shichibukai rarely did so.
Instead, it was Gecko Moria, who was always cooped up in the Florian Triangle, who perfectly fulfilled this duty due to the large number of pirates who wandered in by mistake.
It was just that Gecko Moria, who always stayed at home, never imagined that someone would come looking for him on their own initiative.
After entering the Florian Triangle, Cyrus had no time to waste on those zombies.
He directly shrouded himself in Flame and charged straight through, arriving near Thriller Bark.
Gecko Moria watched warily as the few people boarded Thriller Bark, his expression grave.
The Gecko Moria of today had long since lost the robust figure he had when he challenged Kaido, his body had become round and plump.
"Hawkeye, what are you doing here?"
Moria naturally didn't recognize Issho and Cyrus, but he did recognize Hawkeye, the World's Greatest Swordsman and a fellow Shichibukai.
Behind Moria, a handful of his officers and a large group of zombies stood ready for battle.
Hawkeye glanced at Gecko Moria, not bothering to reply.
His eyes swept around, then fixed on a certain direction, and he raised his hand to grip the hilt of the longsword on his back.
Seeing this, Gecko Moria's face darkened, and he raised his hand, preparing to make a move.
BOOM!
Conqueror's Haki burst forth from Cyrus, instantly sweeping across the island-sized Thriller Bark.
Even the large wave of zombies controlled by Gecko Moria fell one after another under the impact.
The officers behind Gecko Moria also rolled their eyes and fainted.
"That's the dragon-slaying swordsman, Shimotsuki Ryuma. He should still retain his swordsmanship from when he was alive."
After clearing out the small fry with his Conqueror's Haki, Cyrus spoke to Hawkeye.
Hawkeye nodded, then walked toward the figure standing at the edge of the zombie horde.
The figure was wrapped in a large number of bandages, but it was clear that it was not a living person.
Shimotsuki Ryuma, the dragon-slaying swordsman.
Hawkeye drew the longsword from his back.
Shimotsuki Ryuma stared at Hawkeye and drew Shusui from its scabbard.
Through the connection between swordsmen, he could sense that the one approaching was a powerful Master Swordsman.
Cyrus, on the other hand, walked toward Gecko Moria.
"Who the hell are you?"
Gecko Moria watched Cyrus warily.
The aura emanating from Cyrus reminded him of what he had encountered in Wano Country back then.
Recalling this, Gecko Moria, far from getting angry, actually backed away subconsciously as Cyrus approached.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to cause you trouble. My target is the Black Blade Shusui. Everything else is incidental."
Cyrus walked up to Gecko Moria, looking up slightly at the towering figure.
'What a waste of a tall body.' Cyrus thought, his gaze falling on the gothic lolita girl who had fainted beside Gecko Moria.
He lifted his foot and walked over.
"Brick Bat!"
Seeing Cyrus approach Perona, a fierce glint flashed in Gecko Moria's eyes, and he directly attacked Cyrus.
He raised his hand, and his black shadow coalesced into a sharp black spike, stabbing toward Cyrus.
Clang!
Cyrus raised his hand, his left arm coated in Armament Haki blocking the incoming shadow.
"You bastard, stay away from my cute subordinate!"
After his move was blocked, Gecko Moria charged forward, swinging his fist down at Cyrus.
In the distance, Issho was focused on the standoff between Hawkeye and Shimotsuki Ryuma.
However, Robin and Issho both looked a bit speechless when they saw Gecko Moria pounce on Cyrus.
Boom!
Cyrus raised his hand and threw his own punch, colliding with Gecko Moria's fist.
The blow from the fist, wreathed in Armament Haki, made Gecko Moria cry out in pain, and his huge body fell forward.
"Kishishishi, I've got your shadow!"
The fallen Gecko Moria suddenly laughed loudly.
As he lay on the ground, his hand reached behind Cyrus and was now grabbing Cyrus's shadow.
"Kid, I'll be taking your shadow. Your shadow must be very powerful."
From that single punch just now, Gecko Moria knew that Cyrus was very strong.
But so what if he was strong? He had gotten ahold of his shadow.
'Then your power is mine!' Gecko Moria was overjoyed.
He raised his hand to pull at Cyrus's shadow, and then his smile froze.
The shadow was incredibly heavy, as if it were made of steel.
Gecko Moria pulled hard on Cyrus's shadow, trying to lift it up so he could cut it with his scissors.
Boom!
Cyrus turn around with a kick, and Moria's massive body crashed directly into the ship's cabin to the side.
His huge body shattered the wooden structures it hit and was subsequently buried.
"Negative Hollow!"
Just as Cyrus kicked Gecko Moria away, a girl's voice sounded from behind him.
Perona, who had been knocked unconscious by the impact earlier, had woken up.
Seeing Cyrus kick her captain away, she attacked subconsciously.
A transparent ghost flew directly at Cyrus.
Normally, the intangible ghost could pass through a person's body.
But this time, when the created Negative Hollow flew at Cyrus, it was repelled and flew backward, landing on two of Perona's companions beside her.
The two, who were still unconscious, woke up instantly.
"I'm so worthless. I can't revive Cindry-chan. I might as well be dead, letting Cindry-chan remain a zombie."
"I have sinned. I shouldn't have been thinking those perverted things."
The two of them immediately slumped to the ground in a pose of utter dejection, spouting low-energy phrases.
Perona stared blankly at Cyrus, her eyes glazed over.
This was the first time she had encountered a situation where her Negative Hollows had no effect.
"It seems it really can be blocked!"
After repelling the two Negative Hollows with Armament Haki, Cyrus nodded slightly and muttered to himself.
It seemed Armament Haki also had a counter against some of the trickier Paramecia abilities.
That was enough.
"Stay away from my subordinates!" Gecko Moria's roar echoed.
He burst out from where he was buried, roaring in the direction of Perona and her two companions, and then he froze.
Cyrus had already walked back, leading Robin and Enel as they jumped from Thriller Bark back onto their own ship.
"Have Hawkeye bring the sword back."
Cyrus left this message for Issho.
"Understood!"
Issho was watching the fight between Hawkeye and Shimotsuki Ryuma.
Shimotsuki Ryuma's condition was very clear in Issho's perception.
His swordsmanship was very strong, but Shimotsuki Ryuma's current body was simply unable to exert its proper power.
Hawkeye was clearly holding back his strength.