"Ah, this is delicious! Oh, and this one too!"
Ginny truly proved herself to be the mother of the future 'Big Eater' Jewelry Bonney. Despite her tiny stature, she was devouring the banquet food with the ravenous ferocity of a starved wolf. She looked like she could easily out-eat the massive buccaneer sitting next to her.
Kuma barely ate anything himself; he simply sat there with a gentle, incredibly warm smile, constantly piling more food onto Ginny's plate and watching her eat.
"Kuma," Bardock said, his tone turning serious as the feast began to wind down. "Mansherry's current abilities are not advanced enough to permanently cure the Sapphire Scales disease at its root. If you want to eradicate the illness completely, you have two highly viable options. You can either seek out Mansherry's medical mentor, Dr. Kureha, or you can try to enlist the help of the genius scientist, Dr. Vegapunk."
"Vegapunk..." Dragon's eyes narrowed slightly, fixing a sharp gaze on Bardock. "He is currently the Chief Scientist of the World Government. He resides in a highly classified Marine facility. Gaining access to him will not be an easy task."
In truth, Dragon actually maintained a deeply classified, private line of communication with Vegapunk. However, that was one of the Revolutionary Army's absolute highest secrets; he absolutely wasn't going to reveal that connection to a pirate crew he had just met.
"Exactly. Vegapunk is the World Government's most prized asset. Given the Navy's intelligence network, locating his exact laboratory and breaking in would be incredibly difficult," Ivankov added, his flamboyant demeanor instantly vanishing, replaced by a rare, deadly seriousness. This was Ginny's life on the line.
"What about this Dr. Kureha?" Kuma asked, leaning forward urgently, his eyes locked on Bardock. "Is she accessible? Could we invite her here?"
He looked ready to instantly teleport across the ocean if Bardock gave him an address.
"To be completely honest with you, Dr. Kureha is in fantastic physical health, but... she's currently 130 years old," Bardock explained gently. "I highly doubt she would be willing to make a massive house call across the Calm Belt to the South Blue. You'll likely have to bring Ginny directly to her clinic."
"One hundred and thirty years old?!"
The three Revolutionary leaders were genuinely stunned. In this chaotic, violently turbulent era, living to see a hundred was an incredibly rare feat. Living thirty years past a century while still actively practicing medicine was practically unheard of.
(If they knew that Dr. Kureha would still be kicking Marine ass and chugging plum wine in her 140s over a decade from now, they would be even more utterly bewildered.)
"Yes. She resides in the Drum Kingdom, located in the first half of the Grand Line," Bardock elaborated. "Now, I must warn you. The current ruler of the Drum Kingdom, King Wapol, is a tyrannical, selfish coward who actively hoards all the nation's doctors for himself. However... his Devil Fruit ability is incredibly unique and highly useful. Given your organization's goals, I believe you will find him... highly interesting."
Bardock proceeded to give them a brief, heavily biased rundown of the political situation in the Drum Kingdom, placing a significant emphasis on the bizarre, reality-warping properties of Wapol's Munch-Munch Fruit.
Bardock had a clear ulterior motive. He was actively manipulating the Revolutionary Army into visiting the Drum Kingdom to overthrow Wapol early, thereby saving the kingdom's citizens from a decade of horrific oppression. Furthermore, if the Revolutionary Army managed to capture Wapol and utilize his Munch-Munch factory to mass-produce Wapometal or combine weapons, it would massively bolster their military strength.
By pulling this string, Bardock was simultaneously saving a nation and heavily investing in the success of the Revolutionary Army.
"The Drum Kingdom... I understand," Kuma nodded firmly. "I will take Ginny there as soon as she has rested."
"Since the serious business is concluded, allow me to address a personal matter," Bardock smiled, stepping aside. "My crewmate has been eager to request a sparring match with Supreme Commander Dragon. I hope you won't take offense to his bluntness."
The moment Bardock finished his sentence, Enel stepped forward, electricity violently arcing around his entire body.
"You're the wind, right? Well, I am lightning," Enel declared arrogantly, staring Dragon dead in the eyes. "Bardock claims your combat strength is on par with the highest tier of Marine Admirals. I'm incredibly curious to see if that's true. I'll be waiting for you outside."
