The Battle Begins; God Is Shocked

Enel opened with Raigo. That was just cruel.

What happened to the games? The berets? The battle demons? The giant bugs?

Dongze got the boss fight straight away.

Talk about unfair treatment!

There was a reason Dongze and his companion had run into Enel the moment they arrived. Enel had only recently destroyed Birka and come to this place called the Kingdom of God. He had not yet established his authority as a god, and just as he was delivering divine punishment, Dongze and his companion came riding up on the Knock Up Stream.

And so they received this unusual welcome.

Dongze narrowed his eyes and sent his Observation Haki sweeping outward, searching for Enel.

Now that both forms of Haki had advanced, he had the confidence to dominate the first half of the Grand Line. He could even hold his own against those Admirals.

Enel had used the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to develop Mantra that covered all of Sky Island. Combined with the fruit's natural advantages, his Observation Haki made him a formidable opponent for anyone below an Admiral.

But now?

With Ryuo-grade Armament Haki, Dongze could even try his hand against Kaido. Of course, he could not beat Kaido yet, though three Sword Intent-infused strikes should do some damage. Enel, a native of Sky Island, was another matter.

All Enel had to do was show himself, and Dongze's Ryuo-grade Armament Haki would teach him a lesson.

Suddenly, lightning flashed before Dongze's eyes, and a figure slowly took shape.

"Hey there, Blue Sea native!"

"I'm the god of this Sky Island! You may call me Lord God!"

Dongze chuckled. "You dumbass."

Enel could hardly believe his ears. Since becoming the god of Sky Island, everyone he met had cowered before him. No one had dared use language this crude; they had barely dared raise their voices. And today, someone had called him a dumbass?

"What did you say, insect?"

A sneer touched Dongze's lips. "Insect?"

"You dumbass."

Hearing it again, Enel's eye twitched. Anger surged up from his chest, and he could no longer hold it back.

"Mortal! I'll kill you!"

"Ten million volts! Discharge!"

Before he had even finished speaking, Enel pointed, and a bolt of lightning as thick as a barrel arrived in an instant. It carried a hint of power capable of destroying heaven and earth.

Crack!

Dongze reached out, and Forgotten Dust was out of its sheath.

Ryuo-grade Armament Haki instantly coated his hands, then spread across Forgotten Dust almost as quickly.

An earth-shaking slash followed. The whole sequence flowed as smoothly as if he had performed it countless times.

The terrifying lightning was cut cleanly in two. Enel stared, dumbfounded.

"What the hell? Am I hallucinating because I haven't slept in days?"

"That thing can be cut?"

After severing the lightning, the slash kept going. It pierced layer after layer of the White Sea before finally disappearing.

Ordinary people could not have tracked it, but with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Enel's Observation Haki covered all of Sky Island. He knew exactly how far that slash had traveled.

That absurdly powerful slash had not vanished after breaking through the lowest layer of the White Sea. It had passed through one layer, then another, until it crossed the whole of Sky Island.

Everything in its path had been cut in two: the Sea Beasts in the White Sea, the Vearth-covered mountains, a massive branch of the beanstalk, and even the temple at the end. Nothing had slowed it in the slightest.

Cold sweat instantly broke out across Enel's forehead.

"What the hell was that?"

"Aren't the people who come up from the Blue Sea just natives who play with Impact Dials?"

"What's with this guy?"

"What was that attack from his weapon? Its power is ridiculous!"

Watching the Blue Sea man before him, Enel thought, I absolutely cannot let that thing hit me!

He immediately used the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's power to retreat, putting distance between himself and Dongze.

"Mortal! Don't think a few tricks give you the right to challenge a god!"

"I am the incarnation of a god! Behold the gulf between mortals and gods!"

"Thirty million volts! Lightning Bird!"

Lightning flashed. A giant bird made of electricity appeared in midair and hurtled toward Dongze with tremendous force. Even shaped into a beast, the lightning lost none of its speed.

"Die, insect!"

This bolt held far more power than the previous discharge. Enel was certain no one on Sky Island could take it unharmed.

As the wielder of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he knew how devastating lightning could be. Its power lay beyond anything ordinary people could reach.

Looking at the two Blue Sea people, Enel broke into a crazed laugh.

"Hahaha!"

"Insect! Go repent in hell!"

"Repent for daring to offend the face of a god! And don't forget to tell the god down there that I was the one who killed you!"

"Seriously."

"Your mother must have saved the galaxy in a past life to give birth to someone as bizarre as you."

"And you call yourself a god? I bet if you went down there, some bubble-helmeted idiot would slice you up!"

"Sword-Draw Technique!"

A round moon hung in the daylight, and a sword gleamed with biting cold. Before Enel could even follow its path, a slash tore through the air toward the Lightning Bird.

At the point of impact, the two forces ground fiercely against each other. The Sword Aura met the lightning as if it were solid, making Enel's eye twitch.

His opponent could actually hit lightning? What kind of nonsense was that?

From birth to accidentally eating the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and mastering its power, Enel had come to know lightning inside and out.

Lightning was elusive, shapeless, and impossible to touch. That was what he had been taught since childhood.

Most ordinary people believed the same. Its overwhelming power even led them to call it divine punishment.

Yet today, that Blue Sea monkey had swung something like a sword and produced an attack visible to the naked eye. The first had cut Enel's discharge apart. The second was even more absurd: it was holding its own against his thirty-million-volt Lightning Bird.

