The One Who Commanded Lightning

Year 4093 of the Heavenly Calendar, Year 1503 of the Sea Circle Calendar.

New World, headquarters of the international bank "Riesk Bank."

This bank, established with investment from the World Government, was the largest international bank in the New World. Founded in the year 3656 of the Heavenly Calendar, it combined the functions of currency issuance, policy-making, and commercial banking.

It was also the top choice for nobles from the various member nations to store their wealth.

The reason was simple: Riesk Bank was backed by the World Government and guarded by heavy forces year-round.

For many nobles, depositing their wealth in Riesk Bank meant having a tremendous "guarantee of safety."

But unfortunately, that guarantee now seemed to have lost its effectiveness.

Because on this day, the most dazzling "all-star villains" of the era—the Rocks Pirates—had attacked this place.

The Rocks Pirates had only been formed for two years when their recorded attacks already numbered sixteen.

They had burned down fourteen ports, destroyed five cities, even caused the collapse of one nation, committed three special cases violating Article 18 of the "World Law," and accumulated as many as twenty-five erased criminal records...

And that was merely the record from the Rocks Pirates' first two years of existence.

Now, four years had passed since then!

In the sixth year since the Rocks Pirates' formation, their crimes had reached an unimaginable level.

Though this was the sea where the future Pirate King Gol D. Roger would rise to prominence, during these years when the heroes of the sea competed against one another, this was undoubtedly the era of the Rocks Pirates!

"Yahoo!"

The heavily guarded Riesk Bank headquarters was now filled with unending smoke and fire.

The cries of the guards echoed everywhere, while pirates cheered in delight.

"Move all the treasure out!"

"That's quite a hefty sum!"

"Good work, everyone! We'll take all of it!"

Amid the chaos, a long-haired pirate with three chins and a snake-like tongue commanded the others while clutching a Den Den Mushi.

"We're pulling out, everyone!"

The pirate issuing orders was none other than an officer of the Rocks Pirates, Ochoku, known as the "Pirate Patriarch."

At the same time, inside the bank, the officers quickly retreated while carrying off the treasures they had looted.

The guards desperately tried to stop them, but before the powerful Rocks crew, any resistance was futile.

"Please, wait! If you take all the money, we won't be able to answer to the nobles of every nation!"

Seeing the situation turn dire, the captain of the guards knelt before the officers, trying to awaken some shred of compassion in the pirates.

However, such an attempt was destined to be pointless.

The young Charlotte Linlin kicked aside the guard captain blocking her path. "Mamamama! Who cares about that? Get out of the way!"

The guard captain crashed hard into the wall and coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.

At the same time, a man's voice came from the Den Den Mushi in Ochoku's hand.

"Ochoku, check the elevator! We're still in the underground vault!"

Ochoku impatiently cut off the call. "So damn noisy... Hey! Shiki!"

Nearby, the young "Golden Lion" Shiki froze for a moment. "Right, I almost forgot about them!"

As soon as he spoke, Shiki casually tossed a lit bomb into the elevator shaft behind him.

"Boom!"

Amid the violent explosion, black smoke rose together with orange-red flames.

"Jihahahaha! There's more money to split now!"

Shiki covered his ears, grinning playfully.

"Idiots!"

Ochoku snorted with disdain as well.

But then, blazing lightning suddenly flickered through the smoke!

Ochoku and Shiki's expressions changed almost simultaneously.

"Oh no! We forgot that guy was in the underground vault too!"

Ochoku instinctively turned to run.

"Jihahahaha, this is bad, bad!"

Shiki immediately flew upward at high speed.

Meanwhile, the guard captain pulled himself up against the wall. Looking at Charlotte Linlin and the others fleeing toward the exit, his face darkened.

"Have the reinforcements arrived yet?!" the guard captain shouted.

"They'll be here any moment!" a nearby guard answered.

"Activate the emergency defense system! Don't let these pirates leave the island!" the guard captain roared.

"Yes!"

However, before the guards could act, the sky above the island suddenly darkened.

Black thunderclouds had gathered without anyone noticing, forming a rotating giant eye in the sky. Within the black hollow at its center, lightning flickered.

Then, blazing lightning erupted!

"Boom!"

It was a sound far more terrifying than an explosion, as though something enormous had cracked through the air itself, sharp enough to pierce the marrow...

The next second, lightning flashed and thunder roared!

Blazing lightning poured down impartially.

Guards collapsed amid the lightning, while two twisting thunder dragons struck Ochoku and Shiki as they tried to escape.

"Waaah! This is bad! Lord Annus is angry!"

The pirates scattered in terror.

Ochoku and Shiki opened their mouths and exhaled smoke. Their bodies were numb all over, their hair scorched and standing straight up, their skin blackened by electricity.

The guard captain knelt on the ground, his knees pressing into shattered glass, and stared at the man who emerged from the elevator.

The man had long hair like spun gold. His face was young—so young that one might have thought he belonged in a church singing hymns—but his eyes were not those of a young man.

Those eyes swept over the devastated harbor, over the smoking Ochoku and Shiki, over the hole in the roof, before finally settling on the guard captain.

The guard captain wanted to say something.

Beg for mercy? Cry for help? Or ask, "Who are you?"

But in the end, he said nothing, because the man had already looked away.

