Looking at Enel kneeling on the scorched ground, trembling and covered in snot and tears, Lei En felt no sympathy whatsoever. Instead, the malicious amusement in his heart grew like wild grass.
Kill him?
That would be letting him off too easily, and it would waste the boy's innate talent for Mantra.
Lei En's grand plan to establish the Heavenly Court had only just begun. He was in dire need of quality laborers who could serve as free radar and generators.
"Since you like being called a god so much..."
Lei En slowly rose to his feet. With a flick of his fingertip, an exceptionally violent flower of deep-blue lightning bloomed there, crackling sharply.
"Then I'll baptize you properly, in a god's way."
Enel stared at the lightning flower and instinctively sensed extreme danger.
He frantically scrambled backward, using both hands and feet like a startled crab.
"No... don't! Don't come any closer!"
"Too late."
A benevolent smile appeared on Lei En's lips, one that would have made even Yang Yongxin call him a true professional.
He raised a hand and snapped his fingers casually.
"Ten Thousand Volts: Electrotherapy."
"Boom!"
A thick bolt of blue lightning shot forth like a venomous snake, instantly crossing the distance between them and striking Enel squarely in the chest!
"Aaaahhhhhh—!"
A bloodcurdling scream, like a pig being slaughtered, instantly echoed through the forest ruins of God's Island.
Blue currents raced wildly across Enel's entire body.
His originally smooth white hair stood up strand by strand under the static electricity, turning directly into an exaggerated afro.
The muscles all over his body spasmed violently beyond his control. He rolled and convulsed madly across the blackened mud like a fish out of water.
"Feels good, doesn't it? This is physical transcendence."
With his arms folded, Lei En watched Enel on the ground with a cheerful smile.
He had deliberately controlled the voltage and current.
This voltage was enough to let someone experience excruciating pain without endangering his life. At most, it would just leave him crispy outside and tender inside.
"Stop... stop... I was wrong! Help!"
Enel begged through spasms, foam spilling from his mouth.
When had he ever endured such inhuman torture in his life?
He had always been the one bullying others with violence. Today, he finally understood what a crushing difference in power meant.
"Wrong? How could a god make mistakes?"
Lei En deliberately sighed and snapped his fingers again.
"Looks like the shock didn't go deep enough. Raise it to two hundred thousand volts."
"Bzzzt—!"
The current instantly doubled!
"Awooo—!"
Enel's scream cracked outright, and he shouted himself hoarse.
He rolled frantically on the ground, smearing himself with black ash. Combined with that afro, he looked exactly like a refugee who had just crawled out of a coal mine.
This utterly inhumane "electrotherapy" lasted a full half hour.
By the time Lei En finally mercifully withdrew the lightning, Enel had completely stopped struggling.
He lay sprawled on the ground, wisps of black smoke rising from his body and a faint scent of roasted meat hanging in the air.
He stared blankly at the sky, little bubbles still unconsciously coming from his mouth.
"Hey, are you dead?"
Lei En walked over and nudged Enel's ribs with the tip of his shoe.
Enel suddenly jerked, springing up from the ground as if electrocuted.
He scrambled to Lei En's feet, clung desperately to his thigh, and burst into loud sobs, snot and tears streaming down his face.
"I'm not dead! I'm not dead! Grandpa Lei En! I was wrong! I really was!"
Enel had completely surrendered.
What godly dignity? What ambition to rule Sky Island?
Before this utterly merciless lightning demon, it was all fucking meaningless!
Right now, he only wanted to stay alive. He would even be this little ancestor's dog if he had to!
"Let go. You're getting snot on my pants."
Lei En disdainfully pulled his leg free. Looking at Enel's miserable state, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Starting today, you'll be the Heavenly Court's chief night watchman and apprentice handyman. Any objections?"
"None! Absolutely none!"
Enel shook his head like a rattle drum. "Being able to serve tea and pour water for Grandpa Lei En is a blessing I cultivated for eight lifetimes!"
Lei En could not help rolling his eyes at Enel's flattering expression.
This kid adapted rather quickly.
Still, although he had taken on a lackey, if Enel could not even protect himself, bringing him along would only disgrace the Heavenly Court.
Lei En had taken the Rumble-Rumble Fruit for himself, so the boy's current combat power was only marginally better than an ordinary person's.
Lei En rubbed his chin and sank his consciousness into the system space.
After rummaging through the pile of miscellaneous items from his previous check-in rewards, he really did find a Devil Fruit.
It had come from a blind box included in the newbie gift pack he received in Loguetown.
A white fruit covered in cloud-like patterns.
"Paramecia—Cloud-Cloud Fruit?"
Lei En glanced at the fruit guide and curled his lip.
Although this fruit could create and control clouds, its attack power was painfully weak. At best, it was a support-type ability.
"Whatever. It's still a Devil Fruit. I'll put it to use instead of wasting it."
Lei En took the Cloud-Cloud Fruit out of the system space and casually tossed it in front of Enel.
"Eat it."
Enel froze for a moment. Looking at the fruit that gave off a strange smell, he swallowed.
"Grandpa Lei En, th-this is...?"
"A Devil Fruit," Lei En said indifferently. "It'll make you stronger. It can't compare to the one I ate earlier, but it'll do."
The moment Enel heard it could make him stronger, his eyes lit up.
He did not care how strange the fruit looked. He grabbed it and stuffed it into his mouth in two or three bites like a starving dog pouncing on food.
"Urgh—"
The instant the fruit went down, Enel dry-heaved, his face turning green.
But the awful taste was quickly replaced by a strange new power surging through his body.
He cautiously raised his hand, and a soft white cloud appeared out of thin air in his palm.
"Th-this is a cloud?!"
Enel stared at the cloud in his hand in shock. It did not possess the world-destroying power he had imagined, but it was still a superpower!
"From now on, if the Heavenly Court's transportation breaks down, you'll be responsible for making clouds to pave the way."
Lei En pulled out a sheet of parchment from nowhere and tossed it in front of Enel.
It was a Heavenly Court Lifelong Contract of Indenture.
"Sign it and leave a fingerprint. From now on, your base salary will be one hundred thousand Beli a month, with food and lodging included."
Enel looked at the contract packed with tyrannical terms, tears welling in his eyes.
But how could he dare say even half a word of refusal?
Sniffling, he bit his finger and tremblingly pressed a bloody fingerprint onto the parchment.
A generation's Thunder God of Sky Island had been reduced to a lowly worker for the Heavenly Court in such a stiflingly humiliating manner.
Lei En put away the contract and clapped his hands in satisfaction.
"Alright, stop crying. You're making it look like I'm bullying you."
Lei En turned around and looked toward the depths of God's Island, where the temple of Sky Island's current "god," Gan Fall, stood.
"Let's go, little brother."
A glint of excitement flashed in Lei En's eyes.
"Next, it's time to collect rent from the temple."
Before you continue