Pirates: I Could See Proficiency and Became a Legend

If his Mantra couldn't track lightning, electricity, light, or anything like that, Enel could accept it. Those things were ridiculously fast.

But failing to track a person? That was a first. What the hell—was he seeing a ghost?

A trace of unease crept into his heart. He might have met his match this time.

"You want to play with dragons? Then try mine!"

A flash of seven-colored light emerged in the air, radiating deadly danger. It shot forward in a streak: the Hundred-Pace Flying Sword.

Did I Just Get Punched While Intangible?

On Sky Island, seven thousand meters above the Blue Sea, a fierce battle raged.

An illusory ink-wash painting scroll spread across the lowest waters of the White Sea Entrance.

An Azure Dragon flickered in and out of view, while a sword wreathed in seven-colored light left a long trail through the air.

A flickering bolt of lightning pursued it. Strangely, the gap between them did not shrink. If anything, it grew.

"Impossible!"

When Enel's Observation Haki caught Dongze's figure again, he saw something that left him dumbstruck.

The flying sword was faster than his Thunder Dragon. What the hell? Was this some kind of movie? No, even a movie wouldn't dare pull this.

Yet it was real. Worse, he suddenly realized some kind of force had locked onto him.

What the hell is going on?

Why has the power that always made me invincible suddenly stopped working? What is this Blue Sea person?

The flying sword drew closer, with a figure concealed behind it.

Enel shuddered. His Mantra screamed its strongest warning. His heartbeat seemed to falter, his blood felt ready to freeze, and his hands and feet turned cold.

He had a feeling that if he failed to dodge this sword, he would die.

The feeling came without warning, but it was overwhelming. Every nerve in his body sounded the alarm.

Move! Come on, move!

He roared inwardly, trying to rouse his body from whatever held it still.

Move!

Move!

In the end, he even shouted it aloud. It did nothing.

Not everyone was a monster like Garp, able to use Conqueror's Haki to break free of the Hundred-Pace Flying Sword's hold.

Crocodile had been unable to break free either. He could only turn intangible early to evade it, and that was because Dongze had deliberately held back to raise his proficiency.

But now?

Dongze's Armament Haki had advanced another level, reaching Ryuo. He had no intention of holding back. Apart from Sword Intent, he was fighting at full strength.

The man had welcomed him with a blast of electricity. Dongze intended to teach him a lesson he would never forget—or simply kill him.

"Electrotherapy!"

A ruthless glint flashed through Enel's eyes. He sent the lightning in his body straight into his heart.

Normally, he used that move to restart his heart and save his life.

But he could not afford to worry about that now.

Wave after wave of current surged into his heart, forcing it to work beyond its limits.

"Cough!"

He spat out a mouthful of blood. At last, just as the flying sword was about to reach him, he broke free of that crushing force by injuring himself.

He immediately turned intangible and fled. Sparks flashed as he appeared at the edge of the waters, staring at Dongze in shock.

"Ruthless, I'll give you that."

Dongze had seen Enel shock himself into his intangible state. Not everyone could be that ruthless.

Seeing that the move had no chance of landing now, Dongze turned and slashed at the oncoming Thunder Dragon.

This strike was far stronger than his previous slashes. There was no clash of strength this time: it pierced straight through the Thunder Dragon from head to tail. Dongze did not waste the final horizontal sweep, either. Once his Observation Haki located Enel, he sent that beheading slash hurtling toward him.

Whoosh!

The slash broke the sound barrier with an ear-splitting boom. The sky darkened as ring after ring of sword energy surged like waves toward Enel at the edge of the White Sea.

But Enel was too far away and had Observation Haki. He turned intangible in advance, and the slash missed.

Enel had dodged it, but the slash's effects continued.

A massive fissure stretched into the distance. Buildings, the White Sea, and the entire lowest region were split in two by that single cut.

In other words, the slash had reached the same level of power as Dracule Mihawk's strike that cut through an iceberg during the Paramount War.

Cold sweat instantly covered Enel's forehead.

His earlier suspicion had been right. If that strike had hit him, he would have been in serious trouble.

Remembering what he had said before, Enel felt his face burn. The man before him could threaten his life.

In other words, this opponent could match him—perhaps even surpass him.

Enel's expression darkened further. A Blue Sea person had appeared out of nowhere with this kind of strength. Had everyone on the Blue Sea become this powerful?

"Blue Sea person!"

"Tell me your name!"

"You've earned the right to have this god remember it!"

"Dongze."

"Dongze? What a strange name. Not nearly as magnificent as mine!"

Enel's train of thought was bizarre. He abruptly began praising his own name while belittling Dongze's.

What, he couldn't win the fight, so now he was trying to torment me with insults?

Dongze's face darkened. Enel had turned a perfectly good showdown into a childish tantrum.

