The Truth

"Ah... It hurts!!!"

A violent pain, as if his bones had snapped, shot up from his tailbone, making Ye Mu's whole body jolt.

However, he did not pay it much mind. Once the pain passed, he quickly felt around inside his clothes. Thank heavens, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was still there. Only then did he let out a breath of relief. After rubbing his backside, he looked around.

That one glance left Ye Mu amazed.

The scene before his eyes looked like a paradise hidden beneath a sea of clouds. As far as the eye could see stood massive buildings resembling ancient Egyptian architecture, layered one upon another, spreading outward with the huge green vine at the very center as their core. At the root of that central green vine was an enormous structure that looked like a pyramid.

However, Ye Mu's mind was entirely on the Devil Fruit, and he had no heart to admire the view.

He rubbed his aching butt and glanced beside him. Enel was actually still unconscious.

"Hey... Enel, wake up..."

Ye Mu shook Enel's somewhat frail body. Through his exposed skin, Ye Mu discovered that Enel's body was covered in quite a few scars.

It seemed Enel had suffered no small amount of abuse on Sky Island. No wonder he wanted to destroy Sky Island later.

All one could say was that in this world, there was no love without reason, nor hatred without cause!

That only strengthened Ye Mu's resolve to take Enel away from Sky Island, whether it was to repay Enel for taking such wholehearted care of him despite having known him for less than half a day, or for the sake of Ye Mu's own future, where he could have such a powerful companion as the Thunder God Enel.

Enel woke up very quickly. He rubbed his eyes, spat out the seawater in his mouth, and when he saw that Ye Mu was still beside him, a trace of joy appeared on his face.

"Are you okay? Can you stand?"

Ye Mu asked with concern.

Enel's face twitched a little. It seemed that fall just now had still made his body hurt somewhat.

He struggled to his feet, patted his clothes, and said with a careless expression, "I'm fine. Last time I fell down, it hurt way more than this."

When Ye Mu heard Enel's words, he was deeply moved. Enel had clearly known that falling down would hurt badly, yet he had still brought him here without hesitation.

"Thanks."

Ye Mu said gratefully. Enel turned his head away with a proud, awkward look.

"What the hell are you randomly thanking me for?"

"Heh."

Ye Mu put an arm around Enel's shoulders and said boldly, "No matter what, from today on, you're my brother, Enel. From now on, we share fortune and hardship together. Once you help me find that fruit, I'll take you back to the Blue Sea. When the time comes, we brothers will go to the Blue Sea, dominate a region, and live a free and easy life."

"Tch..."

Enel made a disdainful sound at Ye Mu's words, but his expression was obviously deeply shaken.

It seemed Ye Mu's words, good brother, had struck Enel's heart hard.

The two rested for a while, then continued on the path to search for the Devil Fruit.

The two of them wove through the buildings of the ancient ruins, heading toward the root of that vine. According to Enel, that was where he had found the fruit.

Ye Mu was naturally extremely excited. He wished he could turn one step into several and immediately fly to the place where the vine was, but unfortunately, there was too much debris in the ancient ruins, so the two of them simply could not move fast.

"Last time, I came here looking for food. I accidentally fell in through that hole from just now, and that's how I discovered this place."

As Enel walked, he explained to Ye Mu.

"I found lots of shiny golden things there. There were lots of words on them that I didn't recognize. In that place, there was a huge house, and I found the fruit in your hand inside that house. Originally, I planned to pick the other one too, but at the time, I heard a really scary hissing sound. I got startled, and before I could pick the other one, I ran away. Later, after I got out, I blocked that hole with stones."

"You really are smart."

Ye Mu praised him, while also secretly feeling lucky. Thankfully, Enel had not picked that Devil Fruit. Otherwise, he would have had absolutely nothing to look forward to now.

"Hey, I'm saying, you should tell me about your Blue Sea too. I heard the people on Sky Island say that you people from the Blue Sea are all really strong."

Ever since Ye Mu had mentioned that Enel might be from the Blue Sea, Enel had become somewhat curious about the Blue Sea, so he asked Ye Mu.

"The Blue Sea, huh? When talking about our Blue Sea, there's one place that absolutely has to be mentioned."

"A place?"

Enel stopped and asked in some confusion.

"That's right."

Ye Mu felt that now was the best time to stir up Enel's longing for the Blue Sea, so he said, "That place is called Laugh Tale. In legend, it's the land of dreams in the entire Blue Sea. It's said that island possesses everything. If you can reach it, you can become the Pirate King and obtain all wealth, power, and fame. It's the place everyone in the Blue Sea dreams of reaching."

"It's that amazing?"

Sure enough, after Enel heard Ye Mu's words, a trace of longing flashed through his eyes.

Ye Mu did not know what era this was, or whether Roger was dead yet, so he could only give a rough introduction.

"That's right. But even now, after hundreds of years have passed, not a single pirate has ever been there. So, Enel, come with me to the Blue Sea. Step onto the road of pursuing dreams and freedom with me. Conquer that beautiful Blue Sea below and become the true Pirate King, the ruler of that beautiful world below."

"Pirate King, ruler of the world?"

At that moment, Enel's eyes were filled with yearning. It was the kind of desire for success and fame that any man would have.

"Once you help me find that fruit, then with its power, we brothers will be able to possess tremendous strength and rule over an entire world. When the time comes, we'll gather powerful companions and advance toward the throne of lord of the world."

Ye Mu casually revealed to Enel a bit about Devil Fruits.

Sure enough, after Enel heard Ye Mu's words, he abruptly stopped in his tracks, turned to Ye Mu, and a trace of confusion flashed across his face.

"Fruit? Is that fruit really special?"

Ye Mu was also struggling inwardly over whether he should tell Enel the truth about Devil Fruits now. If he told Enel now, would Enel harbor wicked thoughts, snatch the Devil Fruit, and refuse to take him to find another Devil Fruit?

Although this Devil Fruit had originally belonged to Enel anyway.

But if he did not say anything, and only revealed everything after they found the Flame-Flame Fruit, would that create a rift between them? After all, Ye Mu intended to bring Enel to the Blue Sea and make him his strongest companion.

After struggling for a long time, Ye Mu finally made up his mind and said, "That's right. If I'm not mistaken, this fruit should be the secret treasure of the sea that everyone in our Blue Sea longs to obtain—a Devil Fruit."