Let's rewind a few hours.
"Is my life really ending so easily? Damn it! I just stepped into the Grand Line! What about finding the meaning of living? Move, you bastard, move! I'm out of strength... Gulp, gulp."
Amidst the chaotic Knock Up Stream, Ace lay limp and powerless, letting the raging seawater engulf him as he was swept up tens of thousands of meters into the sky.
Deuce, whom he had grabbed earlier, had long since been separated by the water and swept away, his whereabouts unknown.
He didn't know if Deuce was alive or dead.
The thought of potentially losing Deuce, his friend, filled Ace with sorrow.
He had sailed smoothly all the way from the East Blue, encountering a few tricky opponents but always overcoming them without serious harm.
He never expected to meet such a powerful opponent in a small place like Mock Town.
"That Marine is a real monster. He's truly a disciple trained by Grandpa. A monstrous devil, fighting him, I felt like my body could be smashed to pieces at any moment."
Although he was a Devil Fruit user and had lost his strength when submerged in seawater, Ace's vigorous life force still prevented him from drowning easily.
After an unknown period, Ace, engulfed by the seawater, was finally propelled by the first wave of the Knock Up Stream. He pierced straight through the thick clouds of the White Sea and continued upwards, being jetted tens of thousands of meters into the sky.
As the scattered seawater dispersed, Ace finally broke free.
The moment he left the embrace of the seawater, the debilitating weakness he felt immediately vanished for the most part.
However, Ace still hadn't fully recovered his strength. He could only watch helplessly as he was thrown far away, tracing a long parabolic arc in the air, falling towards a lush green island below.
"Aaaahhhhh!"
Flailing his limbs, a shrill, bizarre cry escaped his mouth, echoing across the ten-thousand-meter-high sky.
At this moment, a battle was raging in the forest of the cloud island below.
"You damned Shandians, are you trying to steal precious Varse from the Holy Land again? Today is your doomsday, kill them!"
A group of men in uniform white outfits with snow-white wings on their backs, wielding various weapons, were ambushing three men and women, also with wings on their backs.
"Hmph! You're just low-ranking priests, do you really think you can corner us? Impossible! We are descendants of the Great Warrior Kalgara, warriors of Shandora! Burn Bazooka!"
The chubby Shandian warrior, Genbo, shouldered his black cannon barrel, aimed at the three charging priests, and pressed the button on the barrel.
The next moment, a scorching flash of fire shot from the barrel, kicking up a large cloud of dust in the forest.
Too close to react, the three priests were hit by the intense flames.
Immediately, painful screams erupted from their mouths.
Their bodies turned into three burning fireballs and were sent flying far away.
"Bastard! Die! Flame Impact!"
A lean priest leaped high and spread his palm towards Genbo.
In his palm, a fiery red shell was exposed.
A point of red light was glowing from the shell's opening.
"Watch out! It's an Impact Dial that absorbed flames!" Laki, a Shandian warrior as beautiful as an angel, shouted loudly from nearby.
"Too late! Become roast meat!"
The priest grinned menacingly, and a long tongue of fire shot from his open palm, like a flaming whip, licking towards Genbo.
A surging wave of heat rushed towards him, causing fine cold sweat to break out on Genbo's forehead.
He didn't hesitate, stomping his feet heavily on the ground. Two violent air currents shot out from his heels, propelling his corpulent body to dodge rapidly sideways.
Boom!
The scorching flames brushed past his side, and the terrifying heat even singed the hair on Genbo's head.
"Did he dodge? But how many times can you dodge?"
The priest wasn't discouraged. His companions gathered around him, all raising their hands in unison, revealing fiery red Flame Dials.
These were special shells from Sky Island that could absorb and store flames, then release them.
They were usually used as igniters or directly as flamethrowers.
Their power depended on the amount of flame stored inside.
Seeing over twenty white-clad priests all raising their hands and aiming towards them, the female warrior Laki's face turned pale, and she urgently shouted, "Braham! Use the Flash Dial!"
"Got it, close your eyes!"
Braham, wearing a hat, waved both hands, and two golden, dazzling shells appeared in his grasp. He pressed them down firmly.
The next instant, it was as if a sun had appeared in the forest.
The blinding light instantly illuminated the forest completely.