Enel, a "god" who had never encountered Armament Haki, was utterly baffled. A sword could cut lightning? What next, people flying through the sky?

"Thirty million volts! Thunder Beast!"

Unwilling to give up, Enel struck the drum on his left shoulder. Lightning flared and formed a wolf-shaped beast before him, which raced toward Dongze's slash.

Crackle!

Under Enel's two-pronged attack, the slash seemed unable to hold out. It gave a strained, creaking cry.

Enel sneered inwardly. A god was still a god, after all. How could a human surpass one?

Dongze, on the other hand, smiled. His slash was not so easy to stop. If it could advance no farther, all the power contained within it would erupt.

It was like the strike Hawkeye—Dracule Mihawk—had aimed at Whitebeard during the Paramount War. Though Diamond Jozu, third-division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, had blocked it, he had still needed to divert the slash into the sky.

What followed was much the same. The slash erupted, clearing every cloud from the sky and leaving it pristine.

A tremendous boom rang out. Both lightning beasts shattered and became a mass of blinding light.

Sparks and electricity raced across the White Sea, crackling as they spread in every direction.

The White Sea churned like a pot of boiling water.

Before long, the Sky Fish living there floated to the surface, eyes rolled back and bellies up. Big ones, small ones, long ones, short ones—every kind imaginable.

The fight had spilled into the sea, and the fish had paid for it.

Water conducted electricity. There probably would not be a fish in this stretch of the White Sea for half a year. One blast had caught them all.

Anyone who used electricity to catch fish would probably have bowed in worship. Boss, could we cling to just one hair on your leg?

On an ordinary day, they did not dare show up beside great rivers, where people kept watch. They did not even dare appear beside smaller streams in broad daylight. Only on rainy, overcast nights, when it was pitch-dark and no one was around, would they sneak out.

They brought their little electric motors, pulled on their waders, gathered their friends, and went into the water. Even then, they never dared turn the power all the way up.

They were afraid they might look back and find a buddy foaming at the mouth. But as a result, the big fish survived while the little fish got zapped.

What a hard life we lead!

And even so, the World Government lectures us every day! Tell me, are we idiots or what? (Author: Yes, you're idiots! Of all the things you could do, you chose a trade that wipes out every last fish. If I catch you, I'll tie you to a tree and flick your little buddies ten thousand times!)

"That's it?"

Dongze said it deliberately as Enel's face darkened.

He was baiting Enel. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit had given Enel an absurdly high level of proficiency with Observation Haki. To end this fight quickly, Dongze needed to shake his composure. Enel had spent so long on an isolated Sky Island calling himself a god that he was hardly likely to have a steady temperament. So Dongze attacked his pride.

Sure enough, the mocking tone fanned Enel's anger. Now, alongside the contempt in his eyes, there was murderous intent.

"Blue Sea monkey!"

"You blocked one attack from me, and now you've forgotten how high the heavens are?"

"Ooh, scary. About seven thousand meters high, I'd say."

"You—"

"You're only human. Does blocking one of my attacks make you so happy you've lost your senses?"

"Ooh, scary. An attack from a god got blocked!"

Dongze was imitating Kizaru, the man whose way of speaking was most likely to get under anyone's skin. After a few exchanges, Enel was ready to explode.

"..."

With veins bulging on his forehead, Enel suddenly noticed the Sky Fish floating belly-up. He gave a cold smile.

"Blue Sea monkey, see those fish in the sea? No one can withstand my power. Not even those beasts. I've seen it—that's how you'll end up! You're dead!"

"Sixty million volts—Thunder Dragon!"

Enel struck the drums on both shoulders at once. Lightning nearly twice as massive as before gathered wildly in front of him. From the raging light, a dragon slowly raised its head.

Its body glowed blue-white, thunder crackled around it, and its eyes blazed with the fury to destroy everything before it.

Roar!

Its roar churned the White Sea for dozens of miles around. A terrifying pressure bore down on Dongze, while towering waves rose and crashed toward him.

Feeling the pressure rush at him, Dongze narrowed his eyes. Enel had launched this attack in fury. If the Thunder Dragon exploded above the White Sea, the shockwave might destroy their sailboat.

That would likely disrupt the rest of their journey. Enel was nearly worked up enough now, so Dongze decided to close in and attack. His slashes were powerful, but when it came to speed, striking at close range with a real blade was faster.

He pushed off, shot forward, and activated Geppo and Shave in an instant.

Enel was no easy opponent, though. The moment Dongze vanished from sight, he activated Mantra.

Even with Observation Haki powerful enough to cover all of Sky Island, Enel struggled to track him. He had never imagined a person could move so fast.

Being too fast for the naked eye was one thing. Making even his Mantra struggle was another.

Normally, when he fought the Shandia, he could track the paths of their bullets. Dongze's speed truly stunned him.

Still, Enel could just barely follow him. A cruel smile curled his lips. He thrust out his right hand, and the Thunder Dragon hurtled away with claws outstretched.

"Bastard! I'll tear that filthy mouth of yours apart!"

The Thunder Dragon's enormous size did nothing to slow it. Once Enel sent it flying, all that could be seen in the sky was a flash of electricity.

Dongze sensed it behind him and activated Armament Haki reinforcement without a moment's hesitation.

His feet turned black as Armament Haki coated them, and his speed suddenly more than doubled.

For the first time, panic flashed in Enel's eyes.

"What?!"