Lightning Fruit

Richard and the others did not stay in Alubarna for long. After asking King Cobra for a copy of the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, they took a stroll around the royal capital.

That evening, they attended the banquet King Cobra had prepared and met Princess Vivi, who was still a little girl.

The next day, they left Alabasta amid King Cobra's feeling of seeing off a plague god.

After sending them away, Cobra breathed a sigh of relief. These people had killed Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai. Alabasta could not afford to offend them.

Alabasta might have been a famous major nation in the Pirate World, with a standing army of six hundred thousand.

But Cobra knew very well that they were actually a weak country. They could bully small nations without any powerful fighters, sure.

But once they encountered true powerhouses, an army of six hundred thousand would be nothing but cannon fodder.

Unfortunately, powerhouses were hard to come by, and he had no means to recruit such people. Alabasta was poor.

So even though Sand Crocodile, Alabasta's hero, had been killed, he did not dare talk about revenge. He even had to treat the enemies who had killed that hero with food and drink.

Clearly, unaware of what Sand Crocodile had been planning, Cobra thought Sand Crocodile was a good man and Alabasta's guardian.

And Richard's group had become villains through and through.

Perhaps Richard and the others knew this, perhaps they did not. Who knew? Cobra had not shown any hostility, had he?

Of course, even if Richard and the others knew, they might not have cared. This world was ruled by the strong; who cared what the weak thought?

Meanwhile, at Marine Headquarters.

News of Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai, being defeated and killed had also arrived.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku rubbed his brow. Looking at the noisy meeting room, he slapped the table.

"Enough. This is the decision. Crocodile being killed only proves that he was not strong enough. Begin searching for a new candidate for the Shichibukai.

"They need to be strong. Otherwise, if they are defeated again shortly after being selected, the Shichibukai will lose all credibility, and the Marines will be humiliated as well.

"As for the person who defeated Crocodile, issue a bounty. Set the initial amount at fifty million Belly.

"Issue bounties for his entire group as well. Tsuru, draft them." Sengoku made the final decision.

"Isn't that amount a little low? He did defeat Crocodile," someone said.

Others felt that one hundred million would be more reasonable.

"No, fifty million. That is already a very high initial bounty," Sengoku said.

In the New World, Crocodile's death did not cause much of a stir among the Four Emperors' crews. It merely made those great pirates take slight notice of Richard's group.

After all, in the eyes of the great pirates of the New World, Crocodile was nothing more than a failure.

Even if they had defeated him, how strong could they possibly be?

It did cause quite a stir among the Shichibukai. As fellow Shichibukai, they acknowledged Crocodile's strength. He was not weak.

Doflamingo and Jinbe, for instance, paid special attention to Richard's group. Dracule Mihawk, meanwhile, noticed those among them carrying weapons.

As for the fat Moria, he said he was not particularly interested in them. Hancock had not even become a Shichibukai yet.

At this point, Richard's group still did not know that they had been wanted.

They set off again in their speedboat. After consulting the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, they confirmed that the crimson fruit they had obtained earlier was the Mera Mera no Mi.

They admired the two fruits sitting on the table.

Each one could make someone powerful, yet everyone here disliked them. Not a single person was willing to eat one.

Not only did the things provide little boost in strength, they also gave people the extra weakness of fearing seawater. Completely useless.

"Have you figured it out?" Xia Mi nudged Richard.

"No. How could it be that simple? I haven't even figured out the principles behind it. This thing is a technological black box," Richard said.

"I haven't figured it out either. Didn't you obtain the God Tree technology of the Otsutsuki clan? The Chakra Fruit should be similar to this, shouldn't it?" Xia Mi asked again.

"That is the most amateurish thing I've ever heard. How are they similar? They are completely different, all right?" Richard said irritably.

"Still, they are not entirely different."

A day later, they finally learned that they had been wanted.

They bought a newspaper from a News Coo, originally intending to see whether anything interesting had happened recently.

They never expected that they themselves had become someone else's entertainment.

Their faces filled the page.

Marine-designated codename "Water Ghost," Richard. Suspected Sui Sui no Mi user. Bounty: 50,000,000 Belly.

Marine-designated codename "Sword Demon," Kuina. Bounty: 45,000,000 Belly.

Marine-designated codename "War Ghost," Fenrir. Bounty: 30,000,000 Belly.

Besides that, Lin Feng, Erii, and Xia Mi were each assigned bounties of ten million Belly.

Together, their bounties exceeded one hundred and fifty million. But no one cared about that.

"Water Ghost? Hahaha! I can laugh at that nickname for a hundred years," Xia Mi said, bursting into laughter.

The others could not help laughing as well. The nickname clashed horribly with Richard's temperament. It sounded like the nickname of some insignificant nobody.

Richard stared with a baffled expression. These Marines were picking a fight, weren't they?

This grudge was huge now. He would definitely storm Marineford, drag out the Fleet Admiral and the Three Admirals, and give them a brutal beating.

In a few days, he would go cause trouble for the Marines.

They had now reached the vicinity of Sky Island. Directly above them was Sky Island itself.

Everyone was curious what an island growing in the sky looked like, so they unanimously decided that they had to visit Sky Island.

And speaking of Sky Island, one could not avoid mentioning Enel. That guy called himself a god on Sky Island and ruled this stretch of sky islands.

If they wanted to go up and have fun, they would definitely run into him.

Sure enough, the moment the group arrived without concealing themselves, a flash of lightning streaked by. Enel had arrived.

Thanks to the convenience of the Lightning Fruit, his Mantra could cover the entire island.

Mantra was Observation Haki, the Sky Islanders' name for Observation Haki.

His Observation Haki could monitor the entire island, so he discovered them the moment they arrived.

"Blue Sea Dwellers? Come and pay homage to a god. If you do, I shall forgive your offense." With such an embarrassingly melodramatic declaration, Richard really wanted to know what would happen if this guy were put together with Ye Zhen.

"No need to talk any more. Which one of you wants to go? Kuina, do you want to?" Richard asked.

"I will fight." Kuina did not hesitate in the slightest. As long as there was a battle, she would never retreat.

"Hmph. You missed your best chance to beg for mercy. Now, I have decided to punish you." Enel waved his hand, summoning lightning that surged toward them.

Kuina raised her sword and split apart the lightning before her. As for the lightning heading toward the others, she ignored it. She did not believe such lightning could hurt her companions.

A closer look at her blade would reveal a thin layer of Armament Haki covering it.

Otherwise, metal conducted electricity.

As for the lightning rushing toward Richard and the others, Richard guided it past them with a stream of water. Water conducted electricity too.

Kuina swung her sword, slashing at Enel. Enel transformed into lightning, intending to evade it.

"Ouch." Richard could not bear to watch. This ignorant kid was about to suffer badly.

Sure enough, Enel, who had never encountered Armament Haki, suffered terribly. Kuina's slash struck his elemental body, instantly forcing him out of his elemental form. A wound immediately appeared, and blood sprayed three meters away.

"Impossible! I am a god! How could you possibly touch me?" Enel's face went pale. He could not understand what had happened.

In the end, he died from excessive blood loss, eyes wide with disbelief. Another person who died in an utterly careless fashion.

Richard took out a prepared fruit, skillfully sealed off time and space, and obtained the Lightning Fruit. Logia Devil Fruit +1.