Caught off guard, the priests screamed, covering their eyes, which were stung by the intense light, and instinctively retreated.
"Run! Use the Breath Dial to escape! Don't get entangled with them, it'll be trouble if the Four Priests arrive..."
Laki, beautiful as an angel, hadn't finished her sentence when a white blade, like a nimble white snake, weaved and lunged through the forest. With a soft "thud," it pierced Braham's abdomen under his terrified gaze.
Immediately, blood spurted from his back, staining Genbo, who was right behind him, bright red.
"Braham!" Genbo's eyes instantly turned red. His corpulent body lunged forward, raising the cannon barrel in his hands, aiming at a man wearing sunglasses and carrying a large white sword, who was casually walking out of the forest.
Laki's face immediately turned grim, "It's Ohm, one of the Four Priests! Genbo, run! You're no match for him!"
But at that moment, Genbo, enraged by his comrade's severe injury, couldn't hear. With red eyes, he pulled the trigger on Ohm, who was approaching.
Boom!
Intense fire erupted from the cannon barrel, shooting towards the approaching Ohm.
"Iron Shield!"
Ohm swung the white longsword in his hand, lightly placing it on the ground in front of him.
The next second, the white blade expanded and grew, transforming its shape, quickly becoming a wide white shield, blocking him.
Boom!
A large ball of fire exploded on the surface of the white shield, and surging heat waves dispersed in all directions.
But Ohm behind the shield was completely unharmed.
"Ignorant Shandians, do you even know how powerful your opponent is?"
Ohm calmly lifted the white shield in his hand.
The large white shield twisted and stretched, transforming back into a white longsword. It then extended rapidly, like a spear, whistling as it shot out. Under Laki's shocked and angry gaze, it pierced Genbo's thigh before quickly retracting.
Everyone only heard a crisp "thud," and Genbo groaned, kneeling on the ground.
Ohm's face showed satisfaction, "Hmm, good. Shandian savages should kneel like you, instead of constantly thinking of taking back the Holy Land and stealing Varse."
The Holy Land was Jaya Island, which fell from the sky four hundred years ago.
Varse, on the other hand, was the soil of Jaya Island.
There was no soil on Sky Island, so when Jaya Island was brought to Sky Island, ten thousand meters above, by the Knock Up Stream four hundred years ago, it was enthusiastically embraced by the Skypieans.
They drove away the Shandians living on Jaya Island and claimed it for themselves.
This sparked four hundred years of conflict between the two tribes.
The war between the Shandians and the Skypieans never ceased.
Until a more terrifying entity appeared a few years ago. With god-like power, it drove away Gan Fall, the former god of Sky Island who had occupied the Holy Land, and became its new master.
Hearing Ohm's mockery, Genbo, kneeling on the ground with a bloody hole in his thigh and still bleeding, gritted his teeth and growled, slowly rising from the ground.
"I am a descendant of the Great Warrior Kalgara, a brave Shandian warrior, and I will never surrender!"
Not only him, but even Braham, who had already fallen behind him with his abdomen pierced, stood up, blood spilling from his lips.
Seeing this, the smile on Ohm's face gradually disappeared, his expression turning grim, then he sneered.
"Stubborn, are we? I like stubbornness. Well then, let's endure the torment of the Iron Thorns!"
He swung the longsword in his hand. The white blade extended rapidly, splitting into sharp, thorn-like branches in mid-air, forming a large thorny net that descended over Genbo, Braham, and Laki.
Just then, the ground shook, and a fierce wind howled from the distant forest, causing the priests to turn their heads.
Then, everyone saw a lean warrior with tattoos on his face, bare-chested, tear off his shirt, revealing a perforated shell clutched in his palm. From over ten meters away, he aimed it at Ohm.
"Damn it! It's a Reject Dial! War Demon Wiper, are you out of your mind?"
The moment Ohm saw the honeycomb-like shell in the opponent's palm, his scalp tingled, and he instinctively wanted to retreat.
"Reject!"
Wiper gripped his right wrist with his left hand and roared, activating the Reject Dial in his palm.
The next second, a tsunami-like, surging shockwave burst from that small shell, rushing towards Ohm, whose expression changed drastically.
The white longsword that formed the thorny net in front of him couldn't even hold for a second before being shattered and scattered by the surging shockwave, falling like cloud fragments.
