The reality before them, however, was undeniable.
Orochi had truly lost all signs of life.
A cold sweat broke out across Enel's entire body as he rushed forward in a panic, his heart hammering against his ribs.
No, no, no!
This was the one person Vice-Captain Ron had specifically asked for, and he had gone and electrocuted him to death with a careless, angry whim.
What will they do to me?!
When he finally got close, he found Orochi's body completely stiff and motionless.
"Damn it! You worthless insect, how did you die from just one shock?!" he roared, his voice trembling slightly with barely concealed terror.
Unwilling to accept it, he decided to attempt a desperate, makeshift CPR.
"Live, damn you!" he bellowed, pressing his thumbs to Orochi's chest.
A crackling arc of electricity jumped between them, a desperate attempt to shock the man's heart back into rhythm.
"Enough."
Ron's voice was devoid of all emotion, a chillingly flat counterpoint to Enel's panic.
"No need to save him. It's better this way. Let this be a lesson for anyone here who dares to disobey us."
The ambiguous words hung in the air, and a shard of pure ice seemed to slide down Enel's spine.
He couldn't tell if the warning was for the corpse or for him.
He knew that at this moment, if he didn't demonstrate absolute, unwavering loyalty, he might very well be the next target.
Without a second's hesitation, he threw himself at Ron's feet, clinging to his leg with the desperation of a drowning man.
"Vice-Captain Ron, please believe me!" he wailed, his voice cracking. "I sincerely want to join the Whitebeard Pirates! I have no ulterior motives! I'll prove my loyalty with everything I have!"
Ron glanced down at the groveling former god, then at Orochi's 'corpse,' and the pieces clicked into place.
Ah, he thought, a flicker of dark amusement in his eyes, he thinks I'm threatening him.
He considered correcting the misunderstanding, but then decided against it.
Fear, after all, was an excellent motivator.
"Alright," Ron said, patting Enel's shoulder with a gravity that left no room for argument.
"Go call the Captain, Jozu, Marco, and Ace."
Overwhelmed with gratitude for this perceived act of mercy, Enel hurried off.
"Izou," Ron continued, "Tie this guy up and draw some blood."
Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from the back of the laboratory.
Conis and Whitey Bay came running in, their faces alight with a breathless, triumphant joy.
"Ron-sama, the Enchanted Devil Fruit for Jozu! It's almost complete!" Conis exclaimed, her eyes shining with pride.
"Ron, the Replicated Devil Fruit on my side is nearly done too!" Whitey Bay added, her own excitement palpable.
The news, overheard by the other commanders in the room, exploded like a bombshell.
For a moment, there was only stunned silence.
Then, a low murmur grew into a tidal wave of ecstatic, disbelieving shouts.
"Kaido's Devil Fruit... it's finished?" one of them whispered, his voice trembling with incredulity.
"Does this mean... one of us is about to become a Mythical Zoan, Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon user?!" a second roared.
"Bro, slap me! I must be dreaming!"
"Dream on!" another retorted. "For a Yonko, a Devil Fruit is just icing on the cake. Haki is their true foundation!"
"I don't care!" another shouted over the din. "I just want to be a dragon!"
"Heh," a nearby pirate snickered.
"Then can I ride you next time we go out?"
The laboratory was humming, not just with the sound of Ron's strange contraptions, but with the raw, palpable anticipation of the pirates crowded outside.
The air was thick with it.
"Ron, are those Devil Fruits ready yet?!" Whitebeard's voice boomed, his massive frame filling the doorway.
Following closely behind were Jozu, Marco, Vista, and Ace, their faces all alight with a barely contained, almost childlike excitement.
"Almost there, Captain," came Ron's reply from within.
"Just wait a little longer."
Jozu stood slightly apart from the others, the festive mood not quite reaching him.
A familiar, bitter disappointment settled in his gut.
My Glint-Glint Fruit, he thought, clenching his diamond-hard fists.
When will I ever save up enough? If I'd had that power during the raid, I could have swiped a mountain of gold!
His gaze fell to his own calloused hands.
If all else fails, I'll just go mining gold somewhere.
Just as his thoughts turned to pickaxes and stone, a brilliant, golden radiance erupted from within the lab, pulsing through the open doorway.
It bathed the corridor in a warm, promising light, painting the faces of the awestruck pirates in hues of pure gold.
"It's done!"
"Dragon! I'm gonna turn into a dragon!"
"You'll turn into a dumbass looking dragon, more like."
"Whatever, as long as it's a dragon!"
Then, the inner door slid open.
Ron emerged, a look of tired satisfaction on his face, flanked by his assistants Conis and Whitey Bay.
They carried several large, sealed boxes, and the crew knew, with a surge of pure, unadulterated joy, that the moment had finally arrived.
*****
Meanwhile, at Marineford, the Marines Headquarters, an unprecedented sense of urgency permeated the entire base.
The air was filled with the rhythmic shouts of drill instructors, the clang of steel on steel, and the thunderous report of cannon fire.
It was the sound of a sleeping giant being shaken awake, gearing up for an unknown, world-shaking threat.
Inside the main conference room, however, the silence was suffocating.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku sat at the head of the table, his brow deeply furrowed as he massaged his temples.
"What is Kaido trying to do?" he growled, his voice thick with confusion and frustration.
"The Whitebeard Pirates have been off the map for months. How could they have provoked him?"
His gaze swept over to Garp, but the Vice Admiral seemed to be in another world, his attention focused solely on the loud, satisfying crunch of his rice crackers.
It was Vice Admiral Tsuru, the Great Staff Officer, who finally spoke, her voice a calm and steady anchor in the sea of confusion.
"From what I can see," she said, her aged face a mask of deep thought, "Kaido would never do something so pointless. There is a scheme here. Whitebeard must have made a move we are unaware of."
"Hahahaha, Tsuru, you're overthinking it!" Garp burst out laughing. "Maybe Kaido was just bored! He's tried to kill himself for fun before, right? Spending three hundred billion for a good fight seems perfectly normal for him!"
Sengoku's eye twitched with irritation.
He ignored his old friend's infuriating logic.
I'll deal with you and your grandson's mess later, he silently plotted.
"The balance of the world cannot be disrupted," he declared, his voice regaining its command.
"A battle between two of the Four Emperors will inevitably shake the entire seas! This battle must be stopped!"
His gaze swept across the room, a silent call for a volunteer to undertake this suicidal mission.
Kizaru, as usual, seemed utterly fascinated by a dust mote dancing in a sunbeam near the window.
Aokiji was so deeply reclined in his chair, eyes closed beneath his sleep mask, that he might as well have been unconscious.
And every other Vice Admiral in the room suddenly found the patterns on the table, their own fingernails, or the tips of their shoes to be the most interesting things in the world, doing their best to avoid their leader's piercing stare.
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