Enel fell to the ground just like that.
And as country bumpkins of the pirate world, the Straw Hat crew clearly failed to recognize who this powerful man before them was.
"How strange..."
"Why did someone suddenly fall from the sky???"
Nami frowned and thought for a moment.
"Judging by his outfit, he doesn't look like someone from the Beasts Pirates~"
Usopp, however, held a different opinion.
"No, no, no — look at how long this guy's ears are. Doesn't that look like the traits of those Zoan-type ability users?"
The two were discussing Enel's identity, but Enel himself had no time to argue with them. He had genuinely been injured just now.
That Conqueror's Haki Infusion powerful enough to materialize and wrap around targets, combined with the explosive force condensed by the Flame-Flame Fruit, had erupted violently in an instant, carrying tremendous destructive power.
At the very least, Enel's elementalization had been useless. He was now in a semi-seriously injured state.
However...
"Kakaka... kakaka..."
His muscular body lay on the ground. Enel's face was gloomy, his expression unreadable. Only the occasional trembling of his body proved that he was still alive.
Sparks of electricity suddenly flickered across his skin, immediately drawing the attention of the two.
"That's... lightning, right?!!"
Usopp nervously backed away and hid behind Nami.
As a lightning expert, Nami did not feel much fear. Instead, she stared with curiosity.
"This is... lightning appearing naturally from his body?!!!"
It was Nami's first time seeing something so strange. After all, every time she used lightning attacks, she relied on the Clima-Tact and Zeus for assistance.
Thinking back to the disaster-level attack from earlier, terror gradually filled her eyes.
"N-no way... could it be!!!"
"Is this the person who was fighting outside just now...?"
Hearing this, Usopp froze for a moment. Then his face instantly turned pale.
"Then what do we do?!!!"
"Calm down, Usopp. He looks seriously injured right now. And if he's not on our side, then he must belong to Kaido's side..."
"Strike first!!!"
Usopp trembled all over, but after hearing Nami's words, he nodded in agreement. He pulled out his slingshot, determined to eliminate Enel before the enemy could recover.
As for Enel, he appeared to have lost consciousness.
He simply continued electrocuting his own body.
Almost done...
Electric shocks stimulated his heart, activated his muscles, enhanced cellular activity, and carbonized wounds and bleeding areas...
This process continued right until the moment before the bullet struck him.
"Yes!!! Direct hit!!!"
Smoke rose into the air. Usopp wiped the sweat from his face, showing a hint of joy.
"That was my specially made Devil Bullet. Once it hits—"
"Once it hits, what?"
"Well, of course it—"
Before he could finish speaking, Usopp's proud expression froze. His face instantly shifted from red to green, then to pale white.
His eyes filled with terror and despair.
Slowly, he turned his head together with Nami, both trembling as they looked behind them.
Enel had somehow already stood behind them, silently staring at their backs.
"Interesting. Mere mortals daring to strike at a god..."
Facing two weaklings, Enel actually lost any desire to fight. He raised his hand as if preparing to attack.
Nami summoned Zeus, intending to block Enel's assault.
That's right.
Nami planned to attack Enel using Zeus.
And the result was inevitable—
"My lord, spare me!!!"
Zeus, nearly drained dry, looked as if he had been forced to rain and discharge electricity nonstop for an entire month. Completely exhausted, he floated weakly in midair under Enel's control.
Nami and Usopp fell into despair.
It didn't work at all!!!
"Nami!!! Run!!!"
At the critical moment, Usopp finally showed a bit of courage deep in his bones. He stepped in front of Nami and tried to fire a seed attack—
Only to be instantly knocked down by a single electric arc. His hair turned into a full afro explosion, black smoke rising from his mouth.
Because of Orin, Enel clearly remembered them somewhat. They were the crew formed by that brat who shouted every day about becoming Pirate King.
"Hey, I've heard of you. Isn't your captain the one who keeps shouting every day that he'll become the King?"
Enel did not rush to attack. He simply released arcs of electricity, restraining Nami.
Painful, but not lethal.
"You've already made it to the New World, yet you still cling to such childish dreams?"
"Do you even understand what a [King] is?"
Enel recalled his own early days — when he was overflowing with confidence and believed himself invincible in the world.
Invincible in the sky, only to meet defeat upon descending to the world below.
Back then, he had been utterly crushed by the young [Black Emperor], completely unable to fight back. Only then did he realize how vast the world truly was.
It was also the first time he understood—
That the man called [King] was someone even greater than a [God]!!!
And now these arrogant brats — whose captain could not even defeat Kaido — dared to dream of becoming [King]?
"King is not something you people can fantasize about."
"I'll give you one more chance. Tell me — what exactly does your captain want to become?"
Enel had always struggled to awaken Conqueror's Haki. Perhaps the psychological trauma of his defeat still lingered.
Right now, he wanted to see others make the same choice he once faced:
When confronted with an unbeatable opponent, accept reality obediently.
But Nami only raised her head in agony, tears streaming down her face as she answered him.
"Luffy... he..."
"Luffy... he..."
Usopp was nearly losing consciousness, silently praying that Nami would temporarily yield so they could survive this terrifying man.
He didn't want to deny Luffy.
But he didn't want to lose his companions either.
If he were the one answering, he knew what he would say...
"Luffy... will definitely become the Pirate King!!!"
"..."
Enel fell silent. His expression gradually darkened.
Nami prepared herself for death.
Yet the expected pain never came.
And instead of blue lightning, what appeared before her eyes was streak after streak of black-and-red lightning.
Before losing consciousness, she saw—
The long-eared man's Conqueror's Haki!!!
...
"Gaa—" (Conqueror's Haki really is becoming common these days.)
The Seagull King stood in the sky. After confirming that Enel was not seriously injured, he shifted his gaze toward the top of Onigashima.
The great battle there was still ongoing, though it had not yet reached its climax. Another actor was still on the way, riding in a submarine, yet to make an appearance...
They still had to wait.
But just thinking about the terrifying existence about to be released made even the Seagull King's feathers tremble as cold sweat flowed.
That scroll painting rested quietly inside the Seagull King's pocket,
Silently waiting for its final entrance.
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