Dragon's figure appeared.
Koala and Sabo straightened up when they sensed him, calling out to their commander.
He lifted a hand and waved. "No need to be so formal."
He took a few steps and stood beside them, watching the children training below. "So, future Chief of Staff, what do you think about the Revolutionary Army's future?"
He was grabbing at anything he could now. With those uneven bases and scattered fighters, he could do nothing at the mont. All he could do was gather more reliable seeds and train them as a safeguard. But the real problem still had no solution.
Sabo thought for a mont, then answered, "Start collecting evidence."
Dragon turned his head. "Oh?"
Sabo spoke with confidence. "This is why you've been off lately, right. We grew too fast and the people are all over the place. These kids are the preparation for what cos next. If sothing really happens, chaos will break out. If we lose control, we'll fall apart from within before the governnt even moves. So those kids are the fallback. When the ti cos, clear out the parasites and let the next generation take over. It will hurt, but at least we won't collapse completely."
Dragon drifted into thought and nodded in agreent. "You are right."
Sabo continued, "You're worried the purge will make people lose faith, but there's no need. You don't understand how high your reputation is. If you gather solid evidence against the parasites, everyone will stand with you. As the guiding light of this world, your voice carries more weight than you realize."
Dragon froze for a mont. "Is that so..."
He looked at Sabo and smiled. "You really would make a fine Chief of Staff."
Sabo flushed with embarrassnt but grinned proudly, elbowing Koala. "Did you hear that?"
* * *
East Blue, an unnad island.
Thin trails of smoke drifted up from a small village. After a full day of work, people sat in groups along the fields, taking a break before going ho to eat.
The elderly village chief looked at the green sprouts across the field. "Wonderful. It'll be a great harvest again this year."
A young man laughed. "Are you sure, chief?"
The old man snorted. "I've fard here my whole life. I can tell the harvest with one look. You still doubt ?"
The young man asked, "Chief, did you ever leave the village when you were young?"
"Leave? Where?" the old man asked back.
"Out to sea!" the young man said with excitent. "The Marines, great treasure, even rfolk like the newspapers say! They all sound amazing. I want to see them soday."
The chief shook his head. "Nothing good cos from that. Rayya's eldest boy joined the Marines when he was young. They never even found his body. Only a letter ca back. Pirates are the sa as bandits. You also know that. Didn't Korai Town get attacked by bandits not long ago? Hundreds died. As for so great treasure and rfolk, or any of that nonsense, it's all made up to pass the ti. There's no way things like that exist. I've lived more than sixty years and never seen anything like it."
The young man looked disappointed. "Oh... I see."
The village chief stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants. "Don't think about useless things. Working hard is better than anything else. That's what matters. And stop reading those newspapers too. They're pointless and a waste of money."
He waved to the people resting nearby. "Let's go! Head ho and start cooking!"
Across the Four Blues, places like this were everywhere. Progress and developnt seed frozen. Many lived their entire lives in small villages like this, learning about the world only through a few scattered words in the newspapers. They treated anything unfamiliar as stories made up for entertainnt by the writers.
They had nothing to do with those powerful figures who could destroy mountains with a wave of their hand. The Marines, pirates, the Revolutionary Army, the New World, the great treasure, the battles between different factions, who ruled the world… none of it had anything to do with them.
They were the majority of this world.
Ninety percent of the population were ordinary, unremarkable people.
* * *
New World, Punk Hazard, Dragon Locking Valley.
Enel led Rosinante and Law into the valley. "We're here."
This was the place where Sakazuki once crushed Kaido. It was the perfect training ground.
Law stared at the blackened magma-ford stone tablets in shock. "Dragon Locking Valley..."
Enel gave a small laugh. "Kaido, one of the Three Emperors, was suppressed here. We gathered plenty of azure dragon material from him right in this spot. Well, kid. Pretty impressive, right?"
Law glanced at him with disdain. "It wasn't you who did it. Why are you so proud? The sll of sulfur and the heat... this was Admiral Sakazuki's work."
Enel raised a brow. He would make the brat cry soon enough.
"Correct. Co on. Show
what you've learned."
He stood still and gave Law a wicked smile as he casually curled his finger in a taunt.
Law gritted his teeth. 'Damn lightning bastard…'
He drew the short blade at his waist with his right hand and held out his left toward the ground.
A translucent field burst out from between them and expanded.
"ROOM!"
The shimring do stretched out across a hundred ters.
With his arms crossed, Enel watched him perform, his smirk only grew more provoking.
Law scowled, flipped his left hand into a fist, pointed his index finger at Enel, then tugged.
