The battle ends

"What a beautiful sound." Li Ziming had never thought the ringing of gold could sound so lovely. Perhaps it was because he had never heard it before?

"You're awake?" Robin looked at Li Ziming. "Though it seems everything is already over."

"At least I won't miss the final feast, right?" Li Ziming smiled. "Still, this is pretty embarrassing. I never expected I'd end up being no help at all."

"That isn't the only thing you should be embarrassed about. The Poneglyph by the Golden Bell didn't contain information about a king's weapon, but about an Ancient Weapon called Poseidon." Robin looked at Li Ziming. "Has this generation's Poseidon appeared?"

"Yes. Why, interested?" Li Ziming shook his head. "But Fish-Man Island is still a real headache. Even setting aside how troublesome its protector is, our strength is nowhere near enough."

"True." Robin nodded. She also felt their crew was still far too weak.

"Ah! The Ark Maxim is flying away!" Nami shouted as she watched the golden ship slowly rise into the sky. "Hurry up and shoot that ship down!"

"Our navigator really does love money," Robin said helplessly. Although they had defeated Enel, he was still a Logia user. With him aboard the Ark Maxim, bringing it down was beyond them.

"Yeah, but I really don't want to let that ark get away." Li Ziming's lips twitched. "Help me up, will you?"

"What are you planning now?" Robin looked at Li Ziming irritably. "You're already badly injured. Stop doing unnecessary things." Despite her words, she still helped him up and let him lean against her.

"We can't just let that guy leave." Li Ziming sensed around briefly and faintly detected something familiar above them. Then he activated his ability. "Air Detonation!"

The sudden explosion shocked everyone. Gold rained down, and Enel's face filled with disbelief. After Luffy's attack, he barely had enough strength to keep the Ark Maxim flying, let alone do anything else. Falling from this height meant certain death.

"I never imagined... that I'd die here in the end." Enel closed his eyes, his life flashing before him. As a child, the awakening of his Mantra had led people to call him a monster. Then he had obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and finally gained power. Later, he had gathered followers and become a so-called god, even though all he had wanted at first was a better life. Gradually, he had attained that life and could finally pursue his dream—the Endless Vearth he had always dreamed of. Yet how could he have imagined he would lose to someone from the Blue Sea, only to fall to his death?

"Heh. What an unfitting death for a god." The impact against the ground felt just like Luffy's fist, instantly knocking Enel unconscious.

"The Ark Maxim fell!" Nami's eyes began to shine. "Let's go get that gold!"

"Let's wait until everyone wakes up. The gold's sitting right there. It won't grow legs and walk away. What we all need now is time to recover," Li Ziming told Nami helplessly. "Pretty much everyone's badly hurt. We're really not in good shape."

"I agree with that." Robin nodded.

"Besides, we need to think of a way to take more gold with us, don't we?" As far as Nami was concerned, everything Li Ziming had said before was useless chatter. That last remark about taking more gold, however, struck straight at her heart.

"Yes, you're right. We do need to recover." That was what Nami said, but Li Ziming thought she might have been more convincing without the gleam of Beli in her eyes.

"The old man and the others must have heard it, right?" Luffy grinned proudly, showing his white teeth.

"If they didn't, we can just ring it again." Li Ziming looked at Luffy with amusement. "Honestly, I really want to try ringing such a huge Golden Bell."

"Then I'm third!" Usopp immediately declared.

"I'm fourth." Chopper wasn't about to miss out on something so fun either.

"I'm fifth!" Luffy shouted excitedly.

"You idiot, Luffy! You already rang it!" Nami snapped at her captain.

"But I still want to ring it again!" Luffy protested. "It sounded really nice!"

"You guys..." Nami felt helpless. She had been hoping to get them to help carry the gold.

"Nami, my dear, ring the Golden Bell of love with me!" Sanji wore a lovestruck expression.

"Curly-brows." Zoro immediately began taunting him.

"What did you say, Moss-head?!" Sanji glared viciously at Zoro, his eyes blazing.

"You want a fight?!" Zoro glared back, equally annoyed.

