A colossal white puppet bomb shot skyward, completely swallowing Feitan's body inside it.
The puppet's head pierced the clouds. Its terrifying size was visible from every corner of Upper Yard. The fusion of three Devil Fruits had finally evolved into a true Logia—Clay: Garuda.
The puppet raised its arm. Violent winds howled. With Feitan's manic laughter echoing from within, countless one-man-sized clay birds exploded out of Garuda's sleeves and streaked straight toward Enel.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—
A chain of detonations ripped through the air. Blinding firelight stitched together into a crimson sky.
For the first time, Enel's indifferent expression cracked.
The explosions themselves couldn't touch his body, but the shockwaves and searing heat still battered him.
He turned into lightning and kept flashing through Garuda's massive form, bolts crackling wildly—yet he could no longer land any meaningful damage on Feitan.
The battle had turned into a clash of monsters.
Down below, Bonney's little face was frozen in pure shock, mouth hanging open as she stared at the scene that looked like something out of an ancient god-war.
She had to admit it…
At this moment, Feitan had completely surpassed her in raw power.
Chrollo glanced at her stunned face and chuckled. "Told you not to slack off. The real surprises are still coming."
His eyes returned to the battlefield, as if he had already foreseen what would happen next.
Seizing the opening created by Feitan's rampage, Nobunaga floated straight in front of Enel in a flash. Twin famous blades sliced through the air.
Iai: Cross Cut!
Nobunaga had finally grasped the key—only a relentless, seamless barrage could minimize the effect of Enel's Heart Net.
Cherry Ten and Wood Wither tore through the flaming trails left by the exploding clay birds, the air screaming sharply as the blades descended on Enel with vicious force!
His swords passed straight through Enel's body, slicing lightning apart. Without Armament Haki, the attacks did nothing.
Yet Nobunaga didn't stop. He kept swinging, tireless.
Iai: Flowing Receive—
Iai: Added-Hand Thrust—
Enel watched with arrogant indifference, letting the attacks wash over him.
In his eyes, these strikes were pointless, meaningless. He couldn't understand why the man kept going.
And it was precisely because he relied too heavily on his fruit and was too confident in his own superiority… that he left a fatal opening.
Below, Uvogin spotted the moment. His knees compressed to the absolute limit, then his already gigantic 12-meter body launched upward like the Hulk on steroids!
The ground beneath his feet shattered into a spiderweb of cracks. Like a missile, he rocketed behind Enel in an instant.
Pitch-black Armament Haki coated his entire arm. Every ounce of aura in his body concentrated into his fist.
Karma Return · Giant Form 6x Body · Armament Haki · Ultra Destruction Fist!
Enel didn't know Armament Haki existed, so he didn't dodge.
WHOOOOM—
The punch broke the sound barrier, spawning a surging ring of air pressure.
BANG!
The fist tore through the air with the force of a ringing bell and slammed squarely into Enel's back—
THUD.
Enel's face turned into a living meme—eyes bulging, mouth wide open, expression blank.
But his Heart Net reacted even after the fist connected. Lightning erupted from his feet, propelling his body forward at the last possible instant to minimize the damage.
A grinding, bone-cracking sound rang out. Enel's back caved in deeply from the punch.
His body shot downward like a cannonball.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE—
A crater a hundred meters wide formed instantly. Dense cracks kept spreading outward nonstop.
Enel's nearly shattered body lay motionless in the center of the pit.
"We won—?!!"
Bonney's mouth formed a perfect O.
Only Chrollo beside her remained solemn…
He had clearly seen Enel's final movement. Top-tier Observation Haki really was broken against weaker opponents—even after getting hit, he could still make an emergency adjustment in that split second.
That last twitch had kept his body mostly intact.
It wasn't over yet…
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit had one final self-rescue move.
And the only reason the four of them had achieved this much was because Enel had been too arrogant—he wanted to recruit them and hadn't attacked seriously even once.
Once he woke up…
Uvogin and the others would face a fully serious, no-holds-barred God of Thunder!
Could they withstand it?
"It's over."
Looking at the motionless Enel in the pit, Uvogin—who was still free-falling—let out a relieved breath. His massive body began shrinking back down. That last punch had used up almost all the reflected damage he had taken from Enel.
Feitan also exited his berserk state, returning to human form.
Nobunaga's tense expression finally relaxed. "What a hell of a fight…"
Phinks strode boldly toward the crater to capture Enel.
At that exact moment—everything changed.
CRACKLE-CRACKLE—
Tiny arcs of electricity danced across Enel's body. His chest began to beat again under the defibrillation effect, the rhythm growing stronger and louder.
THUMP.
THUMP-THUMP.
The four men's eyes narrowed at the same time as they looked back into the crater.
ZZZZZT—
The out-of-control current reached terrifying voltage, even breaking past its limit. It spread wildly across the ground with loud snaps.
Everything around them was dyed electric blue. Dark clouds gathered overhead, lightning flashing and thunder roaring.
Wild bolts began striking randomly across Upper Yard like divine punishment—like the wrath of heaven itself.
Countless Divine Guards, Shandian warriors, and even some of Hina's Marines were unfortunately hit and turned to ash on the spot.
Violent lightning connected the sky and earth above Upper Yard.
Everyone on the island noticed the anomaly at the center and looked up with heavy expressions.
"What the hell is happening…" Hina muttered, voice grave as she glanced at her charred subordinates before turning toward the epicenter of the lightning.
On the outermost edge of the sky island, Buggy the Clown stared at the central scene from afar, then slammed his face into the ground, hands over his head, expression terrified.
"It's happening again… it's happening again…"
He remembered the exact same feeling from Loguetown.
"Every single time that man shows up, something inhuman like this always happens!"
He was incredibly glad he had spotted Chrollo early and decided not to explore deeper!
Behind him, the Buggy Pirates looked at their boss with eyes full of感动 and worship.
"So Captain Buggy already predicted there would be a thunderstorm ahead! That's why he ordered us to stay on the outermost edge and do nothing!"
"Captain Buggy is truly far-sighted…"
"What else is there to say?!"
"Buggy! Buggy! Mighty… MIGHTY!!"
Meanwhile, Ace—who had been heading out of the dense forest—turned back to look at the shocking scene and sighed.
"That insane power is almost on the same level as Pops' Tremor-Tremor Fruit…"
"Is there really someone this strong on this weird island…?"
"And also…"
Ace's expression turned serious. That black-haired man named Chrollo was ridiculously powerful.
He would definitely become a formidable rival for Pops in the future…
CRACK.
Unfortunately…
The sound of a branch snapping underfoot.
The exhausted, wounded Ace suddenly found himself face-to-face with a man wearing an ambitious, greedy grin.
…Teach.
"We meet again, Commander Ace." Teach's eyes sparkled with excitement as he looked Ace up and down, noticing the fresh wounds. "Looks like you ran into that crew too~"
"But it seems fate is on my side today." Teach's smile widened.
"Even though I lost two crew members, with you here… my plan can still proceed smoothly…"
"The Warlord seat… is mine."
"Zehahahahaha!"