Enel didn't even wait for a response. BZZT! He instantly vanished in a blinding flash of lightning.
Dragon slowly turned his gaze toward Bardock. Bardock merely shrugged helplessly, offering a 'what can you do?' smile. Dragon understood the unspoken message: If you don't fight him now, he's just going to keep pestering you.
Without a word, a sudden, powerful gust of wind violently whipped through the church. Dragon dissolved into the gale, shooting out the front doors in hot pursuit of Enel.
"Hee-haw! How incredibly rare!" Ivankov laughed loudly, standing up from the table. "Dragon almost never fights in person unless he absolutely has to! This is going to be fabulous!"
"Let's head outside and watch," Bardock suggested, gesturing for the rest of his crew to follow.
Ginny eagerly tried to stand up to join them, but Kuma gently pushed her back down. "You cannot be exposed to the sunlight yet, Ginny," he reminded her softly. Seeing her disappointed pout, Kuma simply pulled up a chair and sat back down beside her. "I'll stay here with you."
"Bardock, I have a few questions I'd like to ask Kuma regarding the Revolutionary Army's specific political ideologies. You go ahead without me," Robin said, remaining seated at the table.
If Kuma's answers aligned with her moral standards, Robin fully intended to convince Bardock to utilize the massive logistical power of the Dandelion Merchant Guild in the West Blue to quietly supply the Revolutionary Army with untraceable funds and resources.
"Sure, no problem. Oh, right, Kuma!" Bardock paused at the door, pulling out a Den Den Mushi. "Give me your contact frequency. You owe us a favor now. Who knows? I might need the Revolutionary Army's help one day."
Kuma didn't hesitate for a second. He immediately recited a highly classified, encrypted frequency. Since Bardock had explicitly stated he came to the Sorbet Kingdom specifically looking for him, Kuma had already mentally prepared himself to owe the pirate captain a massive life debt.
KRACK-THOOOOOOM!
A deafening, apocalyptic crack of thunder violently shook the church, signaling that the battle outside had officially begun.
Bardock stepped out of the church doors and looked up at the sky.
The heavens above the Sorbet Kingdom were completely chaotic. Blinding, jagged bolts of lightning violently tore through the rapidly darkening clouds, while localized, hurricane-force gales aggressively whipped across the landscape.
When two high-tier Logia users clashed, the sheer scale of the battlefield was always breathtaking. If this specific battle had occurred during the ancient, primitive eras of history, the terrified mortals below would have undeniably worshipped it as a clash between actual Gods.
However, despite the flashy, apocalyptic light show, the actual combat effectiveness was currently zero.
Enel's high-voltage lightning strikes passed completely harmlessly through Dragon's intangible, wind-based body. Conversely, Dragon's devastating, hurricane-force wind blades cleanly sliced through Enel's body without inflicting a single drop of physical damage.
Unless two Logia fruits possessed a direct, natural elemental superiority or weakness—like Akainu's magma naturally overpowering Ace's fire, or Aokiji's ice mutually cancelling out Akainu's magma—raw elemental clashes between Logias were utterly pointless. It was just an extremely loud, flashy stalemate.
"Sixty Million Volt: Lightning Dragon!"
Enel tapped one of the tomoe drums on his back. A massive, violently crackling dragon composed entirely of pure electricity roared out of the drum, aggressively lunging toward Dragon.
Dragon simply dissolved into a swirling vortex of wind, letting the electrical beast pass harmlessly through him.
"Tch. How boring," Enel scoffed, reverting to his physical form. "Bardock was right. Against the real monsters of this sea, Devil Fruits are just parlor tricks. Haki is the absolute deciding factor."
Enel gripped his golden staff tightly, instantly coating the entire weapon in a thick, dense layer of pitch-black Armament Haki. "No more games. I'm fighting for real now."
Hovering in the sky opposite him, Dragon's expression remained completely stoic. He raised his hands, curling his fingers into terrifying, rigid claws. The exact same pitch-black Armament Haki violently enveloped his fingers.