"You two sure are close," Li Ziming teased.

"Who's close to this bastard?!"

"Are we saving this guy?" Zoro looked at Chopper, who was treating Wyper.

"..." Chopper said nothing, merely lowering his head to examine Wyper's body.

"Save him. What Sky Island needs now isn't war, right, Lord God?" Li Ziming's sudden use of the word "god" startled everyone.

"God?" Nami said in alarm. "Enel isn't dead yet?"

"I believe he means me." Gan Fall sat on the ground. "That is all in the past. Personally, I feel Sky Island no longer needs a god."

"But they need a leader." Li Ziming shrugged. "You've had enough of a rest. Go back and have a look. I think plenty of people will want you to return."

"I was hoping to go home and grow pumpkins," Gan Fall said, though his face was radiant. "But it seems I won't be able to rest just yet."

"Good luck, old man." Luffy offered Gan Fall his best wishes.

"That's right! Make Sky Island a great place!"

"We'll come back to visit again!" The Straw Hat Pirates offered their well-wishes one after another. The atmosphere grew warm and friendly, while Li Ziming vanished from the spot.

"I'm not dead?" Enel felt moisture on his lips. "Where am I?" He struggled to open his eyes. The light around him was dim, and his body was so weak he couldn't even stand.

"You're awake?" Conis walked in, carrying some water, food, and medicine.

"I saw you fall from the sky. You were badly hurt, so I prepared some medicine." Conis slowly approached Enel.

"Hmph. Do you really not know who I am?!" Enel's voice was icy.

"..." Conis said nothing, but her body visibly began to tremble.

"Well, well! Aren't you the nephew of my younger cousin's neighbor's third uncle?" The string of relations left even Enel bewildered, and Pagaya's arrival startled him.

"What are you trying to do?" Enel laughed. "To think a god would actually..."

"Speak like a normal person!" Pagaya smacked Enel on the head, leaving him completely stunned.

"I am a god!" By now, Enel's words carried very little confidence.

"All right, all right. From now on, we'll call you En. You can be my apprentice. Remember to eat properly." Pagaya ignored Enel entirely and walked straight out.

"Don't mind him. Pops is just like that." Conis seemed to have overcome her fear of Enel as well. "Um, would you like to go out for a walk?"

"..." Enel could no longer make sense of things. Why were they treating him this way? He had nearly killed them.

"Confused?" Li Ziming walked over just then.

"Ming!" Conis looked surprised.

"Have you come to kill me?" Enel seemed relieved. "Fine. Go ahead."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Li Ziming rolled his eyes. "If I wanted to kill you, why would I have saved you in the first place?"

"You saved me?" Enel frowned. "What do you want?"

"Your help." Li Ziming made it clear that he wanted Enel to owe him a favor. "We're going to run into plenty of trouble in the future, so I hope you'll help us." He spoke with complete sincerity.

"Help?" Enel laughed. "The victor wants help from the loser?"

"Winning doesn't make you all-powerful. Some things can't be solved through strength alone. When we do certain things, we need our companions' help." Li Ziming shrugged. "That's why I'm here asking you to help us."

"Whew." Enel looked at Li Ziming with mixed feelings. "You really are an irritating guy."

"Does that mean you agree?" Li Ziming looked pleased.

"Those people don't need a god anymore anyway, and I'm tired of it now. Maybe being a Waver repairman wouldn't be so bad." Enel shrugged.

"You've finally decided to leave your past behind." Li Ziming sounded gratified. "Good, good. Changing your look wasn't a wasted effort after all."

"My look?" Enel hesitated, then turned to Conis for help.

"I'll get a mirror." Kindhearted as she was, Conis immediately ran outside.

"Um, I'll go help." Li Ziming's reaction made Enel even more uneasy.

At last, Conis brought the mirror over. Enel stared at his reflection. His long earlobes had been cut short, his short blond hair stood straight up, and a lightning-shaped scar over his right eye gave him a more imposing look.

"Oh, and there's a note Mr. Ming left for you."

"You could actually consider changing your name to Laxus..."