He had simply looked away, as though the guard captain were nothing more than a stone by the roadside.

"Annus! Could you give us a warning before you start throwing lightning around next time?!"

Charlotte Linlin complained to the angelic-looking man.

Annus ignored Charlotte Linlin's complaint and glanced at Shiki and Ochoku.

There was no need to think about whose idea that little trick had been.

If anyone in the Rocks Pirates was the most cunning and best at betraying their comrades, Ochoku and Shiki were certainly strong contenders.

The others were not much better, but they had not sunk to the level of those two.

People like Kaido, Charlotte Linlin, and Whitebeard at least had some sense of honor.

"I'm so jealous... Annus, the power of a Logia really is extraordinary!"

At that moment, a still-very-young Kaido descended from the elevator platform. He had horns on his head, a towering and burly frame, and a spiked club over his shoulder.

Kaido greatly coveted the power Annus possessed.

"You'll have one someday too, Kaido," Annus said.

"Gurararara! Annus! What did I tell you? Those guys were never going to obediently lower the elevator! In our pirate crew, betraying each other is the norm!"

The man speaking was even taller and more powerfully built than Kaido. He had a crescent-shaped white mustache and loose golden hair.

This was not the first time something like this had happened. Whitebeard had been betrayed several times before, so he had remained above ground this time.

"I figured that out long ago, Newgate."

Annus glanced at Whitebeard.

"When we get back to Hachinosu, I'll settle the score with those two bastards."

Annus was a transmigrator. The wings on his back alone were enough to identify him as a Sky Islander.

At the same time, Annus was the user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

For this operation, Rocks, the captain, had not participated due to some personal business. Only the officers of the Rocks Pirates had been deployed.

With no leader present, there was naturally no such thing as "unity" among the Rocks Pirates.

It was already remarkable enough that the officers had not started fighting each other.

In fact, even if Rocks had been present, things would not have been much better. Although outsiders viewed Rocks as the officers' captain,

the truth was that the officers of the Rocks Pirates had never considered themselves Rocks' subordinates. Every action they took was based on their own practical interests.

"Time to withdraw!"

Captain John, standing on high ground, looked toward the pirates behind him.

"Everyone got their treasure?"

"Of course!"

The pirates answered loudly, each carrying their own share of the loot.

At that moment, beside Charlotte Linlin, a short man dressed like a chef suddenly grew serious.

"Look! Linlin! Look around! Look at the sea!"

Several ship silhouettes suddenly appeared in the distant waters, their sails bearing the unmistakable seagull insignia.

"They're warships! Looks like we've been surrounded!"

"When did that happen?" Charlotte Linlin frowned.

The Marines had moved far too quickly!

"Jihahahaha! What a headache!"

Despite saying that, Shiki still wore a playful grin. The appearance of the warships did not make him nervous in the slightest.

Several warships rapidly approached and soon surrounded the pirate ship docked at the harbor. Marines with guns lined the rails, their dark muzzles aimed at the pirates on the island, while officers in coats of justice stood farther ahead, watching them like tigers stalking prey.

On the island, the guards who had temporarily lost their fighting strength from the lightning strike were encouraged by this sight.

"Stop those pirates! Don't let them escape!" the guard captain shouted, his spirits renewed.

Charlotte Linlin clicked her tongue disdainfully.

"This is troublesome... Now isn't the time to fight! Get ready to set sail! Hurry up!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Annus shot back. He hated being ordered around.

In just those few exchanges, the pirates had already boarded their ship. The guards were completely unable to put up any effective resistance.

Once those monsters got serious, the guards of Riesk Bank were no different from speed bumps.

"Prepare to attack!"

According to the Rocks Pirates' usual code of action, any ship blocking their path would meet only one fate...

Sunk and looted!

Braving the Marines' gunfire, the Rocks Pirates' ship rammed directly into the encirclement of warships.

Several senior officers attacked in succession, boarding the decks of the warships.

Annus was no exception. In a flash of golden lightning, he appeared among the crowd.

"It's Calamity Annus!"

"Don't panic! Use the specially made Seastone bullets!"

Against Logia Devil Fruit users, Seastone was the best weapon.

But no matter how good a weapon was, it was useless unless it hit its target.

For Annus, whose very existence represented lightning itself, these sluggish bullets posed no threat at all.

A simple elemental transformation was enough to bring the Marines' battle plan to failure.

"No matter how fast bullets are, they can't catch lightning," Annus said calmly.

"Damn it! It's completely ineffective!"

The Marines were already drenched in sweat. Merely standing before this angelic-looking man had drained all their courage.

"Don't be afraid! He's only a Logia!"

An officer in a coat of justice shouted and charged out from the crowd, taking the lead!

Hearing that, the surrounding pirates looked at the Marine officer with admiration.

Only a Logia?

What a reckless rookie...

Any Marine with more experience would never have said something like that.

Sure enough, just as the pirates expected, the officer in the coat of justice collapsed amid a burst of lightning the very next second.

"Rear Admiral Handora!"

The Marines cried out in alarm. In their eyes, the powerful Rear Admiral Handora had fallen so easily.

A Marine vice admiral stepped forward with a grave expression. "Rookies, fall back! This man is not someone you can handle!"

"Vice Admiral Leo! Are you going to make a move?"