The ground beneath Enel split into chunks, lifting him into the air. The earth slamd into him again and again, forming a massive sphere of packed earth around him.
Inside, Enel felt the pressure closing in and murmured, "What is this... isn't this Soter's ability?"
The sudden pull of weightlessness hit him.
The compressed stones around Enel shifted as Law swung his short blade. The forr broke into several pieces and floated upward.
Enel strained his neck and shook his head from side to side. The stones pressing against his head burst apart. His floating head scanned the scattered pieces of his body flying everywhere.
"Cut into pieces. Interesting..."
Zzzt!
Lightning burst from every separated chunk, and his body reford in an instant. He raised a finger and tapped repeatedly, firing streaks of lightning toward Law.
Law bent each bolt aside with his ability while rushing forward. But the lightning no longer thundered like before. The sound and shock had weakened several tis over.
Enel frowned. 'Silence, huh…'
He glanced outside the circle at Rosinante, who awkwardly lifted both hands, helpless.
Within the circle, Law had already closed the distance.
Enel flicked his wrist. The golden bangles on his arm lted into a short golden rod as he thrust it toward Law's chest.
Law didn't dodge. The mont the rod touched him, he vanished.
He appeared behind Enel, gripping his short blade with one hand and aiming at Enel's heart.
"Scalpel!"
He tried to take his opponent's heart, but under Enel's powerful Observation Haki, his body reacted on its own even without conscious activation.
His chest turned into lightning, and Enel snapped back to awareness. He reached back and grabbed.
Swish!
Law vanished once more, reappearing far away.
Enel's chest crackled as lightning reford into flesh. He looked at Law. "You swapped places with an object."
Teleportation… how convenient.
Law scoffed. "That's right."
He shifted his grip into a mid-stance and pointed the short blade at him. "Be careful."
"Injection Shot!"
He stabbed toward Enel.
A red mark appeared on Enel's forehead as if struck by a bullet, his head snapping back from the impact.
Swish!
Law appeared above Enel's tilted head.
He raised his right hand, thumb up and the other fingers folded, pressing it against the red spot.
"Counter Shock!"
Zzz!
High-voltage current rushed from his finger and swept through Enel's entire body.
Seeing Enel struck without turning into lightning, Law's lips curled upward. He succeeded.
Enel calmly watched Law's satisfied smile and suddenly spoke. "What are you grinning for?"
His arm flashed like an afterimage. His hand closed around Law's throat, tossing him out of the circle. Rosinante caught him as he flew out.
Law landed, staring at Enel in disbelief. "Impossible! You were in your physical body. You should be affected if lightning hits flesh."
Using electricity against a lightning Logia user sounded foolish. But Law had studied his target. He knew Enel's nature: he would take the attack head-on without elentizing, out of pride.
And if the body took a high-voltage shock, even briefly, it should cause paralysis. It might even disrupt his control over the fruit. Law hadn't expected much on that part...
But he never thought Enel wouldn't even flinch.
Enel let out a quiet laugh. Electricity flickered around his hand as the golden rod lted back into bangles, though a drop of gold fell from it.
Rosinante imdiately grabbed Law and jumped up.
The molten gold hit the ground.
Zzzt!
Electricity washed visibly across the valley. Only Enel's control kept it from spreading farther.
As Rosinante landed with Law in tow, so parts of the ground still sparked.
Enel explained softly, "Your current isn't even enough to charge this."
The bangles on his wrist crackled with light, pulling the condensed golden drop back and rging it into the tal.
It wasn't so secret technology. Enel had trained his control, compressing lightning to the extre and rging it with gold, keeping it from lting. Over ti, every gram of gold on him carried imnse electrical energy.
Law's so-called high-voltage shock... couldn't charge it for even a second. It was absorbed instantly.
Law grit his teeth at Enel, feeling like a fool. "Fine. You win."
Enel chuckled. "Kid, your ability developnt is impressive. Your only flaw is your body."
He still called him a kid, but Law was already a teenager. His learning speed was extraordinary, letting him develop the Op-Op Fruit quickly. But his body was just a normal human's, no monstrous talent behind it.
His physical limit was fixed. And the fruit consud stamina.
Law clicked his tongue. "You think everyone is a monster? I'm probably the most normal one here. Most people in this world have bodies like mine."
Ninety percent of the population shared Law's physique. The limit was just over two ters at most. Not five or eight ters like those freaks with monstrous talent.
He hated it, but that was reality.
Enel's lips curved. "Your physical limits are there. But there are ways to push them higher. For example… using high-voltage currents to stimulate your muscles and cells."
Zzzt!
Lightning crackled around his hands as he gave Law a aningful look.
**
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