For a full three months, Mieko had been secretly observing Enel almost every day. Since he'd received professional training in tracking and covert surveillance, his movements were extremely discreet—Enel never noticed a thing.
Ever since Mieko had taught Enel a lesson that day, for some reason, Enel still threw his weight around in the streets, but he never dared come looking for trouble with Mieko again. He seemed to have "nailed down" the time Mieko sold fish in the mornings, and would always choose that time window to either go gambling or sprawl at home and sleep in. What he didn't know was that Mieko had long since stopped selling fish—he was spending the whole day shadowing him in secret.
Over these three months, Mieko had Enel's movements and preferences down cold. He not only knew where Enel liked to go and what he liked to do, he'd also gained a deep understanding of Enel's personality and the way he operated. It could be said that on Birka, there were probably only a handful of people who understood Enel better than Mieko—his so-called drinking buddies included.
Arrogant, conceited, cruel! That was Mieko's evaluation of Enel's personality.
When collecting protection money, Enel showed no mercy even to the elderly, the weak, women, or children—one kick and he wouldn't even blink. The viciousness and brutality were plain to see. Mieko was certain: if Birka didn't punish murder with extremely severe penalties, that guy Enel's hands would have been stained with blood a long time ago.
…
Inside an ordinary house that was a bit messy and disorderly, Enel lay shirtless on the bed with both hands tucked behind his head, lounging as he muttered under his breath, "Damn it… that brat should've finished selling the fish by now, huh?"
Suddenly—bang! He slammed a fist into the bedboard, his face twisting with a bit of ferocity as he ground his teeth and said, "If those bastards hadn't refused to help me teach him a lesson, would I be giving that kid a wide berth? Damn it all…"
"Someday, I'm gonna wipe every last one of you out!"
Enel cursed viciously, then got up, put on his shoes, and grabbed an iron rod nearly two meters long. Swinging it casually, he swaggered out the door.
At the same time, in the shadows of a nearby alley, a pair of bright eyes quietly watched Enel's every move.
"At this time, this guy's probably going to collect protection money again… then head to the casino and gamble his brains out with those so-called 'brothers' of his, yeah?"
Mieko leaned lazily against the wall, staring coolly at Enel's tall back. The corner of his mouth curled into a disdainful smile as he murmured to himself.
A piece of trash like that, and he can still get favored by the heavens and obtain the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, said to be the strongest Logia-type… it really made Mieko feel contempt from the bottom of his heart. In this world, there had never been such a thing as fairness.
The Celestial Dragons were born sitting atop supreme power and exalted status. In their eyes, ordinary civilians were nothing but lowly ants—so insignificant they didn't even count. Even the royal families of some countries were, in their eyes, just inferior nobles, no different from commoners.
And then there were those who were obviously nothing but thugs and hoodlums—setting sail to become pirates, burning, killing, and looting everywhere—yet their luck just happened to be absurdly good, landing them powerful Devil Fruits, and in the blink of an eye they'd become famed powerhouses.
This world really was a place overflowing with irony!
Mieko quietly followed behind Enel and—just as expected—"accompanied" him through more than two hours of collecting protection money, and then…
Bier Gambling House!
"Enel, how much protection money did you collect in Extol today?" someone in the gambling house asked.
"Don't even mention it…" "This protection money gets less day by day—ain't even enough for me to play a few rounds…"
"Hahaha, quit complaining!"
"On this street, you're the only one who dares collect protection money, Enel. If it were us, we'd have been rotting in a cell already!"
In a corner not far away, Mieko quietly watched as Enel—who'd barely stepped through the gambling house doors—was dragged in with loud laughter by a shirtless young man who looked like he was running security.
"Fifteen minutes. He'll come out," Mieko said to himself. Half-leaning against the wall, he ignored the passersby and gently closed his eyes, counting down in silence.
Watching someone day and night for three straight months was absolutely not an easy thing. If Mieko hadn't undergone harsh training, with willpower far beyond ordinary people, he would've quit long ago.
After all, even if Enel still hadn't eaten the Devil Fruit yet, Mieko tailing him day and night still meant the odds of obtaining the Devil Fruit were less than half. There were three reasons: First, Mieko couldn't be completely certain he could stop Enel from a distance—what if he found the fruit and swallowed it immediately? Second, Mieko wasn't a machine; it was impossible to maintain a flawless, no-dead-angle watch on Enel for twenty-four hours. Third, Enel might not even obtain the Rumble-Rumble Fruit within this year…
But in Mieko's eyes, even if there was only a one percent hope, he had to keep going!
After about fourteen or fifteen minutes, Enel walked out of the gambling house wearing a down-on-his-luck expression, the iron rod in hand, and swaggered toward the direction of the only forest on the small island.
"Hm? He didn't go back to sleep… and he didn't go find those drinking buddies to shoot the breeze?" Mieko froze slightly, staring in surprise at Enel's back, then followed him at an unhurried pace.
Birka Forest—this was a primeval jungle. There were plenty of venomous snakes and ferocious beasts inside. The island's residents usually only dared wander around the edges, and didn't dare venture deeper casually.
The tree species here were bizarre and varied; Mieko barely recognized any of them. Especially the "soil" here—which was actually high-density Island Cloud.
Mieko had been on Birka for a few months now, and every time he saw this Island Cloud "soil," he couldn't help feeling puzzled. This so-called Sky Island… was it really created by human hands?
"Damn it… this luck is just the absolute worst. I actually lost everything again…" Enel muttered as he walked, his face full of bad luck. When he reached a patch of bushes, the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Rage blazed in his chest, and the iron rod in his hand suddenly swept toward the bushes.
Thump! As the rod swung across, dust burst up instantly, and a huge spray of leaves scattered everywhere like startled birds taking flight.
Thump thump thump… Maybe because he'd been bottling up anger for so long, Enel went like a madman, smashing and sweeping at random as he went. The iron rod kept slamming into flowers and brush, forcibly carving out a "path" through the dense undergrowth.
Hidden in the nearby bushes, Mieko's gaze stayed locked on Enel and the grass around him—he didn't blink once. Carefully, he slipped his hand into his pocket and took out a small iron ball, completely focused, not daring to relax in the slightest.
Enel rarely came to this place, yet today he'd suddenly run here to vent. Mieko turned it over in his mind—what if the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was nearby, and Enel got it? What then?
Thump thump thump… Enel continued wrecking countless shrubs without restraint, as if he didn't care about the consequences at all, heading straight toward the depths of the thicket.
The light in the bushes was a bit dim, and from time to time came the roars of wild beasts. Those roars made Enel stop in his tracks. He swept a wary, uncertain glance forward, fear creeping into his heart, and he didn't dare continue deeper.
"Hm? What the hell is this?" Just then, Enel felt like he'd stepped on something. He instinctively bent down and picked up a fruit. The fruit was a pale blue all over, shaped like a pineapple, and covered in strange cloud-like swirls.
From afar, Mieko stared at the pale-blue fruit in Enel's hand. His body couldn't help but jolt, his pupils shrinking sharply.
"That… that's the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!"
(End of Chapter)
If I see that this fanfic has support, I will upload 20+ chapters to Patreon!!
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]