North Blue, Fasto Island.
At the harbor, a group of young men carried swords and harpoons.
Straightening their clothes, they boarded a medium-sized fishing boat.
The gathered youths stared excitedly at the Pirates Flag spread across the deck.
"Is everyone ready?"
"We're ready, boss!"
"Hahahaha!"
"Good!"
"Today, the Black Tiger Pirates are officially founded!"
"Hurry up and raise the Pirates Flag!"
"The One Piece will be ours!!!"
As they watched the Pirates Flag slowly rise, these petty thugs who usually only swaggered around their village throwing their weight about...
Their hearts swelled with ambition, and something began to take root.
However.
Before their excitement could settle...
A bolt of lightning struck the Pirates Flag halfway up the mast.
Enel appeared at the top of the mast and crouched down.
"Just about to set sail, huh?"
"You're breaking the law right in the middle of a crackdown."
"Do you know what the Court-Plowing Operation is?"
Lightning flickered in his hand as he aimed it at the crowd below.
The thugs below swallowed hard. What was the Court-Plowing Operation...? This bunch of illiterates really had no idea. They had only heard others mention it a few times.
But they knew their lives might be in danger.
They immediately fell to their knees in a chorus of wails, begging for forgiveness.
Enel frowned slightly. This... he really wasn't sure what to do, mainly because they hadn't set sail yet.
After a moment's thought, he fired the lightning in his hand downward.
Bzzzt-
The voltage was neither too high nor too low, and it knocked every one of them unconscious.
He took out his Den Den Mushi.
"Hey, Uncle Sakazuki..."
North Blue, aboard the third massive warship assigned to the Court-Plowing Operation.
Sakazuki hung up his Den Den Mushi and chuckled.
"Still young,