Enel, undone by his knowledge (2/10)

The Sky Island was ten thousand meters up in the air, in the White-White Sea above the White Sea.

The White Sea and the White-White Sea were three thousand meters apart in altitude.

If Blue Sea People made it up to the White Sea, they needed the help of an Express Shrimp or the ability to fly to reach the Sky Island.

Compared to Fish-Man Island, ten thousand meters beneath the sea, the Sky Island was clearly harder to reach.

"Neigh!"

A horse's cry rang out, and a magnificent, imposing steed appeared on the surface of the White-White Sea.

"It's beautiful!"

"A white sea... Is this what a Sky Island looks like?"

The white horse stepped lightly onto the beach. Nami and Robin dismounted and gazed at the boundless white sea before them. Its beauty made it feel like a fairyland.

"Captain, do you know where the Poneglyph is?" After marveling at the sight, Robin went straight to the point, looking at Arthur expectantly.

It was for the Poneglyph that she had resolutely suggested coming to the Sky Island.

Although the Sky Island was beautiful and was sure to have many novel species and local specialties not found on the sea, Robin wanted the Poneglyph more.

The Poneglyph was as enticing to her as a fish was to a cat.

"Come here..." Arthur remained on horseback, looking up at the blue sky before beckoning Robin over.

Seeing this, Robin walked over.

Arthur lowered his head slightly and, under Nami's curious gaze, leaned close to Robin's ear. His lips moved as though he were saying something, and even Nami beside them heard it.

"I'll be careful. Don't worry, Captain, go do what you need to do." Whatever Arthur had said, Robin's expression grew slightly serious. She nodded earnestly at him as she spoke.

"Then I'm counting on you. Nami, stay with Robin and don't wander around. Wait here for me to come back." Arthur nodded slightly, then looked at Nami and gave her a solemn instruction.

"I understand." How could Nami fail to understand? Arthur must have had something important to do, and she nodded repeatedly.

"Let's go, Dong Stallion."

Having given his instructions, Arthur rode the king's horse at a gallop in one direction across the White-White Sea.

His destination was the Sky Island's God's Island, Upper Yard.

The place ruled by God Enel had originally been part of Jaya Island, and was the location of Shandora, the Golden Land, and the Poneglyph.

As he rode the king's horse across the sea, Arthur's expression was exceptionally grave.

The reason he had secretly instructed Robin as soon as he reached the White-White Sea and headed for God's Island, Upper Yard, without pausing for a moment...

Was that the moment Arthur arrived at the White-White Sea, his heaven-defying Instinct (A) had already warned him.

From the moment he and the two women, Nami and Robin, landed on the Sky Island, an imperceptible gaze had been fixed on them.

Arthur, who knew the story well, understood that this was no illusion. It was real.

There was no doubt that the person watching him was God Enel, who had eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and ruled the entire Sky Island.

Mantra was Observation Haki. Combined with the radio waves unique to the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, it allowed Enel to sense the entire Sky Island and hear the voices of everyone on it.

For that reason, whenever anyone on the Sky Island spoke disrespectfully of God, they would bring Divine Judgment down upon themselves.

Enel had a defective personality. In the words of Arthur's previous life, he was too much of an edgelord.

Because of his childhood experiences and the inflated ego brought on by the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he looked down on everything from on high, his gaze full of scrutiny.

Arthur's high-profile arrival on the king's horse had immediately attracted Enel's attention.

Instinct told Arthur that this attention was extremely hostile, and even carried a sense of danger.

It was this warning from Instinct, along with his displeasure at being watched constantly, that made Arthur immediately have Robin and Nami settle down where they were and head for the kingdom of God without stopping.

Arthur was in a very bad mood after being targeted by an arrogant edgelord who called himself an untouchable god.

Yet he also felt extremely grave.

Enel was undoubtedly the strongest enemy Arthur had encountered so far, and far more troublesome than Crocodile.

Put simply, if Enel had joined the Marines, he would surely have been called a monster as soon as he entered the academy, just like Akainu and Kizaru.

His talent and strength were simply too great. That was why so many people had found Enel's fate in the original story a pity.

Leaving aside his overall strength, a man whose development of his fruit was in no way inferior to an Admiral's had actually lost to an insulator—or, in truth, to plot armor.

"Yehahaha... Interesting. To think you could detect my perception. This is too interesting."

Deep in the forest of God's Island, Upper Yard, laughter rang out from a magnificent palace. The laughter was filled with the delight of someone who had found something interesting.

"Four Priests."

"Lord God..."

The bare-chested Enel's smile faded slightly. Holding a bright red apple, he smiled cruelly at the Four Priests kneeling below him. "An outsider has invaded my territory. Go and test him."

"As you command, Lord God." The Four Priests answered respectfully, rose together, and left the palace without looking back.

"Blue Sea man, let your performance begin." Enel propped his face on one hand and took a bite of the apple, watching Arthur with an amused expression.

Meanwhile, Arthur had also reached God's Island, Upper Yard, on the king's horse.

He released his Observation Haki, rapidly spreading it over God's Island, Upper Yard. Gradually, the island's appearance emerged in his perception.

His (C)-rank Observation Haki was not enough to cover all of God's Island, Upper Yard; it did not even come close to Enel's.

But covering a portion of it was possible.

Especially as the king's horse ran through the air, gradually drawing closer to the depths of the forest.

