Thunder Tribulation: Soul Taming

Having trained all three types of Haki to the highest level while also possessing the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Annus always displayed overwhelming dominance when facing weak enemies.

In the present world, aside from a small handful of people such as Rocks and Whitebeard, everyone else fit his definition of "weak."

Under normal circumstances, a battle ended with Annus instantly killing his opponent.

But there were other possibilities...

For instance, when Annus felt like toying with his enemy.

Or when the enemy was an unkillable monster.

At this moment, it was a combination of both. Watching the wound inflicted by the Golden Ancient Sword rapidly heal, Annus's lips curled into an intrigued smile.

"Just as I thought... high-voltage current and Armament Haki alone can't destroy your 'core.'"

Everything had a "core," its most vital part. Once it was destroyed, death followed.

The "core" was usually the heart or brain.

But these three God's Knights were clearly different. Destroying their hearts and brains could not kill them, so... could it be their souls?

Annus happened to possess a technique specifically designed to target souls.

"Lightning is 'yang,' while souls are 'yin.' And Conqueror's Haki is the only Haki capable of attacking consciousness...

"Combining the two creates lightning specifically designed to destroy souls."

"I call it Thunder Tribulation: Soul Taming!"

As his words fell, Annus's arm began to elementalize. Lightning between gold and blazing white surged out like a dragon, instantly engulfing the three God's Knights. The violent shocks made their eyes roll back.

Yet the three God's Knights still refused to yield. "It's useless. No matter how many times you try, you can't kill us..."

Before they could finish, they let out piercing screams!

The black lightning manifested by Conqueror's Haki merged into the gold-white lightning and shot into their bodies!

As the lightning entered them, the immortal power within their bodies was suppressed.

Countless cells were electrocuted to death, while the regeneration of new cells was suppressed by that lightning until it approached zero!

Moments later, the three God's Knights lost their ability to fight and collapsed onto the ground. Their bodies twitched constantly as sparks occasionally flowed from their charred flesh, gray-black smoke curling upward.

"Looks like they've temporarily lost the ability to move... eliminated."

The Golden Ancient Sword transformed back into a scepter. Annus stepped forward to inspect them and found that the three members of God's Knights had lost consciousness. The flesh around their wounds was wriggling at an extremely slow, nearly imperceptible rate.

Judging by this, Conqueror's Haki Coating on lightning worked better than Coating weapons with it for attacks.

Perhaps because the test subjects were monsters unlike ordinary humans, the damage inflicted was even more impressive than Annus had imagined.

Meanwhile, on the other side of God Valley.

"Hey! You knew about this all along, didn't you, Sengoku?!"

Garp ran through the flames of war, his face uglier than it had ever been as he angrily interrogated the person on the other end of the Den Den Mushi.

After fighting on this island for so long, the civilian corpses scattered everywhere had made Garp realize something was wrong...

This did not seem to be some "Celestial Dragons' school trip." It was a "Celestial Dragons' killing game"!

Is the Navy helping the Celestial Dragons do this kind of thing?!

His fury rapidly raised Garp's body temperature, turning his face bright red. It was impossible to tell whether it came from the flames or his anger.

"Be careful, Garp... I seem to remember a man who disappeared from the Navy after making such inappropriate remarks..."

Yet Sengoku did not directly answer Garp's question. He merely spoke calmly.

The implication was obvious. No matter how high-ranking someone was, opposing the World Government and the Celestial Dragons would lead to no good end.

Only obeying orders made someone a good Marine.

"Is that so? Since you say so, then I think I understand... If this isn't a dream, then it's 'reality'!"

Garp had always hated the Celestial Dragons, believing those lofty bastards were unworthy of the Navy's protection. But Sengoku had always held the opposite view, and the two often came to blows over it.

Now, Sengoku's response left Garp thoroughly chilled.

"Mr. Garp... what should we do now?"

The adjutant beside him suddenly asked.

Garp fell silent for a moment.

Yeah, what should they do?

Even Garp, who had always been deeply interested in fighting, felt drained at this moment.

After defeating the three God's Knights, Annus did not hurry to leave God Valley. Instead, he returned to the island once more.

"Thank you... young man!"

"You're our benefactor!"

"We'll never forget your great kindness!"

Similar voices continuously rang in his ears. Annus knew they came from the people Kuma had saved.

That was one reason Annus had returned to the island. He still needed to rescue his newly acquired subordinate from this hell.

Besides, three Devil Fruits alone were nowhere near enough to satisfy his appetite. Among the prizes prepared by the Celestial Dragons for the Human Hunting Tournament, there were nine treasure chests containing Devil Fruits.

He had already obtained three of them, meaning six remained. No matter what, Annus wanted to get at least one or two more.

Annus was not the only one with that thought. A variety of fierce battles were unfolding in front of the second prize storage warehouse.

Charlotte Linlin, Kaido, Ganzi, Kiel Baster, John... nearly all the officers of the Rocks Pirates had gathered here, fighting over the remaining treasures.

After all the Celestial Dragons had safely evacuated, the Navy officers launched their counterattack.

The Rocks Pirates were not the only ones fighting over the treasure. On the opposite side were the Roger Pirates, along with other famous pirate crews.

Their assigned task was to safely transport the Celestial Dragons' treasures off the island.

Amid the chaotic battlefield, one figure fought with exceptional desperation, wielding a spiked club and continuously smashing aside pirates and Marines blocking his path.

"Kaido, have you found the Devil Fruit you wanted?"

Annus deliberately landed in front of the figure and asked.

Kaido answered with a swing of his spiked club. But the Armament Haki-coated weapon struck nothing; using Observation Haki to predict its trajectory, Annus elementalized to evade the blow.

"You seem pretty angry, Kaido. What happened?" Annus asked with a smile.

"Annus! You finally showed up! That guy just got a Devil Fruit, but someone else snatched it away!"

Shiki had also dealt with the enemy before him. He flew over and answered Annus's question.

"You don't look too pleased either, Shiki." Annus looked at him.

"Of course not! That bastard Rayleigh stole my Shakuyaku! Now I can only grab more treasure! Want to join forces, Annus? Help me snatch Shakuyaku back, and I'll give you whatever you want!"