Of all the abilities belonging to the four individuals currently with Moria, Eleco found those of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit to be the most tempting and the ones he desired the most.
Having already discussed the tactical advantages of the three officers' abilities, it was now time to consider Moria's.
As a Paramecia-class ability, Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit had actually been developed quite well. Aside from potential awakening and further enhancement down the line, there were very few areas left to improve—at least for an ordinary person.
What caught Eleco's eye, however, were the clever and versatile ways the shadow abilities could be applied.
First, there was a particularly fascinating detail shown in the original story: the scene where Luffy was stuffed with the shadow of a master swordsman from the Marines. This allowed Luffy, who didn't even know how to use swordsmanship, to wield a blade instantly. Moreover, if you looked closely, he cut a tree into perfectly even sections!
What if this skill were used to learn other abilities, or to serve as a proxy for physical training? Keep in mind that it was already the year 1517, less than three years away from a turbulent era. Add in Luffy's two years of rigorous self-training, and that gave them a total of five years at most. Eleco knew his own limitations as a transmigrator; he could never become a master of physical combat and swordsmanship within five years. That was why he was looking into technology and Devil Fruits—methods that could accelerate his growth and make him strong fast.
Although the prevailing theme of the current era was that having absolute mastery of Haki was enough, conventional development dictated that both Haki and Devil Fruits needed to be powerful. Yet that only applied under normal circumstances. Just as Eleco had envisioned, if his plan succeeded, he would become a multiple Devil Fruit user.
If he had enough versatile abilities, top-tier physical attributes and bloodlines, and a naturally steel-like body and skin that provided supreme defensive Haki, what would happen if he stuffed the shadow of Mihawk's clone into his body during battle? Would he be unstoppable?
Next, once his body was fully forged, someone else could train it for him—for instance, using the power of the Ope Ope no Mi to swap Rob Lucci's soul into the new body. Then, using the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, Lucci's shadow from his original body could be stuffed into it as well. After intensive training to build up muscle memory, Eleco would undergo another surgery to transfer his own soul, consciousness, and memories entirely into the new body, thereby erasing any gap in combat talent.
Secondly, there was the Shadow-Shadow Fruit's ability to create zombies. Zombies were lifeless entities by nature, driven entirely by shadows, tireless and fearless of death. What would happen if they were sent to work in the mines?
That's right—they would be hauled off to mine the ores of Flevance, Law's hometown. This mineral was actually an essential component for certain weapons and required for many industrial products as well. Although it was toxic, the toxicity in Flevance was the result of generations of people living there long-term and suffering from platinum lead poisoning, where the body's toxin excretion rate fell behind the accumulation of the poison. In small, controlled amounts, exposure to the mineral would not cause any adverse effects. However, under the World Government's manipulation of public opinion, ordinary people were completely blind to this fact.
Now, with Eleco taking the lead and his sugar daddy pulling the strings behind the scenes, Moria could be dragged to Flevance to mine the ore using immortal, poison-immune zombies. Given the sky-high prices of platinum lead minerals on the black market, their profits would instantly skyrocket. Wouldn't mountains of cash start rolling in? Once you had money, everything else became much easier to handle. Besides, there were plenty of other rare, valuable, and hard-to-mine mineral deposits in this world.
Of course, this was only the first step. Next, he needed to cooperate with Impel Down.
In fact, there was a common misconception that many people fell into, mistakenly believing that Impel Down was a subordinate unit of the Marines. That was completely wrong; Impel Down merely happened to house a large number of pirates. It was an institution directly under the World Government, standing on equal footing with the Marines. The most dangerous criminals who posed a severe threat to the world were locked up there.
Eleco's next move was to act as a guarantor, taking the lead to send the criminals from the upper levels of Impel Down to Moria so their shadows could be extracted to create a workforce of zombie miners. Look at how much of a win-win this was: Moria would gain a massive army of shadow zombies to boost his strength while indirectly keeping all those dangerous criminals under control. Of course, once Eleco used Green Blood technology to replicate Moria's abilities, he would backstab Moria and replace him with his own trusted personnel. Impel Down would see its overcrowding pressure relieved, Eleco would acquire vast wealth, and the World Government would eliminate a lingering threat—it was an absolute windfall!
Naturally, there was a third step as well: utilizing the power of Sugar, the Hobi Hobi no Mi user subordinate to Doflamingo. Turning those people whose shadows had been stripped away into toys and forcing them to work in the mines alongside the others—wouldn't that be even more efficient? It maximized the utility of every single laborer.
