Rox casually grabbed a news gull out of the air, unfolded the paper, and froze for a moment.
The Navy and the World Government had issued a fifty-billion berry bounty for his capture alive.
Higher than most Yonko.
Higher than Kaido's past bounty.
Even higher than the World Government had ever offered for a single person.
Rox chuckled quietly.
It seemed Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the Five Elders, and perhaps even that hidden sovereign—Im—were truly being driven mad by his inventions.
His eyes lingered on the "50,000,000,000" figure.
When was the last time something was worth this much?
Ah—yes. The Ope Ope no Mi… the fruit rumored to grant eternal youth.
Which naturally reminded him of Trafalgar Law.
Former Donquixote Family member.
Ran away years ago.
Now drifting somewhere in the first half of the Grand Line as a pirate captain.
A strange idea suddenly flashed in Rox's mind.
What if Law performed the Immortality Operation… and then I fed him a senzu bean right after?
Would that let him perform it again? And again…?
His eyes lit up.
If this worked, then he, Yamato, and the rest of the women in his life…
could all live forever.
That thought alone was worth hunting Law down someday.
Rox locked the thought away and turned his attention forward.
烬—King—now evolved into his Mythical Zoan "Thunder Wyvern" form, tore through the sky with terrifying speed. With Rox's Observation Haki guiding their route, it took no time at all for them to reach the sky island ruled by Enel.
Arrival at the Sky Island
"Wow! It's like something straight out of a fairy tale!"
Yamato leaped off King's back, bouncing on the clouds like an excited girl exploring a dreamland.
"There are houses! And people! Are those sky islanders?"
She ran toward the nearest town, curiously poking at everything within reach.
Rox originally planned to confront Enel immediately, but seeing his wife so full of joy, he couldn't bring himself to interrupt her fun.
"This place is called Angel Island," he explained gently beside her. "The people here are natives of the sky."
Yamato looked at him with bright admiration.
"Husband, you really know everything."
A delicate voice cut in:
"You… are blue sea people?"
They turned.
A young girl with white wings stood there—Konis.
Yamato blinked. "Blue sea? No, we're from Wano."
Konis hurriedly explained, "Anyone from the ocean below is called a blue sea person here. I'm Konis. May I ask your name?"
"Oh! I'm Yamato!" the girl said cheerfully, shaking her hand.
Konis began touring her around, answering all of Yamato's questions with patient kindness. Sky island customs, plants, food, traditions—the world was brand-new to Yamato, and Konis watched her amazement with a gentle smile.
But suddenly, Konis's expression turned deadly serious.
"There is only one place on this island you must never enter."
Yamato tilted her head. "Why not?"
"Because that is the holy domain… where God resides."
Behind them, King finally spoke—cold and disdainful.
"God? What an exaggerated title."
Konis paled.
"Please don't insult him! He truly can hear everything… and he will punish you!"
As if summoned by her fear—
BOOM.
Thunder split the sky.
Gasps of terror echoed across the island.
"It's God!"
"God is angry!"
"He will strike us down!"
Yamato scowled.
"That so-called god sounds like a total jerk."
Rox chuckled softly and brushed her hair.
"Then I'll catch him for you. Let you vent a little."
Konis could only stare at them in horror.
These outsiders… they weren't scared at all.
They were even talking about catching God.
"You should run while you still can…" she whispered weakly.
"Too late."
A booming voice rolled across the sky.
"Blasphemers who dare insult God… prepare to die!"
A pillar of lightning crashed down.
A shirtless man with drums of tomoe markings floating behind him descended like a heavenly executioner.
The citizens fell to their knees.
"God! God has appeared!"
It was the man they came for.
Enel.
A God Meets Reality
Seeing that the three blue sea people didn't panic, Enel's lips twisted into a cruel smile.
"Ignorant insects… know the wrath of God!"
He struck a drum.
"Thirty Million Volts — Thunder Bird!"
A massive thunderbird shrieked toward them.
Konis collapsed in terror.
Yamato hugged her shoulders gently.
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen."
Rox shoved his hands in his pockets, casually remembering that this island supposedly had a ton of gold lying around. Not a bad part-time reward.
When the thunderbird was close enough, he simply said:
"King. Bring him down."
"Understood, young master."
A bolt of black lightning shot from King's horn, shattering the thunderbird entirely.
Before Enel could blink, King vanished.
"What—?!"
Enel's smirk froze.
That black-winged man… used lightning?
Impossible—he was the only lightning man!
But he didn't have time to think.
His Mantra—his "Heart Network"—screamed danger, greater than anything he'd ever felt.
"Why can't I sense him?!
Why can't I hear him?!
Where—"
"Behind you, boy."
Enel's entire spine locked up.
He turned stiffly—
A massive black hand was already reaching for his throat.
"W-When did he—?!"
He panicked, but pride forced him to snarl:
"F-Fool! I am lightning! You can't touch my body—"
"Mm—gh!"
His boast turned into a choking grunt.
King's fingers wrapped around his neck.
Enel stared down, eyes shaking.
He was… being physically held.
"W-What…? How can he touch me…"
"Don't even know Armament Haki? Your Observation is the most basic level. Your hand-to-hand is trash. And yet you call yourself a god?"
King's disgust was obvious.
"You eating the Goro Goro no Mi is the biggest waste of a Logia fruit I've ever seen."
He grabbed Enel like lifting a chicken and tossed him onto the ground before Rox.
Enel lay there, dazed.
From triumphantly descending from the sky
to being flattened in under a minute—
he had no idea what just happened.
Three thoughts repeated in his blank mind:
Who am I?
Where am I?
What just happened…?
Rox sighed in pity at the fallen "god."
He pulled out the small adjustable seastone collar he made earlier and snapped it around Enel's neck.
He patted the man's shoulder.
"Life goes up and down fast. From now on, stick with me. You'll live longer."
Without checking if Enel understood, Rox took Yamato's hand and said to King:
"Pick him up. Let's go see the legendary City of Gold—Shandora."
King grabbed Enel like dragging a dog by the neck.
Enel could only crawl helplessly along the cloud path.
The sky islanders stared in stunned silence.
After a long moment, someone swallowed hard and whispered:
"D… Did God… lose…? Did they really capture him?"
SLAP!
"Ow! Why'd you hit me!?"
"If it hurts, that means we're not dreaming! Enel really lost!"
Then came the roars of celebration.
"ENEL IS DEFEATED!"
"ENEL HAS BEEN CAPTURED!!"
Cheers erupted across the entire sky island.
The people bowed deeply toward the distant figures of Rox and his companions.
"Thank you, saviors from Wano!
Thank you for freeing the sky island!"
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