Chapter 225: Skypiea’s God Lord
Fire Fist, captured.
This news has not been made public yet, but in reality, those who need to know pretty much already do. News spreads very quickly, even pirates have their own channels to get the latest intelligence from the World Government or the Navy.
Of course, this news has not been made public yet.
The World Government and the Navy are going all out this time to create big news. CP0 directly approached the World Economic News Agency and threatened Big News Morgans in person, forbidding him from publishing Fire Fist’s matter on the newspaper without permission from the World Government.
Facing the truly serious World Government… no, more accurately, Marie Geoise, the well-informed Morgans, who knows a little bit of Marie Geoise’s secrets, chose to follow his heart. He doesn’t want to be hunted down by Marie Geoise to death.
Just like that,
The world still looks as peaceful and harmonious as before, but in reality, under this calm surface is a surging undercurrent.
Countless overt and covert gazes in the New World are watching every move of the Whitebeard Pirates. Any slight hint of trouble makes everyone on edge, especially the Navy’s G1 and G5 branches in the New World. It’s no exaggeration to say they are startled three times a day. The two branch bases are always prepared for a desperate fight.
However, unexpectedly, as days pass, the Whitebeard Pirates have not made any big moves, only frequently contacting the affiliated pirate crews under the Whitebeard Pirates. This is expected; if they are to go to war with the World Government, they naturally need to gather all available forces.
The problem is that the Whitebeard Pirates have no other actions besides contacting their affiliated pirate crews.
The more this is the case, the more frightening and panicked people become.
No one knows when this timed bomb will explode, making people constantly on edge, always under immense pressure. Many Marines in the two branches have already collapsed mentally from this pressure.
To be honest, the rank-and-file Marines don’t even know what happened,
but they are extremely sensitive and can detect subtle changes from their superiors and the environment. Even though the two branch commanders tried their best to control it, their repeated warnings made their efforts futile. Marines are not fools.
The repeated highest-level alerts are clearly guarding against a very terrifying enemy.
Sometimes, an unknown enemy is even more terrifying.
······
The Moby Dick, shaped like a white whale, wanders on the sea.
“Old Man, I’m coming in.”
Marco pushed the door and entered the Captain’s Room.
In his hand was a plate with a cup of water and a large number of pills.
“Marco······ Why does it feel like there are even more pills today?” Whitebeard, who was sitting at the table writing with a pen, noticed the plate in Marco’s hand and immediately grumbled unhappily.
“It’s the same as before, right?”
Marco sighed helplessly and placed the plate on the table.
Under Marco’s close watch, Whitebeard took all the medicine, picked up the cup and drank the water in it, grumbled some more, and when Marco picked up the plate to leave, he suddenly asked: “Marco, how is it? Any new news?”
“Nothing for now. We still don’t know exactly where Ace is being held. The intelligence we’ve gathered is all ambiguous—some say Impel Down, some say Navy Headquarters, others say G2 branch······ We can’t confirm the truth.”
Marco frowned tightly.
Ace being captured by the Navy was like a bolt from the blue for the Whitebeard Pirates. With almost no hesitation, from Whitebeard to the crew members below, everyone decided to rescue Ace. All actions during this time have revolved around this matter.
The biggest problem now is the uncertainty of Ace’s location.
This leaves the Whitebeard Pirates with power but nowhere to use it. Acting rashly before locating Ace would be extremely foolish.
“Looks like the Navy’s target this time is me!”
“Old Man!”
“You haven’t forgotten the World Government agents appearing in our territory recently, right? Even if it wasn’t Ace, probably someone else would have been caught. Hiding it after the capture······ They’re probably preparing to give me a proper welcome!”
“Marco, no need to waste effort probing Ace’s whereabouts anymore. When the World Government and Navy are ready, they will naturally notify us.”
“Old Man!! Should we contact Red······”
“This is the Whitebeard Pirates’ matter. We don’t need outsiders interfering. No need for that Red-Haired kid to help.” Whitebeard refused decisively.
Marco sighed helplessly. This was also expected. He recalled Red-Haired’s recent visit, where Red-Haired spoke of Teach’s danger and persuaded Old Man to recall Ace, but was decisively refused by Old Man. Not long after, news came that Ace was captured by the Navy······ It seems Teach wasn’t involved.
“I understand, Old Man.”
“Marco, get ready. When the news comes, we need to move out quickly.”
Marco agreed again and left with the plate.
————
Before him was a vast white ocean, calm and waveless, serene and peaceful.
Prince Elus floated in the air, leisurely gazing at the beautiful ocean before him. This was a sea completely different from the great sea below—no wind, no waves, leisurely and tranquil, with abundant light making this cloud sea so pure white.
This was at an altitude of 7000 meters.
“Skypiea······ That way?”
Prince Elus looked down at the Life Card in his hand, slowly moving toward the right front. His gaze followed the same direction, passing through the higher cloud sea, seeing a dirt island and the dark thunderclouds above the island.
A splendid golden warship flew in the sky.
The Straw Hat Pirates’ crew could be seen scattered around the island. Luffy was fighting a long-eared man carrying a golden staff on the warship’s deck.
“Phew! Almost too late!”
Prince Elus laughed,
If he had been a day or two late, Enel might have already gone to the Infinite Earth. Fortunately, his luck was good, arriving just in time at this critical moment. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit······ was about to change owners soon.
He reached out and opened an air door, floating into it.
The next second,
On the deck of the Ark Maxim,
The air door opened, and Prince Elus flew out, waving to everyone: “Miss Nami, we meet again!”
“Black Prince?!!”
Nami stared in shock at the suddenly appearing Prince Elus, her brain freezing, completely unable to understand why Prince Elus was here.
“It’s you! Why are you here?”
