Mieko quickly swept his gaze around. The passersby wore sympathetic looks, but not a single one dared step in. He immediately got the picture—Enel clearly wasn't a first-time offender, otherwise people wouldn't be this terrified.
A playful smile tugged at the corner of Mieko's mouth. He tilted his head up at Enel, who towered over him by a whole stretch, and provoked him, "And if I don't pay, what are you gonna do about it?"
He knew it in his gut: the Enel in front of him was just an ordinary guy with brute strength and nothing else. Otherwise he wouldn't be standing here yapping so much.
Even though his body had gotten smaller, his strength and physique were still solid. Add in the fighting skills he'd mastered, and dealing with a street punk like Enel was child's play.
"Hmph, brat. Big mouth, aren't you…" Enel's eyes turned icy. A cold sneer curled on his lips as he suddenly lifted his right leg and kicked mercilessly at Mieko's head.
"Bang!"
Mieko's mouth flashed a cold smile, his eyes steady. His right hand shot out and firmly caught Enel's right foot.
"What?!" Enel jolted, trying to yank his leg back. But Mieko's right hand clenched harder—one violent tug, and Enel's whole body was dragged forward toward him.
"Thud!"
Mieko's right fist was already primed. Using a bit of finesse, he drove a heavy punch precisely into Enel's stomach.
"Aaah!!!"
As an ordinary person, Enel immediately let out a shriek of agony. His face twisted from the pain as he dropped to one knee, unable to stand back up for the moment—only able to glare at Mieko in furious shock.
The bystanders, who'd been sweating for Mieko but didn't dare interfere because of Enel's nasty reputation, now all wore stunned expressions, staring in disbelief at the stern-faced Mieko.
"This kid—so young, and he can casually put down Enel even though the guy's way taller. He's not some nobody!" The general store owner had originally been about to come out and scold Enel a bit, but seeing this, he couldn't help exclaiming in amazement.
"Damn you, brat! You hurt me—I'll peel your skin off!" Enel ground his teeth and roared. Shaking off the shock, cold sweat beaded on his forehead, his face contorted as he glared viciously at Mieko. Veins bulged along his arm; his tensed right fist whistled through the air as it slammed toward Mieko's head.
Mieko calculated it out—this guy hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit yet. He was just a normal person. What did he have to be afraid of?
"You useless trash still wanna show off?"
Mieko tilted his head slightly and easily dodged the heavy punch. Then his right leg exploded with force, and he drove a kick straight into Enel's crotch.
"Aa—!"
Along with Enel's miserable howl, his face went savage, his eyes filled with venom. And Mieko? Like nothing happened, he turned around and walked off with swagger.
In truth, Mieko hadn't used full strength on that kick, and he hadn't planned to cripple Enel outright—he only wanted to teach him a small lesson. After all, in this country, ordinary private brawls might get tolerated—people might just turn a blind eye and let it slide. But if someone died or got seriously maimed, that would be a real problem. With Mieko's current strength, he was still nowhere near a match for this country's army.
Mieko strolled along the soft sand, replaying everything that had just happened. A strange glint flickered through his eyes, and in that moment, he made a decision.
Right now, the roughly eighteen-year-old Enel still hadn't gotten a Devil Fruit. That meant Mieko had a chance to snatch it first—the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, hailed as the strongest Logia-type.
Judging from the original story, Enel was around twenty-five or twenty-six when he fought the Straw Hat crew. And Birka was destroyed by Enel about six years before the story began. If you did the math, Enel should get the Rumble-Rumble Fruit within these next two years—and it wouldn't be too late into that window. Otherwise, even if Enel were absurdly talented, there was no way he could develop his Devil Fruit ability to the point of destroying Birka in such a short time.
Mieko wasn't sure whether Enel got the Rumble-Rumble Fruit on this Sky Island, but one thing was certain: as long as he followed Enel, the odds of getting the Rumble-Rumble Fruit would be extremely high.
"Blackbeard chased that almost nonexistent chance of getting the Dark-Dark Fruit and still hid in the Whitebeard Pirates for so many years. I can't be that crazy… but waiting a year or so? That's fine."
"I've been tailing Enel for a whole year in secret. If I still can't get that Devil Fruit I've been dreaming of by then… I'll give up for good…"
Mieko clenched his fists tight, a blazing, resolute light in his eyes.
If someone put Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in front of Mieko at the same time, he would reach out without hesitation and choose the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was known as the strongest Logia-type Devil Fruit. Whoever ate it could freely control lightning. In Mieko's heart, this was the fruit he wanted more than anything.
Sure, Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit was also unbelievably powerful, but in Mieko's understanding, if the Rumble-Rumble Fruit were developed to its absolute peak, its destructive power would far surpass the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
People often said, "There are no trash Devil Fruits, only trash users." That wasn't completely wrong—but there was no denying that a high-quality Devil Fruit gave a visible, immediate boost in strength.
Of course, eating an ordinary Devil Fruit didn't mean you'd never become a true powerhouse.
But suppose there were two people with similar talent: one ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the other ate some ordinary Zoan-type Devil Fruit. If both trained like hell for ten years, then who would be stronger? You wouldn't even need to think—anyone with toes could tell it would be the one who ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
"Grrr…" Suddenly, Mieko's stomach growled with hunger, yanking him out of his thoughts and back into reality.
"Eat first, then start the surveillance operation on Enel…" Mieko muttered to himself.
After a simple breakfast, Mieko gave up on continuing his training and headed back into the residential area again.
He stepped into a general store he was fairly familiar with. The friendly owner quickly greeted him and had him sit. Since there weren't many customers, the owner looked quite idle, so Mieko started "chatting" with him.
"By the way, boss—who exactly was that punk who just tried to pick a fight with me?" Mieko asked curiously.
"Him? That guy's Enel—an infamous local thug!" The owner shook his head and sighed. "His father used to be a soldier in the Royal Army. Seven or eight years ago, he seems to have accidentally offended the royal family, and then he was executed. His mother dumped him and remarried…"
"After that… once Enel became an orphan, he gradually started acting more and more wild—fighting, causing trouble, forcibly demanding 'protection money' from kids his own age…" The owner took a drag from his cigarette. A faint smile curled at his lips as he continued slowly, "As the days went by, that kid grew up and turned into the most notorious hoodlum around here. Now everyone who sees him avoids him like the plague!"
Mieko nodded slightly, feeling like he understood something. No wonder, after Enel gained overwhelming power, he could so decisively destroy his own hometown—there was a story behind it.
"These past few days, I've noticed Royal Army patrols around here keeping order. Why don't they do anything about Enel?" Mieko asked, puzzled.
"Yeah, logically, with what Enel's been doing, he should've been thrown in prison ages ago. But the captain of that patrol seems to have had some ties with his late father. Every time, he just gives him a verbal warning and lets him go…" the owner explained.
(End of Chapter)
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