Capone: Fortress of Ambition

Moria's arrogance greatly displeased the contestants on the ring, especially Jack and Taku. Even the usually calm Jozu shot him an unfriendly look.

"Then I'll just get rid of you first," a savage grin spread across Taku's lips, the killing intent in his eyes growing stronger.

Moria completely ignored everyone's stares. He spread his arms wide and let out his peculiar "Kishishi" laugh. "Let's clear the stage a bit first. All you small fry can be eliminated!"

The shadow beneath Moria's feet suddenly moved, splitting into countless fine threads that shot out rapidly across the ring, connecting to the shadows of the contestants. Then, the contestants' shadows, no longer under their control, quickly spread outwards, linking together to form a massive black area that encompassed the entire ring. All the contestants were now within this black zone.

This sudden development panicked many contestants. Seeing Moria's wicked smile only unsettled them further. Someone couldn't resist attacking Moria.

"Shadow Thorn Forest!"

Suddenly, countless black thorns erupted from the blackened ring surface. In an instant, these black thorns densely covered the entire stage.

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

Those contestants were impaled by the black thorns and hung upon the Shadow Thorn Forest, a truly gruesome sight.

Fortunately, Moria knew how to exercise some restraint; he hadn't aimed for vital spots. These contestants looked miserable, but their lives weren't in danger.

Of course, although the Shadow Thorn Forest was an area-of-effect attack covering the entire ring, it could at most clear out some of the weaker cannon fodder.

It couldn't harm true powerhouses. When the thorns rushed towards Jozu, he didn't move an inch, his body instantly covered in diamond. The shadow thorns couldn't break through his diamond defense at all.

Jack and crudely smashed the incoming shadow thorns with a single punch. Taku didn't make a move; his two guards instantly kicked the shadow thorns apart.

Heavy Blade King Mike Feyton stomped his foot, shattering the shadow area beneath him with Armament Haki. Indeed, the true masters completely avoided or neutralized the shadow thorns.

The Shadow Thorn Forest began to grow, tossing all the cannon fodder off the ring. Then, the entire forest of thorns flowed like water back into the ground, retreating to Moria's feet and reforming into his shadow.

"Now that the small fry are gone, only the strong remain! Come on, get me excited!" Moria laughed wildly.

A pirate wielding a single sword was the first to charge. He was fast, and as he neared, he leaped up, his longsword raised high, then slashed down fiercely.

Moria's right fist also shot out. His Armament-hardened iron fist feared no blade; with one punch, he sent the man flying.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Four slashes of light appeared almost simultaneously, hacking towards Moria's vital points.

Four blades of varying sizes cut through Moria's body, their edges passing through his torso.

"Did we succeed?" Joy flashed across the faces of the four attackers.

"No! Retreat, quickly!" someone suddenly roared. The four attackers' expressions changed drastically, and they rapidly retreated. However, the shadow beneath Moria's feet split into four thick Shadow Horn Spears that shot up from the ground with lightning speed, piercing through their bodies.

Before the four had struck Moria, he had used Doppelman to swap his body with his shadow, evading the fatal attack.

However, the four attackers weren't so lucky. The Shadow Horn Spears impaled their hearts, killing them instantly.

The four Shadow Horn Spears, skewering the four corpses, danced around Moria, an extremely intimidating sight.

Moria looked at the remaining people, his eyes growing more excited. The Shadow Horn Spears flung the corpses off and returned to his feet.

"Gentlemen, let's get rid of him first," Taku spoke up at this moment, no longer able to suppress the killing intent in his heart. Black smoke began to emanate from his body, thick black smoke that flowed across the ground.

Taku was a user of a special Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, the Poison Smoke Fruit. His body could produce toxic black smoke; inhaling even a single breath would cause poisoning.

Taku chose to act directly. The billowing black smoke transformed into numerous venomous snakes that lunged at Moria.

The shadow beneath Moria's feet leaped up again, changing into Shadow Horn Spears that struck down the black smoke snakes one by one. Thick black smoke began to drift across the ring.

An even wider, wicked smile spread across Taku's lips. He continued to release poison smoke, intending to fill the entire ring with it, turning the stage into his home field. Then, he could easily defeat everyone.

Taku's guards took out masks and put them on – special masks that could prevent the inhalation of poison smoke.

At this moment, Heavy Blade King Mike Feyton made his move. He chose to attack Moria. His massive frame, almost as tall as Moria's, charged forward with surprising speed.

Moria's shadow transformed into Shadow Horn Spears that shot out. Mike Feyton swung his door-panel-sized heavy blade, shattering all the shadows with a single slash. He then swung it high and brought it down with astonishing speed. The immense force combined with the high-speed slash created a sonic boom.

Moria hurriedly dodged. The heavy blade slammed onto the ground, instantly cleaving the ring. The crack extended all the way off the stage, hitting a nearby wall. The wall trembled, countless cracks spreading across it before it collapsed with a roar, terrifying many spectators. Those in the front rows, the more timid ones, quickly scrambled backward.

The power of that single slash was evident.

Mike Feyton missed his strike. Moria threw a punch at Mike Feyton, but at that exact moment, a colossal figure appeared, striking Moria before he could land his blow and sending him flying.

Moria crashed heavily to the ground. Looking up, wasn't that giant figure Jack?

Jack stood expressionlessly behind Mike Feyton, glaring furiously at Moria, his body rapidly bestializing, a terrifying aura coiling around him.

In the end, Jack had chosen to team up with Mike Feyton to defeat Moria first.

Not only him, but several other powerful fighters also appeared behind them, all filled with killing intent.

The only one who hadn't moved was Diamond Jozu. He observed the battlefield with an expressionless face, his gaze not on Moria, but on Taku, who was releasing the poison smoke.

"I can't let you dominate the ring." Jozu moved, charging towards Taku.

Taku's face turned ugly; he hadn't expected Jozu to abandon Moria to deal with him. His guards quickly rushed out to block Jozu. Meanwhile, he controlled the dense poison smoke to surge towards Jozu, the toxic fumes rushing forth like a tidal wave.

Jozu threw a punch, unleashing a strong fist pressure that blew the poison smoke away. Figures rushed out from within the smoke, surrounding Jozu.

"No one will interfere with my plan!"

Taku even more frantically generated poison smoke. The toxic fumes billowed and surged across the ring, enveloping Jozu within.

Moria, on his side, climbed up from the ground and pulled a flat, black ball from his pocket. The surface of the black ball seemed to be covered with head-shaped black shadows; densely packed head-shadows crowded its surface, still writhing bizarrely.

Each head on it was a person's shadow; this single black ball was formed by compressing two hundred shadows.

Moria swallowed the flat black ball in one gulp. His physique rapidly expanded, becoming even more massive and astounding.