Enel's body reformed, the power of his Logia fruit knitting him back together, but his spirit was broken.
Despair, an emotion he'd never known, washed over him.
"This... can't be..." he muttered, his voice trembling.
He had believed himself to be a god, and now he saw just how fragile he truly was.
In a flash, Jozu was on him.
His arm, coated in black Armament Haki, seized Enel by the neck.
A sharp pulse of tremor energy shot through Enel's body.
He let out a blood-curdling scream as the force nearly ruptured his organs, and he coughed up a spray of blood.
"'Not so high and mighty now, are you, 'God'?" Jozu sneered, dropping him to the ground in a heap.
One of the crew quickly slapped a pair of Seastone cuffs on Enel's wrists and his power vanished.
As they did, another pirate meticulously collected the blood he had spat out, a detail that sent a new wave of fear through Enel.
"Who... who are you people?!" he rasped.
"Don't worry," Jozu smirked. "You'll find out soon enough."
He turned to Ron and grinned.
"One god, captured."
Enel could only stare in humiliated silence.
At this moment, he only wished for death.
"What was that last move, Jozu? That was incredible," Marco said, his eyes gleaming with interest.
"Heh, just something I've been working on," Jozu boasted shamelessly. "Ron gave me a little inspiration."
Ignoring them, Ron walked over to the defeated Enel.
The self-proclaimed god's worldview had collapsed.
He finally understood the irony of his title.
Ron looked at the mix of resentment and utter emptiness in Enel's eyes and chuckled.
"In a few days, you'll realize being captured by us was the luckiest thing that ever happened to you."
Enel remained silent.
He needed time.
His Mantra will be useful, Ron thought, a plan already forming.
Very useful.
The rest of the crew was getting restless.
"Alright! Time to find that City of Gold!"
"Yeah! I'm finally gonna get a Devil Fruit! Ron-sama promised me before!"
Hearing them, Conis's beautiful eyes filled with fear.
She stared at Ron, her voice a whisper.
"You... you're going to rob us?"
Ron just ruffled her golden hair gently.
"I dealt with Enel for you, Conis. Now you fulfill your promise." She nodded vigorously.
"Also," he continued, "nothing's free. Gather your people. From now on, this is Whitebeard pirates territory. Anyone who wants to stay needs to prove their worth. Pay with gold, treasure—whatever you have."
"Pay with gold?" Conis repeated, confused.
Why would they want pretty, useless metal?
Then the rest of his words sank in.
They had escaped a tiger only to be claimed by a dragon.
But looking at Ron, she saw no malice on his gaze, only ambition.
It was a world away from Enel's cruel tyranny.
"Understood... Ron-sama," she said, bowing respectfully before turning and running down towards Angel Avenue.
"Everyone, come out!" she shouted to her hidden people. "We're saved!"
Satisfied with her quick thinking, Ron turned to address his crew, his voice booming across the island.
"Alright, listen up! Loot this place! Upper Yard, the City of Gold—take everything of value! If you meet any locals, give them the choice: join us or get out. Those who submit can stay. Anyone who refuses gets sent back down to the Blue Sea when we're done here. We're not murderers, but this island is ours now!"
As Ron's orders echoed, the crew cheers erupted.
Their enthusiasm was explosive as they scattered in every direction, searching for gold.
Ron hadn't set a quota; the real goal was to see how the natives would react.
Obedience would earn them a place in the new order.
Resistance would be dealt with swiftly.
From his cell, Enel watched in cold contempt.
They were like locusts, stripping the island bare, prying decorations from walls and carvings from doors.
He sneered.
These groveling worms call themselves strong? True strength is absolute, divine... not this pathetic scrambling for shiny trinkets.
His contempt was a fragile shield for his shattered pride.
*****
Over the next few days, the island fell into a new routine.
While the crew searching for gold, Ron, Ace, and Marco established an experimental base in Enel's former sanctuary on Upper Yard—the part of Jaya that had been blasted into the sky.
Staring out at the sea of clouds, Ron sighed.
"It's been almost half a month since we left Jaya. I wonder how things are going down there."
"When are we heading back, Ron?" Ace asked, pausing the sweeping he was doing.
He clearly missed the place.
"Yeah, staying here is getting boring," Marco added, itching for a real fight.
Ron just smiled.
Shiki, Bullet, Kaido, Big Mom... there are plenty of monsters on the seas.
"Don't worry," he told them. "You'll get all the fighting you could ever want."
Soon, the lab was complete, and Ron threw himself into his work with single-minded focus.
Jozu stood guard outside his door; Ron had told him it was unnecessary, but the big man refused to leave his post.
....
Elsewhere, Whitey Bay took Conis aside, claiming she needed to be taught how to properly serve a vice-captain.
Though reluctant, Conis went along, knowing it was part of her new role.
Whitebeard, seeking a moment of peace, disappeared with another one of his commanders into the dense jungle.
Ace, meanwhile, had found his new favorite playground: the armory.
He joined the air defense unit, completely captivated by the variety of Dials—some shot water, others fire, and some created clouds as hard as iron.
He tinkered with them endlessly, his curiosity insatiable.
The Shandians, hiding deep in the forests, initially tried to fight back with guerrilla tactics.
But the memory of Enel's swift, brutal defeat—and the screams they sometimes heard from his prison—made them cautious.
Realizing they couldn't win, their chief sought a truce.
He approached Jozu, and a deal was struck: the Shandians would pay a tribute of gold to secure their right to live on the island.
To the Shandians, who valued their ancestral Vearth (soil) above all else, gold was little more than a pretty decoration.
Trading something they cared little for to protect their home was a bargain they accepted without hesitation.
In the end, like the Shandians, the Skypieans chose to pay and stay.
This island was the only home they had ever known.
The Blue Sea below was a terrifying, alien world for them.
Faced with the unknown, they chose to remain with the devils they now knew.
--------------------------------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator