The Man Who Controls Lightning

Heavenly Calendar 4093, Marine Calendar 1503.

The New World, the headquarters of the international Riesk Bank.

This bank, funded and established by the World Government, was the largest international bank in the New World. Founded in Heavenly Calendar 3656, it functioned as a currency issuer, policy maker, and commercial bank all at once.

At the same time, it was also the top choice for nobles of various affiliated nations to store their wealth.

For no other reason than that the backer behind Riesk Bank was the World Government, and it was guarded by heavy troops year-round.

To many nobles, storing wealth in Riesk Bank meant a huge sense of security.

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

Because on this day, the all-star cast of evil of this era—the Rocks Pirates—attacked the place.

Speaking of the Rocks Pirates, they were an evil pirate crew that, when formed for only two years, already had 16 recorded raid incidents.

They had burned down 14 ports, destroyed 5 cities, and even caused the collapse of 1 nation. Having committed 3 special cases violating Article 18 of the "World Law", their erased criminal record reached as high as 25 cases...

And this was merely the record when the Rocks Pirates had been formed for two years.

Now, four years had passed since that point in time!

In the sixth year since the formation of the Rocks Pirates, the sins they had committed had reached an unimaginable level.

Although this was the sea where Gol D. Roger, the future King of the Pirates, would be active, these several years when the heroes of the sea competed against each other could be said to be an era belonging to the Rocks Pirates!

"Yahoo!"

The heavily guarded headquarters of Riesk Bank was currently filled with the smoke of war.

The screams of guards echoed everywhere while the pirates cheered and leaped with joy.

"Move all the treasure out!"

"What a massive amount! This is!"

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone! We're taking all of it!"

Amidst the chaotic scene, a pirate with long hair, a triple chin, and a snake-like long tongue pinched a Den Den Mushi to command.

"It's time to retreat, everyone!"

The pirate currently giving orders was none other than Ochoku, an officer of the Rocks Pirates known as the "Pirate Cult Leader."

At the same time, inside the bank, officers carried the treasures they had respectively looted and retreated swiftly.

The guards desperately tried to stop them, but in front of the powerful Rocks crew, any kind of obstruction was merely futile.

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

Seeing that the situation was turning bad, the guard captain knelt in front of the officers, trying to awaken the pity of these pirates.

However, such an action was destined to be nothing more than futile.

A young Charlotte Linlin kicked away the guard captain blocking her path: "Mama-ha-ha! Who would care about such a thing? Get lost quickly!"

The guard captain slammed heavily against the wall, coughing up a few mouthfuls of blood.

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

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

Ochoku impatiently cut off the communication: "So annoying... Hey, Shiki!"

Beside him, the young "Golden Lion" Shiki froze: "Oh that's right, I almost forgot about them!"

As his voice fell, Shiki casually tossed a lit bomb into the elevator shaft behind him.

"Boom!"

Amidst a violent explosion, black thick smoke rose accompanied by orange-red flames.

"Ghi-ha-ha-ha! The money we can split has increased!"

Shiki covered his ears, grinning foolishly.

"You idiots!"

Ochoku also snorted disdainfully.

Yet immediately after, within the thick smoke, blazing lightning suddenly flashed and died out!

Ochoku and Shiki's expressions changed almost at the same time.

"Not good! I forgot that guy was also in the underground vault!"

Ochoku instinctively wanted to run away.

"Ghi-ha-ha-ha, this is bad!"

Shiki also immediately flew upward into the sky.

At the same time, the guard captain propped himself up against the wall, looking at Charlotte Linlin and the others escaping toward the exit with an ugly expression.

"Haven't the reinforcements arrived yet?" the guard captain shouted.

"Almost there!" a nearby guard replied.

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

"Sir!"

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

Black thunderclouds gathered at some point, forming a spinning giant eye in the sky. In the center of that giant eye, within a black void, lightning flashed.

Immediately after, dazzling lightning bloomed!

"BOOM!"

This was a sound far more terrifying than an explosion, like something huge cracking in the air, clear enough to pierce straight into the bone...

The next second, lightning flashed and thunder rolled!

The dazzling lightning poured down indiscriminately.

The guards fell in the flash of lightning. Two thunderous dragon-snakes writhed and struck Ochoku and Shiki, who were trying to escape.

"Aah! Oh no! Lord Annus is furious!"

The pirates scattered in panic.

Ochoku and Shiki opened their mouths and spat out a puff of smoke, feeling completely numb all over. Even their hair was scorched by electricity, standing straight up on end, and their skin was charred black.

The guard captain knelt on the ground, his knees grinding against broken glass, looking at the man walking out of the elevator.

The man had golden hair like gold, and a young face, so young that it made people mistakenly think he should be standing in a church singing hymns, but those eyes did not look like a young man's.

Those eyes swept across the ruined port, across the smoking Ochoku and Shiki, across the hole in the roof, and finally landed 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 looked away just like that, as casually as looking at a stone by the roadside.