This approach provided multiple layers of security. If you wanted to escape, you first had to turn back into a normal person, which meant someone had to defeat the Hobi Hobi no Mi user. Then you had to retrieve your own shadow, meaning you still had to defeat the Shadow-Shadow Fruit user; otherwise, you would struggle to ever live under the sunlight again. After that, you would still have to escape the mine shafts, only to face a garrison of guards. Eleco had already decided to station Pacifistas there as guards. So once you went in, you might as well just mine obediently.
Then came Eleco's wild imagination: what if they used Big Mom's Soul-Soul Fruit abilities to transform these harvested shadows into Homies? Wouldn't that essentially create the Shadow-Shadow ninjas from Adventures of Jackie Chan?
Truly, technology changed lives. Vegapunk, hand over your Green Blood technology willingly!
Of course, all of that was for the future. The most pressing matter right now was bringing Moria under his control.
***
"Kishishishishi, so this is what the contract says?"
Exmitting his unique laughter, the massive Moria leaned back against his throne, listening as Hogback reported the terms of the contract. This was an employment contract with Eleco acting as the employer, hiring Moria to mine in Flevance, North Blue.
"I see. This is something I never expected; my zombies can actually be used for such things."
Since this was a formal meeting, all three of Moria's officers were present. It was Perona, who loved gloomy environments the most, that spoke up first.
"The environment there is far too terrible, isn't it? If someone contracts platinum lead disease, Hogback, you wouldn't be able to cure it, would you?"
This time, it was Absalom voicing his concerns to Hogback. He was also reminding Moria that despite the enormous profits involved, there was the danger of contracting the platinum lead disease.
"Platinum lead disease is the result of generations of accumulation. Furthermore, Saint Eleco has promised to personally step in and help secure a territory for you within the allied nations surrounding Flevance. Much like the Warlord Crocodile who lives in Rainbase in Alabasta, you can modify your own living environment, control the zombie miners from afar, use people turned into toys as zombie overseers, and have Germa clone soldiers guard the perimeter."
Since the Pacifistas did not exist yet, Eleco intended to use a large number of Germa clone soldiers to serve as the outer perimeter guards.
"This is a cooperative venture that can only be pulled off with a Celestial Dragon taking the lead, isn't it? I hope you will give Moria a serious consideration. Moreover, Saint Eleco has kindly decided to allocate two percent of the profits to you as compensation. Don't underestimate the value of this venture. Aren't you holding a grudge against Kaido? You can use this money to put a bounty on Kaido in the underground underworld. You don't even need to chop off his head—though money makes the ghost push the mill, Kaido isn't someone who's easily killed anyway. You just need to offer a suitable reward to anyone who can merely injure Kaido, to just land a single blow on him. How does that sound? What do you think of this proposal?"
"Kaido!"
"Kaido?!"
"Kaido—"
"Kaido..."
***
Hearing the name Kaido, Moria was first shocked and enraged, but then his energy slowly drained away, replaced by a lingering dread.
"Very well, I accept your proposal. So, when do we set off?"
Indeed, just as Shining had said, whether it was seizing the shadows of the powerful criminals in Impel Down to strengthen his own power or acquiring the vast funds needed to place a bounty on Kaido, both prospects were deeply tempting to Moria. On top of that, he would secure a connection to the Celestial Dragons. Moria was no fool who knew nothing of the world; he understood very well who truly called the shots. Having a Celestial Dragon backing him up would be an immense advantage.
And so, he went with the flow and agreed. However, he still had other concerns.
Oars' modification was nearly finished at the moment. If he were to just leave like this... he would take a massive loss.
"Um, the territory part doesn't matter. Is there a way to bring my Thriller Bark through the Calm Belt and into North Blue?"
"There's no rush to depart just yet. Saint Eleco would like you to accomplish three tasks first to demonstrate your sincerity and value. As for your request, I will have to ask for instructions."
"Tasks? What other tasks could there be?"
"Saint Eleco needs you to set two people free, and then he wants you to kidnap a king—a king of a World Government allied nation, Wapol, the king of the Kingdom of Bliking! And you must go in your own name to meet Nefertari Cobra, the King of Alabasta."
*(Note: Following Luffy's route in reverse order means passing through Water 7 first, but I plan to leave those events for Stephie to handle and jump straight to the Celestial Dragons for a major development, so please don't sweat the geography.)*