Four powerful signs of life appeared within Arthur's perception.

This feeling of being watched with nowhere to hide is really unpleasant, Arthur thought. Needless to say, those four signs of life had to be Enel's four attendants.

He had already felt that this fruit was outrageously powerful in the original story. Experiencing it firsthand, Arthur rated the Rumble-Rumble Fruit even more highly.

Its power went without saying, and combining radio waves with Mantra was practically cheating.

No wonder so many people in his previous life considered it the strongest Logia Devil Fruit.

Chapter 49: Enel, undone by his knowledge (2/10)

"Stop, intruder!"

The king's horse came running through the air. Before Arthur had even approached the trial grounds, the Four Priests appeared before him.

Looking up at Arthur on his white horse, the Priest of Swamp, one of the Four Priests, bit his upper lip and said, "You're unusual. Congratulations, you're the first to face the trial of all four of us priests at once. You should feel honored, intruder!"

"Whoosh!"

But just as he finished speaking, all four heard the sound of something slicing through the air.

"So fast!"

"Boom!!"

Warned by their Mantra, the Four Priests cried out in alarm and hurriedly threw themselves in different directions.

Almost the instant they scattered, the spot where they had been standing was struck as if by a sledgehammer, blasting out an enormous crater.

Arthur wore a calm expression, his leg still extended in a downward kick.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the Four Priests scramble to their feet.

Using the king's horse as a springboard, Arthur had intended to take out the Four Priests in an instant.

But he had not expected them to dodge. Arthur had underestimated them.

Or rather, in his first fight against people who knew Haki, Arthur had been too confident and had failed to prepare for their response.

"Intruder, are you ready to face the trial? You gave us a kick just now, so as a return gift, take one of mine!"

"Whoosh!"

With a rush of air, the Priest of Swamp, floating on swamp clouds, appeared above Arthur. A fierce kick swept toward him, accompanied by a piercing gust.

The cloud beneath his feet and the wind whistling from his kick were not produced by physical ability, but by Sky Island specialties: a Cloud Dial and a Wind Dial.

Sky Island Dials were undoubtedly very special tools, useful both in everyday life and in battle.

With these Sky Island specialties and their Mantra, the Four Priests had been extremely troublesome opponents for Luffy and the others in the original story.

But in Arthur's eyes, they were utterly ridiculous.

"Puchi!"

Arthur reached out, and the Holy Lance appeared out of thin air. He thrust it forward with lightning speed.

The lance's advantage came into play. With its almost unfair length, it pierced the Priest of Swamp's neck without giving him any chance to react, leaving his corpse hanging in the air.

"Swish!"

Holding the Holy Lance in one hand, Arthur did not leave the other idle. Golden light gathered in his palm and became Excalibur. He casually swung it at the other three priests, who were momentarily stunned by the Priest of Swamp's instant death.

In an instant, an astonishingly large crescent of sword pressure swept out.

The golden sword pressure was like an irresistible storm, instantly carving a straight, smooth cut in the ground as it raced toward the three priests.

They were already very close to Arthur. Faced with the enormous, astonishingly fast sword pressure, their bodies could not react in time even with Mantra's warning, and they could only watch as the golden light swallowed them.

The sword pressure was like a wave, more like a roar. It did not stop after engulfing the three priests.

Instead, its power undiminished, it carried them deeper into the forest, completely leveling the trees for hundreds of meters ahead.

After swinging that sword, Arthur put Excalibur away.

Given the strength of those three priests, there was no possibility of their surviving a slash from a top swordsman.

"Thud!"

The Holy Lance in his hand dissolved into light and vanished, and the Priest of Swamp's corpse fell from the air to the ground.

Almost the moment he withdrew the Holy Lance into his body, Arthur's expression changed slightly, and he looked up at the azure sky.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

The moment he looked up, a blue-white point of light appeared in the sky. It expanded rapidly, turning into a brilliant pillar of lightning that struck down.

The dazzling blue-white light was not only gorgeous, but also possessed a terrifying power to match.

Arthur pushed off with one foot, his figure drifting gracefully back several dozen meters.

"Boom!!"

A piercing rush of air sounded in his ears, and the scene before Arthur was instantly obscured by blue-white light.

"That's really outrageous..."

When the blue-white lightning faded, a huge, bottomless cylindrical crater came into view, and Arthur clicked his tongue slightly.

Such power to reshape the ground with ease was worthy of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

Every top-ranked Logia Devil Fruit had terrifying abilities.

Whether it was the Ice-Ice Fruit, the Magma-Magma Fruit, the Glint-Glint Fruit, or the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, once developed to a certain degree, any of them could easily redraw the map.

Of these, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit had the greatest destructive power. Raigo was definitely an ability capable of destroying an island in a single blow.

"Yehahaha... As expected of someone who could detect my perception. Well done."

Blue-white lightning flickered, and a radiant figure appeared on a tree in front of Arthur.

With a golden staff in one hand and an apple in the other, Enel crouched barefoot on a treetop. Four large drums marked with three tomoe were strapped to his bare back, and he watched Arthur with amused interest, as though looking at something intriguing.

"Swish!"

The next moment, Enel vanished from the treetop and teleported in front of Arthur. Lightning shimmered all over his body, arcs crackling shrilly and giving off a suffocating pressure.

Seeing him teleport so freely, Arthur frowned, a trace of sharpness flashing through his emerald-green eyes.

"Whoosh!"