"Magnificent, my ass. You were one letter away from being a nylon rope!"

"..."

"Blue Sea monkey! This god was going to let the matter drop, but you've insulted me again. I've decided to give you a magnificent funeral!"

"One Hundred Million Volts—El Thor!"

Enel narrowed his eyes at Dongze in the distance and began calculating. This Blue Sea person could accelerate so quickly over short distances that he could even slip beyond Enel's Mantra. He had to guard against that.

With Mantra, Enel could usually keep a measure of composure. In the original story, it took meeting a Rubber Man who did not conduct electricity—and finding himself helpless against him—to make him lose it.

Of course, perhaps the protagonist's luck had made him act like an idiot. It was hard to say. But Dongze's nearly fatal sword strike had brought him back to his senses.

"Wow, El Thor! That's so impressive!"

Enel had only just calmed down when fresh anger surged through him. Something about Dongze's infuriating tone made him want to slam him into the ground.

Then Dongze vanished from sight again. Remembering that terrifying speed, Enel's expression changed. Lightning traveled through the air as light and could be seen by the naked eye, but Shave exceeded what the eye could track. Even so, the difference in speed seemed absurd. In a world of superhuman powers, though, anything was possible.

Not good!

He hurriedly used the lifesaving move of Logia Devil Fruit users: turning intangible.

Before he could relax, his vision went dark. Two fists struck his face with crushing force, nearly driving every feature into his skull.

An absurd thought flashed through his mind: I was intangible, and someone punched me?

My name is Enel. I ate the Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit. I can turn intangible and avoid any physical attack. Today, a Blue Sea native punched me.

Sword Intent Unleashed, Thunder God Descends

Above Sky Island, a streak of lightning tore across the sky, and Enel reappeared in midair.

His features were twisted beyond recognition. That punch had hit like one of Sanji's facial makeovers, except Sanji made people prettier; Dongze had done the opposite.

Hovering in the air, Enel still looked bewildered.

He had turned intangible. How had Dongze managed to hit him?

That was where Armament Haki came in.

Aside from a clash of opposing elements, Armament Haki was the only way to strike a Logia Devil Fruit user in the pirate world.

Of course, even that had its limits.

During the Paramount War, Whitebeard ran Aokiji through with his blade, yet Aokiji suffered no real injury.

Aokiji had likely foreseen the attack with Observation Haki and turned that part of his body intangible in advance.

Whitebeard's blade had therefore never touched Aokiji's body. It had passed through empty space.

That would explain why Aokiji emerged unscathed.

Back in Alabasta, when Dongze fought Crocodile, Crocodile's experience in the New World meant he naturally knew about Haki.

So while Dongze deliberately held back, Crocodile turned intangible early to evade his attacks.

The situation resembled Whitebeard's clash with Aokiji during the Paramount War. Aokiji, however, had calmly evaded the blade through his own battle instincts.

Crocodile had mostly benefited from Dongze holding back.

After all, Dongze's goal had not been to cut anyone down. He had wanted to raise his proficiency.

"What did you do?"

Enel's expression darkened. Turning intangible was the trump card that kept him undefeated. No matter how powerful an attack was, it could not worry him if it could not hit him.

Now that his trump card had failed, his usual composure was gone. Dongze's punch had left him reeling.

"Nothing much. Just Haki."

"Haki?"

"What you call Mantra is known as Observation Haki out on the seas."

"The other kind is Armament Haki. It's used to deal with Logia Devil Fruit users like you. It does more than that, of course. You'll get the full experience today."

"Why did you come to Sky Island?"

"If our goals don't conflict, we don't have to keep fighting. Neither of us would gain anything from it."

Enel weighed the difference in their strength. His intangible state had lost its value as a trump card.

He did not want to keep fighting Dongze.

At best, they might both suffer heavy losses. At worst, only Enel would.

He knew Dongze was stronger. Why would he rush back in just to get beaten?

Enel was vain and looked down on Sky Island's villagers, but only because they were nowhere near his level.

He could wipe them all out with the flick of a finger.

Dongze was different. From their exchange so far, Enel could tell the man was at least as strong as he was.

He respected the strong.

"Heh."

"You started this fight, and now you want to stop whenever you please? It doesn't work that way. Once you've made your move, you have to face the consequences."

Enel's face darkened. "Think carefully. You're not alone. I doubt that girl is as strong as you. It would be a shame if she got hurt."

Dongze narrowed his eyes. "Are you threatening me?"

Enel gave a strange, delighted laugh.

I might not be able to beat you, but I can beat that woman.

"I wouldn't dare. I'm just telling the truth."

Dongze slowly lowered his head. Loose strands of hair fell across his eyes, and his arms hung at his sides. The fingers of his right hand gradually formed a sword gesture.