"Annus! Can you give a heads-up next time before you strike with lightning!"

Charlotte Linlin complained to the angelic man.

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

Without even thinking, he knew whose idea this ghost of a trick was.

If it came to who was the most cunning and best at betraying comrades in the Rocks Pirates, Ochoku and Shiki were definitely strong contenders.

Although the rest were much of a muchness, they weren't as rotten as those two guys.

At least the likes of Kaido, Charlotte Linlin, and Whitebeard still had some sense of honor.

"So envious... Annus, the power of a Logia truly is extraordinary!"

At this moment, Kaido, who had demon horns on his head, a tall and sturdy build, and carried a spiked club while still very young, walked down from the lift.

Kaido coveted the power Annus wielded.

"You will possess it sooner or later, Kaido," Annus said.

"Gurarara! Annus! What did I say? Those guys would never obediently lower the elevator! In our pirate crew, betraying each other is the norm!"

The man speaking was even taller and sturdier than Kaido, with a crescent-shaped white mustache and loose blond hair.

This sort of thing had not happened for the first time. Whitebeard had suffered betrayal several times, and therefore he had stayed on the ground this time.

"I guessed as much long ago, Newgate."

Annus glanced at Whitebeard.

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

Annus, a transmigrator. One could judge his identity as a Skypiean merely from the wings on his back.

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

For this operation, the captain, Rocks, did not participate due to some personal matters. Only the executives of the Rocks Pirates were dispatched.

With a group without a leader, there was naturally no such thing as "unity" for the Rocks Pirates.

It was already a rare situation for the executives not to fight among themselves.

In fact, let alone Rocks being absent, even if Rocks were present, the situation would not be much better, although to the outside world, Rocks was the captain of the executives.

The reality, however, was that the executives of the Rocks Pirates had never regarded themselves as subordinates of Rocks; instead, every action they took was based on their own actual interests.

"We can pretty much retreat!"

Captain John, standing in a high place, looked toward the pirates in the rear.

"Did you bring all the treasure?"

"Of course!"

The pirates carried their respective shares of the treasure on their backs and responded loudly.

At this moment, beside Charlotte Linlin, a short fellow dressed as a chef suddenly turned solemn.

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

In the distance, several ship silhouettes suddenly appeared, their sails bearing the iconic seagull pattern.

"It's warships! We seem to be surrounded!"

"When did this happen?" Charlotte Linlin frowned.

The navy's movements were far too fast!

"Gedihahaha! What a bother!"

Despite saying that, Shiki still grinned, and the appearance of the warships didn't make him feel the slightest bit of tension.

Several warships quickly approached, soon surrounding the pirate ship parked at the port. Marines holding rifles lined up along the railings, their dark muzzles aimed at the pirates on the island, and further ahead, officers draped in coats of justice were already eyeing them hungrily!

On the island, those guards who had temporarily lost their combat capability due to the lightning strike were encouraged by this.

"Stop those pirates! Don't let them escape!" the guard leader pulled himself together.

Seeing this, Charlotte Linlin gave a low sneer.

"Trolls... Now is not the time to fight! Prepare to set sail! Make it quick!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Annus snapped back, as he hated being bossed around the most.

In the span of just a few words, the pirates had already boarded the ship, and the guards were completely unable to put up any effective hindrance.

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

"Prepare to charge!"

According to the usual operating guidelines of the Rocks Pirates, any ships blocking the way would only meet one fate...

Sink them, and plunder!

Braving the gunfire of the marines, the ship of the Rocks Pirates crashed directly into the encirclement of the warships.

Several high-ranking executives struck in succession, boarding the decks of the warships.

Annus was no exception; accompanied by a flash of golden lightning, he appeared in the midst of the crowd.

"It's the Calamity, Annus!"

"Don't panic! Use the special Seastone bullets!"

When dealing with Logia Devil Fruit users, Seastone was the best weapon.

Yet no matter how good a weapon was, it had to hit the target to be effective.

To Annus, whose very existence represented lightning itself, these sluggish bullets were hardly any threat at all.

A simple elemental transformation alone caused the marines' combat plan to end in failure.

"No matter how fast the bullets are, they can't outrun lightning," Annus said indifferently.

"Damn it! It's completely ineffective!"

The marines were already sweating profusely at this point; just standing before this angelic man had exhausted all their courage.

"Don't be afraid! It's just a mere Logia!"

An officer draped in a coat of justice shouted, charging out from the crowd to lead by example!

Hearing this, the surrounding pirates cast admiring glances at that naval officer.

A mere Logia?

He really was a reckless hothead...

If it were a more veteran marine, they would never say such a thing.

Sure enough, just as the pirates expected, the next second, that officer draped in a coat of justice fell amidst a burst of lightning.

"Rear Admiral Handora!"

The marines exclaimed in shock. In their eyes, the powerful Rear Admiral Handora had fallen so easily.

A naval vice admiral stepped forward with a grave expression: "Retreat, newbies! This man is not someone you can handle!"

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