Kneel Before the Might of Lightning!

He wore a light, thin shirt left open, exposing his chest and abs to the air, along with white trousers.

Simple and clean.

At six foot three, with his muscular build, he made it clear he was not someone to be messed with.

It was hard to imagine that he was only fourteen years old.

Taking out a sea chart, Ling Donglai asked around about Arlong while searching for the next village inhabited by fish-men.

After Ling Donglai killed more than twenty fish-men and slipped into the mountains to recover, members of the Arlong Pirates did indeed come to the island. However, the enraged Arlong merely had them collect the bodies and investigate outside the island, taking no further extreme action.

There were quotas for destroying islands. Even the Marines colluding with Arlong could not allow him to destroy islands at will.

Murder could still be covered up, and destroying one island was manageable. But if it happened too often, even the colluding Marines would no longer shield the Arlong Pirates.

Thus, the furious fish-men did not massacre the entire island. They fully contracted their forces, expanding outward from Cocoyasi Village, their core. Every fish-man outpost was positioned near the sea and guarded by fish-men with sharp noses, allowing them to support one another.

It could be said that if Ling Donglai wanted to attack fish-man bases again, he would have to fight by the sea. If he could not cut them down quickly, he would have to face a large number of fish-man reinforcements.

The danger level had risen another notch.

Naturally, Ling Donglai would not go knocking on their door right away. Training slowly, growing stronger, then crushing them later was also quite appealing.

Just as Ling Donglai was considering his next move, a drunken man carrying a sword staggered into him from behind.

"Sorry... ah!"

After bumping into Ling Donglai, the drunk quietly reached one hand toward Ling Donglai's neck. Yet the instant it touched his skin, he jerked it back.

"Damn it, what was that?" The drunk withdrew the hand that had reached for Ling Donglai's neck while his other hand moved to the sword at his waist.

"Just an electric shock." Ling Donglai looked at the man who had attacked him. His gaze was clear, with no trace of drunkenness left.

Ling Donglai could now continuously train by generating electricity through friction in his cells while awake. Ordinary people who touched his exposed skin would feel an electric shock and instinctively pull their hands back.

It was a good way to keep thieves from stealing things.

"Hmph, you're the pirate with a ten-million Beli bounty, aren't you?" The drunk tossed out a wanted poster from his chest.

"Kill you, and I'll get Arlong's reward too. One job, two paychecks. Looks like you've offended quite a few people."

The drunk drew his sword, revealing his profession as well—a bounty hunter.

"How boring. Every stray cat and dog has come running over. Is this what they call using people against people?" Ling Donglai raised a finger toward the bounty hunter.

"Kneel before the might of lightning!"

A bolt of Azure Thunder traced a twisting arc and struck the bounty hunter in the heart.

Clang—

The katana in the bounty hunter's hand fell to the ground. His eyes rolled white as he dropped to his knees.

After unleashing the lightning strike, Ling Donglai turned and left. He did not care what became of the bounty hunter, leaving only the lurking ghosts and ghouls to whisper in the shadows:

"Did you see that? That was lightning, right?!"

"That target possesses sorcery that lets him command lightning!"

"Are you stupid? That was obviously the power of the sea's secret treasure—the Devil Fruit. I didn't expect this one to be an ability user. Why is his bounty only ten million...?"

"With that kind of attack speed, I'd be dead before I even drew my sword. That ten million won't be easy to take!"

"It is a double reward, after all. Could poison kill him...?"

Only after Ling Donglai left did the hunters tempted by money begin to think seriously about how they might claim the reward.

The hunters who pursued nothing but profit were slowly approaching their own deaths.

To die for wealth was the fate of most bounty hunters.

"Boss, give me a serving of beef offal."

Passing a roadside stall and feeling a little hungry, Ling Donglai took out one hundred Beli. "Make it extra large."

"Coming right up!"

The woman selling beef offal took the money, pulled a huge cleaver from a drawer, and chopped directly at Ling Donglai's head.

"Seriously? I buy a serving of beef offal, and you still want to chop me?" Ling Donglai raised one finger and blocked the woman's strike.

"Since you took the money, shouldn't you at least do your job?"

"How is that possible? You blocked my blade with one finger?" The beef-offal seller's mouth fell open wide enough to fit a sandbag-sized fist, and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Look carefully. I'm blocking it with my fingernail!"

"Kill him!"

Behind Ling Donglai, several bounty hunters who had concealed themselves tore off their disguises and charged at him with weapons in hand.

"Attack together! We'll split the reward afterward!"

Ling Donglai said, "What a pain. I'll just take this pot for myself, then."

His hair shot upward in an instant. Only after his hand touched the iron pot containing the beef offal did the thunderous boom of Azure Thunder erupt, and dozens of bounty hunters were defeated.

The few survivors who had not been electrocuted to death could only spread tales of his exploits.

Using their own fear and incompetence to add a little embellishment to a simple story.

Bringing his mouth to the pot, he swallowed the entire pot of beef offal and broth in one gulp. His stomach did not even bulge. Tossing aside the iron pot in his hand, Ling Donglai finally asked around to see whether any nearby cruise ships or merchant vessels were heading out to sea.

"Although we estimated his strength, I never expected that guy to be so terrifying..." Only after Ling Donglai left did two unharmed sword-carrying hunters emerge from hiding.

"Should we buy some poison gas bombs from the great pirates and kill him?" the bounty hunter beside him asked his friend.

"From whom, Arlong? Those fish-men do not really like human technology."

"I heard recently that the Buggy Pirates came up with something called the Buggy Cannon. One shot can blow up an entire town!"

"That clown at sea... he doesn't seem very reliable."

"I already told Arlong's people that he's still on this island. Before long, Marine warships should come to surround and suppress him, hahaha...

Who here would be foolish enough to oppose Arlong? Shouldn't everyone with even a little strength know all about his cozy relationship with Marine Branch 16?"

"Exactly. If we offend Arlong, we will not even have anywhere to collect the bounty. Marines and pirates are pretty much the same breed."

"Not necessarily. The Marines in the Four Blues are all snakes and rats in the same nest, but the Marine Headquarters forces on the Grand Line are all paragons of virtue..."

The hunters hiding in the shadows chatted and laughed as they walked away...