After a loud shout broke his sleep, Elric slowly opened his eyes, still groggy from the deep rest on solid land. The first thing he saw was a hideous purple face looming right over him—bulging eyes, sharp teeth, and that signature fishman grin twisted in arrogance.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Ghost!"
Without thinking, he blasted forward with all his might, pure instinct kicking in. A massive surge of raw power erupted from his palm in a blinding red beam.
The villagers who had been standing at a safe distance, nervously peering toward the house from behind trees and fences, suddenly witnessed the unthinkable.
The modest home exploded in a deafening roar, and a brilliant red light shot straight toward the sky like a pillar of destruction.
But the next second, a thunderous BOOOOOOOM echoed across the entire island.
The sound was so intense that it felt like everyone's eardrums would burst. A shockwave of ferocious air pressure blasted outward, flattening trees, sending debris flying for several kilometers, and rattling every building in Cocoyasi Village.
The force was overwhelming, like a localized apocalypse had just been unleashed.
After annihilating everything in its immediate path, the beam continued skyward, vanishing into the blue in the blink of an eye. It tore through the atmosphere and beyond, obliterating multiple planets in its trajectory before finally exhausting its terrifying power.
Even Arlong Park, which was quite far away, didn't get spared. Most of the fishmen lounging outside felt as if their heads had exploded from the sheer pressure wave, clutching their ears and staggering in confusion and pain.
Back near the village, Nami had just stepped out from one of the lookout towers where she'd been working on maps. The sudden explosion made her freeze. "Nojiko!" she subconsciously shouted, her heart dropping like a stone.
The direction was unmistakable—it was coming straight from her house. Nojiko had come to her that morning, mentioning something about a pirate looking for her and taking a few fishmen along to handle it. It wasn't unusual.
Plenty of pirates had come sniffing around after hearing about her navigation talent or after she'd stolen their treasure maps.
Nami hadn't paid too much attention at the time, brushing it off as another minor headache for the fishmen to deal with.
But now... "Nojiko, please be okay. Please be okay..." Nami whispered desperately, already breaking into a run toward the destruction.
Nojiko was the only family member she currently had left in this world. If something happened to her sister, Nami didn't know what she would do. The thought alone threatened to crush her.
Huff, huff...
While panting heavily, Elric finally calmed down, his chest rising and falling as the adrenaline faded. He looked at the fishman—who was somehow still standing, though now only his legs remained after the upper body had been vaporized by the blast.
"You motherfucker, you almost scared me to death," Elric grumbled, delivering a casual kick that sent the remains tumbling away across the newly created wasteland.
He really was softer compared to some of his other versions. One had grown up in a war-torn place, fighting life-and-death battles multiple times, even against the undead.
The tamest one, Kevin, lived in a modern peaceful society but still mingled with aliens. Moments like this made Elric feel genuinely embarrassed.
Getting scared half to death by a random NPC fishman? That stung his pride more than the explosion itself.
After truly calming down and taking a few deep breaths, he finally looked around. His eyes widened in dumbstruck silence. Everything around him had been turned into a barren land.
Trees were gone, the ground scorched and cratered, and not a single building or bush remained in sight for hundreds of meters. It was like a meteor had struck right where the house once stood.
Fortunately, Nojiko's house was quite far away from the rest of the village, so they should be fine, right? he thought, trying to reassure himself.
"Oh, Nojiko..." Activating his Byakugan, the veins around his eyes bulged slightly as he scanned the area with enhanced vision. He quickly spotted several people trapped under some debris a short distance away—bodies partially buried but alive.
He vanished in an instant, teleporting straight to the location with a flicker of movement that left only a faint afterimage.
If something had happened to Nojiko, his whole plan would go to waste. He'd have to wipe Nami's memory before heading back to the sea.
Mainly because peering into people's inner thoughts was absolutely disgusting—especially with those goddamned pirates back on his island—so he rarely practiced it. Let alone careful memory manipulation; even a hard reset was troublesome for him.
Otherwise, with Professor X-level powers, why would he go through so much trouble? If he could locate enemies precisely, he could just explode their minds outright.
No matter how strong their brains were, in front of the Phoenix Force, they were just floating clouds.
While he was about to remove the debris with a focused gesture, suddenly a female voice shouted from behind.
"Nojiko!"
Only to see Nami running desperately toward the rubble after turning back from her initial path. Her orange hair whipped wildly in the wind, tears streaming down her face as she closed the distance.
"Hey, Nojiko is here," Elric called out, trying to get her attention.
"What?" She stopped abruptly, her eyes scanning this unknown man who was now sitting casually in front of the pile of rubble.
Her eyes were still running with tears, but she didn't ask any questions. Instead, she rushed straight to the biggest piece of debris and tried to lift it up with all her strength, her small frame straining against the heavy wood and stone.
"Okay, move aside," Elric said, feeling a little guilty looking at Nami's desperate figure. Using his telekinesis, he directly lifted everything into the air with a gentle wave of power, clearing the rubble effortlessly.
Nojiko, looking at the bloody figure, she directly went there desperately.