Luffy was also dumbfounded. He was troubled over how to defeat this enemy Enel, and now this annoying guy appeared at such a time—doubly hateful!
“This is fate!”
Prince Elus laughed happily.
While he was greeting the two from the Straw Hat Pirates, the other ‘God Lord’ felt a sense of humiliation from being ignored. Enel, who considered himself a god, was ignored like this for the first time. Without a word, he raised his golden staff, knocked the hook jade drum on his back,
“30 million volts · Thunder Bird.”
Dazzling lightning emerged from the drum, forming a Thunder Bird in the shape of a hawk, flapping its wings and flying toward Prince Elus at extreme speed.
This was a strike that could electrocute a human into charcoal.
But,
It did not achieve the result Enel wanted.
“Slow Ray.”
Prince Elus countered with a wave of purple-red light, hitting the Thunder Bird. The Thunder Bird, originally flying at extreme speed, suddenly slowed down, as if trapped in colorless transparent mud. Even Nami standing nearby could clearly see the Thunder Bird’s flight path.
“Nice effect!”
Prince Elus nodded in satisfaction at the still-approaching Thunder Bird, not slow by any means.
The Slow-Slow Fruit’s ability fires slow photons, making a person or object’s reactions extremely slow for 30 seconds. During these 30 seconds, all actions are slowed to the extreme······ Of course, provided it hits the enemy. This Devil Fruit’s power is in some ways no less than Whitebeard’s Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Used well, it can produce incredible effects.
In clashes between evenly matched strong persons, being one step faster can gain the advantage in combat······
“You······ What did you do? Blue Sea dweller.”
Enel widened his eyes.
In disbelief at the Thunder Bird he released.
Confined to Skypiea, Enel’s vision was greatly limited. The appearance of the Rubber Human Luffy was like seeing a natural enemy. Before he could deal with this annoying kid, now an even more unfathomable enemy appeared.
“Just a little trick.”
Prince Elus summoned the Moonlight Sword with a raise of his hand and swung it. The still-slow-motion Thunder Bird was directly annihilated.
“Alright, Skypiea god Your Excellency, let me see your abilities!”
“Hey! That prince or whatever, this is my opponent!”
Luffy shouted in dissatisfaction at having his monster stolen.
“Ah? What’s the problem? Anyway, for you, this kind of enemy doesn’t serve much training purpose.” Prince Elus was firm in stealing the monster. “If you really can’t wait, after I deal with him, you can take him on!”
“No means no! I have to defeat this guy! Gear Second!!!”
Luffy was also stubborn.
To seize the initiative, he directly transformed into Gear Second, using Soru to instantly rush in front of Enel, throwing a punch. The speed was so fast that even though ‘Mantra’ predicted Luffy’s movements, Enel had no time to react.
“Cough cough!!”
Enel was sent flying.
Enel, accustomed to crushing enemies with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and Observation Haki, tasted this kind of bitterness for the first time today.
“Hey hey, sneaking ahead is immoral, Straw Hat.”
Prince Elus stood still, just raising his hand as a Chain infused with Armament Haki shot out like a venomous dragon, lashing wildly at Enel. The poor god lord was beaten dizzy, completely confused about the situation.
“I said, this is my prey.”
Luffy was extremely stubborn.
Ignoring Nami’s frantic eye signals from the side, he charged forward and unleashed a flurry of punches at Enel.
“······Ah! What a headache······”
Prince Elus retracted the chain.
“You can have him, but after he’s defeated, he’s mine to handle.”
“I just want to defeat him.”
“Then he’s yours.”
Prince Elus didn’t bother arguing with Luffy. From the earlier probe, Enel’s strength was decent—Observation Haki combined with Rumble-Rumble Fruit power······ but his body was a bit weak, combat awareness lagged, and most importantly, combat awareness was seriously lacking.
Enel, who had never experienced tough battles, was very poor in combat awareness!
Prince Elus making a move was simply bullying him, plus Luffy’s loud yelling nonstop. He simply let go and ignored it. As long as he got the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in the end, it didn’t matter who Enel fell to. If Luffy wanted to fight the monster, let him······ He quite liked the Straw Hat Pirates anyway.
“Miss Nami!!”
Prince Elus came to Nami’s side.
He opened an air door with a raise of his hand. Chains flew in and dragged out a table, chairs, and a refrigerator—the items found on nearby Angel Island using the Gaze-Gaze Fruit’s ability, then brought over via Door-Door Fruit’s air door and Chain-Chain Fruit’s power.
Combining different Fruit abilities isn’t just for combat; it’s quite convenient in daily life too.
“Prince Elus.”
Nami forced a smile.
“Don’t be so reserved! Though we haven’t met much before, Fran has told me a lot about you, Miss Nami. Please sit!” Prince Elus pulled out a chair, and Nami sat down obediently. In front of Prince Elus, she always felt like a little white rabbit sharing a room with an evil dragon.
Prince Elus’s politeness did not ease her pressure; instead, it made her more nervous.
“What would you like to drink······ Though asking that, sadly I don’t know much about Skypiea’s alcohol.” Prince Elus opened the refrigerator, looking at the various alcohols on top, pondered for a moment. “In that case, let’s try them all! I remember Fran saying your alcohol tolerance is quite impressive, Miss Nami!”
“Ah haha! Really? Fran is exaggerating. My tolerance is average.”
Nami dry-laughed twice.
Completely unsure how to refuse the offered wine glass without angering the Black Prince, she still reached out and took it, forcing a stiff and awkward smile on her face, her peripheral vision constantly watching Luffy and Enel’s fight.
Thus,
Prince Elus and Nami sat on the Ark Maxim’s deck, starting to taste Skypiea’s fine wines.
Luffy and Enel continued their grueling battle.
