Northeast of the G-5 base, fifty kilometers out.
This was an uninhabited sea region of the New World. Aside from the occasional seabird passing overhead and Sea Kings lurking beneath the waves, there was nothing else here.
Yet at this very moment, the weather over this stretch of ocean had undergone a change worthy of being called a natural disaster.
The sky, half of it was a blinding gold, the other half a stifling deep blue.
The sea, half of it shimmered unnaturally, the other half boiled in madness.
Whoosh
A golden beam of light streaked through the air, carving a long trail like the most precise surgical blade slicing through the atmosphere.
BOOOOM
Violent blue lightning followed immediately after, like a god's wrath, swallowing the afterimage of the light beam and blasting towering pillars of water into the sky!
"Ahh, Rehn your movements are really… way too big you know~."
Kizaru Borsalino's figure flickered into existence midair. He still had his hands casually in his pockets, lazily dodging an electric serpent that leapt out of the sea.
"As a 'god' aren't you being a bit too enthusiastic~?"
"This is all for Lord Renzo!"
On the other side of the sea, Rehn's round body floated in midair. Crackling lightning wrapped around him as he resembled a massive, dazzling blue thunderball.
His chubby face was now filled with fanatical excitement.
"Admiral! Warm-up's over! I'm coming!"
"Waaa~ that was only a warm-up?" Kizaru smacked his lips.
"Ten million volts: Discharge!"
Rehn roared, not giving Kizaru even a moment to complain.
He spread his arms wide. Centered on him, a gigantic electrical net spanning over a thousand meters exploded outward!
Bzzzzzt!!
The air filled with the sharp stench of ozone as blue-white lightning writhed like living creatures, turning the entire area into a purgatory of thunder.
Yet Kizaru's figure merely flickered within the net before dispersing into countless light particles, reforming unharmed over a hundred meters away.
"It's useless~," Kizaru wagged a finger. "We're both Logia types. Attacks like this won't hit~."
"I know!" Rehn grinned, wearing an extremely clever expression.
"I never planned to hit you!"
"Hm~?"
"I'm trying to… boil the water!!"
Rehn slammed both hands toward the sea!
"Fifty million volts: Thunder Pool!!"
BOOOOM!!
Terrifying electrical currents poured downward as the entire sea boiled!
Tens of thousands of tons of seawater were heated and vaporized in an instant!
A violent steam explosion erupted!
A horrifying steam pillar hundreds of meters wide shot into the sky, its power rivaling a small volcanic eruption!
"How scary~."
Kizaru flickered again, appearing even higher in the sky as he looked down at the hellish, boiling sea below.
"Using Logia powers to trigger environmental explosions truly a clever application."
At that moment, heavy flap… flap… sounds echoed from the distance.
"Lord Renzo! Look!!"
Potts, in his massive griffin form, hovered several kilometers away at a safe distance.
Renzo reclined lazily on a floating sofa, watching the show.
Potts' hawk-like eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the apocalyptic scene ahead, his voice trembling.
"Th-that… that's Rehn, isn't it?! He… he's fighting Admiral Kizaru?!"
Gulp. Potts swallowed hard.
Was this really the same round, bumbling Mr. Rehn who'd been following Lord Renzo around just two months ago?
This was practically… a god.
"That damn fat bastard…"
On the griffin's other side, Sanji stood midair using Geppo, the cigarette in his mouth nearly burned down to the filter.
The eye hidden beneath his bangs was now visible, filled with seriousness.
"I knew the Goro Goro no Mi was strong… but… but it's only been two months! And he's already fighting an admiral like this?!"
Among the stunned spectators, only Renzo still looked half-asleep.
He yawned and said lazily:
"Potts, fly farther away. Don't get caught in the blast. Sanji, watch it, don't let the shockwaves scratch my Nap-One."
"..."
Sanji and Potts were speechless.
"N-no, Lord Renzo!" Potts cried anxiously. "Rehn, he… he, "
"What about him?" Renzo glanced at the battlefield.
"Isn't he having a great time?"
Renzo knew perfectly well.
That old fox Kizaru wasn't serious at all.
He hadn't even used Armament Haki, he was purely relying on elemental speed and traits to toy with Rehn.
Still…
Watching the boiling sea, Renzo felt quite satisfied.
At the center of the battlefield-
After his attack failed, Rehn seemed to realize Kizaru's half-hearted attitude.
