Birka Village's bonfire suddenly flared beneath the lightning that tore across the heavens. The flames shot up as though startled awake, only to be buffeted from side to side by the sudden pressure of the wind. Sparks scattered everywhere.
That bolt of thunder, as if it had descended from the heavenly court itself, instantly turned the village's lively banquet into tense preparations for battle.
The women hurriedly gathered up the roasted meat and cloudfruit, their faces full of panic;
The children huddled together in fright, their cries rising one after another;
The men picked up their spears and cloud shields, watching the distance warily, believing some giant beast had burst through the clouds.
The bonfire banquet was forcibly interrupted, and the entire village descended into chaotic clamor.
Yet amid all that noise, one figure remained unusually quiet.
Leaning on his cloudwood staff, the old village chief slowly but steadfastly walked toward the village entrance.
His hunched body was stretched long by the firelight. Every step seemed to tread upon the wind, yet he stood as firm as a nail driven into the earth.
He saw the person standing at the village entrance.
Kai stood motionless, his entire body taut, his eyes fixed on the direction where the lightning had vanished.
The old village chief stopped beside him and sighed softly. "Kai, are you worried about that child?"
His hoarse but steady voice was as gentle as a breeze dispersing the clouds.
Kai's shoulders visibly trembled, but he said nothing.
In the darkness, his clenched fists shook faintly.
It was not fear, but the complicated emotions of a father and a warrior intertwined—worry, pride, and the helplessness of being unable to intervene.
The old village chief raised his head. The haze in his aged eyes, weathered by countless years, was lit by the firelight and flashed with an impossible-to-ignore sharpness.
"Don't worry," he said slowly. "That child is stronger than all of us."
He looked toward the distant forest, his gaze profound.
"And—" He paused.
"You and I both know that this child's path can never be confined to our tiny village."
Kai remained silent.
The old village chief chuckled, his smile old yet filled with comfort.
"When you see how he looks beyond the mountains, toward the Cloud Sea, you should understand—"
"The sky here was never his destination."
"It was merely the beginning of his future."
Kai's Adam's apple bobbed gently. He seemed to have countless words brewing within him, yet he did not know where to begin.
Just then, a sharp sound of wind splitting suddenly came from afar!
A dark figure streaked out of the cloud forest at an unbelievable speed. It moved so fast that it dragged a long white wave of mist across the Cloud Grass, like a flash tearing through the night.
Kai instantly tensed, alert as a wild beast. He planted his foot on the ground, ready to rush forward and intercept it at any moment.
But in the next second, he saw the figure clearly.
A flicker of genuine surprise and relief finally appeared on his usually stern and taciturn face.
"...Rock?"
The speeding shadow broke through the thick mist and stepped into the reach of the firelight.
It was Rock.
He carried the scent of the forest all over him, with a little soot on his face and faint sparks of lightning dancing through his black hair.
Even more impossible to ignore was the unfamiliar yet overwhelming aura that seemed to coil around his body, like the electric pressure in the air before a thunderstorm.
When he saw the village chief and Kai, he grinned, as familiar and spirited as ever. "Grandpa Village Chief! Father! I'm back!"
The instant the old village chief looked up and saw him, he froze slightly.
Though he was already advanced in years, he was exceptionally sensitive to auras.
The moment Rock stepped into the firelight, he clearly sensed that thunder seemed to be breathing within the boy's body.
Just like the omen of "Divine Descent" that the elders had passed down by word of mouth.
His grip around his staff involuntarily tightened. Shock and confusion flashed through his eyes before slowly turning into reverence.
Kai had none of those complicated thoughts.
In his eyes, Rock was the child he had raised with his own hands, the boy he trained with every day, accompanied, and watched grow up.
He rushed forward and almost instinctively grabbed Rock's shoulders. His hands swiftly checked his arms, chest, and back. After confirming that he was unharmed—
He finally gave Rock's shoulder a heavy pat.
His voice remained low, but he could no longer conceal the excitement he had suppressed for so long.
"It's good that you're back."
Rock's smile widened, as though after an adventure only he understood, he had finally brought his heart home.
Yet there was now a trace of sharpness in that smile.
The confidence of a strong man.
The light of a future journey.
After returning to the village, Rock immediately pulled Kai into the house and told him everything about how he had obtained the power of the Devil Fruit.
At first, Kai frowned, wearing an expression that clearly said, "Did you fall and hit your head, brat?" He even reached out, ready to drag Rock off to the village healer.
Until Rock transformed into lightning before his eyes.
In that instant, electric light illuminated the room, and thunder rumbled across the roof.
Kai stood frozen like a wooden chicken, his mouth hanging wide open in a large "O." For a long while, he could not utter a complete sentence.
Over the next two years, Rock frantically developed the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Drawing on all kinds of inspiration from anime, cultivation stories, and fantasy works he had seen in his previous life, he built a training system of his own.
—He tempered his body with thunder, making his physique increasingly stronger.
—He used electric currents to stimulate himself, accelerating his muscular reaction speed.
—He enhanced his Observation Haki with electromagnetic waves, turning it into an "electromagnetic radar" that made his perception as precise as a god overlooking the earth.
If he wished, even the slightest movement across half of Sky Island could not escape his senses.
A child secretly stealing fruit flesh, hunters discussing who would stand watch tomorrow night, even arguments from other small villages in the distance—all of it was crystal clear to him.
He also gradually discovered the rudiments of Armament Haki through constant trial and error, using lightning to stimulate his skin and muscles and make them "harden."
He had set out on a path to strength entirely his own.
Once he felt the time was right, Rock displayed his abilities in the center of the village.
When he spread open his palm, true lightning bloomed across the sky, its brilliance even three times greater than the thunderbolt that had struck the forest that day.
The entire village was so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, believing Rock to be a god descending into the world. They fell to their knees and worshipped him.
Had Kai not stopped them with a shout and the old village chief not hurriedly explained, offerings would probably have filled the entrance to Rock's house by the next day.
Even so, the entire village still regarded his ability as a "gift from the gods" and considered him "the guardian of Birka Village."
Rock was not stingy either.
Over those two years, he often used weak electric currents to clear the villagers' meridians and strengthen their bodies.
He used electricity to stimulate their muscles, strengthen their hearts, and stabilize their blood flow.
As a result, the entire village's physical strength greatly improved.
White-Winged Cloud Beasts that once required more than a dozen adult hunters to handle could now be easily taken down by just three or five young men.
Hunting became easier, and food became more plentiful.
The villagers' reverence and respect for Rock gradually changed from "fear of a god" into "trust in family."
Two years later, at night.
Moonlight spilled over the cloudwood rooftops, and the village had already grown quiet.
Kai brought Rock to the village chief's room.
The old village chief was organizing ancient Cloud Dial records. Hearing their footsteps, he looked up in slight confusion.
"Kai? Rock? What is it at this late hour?"
Kai opened his mouth, yet did not know how to begin.
Rock went straight to the point. "Grandpa Village Chief, actually, the Kingdom of God truly exists."
"Clack!"
The staff fell to the floor.
Before you continue