The New World, the latter half of the Grand Line.
The final land, Laugh Tale, lay somewhere in a corner of the New World. Today, Yake returned to these waters once more. This was the world of the Four Emperors.
It did not take Yake long to fly from Skypiea to the New World. Flying in human form was the fastest, after all. Pirate Flash was none other than Yake.
"Eh, there seems to be an island here. Let's go take a look!" Yake, flying through the air, looked down at the sea and spotted a small black dot. It was indeed an island.
Yake dispelled his elemental form, intending to learn from Teacher Kaido and try a free fall. For him, this no longer counted as an extreme sport.
New World, Thunder God Island.
For some unknown reason, lightning struck this island all day long. It was as though Thor had cursed the island, causing lightning to descend without end.
The people living here had to carry umbrellas every day whenever they went out, or risk being struck by lightning.
"Rumble!"
A strange object fell from the sky, smashing a deep crater into the ground. Dust billowed everywhere as nearby residents, holding umbrellas, gathered around and discussed what it could be.
"What is that? It looks like the shape of a person!"
"I think so too, but if it were a person, he'd definitely be dead, right?"
Two bold residents stood beside the crater, discussing what the thing could be.
"Damn, that hurt. Ptui, ptui~" Yake crawled out of the crater, rubbing his face as he spat out pebbles. He now felt that Kaido definitely had something wrong with him. What normal person did this to himself every day?
Yake leaped out of the crater and discovered that the outside was packed with umbrella-holding people. Looking up, he realized that a thunderstorm was raging. Lightning occasionally streaked across the distant sky.
"Ahh! It's a person! Is he a monster? He survived a fall from that high up without even a scratch!"
"Y-you... who exactly are you?"
A passerby pointed at Yake with a terrified expression, his finger trembling.
"Wow, this island's weather really is... just like coming home." Yake felt a sense of familiarity as he looked at the lightning filling the sky.
"Hey, what island is this?"
"Th-Thunder God Island."
Yake scratched his head and thought about it. He seemed to have heard of it. There really was such an island, though the protagonist crew had never visited it; other Supernovas had. Still, the name truly suited the island's circumstances.
"By that logic, doesn't that make this my island?" The more Yake thought about it, the more it made sense. As the wielder of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, was it too much for him to call himself Thor? Wasn't Thunder God Island naturally his island?
"Nonsense! This island has never had an owner. Who exactly are you?"
Yake grinned at those words and raised his right hand. The lightning endlessly falling from the sky seemed to answer his summons, all converging in Yake's hand. Only then did Yake, bathed in blue-violet electricity, slowly speak.
"I am God Yake."
"That's impossible! No one can withstand lightning attacks!"
"Sigh, it seems I've been quiet for too long. Nobody recognizes me anymore. How sad." Yake activated his ability and sent all the lightning around him into the sky. The year-round thunderstorm weather stopped as if by a miracle, and sunlight unseen for many years emerged overhead.
Yake had not guessed wrong. This permanent climate had been created by the awakening of the previous Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, which was why thunderstorm weather persisted all year round. He had also awakened his Devil Fruit ability in the waters near Mock Town, but that time he had mainly created a Lightning Dragon, so it had not greatly affected the local climate. At most, it had caused a few more thunderstorms.
Yake could resolve Thunder God Island's current situation, but only if this island belonged to him. This would be the first island where he planted his flag.
"Do you want to have normal weather like this forever?" Yake asked in a seductive tone.
Even residents who had lived on Thunder God Island for many years utterly despised this weather. It destroyed property and even threatened lives. They had to carry umbrellas whenever they went out, and the climate was so harsh that even pirates were unwilling to come to this island.
"Y-you mean it?" An old man with graying hair said through choked sobs.
"That's right. In exchange, this island must fly the flag of our Ark Pirates from now on and pay tribute to our pirate crew every year. I will solve this problem for you permanently."
"The choice is yours..." Yake smiled as he looked at the tempted residents of Thunder God Island.
The old man seemed to be the most respected person in the crowd. After looking around at the expressions of the residents, he threw aside his cane and umbrella, then respectfully knelt down.
"Lord God Yake, on behalf of all the residents of Thunder God Island, I offer you our highest respect. We are willing to pay tribute to you every year and fly your flag. We only ask that you solve the thunderstorm weather that has plagued us for a hundred years."
The nearby residents also knelt one after another. Sunlight, a miracle on this island, shone upon them.
"Rise. Remember, we are the Ark Pirates. From this day forth, Thunder God Island is under our protection."
Yake slowly rose into the sky and plunged into the dark clouds that had hung over Thunder God Island for years. He stretched his body within the clouds, and blue-violet currents from the cloud layer surged into his body.
As time passed, the dark clouds in the sky began to disperse. White clouds gradually took over, while Yake's body filled with blue-violet light. The lightning energy was incredibly intense. Yake processed it the same way, and the gift left behind by the previous Rumble-Rumble Fruit user formed lightning markings across his body.
The sky was blue, and outside the window were a thousand paper cranes—cough... I got a little off track.
Still, this perfectly suited Thunder God Island's current state. The azure sky was adorned with white clouds, and warm sunlight shone across the land.
Some of Thunder God Island's residents wept bitterly, while others were overjoyed. Yet without exception, they sincerely thanked Yake for what he had done. This island was finally no longer a place that even pirates dared not casually set foot upon.
"Ooooooh! God! God! God!"
The residents shouted at the top of their lungs, welcoming Yake's arrival.
Yake descended from the sky. Looking at the lively scene before him, he could not help smiling with satisfaction.
That evening, Thunder God Island held an unprecedented grand banquet. Every resident attended, and naturally, Yake was the central figure of the feast.
Two delicate young beauties beside him served him food and poured him wine, tending to him so comfortably that their hands even slipped into rather private places.
Yake calmly moved their hands away and continued eating meat and drinking wine. What a joke. Which one of my crewmates isn't better than them? Sure enough, being too handsome is such a burden.
Mainly because Hancock, Robin, and Reiju had raised his standards too high, Yake no longer cared for ordinary beauties.
Except for the big... sister at Mermaid Cafe. Next time, he definitely had to sneak over...