Chapter 172: Follow-up
"Such power..."
Rhodes slowly descended onto the Ark, gazing at the astonishing explosion far in the distance. The surging shockwave could be faintly felt even from here, and a look of longing crossed his face.
This was truly catastrophic power. He remembered from the original story—Kaido transforming into his Azure Dragon form and destroying a mountain with a single Bolo Breath. This Raigo was even more powerful.
"But this technique requires both Enel and Ark Maxim, which is somewhat limiting."
Rhodes shook his head.
The artificial thundercloud created by Enel and Ark Maxim was somewhat different from natural thunderclouds. The lightning was gentler, denser, and easier to control—allowing it to converge into a single sphere.
With normal natural thunderclouds, Rhodes would have difficulty achieving this level of control. At best, he could only pull down one or several lightning bolts.
Of course, the upper limit of natural lightning's power would be far higher than the thundercloud created by Enel.
After all, Enel could only produce 200 million volts, while nature could generate lightning bolts exceeding 1 billion volts.
He was lost in thought when—
On the deck not far away, Enel's eyes darted around as he quietly transformed into his elemental form, attempting to flee this nightmare.
His thinking was clear: if he couldn't afford to provoke this demon, couldn't he at least hide?
If he could find a new island far from this devil, he'd still be a god.
Moreover, this time he planned to descend to the Blue Sea to learn its secrets, grow stronger, then return to seek revenge on Rhodes and reclaim the Ark!
The thought filled him with resentment. The Ark had taken six years to build. How many six-year periods were there in a lifetime?
But just as Enel completed his elemental transformation and was about to teleport—
Rhodes suddenly reached out and grasped toward him from a distance.
A startling scene unfolded.
With Rhodes's simple gesture, Enel—who'd just begun teleporting—suddenly froze mid-transformation and fell, rolling across the deck several times. The violent collision aggravated his injuries.
Enel gasped in agony.
"What the hell?!"
He ignored the pain and attempted to transform again, only to suffer even more—colliding directly with the ship's railing and nearly shattering his bones.
"What the hell did you do to me?!"
Enel stared at Rhodes with utter indignation. After two consecutive failures, how could he not know this demonic Blue Sea dweller was responsible?
Rhodes smiled, finding it rather amusing.
This had just occurred to him.
Enel was the Goro Goro no Mi user. Once elementalized, he became essentially a humanoid lightning bolt, allowing him to merge with Ark Maxim and perform lightning-speed teleportation.
However, this gave Rhodes an opening.
He was a lightning manipulator.
Since Enel was lightning, Rhodes could manipulate him too. Rhodes simply grabbed the air, and Enel was affected—losing control of his entire body and falling from his elemental state in a spectacular crash.
In this sense, Rhodes was the natural enemy of Goro Goro no Mi users.
Lightning was ineffective against him—even the mighty power of heaven itself. Even Enel's teleportation technique, which surpassed even the Pika Pika no Mi in some ways...
Thinking of this, Rhodes looked at Enel with a hint of pity.
That gaze terrified Enel so much that he almost instinctively tried to transform and flee again.
"You really are stubborn."
Rhodes spoke lightly, and Enel flew uncontrollably toward him.
This time, realizing what was happening, Enel maintained his elemental form but tried to break free from the inexplicable control.
It was futile.
Rhodes could control thunder itself—let alone a human-shaped lightning bolt.
In the next instant, Rhodes had Enel in his grasp.
His hand, coated in Armament Haki, grasped Enel's physical form by the neck. He was about to throw him again when he noticed Enel had learned his lesson—keeping the rest of his body in elemental form.
A simple throw wouldn't hurt an elemental body.
"Somewhat clever."
Rhodes smiled.
Then, with his other fist swirling with Armament Haki, he struck Enel square in the face, nearly breaking his nose. Tears and snot flowed uncontrollably.
Rhodes released him with disgust.
The head trauma left Enel dazed, unable to maintain his elemental form. He collapsed to the deck in his physical body.
Meanwhile, the Straw Hat Pirates, Wyper, and the others finally boarded the Ark.
"This is a god? So pathetic..."
Zoro watched the scene, his fighting spirit instantly evaporating as he smirked.
"@#¥%..."
Enel, having regained some consciousness, heard this and was instantly enraged. But catching Rhodes's gaze, he trembled and could only curse internally.
"Boss, did you find the City of Gold?"
Robin walked over gracefully, her expression calm as she surveyed Ark Maxim with a flicker of interest.
"Gold?! City?!"
Nami's jewel-like eyes instantly transformed into Berry symbols at those two keywords. She rushed forward, grasped Rhodes's arm, and nuzzled against it:
"Rhodes-niisan~~~"
While the girl's affection was certainly pleasant, the gleam in Nami's eyes was so intense that even Rhodes found it difficult to bear.
"Gah!"
Sanji erupted in fury. "Let go of Nami-san!"
Zoro facepalmed. It was obvious Nami wouldn't release Rhodes willingly.
Seeing the Sky God's miserable state, the other Shandians brought by Wyper were deeply shocked.
When Wyper had returned to the tribe claiming a Blue Sea dweller had brutally beaten God Enel, they hadn't quite believed it—but had joined him out of respect for his leadership.
Unexpectedly, the reality was even more outrageous than Wyper had described.
That supposedly almighty god seemed powerless to resist.
For a moment, the Shandians felt uneasy and uncertain, their gazes turning to Wyper and the tribal elders.
Just then, the sudden sound of rushing air came from the distance.
Everyone turned to see an elderly man swooping down from above, riding a large bird and wielding a lance.
"Ah, it's that mercenary!"
Chopper exclaimed.
It was none other than Gan Fall, the former God of Skypiea.
Landing on the deck, he approached Rhodes, bowed respectfully, and said:
"Thank you, young man."
"Please allow me to express my sincerest gratitude. You saved Angel Island."
Rhodes waved dismissively, stating matter-of-factly:
"Skypiea is useful to me. I'm simply protecting my own interests."
"For everything else, Robin will speak with you."
"Understood."
Robin nodded slightly and began conversing with Gan Fall.
Skypiea's value was considerable. At minimum, its various Dials were valuable and scarce resources in the Blue Sea.
Robin was a professional secretary, skilled in negotiation. Crucially, with Rhodes's overwhelming presence backing her, intimidating Gan Fall was effortless.
Meanwhile—
"What about you?"
Rhodes approached Wyper and the other Shandians.
Sensing Rhodes's uncompromising demeanor, Wyper and the tribal elders' expressions grew heavy. They exchanged glances, each seeing the weight in the others' eyes.
With that nearly world-ending lightning sphere still fresh in their minds, who would dare challenge this young man in white?
Finally, Wyper spoke in a deep voice:
"Rhodes-dono, the Shandians will submit, but please allow us to ring the Golden Bell of Shandora. This is an ancestral duty etched into our very souls."
"If this cannot be satisfied, we would rather die!"
Wyper raised his head, meeting Rhodes's gaze without a trace of fear.
The other Shandians silently stepped forward, expressing their support for Wyper.
These Shandians, after four hundred years of war, had long since grown indifferent to death.
The atmosphere on the deck suddenly grew tense.
"Rhodes..."
Nami stood beside him, silently observing.
Rhodes smiled gently.
"Do I really seem that unreasonable?"
"Why so tense? It's just a bell."
The tense atmosphere suddenly relaxed, and Nami and the others breathed sighs of relief.
If conflict had truly erupted, the Straw Hats—mindful of their friendship from Alabasta and their relationship with Nami—would have sided with Rhodes, though it would have been uncomfortable.
(End of Chapter)
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