Nami looked at the gradually cooling body of Martin, her eyes filled with pure disdain.
"What do you think you are? A toad trying to eat swan meat? My life belongs only to Rolan."
As that thought crossed her mind, her body briefly softened, almost as if releasing tension.
Looking once more at that sanctimonious face, she felt a wave of nausea rise within her.
Without another glance, she turned away and walked toward the Marines and World Government agents on the battlefield.
Seeing this, the overweight World Government agent immediately shouted, "Witch! How dare you kill a member of the Holy Knights! If I don't restore the honor of the Holy Knights, I'm not Nalan Du Shelby!"
As he spoke, his right arm deformed and transformed into a massive cannon barrel.
The muzzle locked directly onto Nami's back.
"Hey, hey, hey, lowly human, have you forgotten that this god is still standing here?"
Before he could fire, Enel's voice rang out coldly behind him.
A chilling killing intent spread through the air.
Shelby's expression tightened as his instincts flared.
The aura was strong, extremely strong, at least on par with his own, possibly even higher.
But as a force under the Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise, how could he be intimidated?
"Thunder God Enel?" Shelby sneered. "Do trash these days dare call themselves gods?"
Enel laughed loudly, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Yehahaha! World Government dogs really never change."
"Do you dogs of the World Government always eat filth? Your mouths reek worse than a sewer."
Shelby's face twisted with rage.
This was the first time anyone had spoken to him like that. Normally, people would kneel the moment they saw him, not even daring to meet his eyes.
Yet this Thunder God of the Ion Pirates was openly humiliating him.
"You're asking for death, ant!"
Before he finished speaking, he pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A massive cannon shell wrapped in Armament Haki shot forward at terrifying speed.
Enel glanced at it lazily.
"How impatient."
In an instant, his body vanished from the spot.
The cannon shell tore through empty air.
The next moment, Enel reappeared above Shelby's head and flipped downward, driving a lightning-imbued kick straight into him.
Boom!
The strike landed on Shelby's arm with explosive force.
The ground beneath them shattered instantly, spiderweb cracks spreading in every direction.
Enel then reappeared several meters away in a flash of lightning, looking at Shelby with mild interest.
"You've got some skill for barking at this god."
Shelby's eyes widened in shock.
He had not let his guard down. In fact, both of his feet had already transformed into hardened metallic mercury, anchoring him firmly to the ground before impact.
That was why he had not been blown away.
Still, the force made his breathing uneven.
But pride kept his expression steady.
"Trash like the Ion Pirates is nothing special. You're not even worthy of polishing the shoes of the World Government."
Enel shook his head slightly.
Ugly on the outside, rotten on the inside.
"It seems the World Government really does feed its dogs poison. Don't worry, I won't kill you. I want you to watch with your own eyes as the World Government you worship falls into ruin."
Shelby's face darkened as liquid silver began seeping from his pores.
Droplets gathered rapidly until his entire body was encased in a towering metallic shell.
A humanoid mass of mercury formed around him like a giant war machine.
Enel tilted his head.
"So that's your Devil Fruit ability? Not impressive."
Shelby growled. "Let me correct you. I am a Paramecia-type Mercury Devil Fruit user, not some simple metal user."
"Does it matter?" Enel replied casually.
That attitude snapped Shelby's restraint.
"Then I'll show you the power of mercury!"
The giant mercury construct swung its arm, releasing a massive stream of liquid metal.
Enel raised his hand.
"Fifty Million Volt Discharge."
A thick bolt of blue lightning erupted forward like a spear.
Boom!
The lightning collided with the mercury stream, triggering a violent reaction.
Sizzling destruction spread instantly.
Mercury vapor exploded outward in all directions, engulfing hundreds of meters of battlefield.
Marine soldiers and World Government agents caught in the cloud collapsed without a sound, their bodies falling motionless, faces frozen in terror as if they had witnessed something beyond comprehension.
Crackle.
Lightning flickered violently inside the vapor.
Moments passed.
The mercury mist began to thin.
Shelby stood there in his original form, breathing heavily, though his aura had not weakened much.
Across from him, Enel also remained standing.
But his hand was pressed against his chest, and his breathing was slightly uneven.
"Hahaha!" Shelby laughed. "The power of mercury is not something an ant like you can understand!"
As a user of the Mercury Fruit, he knew exactly how dangerous his ability was.
A few more exchanges would be enough to reduce this arrogant man to nothing.
But Enel tilted his head slightly.
Tiny arcs of lightning flickered around him.
A droplet of mercury slid from his ear and fell to the ground, condensed from the vapor he had just inhaled.
"Yehahaha. Interesting. Very interesting."
"I don't feel like killing you yet. Show me more. Entertain this god."
Shelby's expression tightened.
He raised his arm again, mercury condensing into a massive fist as Armament Haki wrapped around it in a pink-black sheen.
"Soru!"
In an instant, he vanished and reappeared directly in front of Enel.
Enel did not move.
Instead, he raised his palm, coating it with Conqueror's Haki.
The two forces collided head-on.
BOOM!
Shockwaves tore through the battlefield.
Mercury scattered from Shelby's fist under the pressure of overwhelming force, revealing his bare hand beneath.
Shelby's expression twisted in disbelief.
He immediately retreated with another flash step.
"How is that possible… Conqueror's Haki?!"
---
Elsewhere on the battlefield.
Boa Hancock kicked aside a petrified stone figure with disdain.
"Holy Knights? What right do they have to stand in the way of my husband?"
Her cheeks turned faintly red as she murmured softly, almost to herself.
"After this war… I… I will be able to marry my husband."
Just thinking about it made her body feel strangely weak.
"Aaah…"
Strange sounds echoed faintly around her as the battlefield raged on.