The sound was strange—something between a snake's hiss and a beast's roar.
Quite peculiar.
"You all keep searching here. I'll head up for a look."
"Yes, Captain!"
Using the surrounding architecture of Shandora for support, Hina leapt upwards and kicked off midair using Geppo, quickly emerging outside the massive crater.
Holy crap.
This was the "slightly bigger than a regular Sea King" snake that Luo Lan had mentioned?
You call this slightly bigger?
Just how big is a normal Sea King anyway?
The smaller ones are over a hundred meters, and the larger ones go a few hundred.
But this beast?
Judging by eye, it was easily over 2,000 meters long!
If you had a few of these snakes tied together, they could probably dangle from Skypiea and fish in the Blue Sea below.
Hiss...
The giant serpent flicked its tongue, locking its eyes on Hina.
It felt like a warning.
Then, in an instant, it opened its massive, blood-red maw—clearly intending to swallow her whole.
And with that size, it wouldn't be surprising if it devoured an entire building in one bite, let alone Hina.
The gaping mouth loomed above her.
But then—its jaws never closed.
Because…
Several black iron spikes, each over a hundred meters long, had been lodged between its upper and lower jaws, forcing its mouth wide open and keeping it from biting down.
The constant creak-creak sounds from the iron rods, however, made it clear they wouldn't last long.
A red blur leapt from the serpent's maw just in time.
Moments later, the serpent's jaws snapped shut, shattering the black iron rods into fragments that scattered through the sky.
"So much bite force?"
Hina raised an eyebrow, surprised.
She hadn't even used her full strength—those rods were casually crafted and not particularly thick. And yet...
They broke in just a few seconds. That was unexpected.
With a flick of her wrist, she summoned a new iron spike—far thicker than before and sharpened at one end. It was a hundred meters long and looked like a colossal spear.
Gripping it with both hands, Hina hurled it downward with all her might.
A sonic boom tore through the air as the black spike became a streak of light, followed by a thunderous impact.
The iron spear pierced straight through the serpent's tail, pinning it firmly to the ground.
Then, the sky seemed to rain down black iron spikes—one after another—each thrown by Hina.
They landed diagonally along the serpent's flanks, burying deep into the ground like a cage built from skewers.
Within moments, hundreds of spikes formed a crisscrossing pattern down both sides of its body.
The massive serpent was completely immobilized.
Hina dropped down in front of the serpent's giant head.
"I heard from Luo Lan your name is Nola. He said you're intelligent, that you can understand us."
Hiss...
"Well, Hina doesn't understand snake language, but Luo Lan said even if you don't submit, it's not a big deal. You'll just end up as food. Apparently, you taste better than Sea Kings—less waste, too!"
At those words, a cold sweat broke out on Nola's massive head.
Hiss hiss...
"I already said Hina can't understand you. Let's do it this way—if you're willing to submit, flick your tongue once. If not, flick it twice. Sound good?"
Hiss...
The serpent flicked its tongue once.
"Really?"
Hiss...
Another flick.
"If you're lying to Hina, I'll eat you myself!"
Hiss hiss...
This time, the serpent flicked its tongue twice.
Hina nodded, satisfied.
With a snap of her fingers, the massive iron spikes restraining Nola began collapsing one after another.
Once freed, Hina walked to the serpent's tail to inspect the injury.
After all, one of the thickest spikes had pierced and pinned his tail to the ground just moments ago.
Though the spike was gone, the gaping wound wasn't healing anytime soon.
But as she looked closer, Hina's expression turned strange.
Wait a minute... this snake has gold inside it?
As Nola writhed in place, various gold ornaments started falling out of the wound in his tail.
"Do you eat gold or something?"
"Hina is shocked!!"
"Can Luo Lan even afford to keep this thing?"
A gold-eating snake? Even the Celestial Dragons would go bankrupt feeding it!
"Maybe it's better to just kill it and use it for food?"
Hina genuinely began weighing her options.
And upon hearing that…
Nola nearly lost it.
Hiss hiss...
---
Meanwhile…
The entire area looked like it had been plowed by a god's hand.
Charred earth everywhere.
Without his Mantra (Observation Haki), Enel's accuracy had taken a massive hit.
His timing was a mess.
After all, for years he'd relied on Mantra for everything—now being forced to fight with just his eyes?
Yeah, not something Enel could adjust to on short notice.
Luo Lan, on the other hand, was thriving—smooth and composed.
He dodged another bolt of lightning, then suddenly closed the distance between him and Enel.
Enel's eyes widened. Alarmed, he immediately activated his elemental form and shot into the sky as pure lightning.
Dozens of meters up, he reformed into his humanoid shape.
Luo Lan frowned, raised his silver Casull, and fired three consecutive shots—bang! bang! bang!
Guns?
Sure, Skypiea rarely had visitors from the Blue Sea, but not never.
Enel remembered: those Blue Sea people used similar weapons before.
They looked impressive, but were ultimately harmless.
He didn't even bother dodging.
But then…
Something felt off.
Why were these bullets black?
Black...
For Enel, that color now triggered alarm bells.
When Luo Lan grabbed his hand earlier, it had turned black.
The throwing knives that could hurt his lightning body?
Also black.
And now, this gun's bullets were black?
Crap. Not good.
Not good at all!
He couldn't let those hit him.
He had to dodge!
Reacting instantly, Enel darted to the side.
His speed was impressive—but still a fraction too slow.
One bullet grazed his cheek, leaving a cut from his mouth to his left ear.
"You bastard—you dare!?"
"200 Million Volts: Raijin!!"
Furious, Enel exploded.
He unleashed his full electrical power, transforming into an intangible god of lightning.
Thunderclouds boiled across the sky like the end of the world.
He was no longer just a fighter—he was a force of nature.
At this point, Luo Lan couldn't help but wonder:
Back in the original story, how did Luffy—whose Doriki was probably in the low hundreds at that point—not only survive but win?
Plot armor, obviously.
This kind of lightning—sure, rubber resists electricity, but it can't stop heat.
Rubber's not some kind of miracle, people...
Anyway, if he wanted to take down this version of Enel, there was only one solution:
That thing.
He ejected the magazine from his black Jackal.
Then slotted in a new one.
"Seras… you'd better be right about this ammo."
Luo Lan raised his gun slowly, eyes locked on the lightning god above, who now seemed to bask in the worship of ten thousand bolts.
And then—
BOOM!!
---
This story is now COMPLETED in Ko-Fi shop.
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