The terrifying shockwave's momentum was undiminished. Under Ohm's shocked and angry gaze, it slammed into his body.
Bang!
Ohm's sunglasses shattered, his eyes rolled back, blood spurted from his orifices, and he was sent flying backward like a cannonball, smashing through trees and flying an unknown distance.
"Captain Ohm!"
The other priests were greatly alarmed, crying out in unison, and simultaneously aimed their Flame Dials at Wiper.
Wiper's face was cold. He spun the black cannon barrel in his hand, aimed it at the gathered priests, and pulled the trigger under their terrified gazes.
"Burn Bazooka!"
Boom!
Dazzling blue light spewed from the muzzle. The thick gas was quickly ignited, causing a massive explosion.
In an instant, over a dozen priests were blown apart, scattered all over the ground.
"Wiper!"
Seeing the newcomer, Laki and the other two showed joy.
But Wiper's expression remained grim.
"Hurry! That guy is coming after us!"
He whispered.
Zzzzt, zzzzt.
A crisp crackling sound suddenly rang out behind Laki, causing Wiper's face to change drastically when he heard it.
He abruptly turned around and, without thinking, raised his right hand towards Laki's back.
"Laki! Get down!"
Laki didn't know what Wiper wanted to do, but she had unwavering trust in her comrade. She immediately lay on the ground.
"Impact Dial!"
A violent impact shot from Wiper's left palm, like a roaring dragon, colliding with a squinting man who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere behind Laki.
Boom!
The squinting man with long earlobes yawned, letting the massive shockwave hit him.
His body was immediately shattered by the shockwave, turning into shimmering streaks of electricity, drifting in the air and making a crackling noise.
"God... Lord Enel has come!"
"Shandians, you're dead! Hahaha! No one can defy Lord Enel!"
The surviving priests cheered in ecstatic laughter.
Enel, referred to as a god, coldly glanced at the laughing priests. He lightly pointed the golden spear in his hand at the astonished priests.
"Noisy. Useless trash doesn't deserve to live. One million volts discharge."
As Enel's lazy voice fell, a wisp of electricity emerged from the tip of the golden spear, flashing in mid-air and striking the remaining few priests.
The next moment, under the raging electricity, the priests didn't even have time to scream before black smoke poured from their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses, and they collapsed, completely lifeless, dead beyond doubt.
Laki turned around in horror, looking at the man casually squatting on a tree branch, and exclaimed.
"Enel!"
Genbo and Braham also tensed up, their faces incredibly nervous.
Enel, the God of Sky Island, had defeated Gan Fall with god-like power and became the new ruler of the Holy Land.
If, during Gan Fall's rule of the Holy Land, the Shandians had even a slight chance of reclaiming Jaya Island and Shandora, which were occupied by the Skypieans.
Now, with Enel in charge, both the Skypieans and the Shandians were disheartened and desperate, with no thought of opposing this man.
The fact that he could control and transform into lightning was already god-like in the eyes of the Skypieans.
Even powerful figures like Gan Fall, the leader of the Skypieans, or Wiper, the strongest Shandian warrior, were no match for this lazy man.
"Run! Wiper! Run! We'll hold him off!"
Genbo, bleeding from his thigh, and Braham, with his abdomen pierced, gritted their teeth and charged, lunging at Enel from left and right, hoping to buy Wiper time to escape.
Wiper was a direct descendant of the Great Warrior Kalgara, the strongest warrior of all Shandians, and the hope of the Shandians. He absolutely could not die here.
"No! You're no match for him!"
Wiper's face changed. The shells on the sides of his roller skates sprayed powerful air currents, propelling him towards Enel.
"Yehahaha, interesting, War Demon Wiper. Your strength is good. Would you like to join my ranks? I can make you the chief of the Four Priests."
Enel ignored the charging Genbo and Braham. Two lightning bolts suddenly struck from the sky, hitting the two of them.
"Ahhh!"
The two screamed in pain and crashed heavily to the ground.
"Laki! Run!" Wiper shouted, raising his roller-skate-clad foot and kicking straight at Enel's chest.
"Wiper!" Laki's eyes reddened, but she bit her lower lip hard and turned to flee.
Looking at the approaching Enel, a faint, almost imperceptible hint of joy flickered in Wiper's eyes.