"Admiral! You're too slow!"
Rehn's chubby face was flushed, not from exhaustion, but excitement!
"Are you looking down on me?! Or are you afraid of the power Lord Renzo granted me?!"
"Ahh that's quite the accusation~."
Kizaru shrugged helplessly.
"I just feel that~ using too much force would make me sweat…"
"Then I'll make you sweat!"
Rehn took a deep breath as his round body began visibly expanding.
No, rather than expanding, boundless lightning gathered and compressed around him… then took shape!
"Two hundred million volts, El Thor!!"
BOOOOM!!
A colossal Thunder God nearly a hundred meters tall appeared above the sea, wielding a lightning trident and bearing thunder drums on its back, and yet, inexplicably, it had Rehn's same round, chubby face.
"..."
In the distance, Sanji's cigarette fell from his mouth.
"W-what the hell kind of form is that?!"
Potts stared in disbelief.
"So… so fat… yet somehow… kind of majestic?"
"HAHAHAHA!"
Thunder God Rehn let out earth-shaking laughter, his voice rolling like thunder.
"Admiral! Take this! For Lord Renzo's whisky!"
"…Whisky?" Kizaru's sunglasses slid down slightly.
"DIVINE PUNISHMENT!!"
The Fat Thunder God raised his trident as storm clouds, forcefully created, responded instantly!
A terrifying lightning pillar over ten meters wide, carrying apocalyptic power, descended straight toward Kizaru's tiny figure!
"That's not something I can take head-on~."
Kizaru turned into light particles, attempting to evade.
"Got you!"
Rehn's eyes flashed!
His powerful Observation Haki, greatly enhanced after gaining the Goro Goro no Mi, had already locked onto Kizaru's movement!
The massive lightning pillar bent midair in an impossible arc, homing in like a guided missile toward Kizaru's landing point!
"Oho?"
For the first time, genuine surprise entered Kizaru's voice.
"Observation Haki?"
Light speed itself cannot be dodged.
But Rehn had predicted the endpoint of Kizaru's elemental movement!
"Ama no Murakumo!"
In the critical instant, light condensed in Kizaru's hand, forming a slender blade of pure radiance.
Instead of dodging, he gripped it with both hands and slashed straight at the descending lightning!
BOOOOM!!!
White light and blue thunder collided violently in midair!
For a single moment, the entire world went silent.
Then came a cataclysmic explosion of energy!
The blinding flash forced Renzo and the others to close their eyes instinctively, as the shockwave became a tangible ring of compressed air, forcibly pressing the sea surface down several meters across kilometers!
"Hold steady, Potts!"
"Diable Jambe!"
Sanji's leg burst into flames as he kicked Potts' side, helping offset the terrifying force!
After a long while,
When the light faded, a massive hollow remained in the sea where water had been instantly vaporized, surrounding waves rushing back violently.
In midair, Kizaru hovered with his light sword in hand. His suit remained perfectly neat, but the left hand that always stayed in his pocket was now out, adjusting his sunglasses.
Opposite him, Rehn's Thunder God form had dissipated. His round original body hovered there, panting heavily, clearly drained by that last attack.
"Huff… huff… Admiral…"
Wiping sweat away, Rehn grinned again.
"A-again!"
Kizaru looked at this terrifyingly energetic fat man, then at Renzo far away, wearing a this-is-getting-good expression.
Slowly, Kizaru lowered his sword.
"Renzo-kun~."
His voice carried calmly over several kilometers.
"This subordinate of yours is truly… a treasure~."
"My exercise quota for today has already been exceeded. I'm done, I'm done~."
"Eh?! Don't go!" Rehn panicked.
"I haven't won Lord Renzo his whisky yet!"
Kizaru ignored him, turning into a streak of golden light and flying toward G-5.
"H-hey, Admiral! Don't run!"
Rehn immediately transformed into lightning and chased after him.
Only Renzo, Sanji, and Potts were left behind, staring at the devastated sea.
"So… that's it?" Potts murmured, still stunned.
Sanji lit another cigarette, inhaled deeply, and exhaled smoke tinged with the feeling of surviving a disaster.
"…That fat guy… better not mess with him in the future."
Renzo nodded in satisfaction.
"Mm. Looks like I saved the whisky. But… the cost of repairing the top-floor ceiling still comes out of Rehn's bonus."
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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