"Dragon Claw Fist."
"Oh ho! They're getting serious already!" Bardock grinned, his eyes narrowing as he instantly focused his absolute attention on the fight.
"Hee-haw! That kid is incredible!" Ivankov cheered loudly, actively expanding his own Observation Haki to monitor the clash. "He actually forced Dragon to use his Haki this early!"
BAM!
Enel vanished, utilizing his terrifying lightning speed to instantly appear directly in front of Dragon. He swung his Haki-coated golden staff with bone-crushing force.
Dragon didn't dodge. He simply raised his clawed hand.
CLANG!
To Enel's utter shock, Dragon's fingers clamped flawlessly around the very tip of the rapidly moving golden staff. The Revolutionary Leader's grip was absolute; he didn't even flinch at the impact.
With a sharp, violent tug, Dragon attempted to completely disarm Enel.
Realizing his weapon was hopelessly trapped, Enel reacted instantly. "Lightning Metallurgy!"
The tip of the golden staff instantly melted into a liquid state, smoothly slipping right out of Dragon's iron grip. Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, Enel rapidly retreated several meters, allowing the gold to re-harden into its original shape.
Staring at Dragon with intense wariness, Enel completely shifted his combat strategy. He completely abandoned frontal assaults. Utilizing his absolute speed advantage, he began frantically teleporting around Dragon, aggressively launching high-speed, Haki-infused strikes at Dragon's blind spots.
Yet... it was completely futile.
No matter how fast Enel moved, or how bizarre and unpredictable his attack angles were, Dragon smoothly adjusted his posture a fraction of a second before Enel even initiated the strike.
It was horrifyingly precise. Dragon's defensive maneuvers were so flawless, it honestly looked like Enel was actively, deliberately trying to hand his staff directly into Dragon's waiting hands!
Fortunately, thanks to his brutal sparring sessions with Bardock, Enel's martial arts foundations had improved significantly. He never fully committed to a strike, always leaving a margin of error to rapidly retract his staff, ensuring Dragon couldn't grab the weapon a second time.
"Hm?" Bardock's eyes narrowed sharply. He turned to Ivankov. "Is that... Future Sight?"
Ivankov grinned proudly, giving Bardock a thumbs-up. "Hee-haw! You guessed it, Bardock-boy! Dragon's Observation Haki is so incredibly refined that he can actually peer several seconds into the future!"
"That is genuinely incredible," Bardock muttered, his golden eyes burning with intense curiosity. He didn't bother hiding his ambition. "Is there a specific trick to unlocking that? Honestly, I've been trying to figure out how to awaken Future Sight for months."
"Hee-haw! You'll have to ask Dragon about that!" Ivankov laughed, throwing Bardock a massive, aggressively flamboyant 'Death Wink'. "I haven't mastered it myself!"
Bardock quickly turned his head, desperately pretending he hadn't seen the terrifyingly grotesque wink. His fingers violently twitched. He really, really wanted to poke the Okama's giant eyes out.
Up in the sky, the battle continued.
Facing an opponent who could literally see exactly what he was going to do before he even did it, Enel was completely, utterly suppressed. Despite possessing absolute superiority in raw movement speed and incredibly aggressive offensive power, Enel couldn't land a single meaningful blow.
Enel gritted his teeth in frustration. If he could just aggressively enrage Dragon, he could disrupt the man's absolute focus and shatter his Future Sight!
Unfortunately, the utterly humiliating, traumatic beating Bardock had inflicted upon him the last time he tried that specific 'crotch-lightning' tactic had left him with severe psychological scarring. He absolutely did not want to risk poking another sleeping bear. Furthermore, there was no guarantee that Dragon—a seasoned, stoic Revolutionary Leader—would fly into a blind rage over a childish insult.
"Dammit... I didn't want to use this so early, but I have no other choice!"
Enel cursed under his breath, realizing that physical martial arts were completely useless against Future Sight. He rapidly distanced himself from Dragon, raising his golden staff high into the air as massive, apocalyptic amounts of electrical energy began to violently surge from his body.
He was preparing his ultimate attack.
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