Enel squatted on the tree branch, resting his chin on his right hand, tilting his head to look at the sole of Wiper's shoe.
"You seem a little happy, War Demon Wiper. Is it because of these shoes of yours that can counter abilities?"
Wiper's face changed drastically. The Breath Dials on his roller skates propelled him at full power, accelerating his collision with Enel.
His shoes were fitted with Seastone, obtained from some people from the Blue Sea, which could be used to counter ability users like Enel.
He had never told anyone this secret.
Yet, Enel, standing before him, seemed to know it at a glance.
"Thirty Million Volts - Raigou."
Enel slowly raised his right hand, pointing his index finger forward.
Crack!
A blinding lightning bolt struck from the sky, transforming into a screeching giant lightning bird. It arrived before Wiper, colliding with his body.
"Ugh!"
Wiper grunted in pain. Large burnt marks appeared on his sturdy body, black smoke poured from his mouth, and he fell from the sky.
Meanwhile, Enel, who had been squatting on the tree branch, dissipated with a "pop" and reappeared in a flash in front of the fleeing Laki.
Enel extended his pinky finger, dug at his ear, and squinted at Laki, who looked desperate.
"Woman, if you're willing to be my servant, I can spare you..."
"Never!" Laki gritted her teeth and swung the short dagger in her hand at the close-by Enel.
Enel's face was emotionless. He raised his right hand and spread it open.
"Then die..."
"Aaaahhhhhhh! Move, you bastard! I'm going to crash!"
Suddenly, a hysterical shriek came from the top of the forest.
Then, the canopy above them was smashed through, and a figure descended like a cannonball from the sky, plummeting straight towards Enel.
Enel's eyebrows slightly arched, "Are there still Shandian warriors hiding in the shadows? What a boring sneak attack trick, Thirty Million Volts - Raigou!"
The crackling noise of lightning rang in Ace's ears, sending a shiver through him. His muscles reflexively twitched.
Bad memories resurfaced in his mind.
His scalp tingled, and surging flames instantly erupted from his body. Guided by his right fist, he punched towards the stunned Enel.
"Rorschach! You bastard! You even chased me into the sky! I'm going to fight you to the death!"
"Fire Fist!"
This punch, unleashed in desperation, contained a tiny bit of Ace's remaining Armament Haki.
Although its power was nowhere near his prime in Mock Town, it was still easy enough to smash Enel, who didn't have Armament Haki.
Under the shocked gazes of Laki, Wiper, and the others, the man who descended from the sky swung a fist burning with fierce flames, unleashing a super-large fireball, dozens of meters in diameter, towards the god-like Enel.
Boom!
The violent flames distorted the atmosphere, scorched the void, and swept away and shattered all the surrounding trees and rocks.
Enel felt an unstoppable force hit him. Under his astonished gaze, it blew apart the Raigou he had unleashed and slammed into his body.
The expected elemental transformation to dodge didn't occur. Enel only felt a pain in his chest, his muscles caving in, a hint of scorching on his skin. His body flew backward, smashing through trees, causing blood to spill from his mouth.
"How could this be?!" While flying backward, Enel stared intently at the dumbfounded Ace, gritting his teeth and saying in a low voice, "Can that guy's body also elementalize like mine? The ability to turn into fire."
The moment his backward-flying body hit the ground, it dissipated with a "pop," turning into a shimmering streak of electricity that vanished into the forest.
The flames on Ace slowly disappeared from his body. He scratched his head in confusion, looking in the direction where Enel had vanished.
"What's wrong with that guy? It wasn't Rorschach after all? He clearly unleashed lightning power."
Only then did Laki, who was in utter shock, recover. She stared blankly at Ace, then at the fiercely burning flames on the ground ahead, her lips moving, trembling as she said:
"Are you... are you also a god?"
"Huh? Are you talking to me?"
Ace opened his mouth wide, pointing at his nose.
Laki nodded stiffly.
"I'm not a god. I'm Ace. Nice to meet you, Miss Angel."
Ace smiled, extending his hand and flashing a brilliant smile.
"That guy! He forced Enel back!!"
On the other side, Wiper's eyes widened, showing disbelief, followed by uncontrollable ecstasy.
Hope!
That guy was the Shandian's hope to defeat Enel's rule!
A spark of hope that could counter lightning!
(End of Chapter)
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