"Everyone, gather around! This is Eustass Kid, and this is Killer. They are the newest members of our crew. Let's get acquainted," Bardock announced on the deck of the White Dragon.
Kid stepped forward, his thumbs hooked confidently into his belt. "I'm Kid. I ate the Magnet-Magnet Fruit. My hobbies are mixing music as a DJ and collecting mechanical weapons. My favorite food is cabbage rolls, and I absolutely despise curry udon. Nice to meet you all!"
Killer stepped up next, his tone far more reserved. "I'm Killer. I don't have a Devil Fruit power. I like playing the drums and cooking. My favorite food is pasta. I look forward to working with you."
Following the rookies, the rest of the crew introduced themselves one by one.
Hearing the staggering roster, Kid and Killer exchanged a stunned look. The lineup on this single ship was absolutely absurd! The only non-Devil Fruit user among the senior members was Sai, and they had personally witnessed him effortlessly shatter a massive tidal wave of falling steel with his bare hands! He was a terrifying martial arts master.
If Kid and Killer had tried to build a pirate crew from scratch on their own, how many years—if ever—would it take them to recruit a roster this monstrously powerful?
Unsurprisingly, the person most thrilled about the two new additions was Galdino. He was finally a 'senior' crewmate! Ever since he was forcefully drafted, he had been under immense psychological pressure constantly surrounded by absolute monsters. Having two rookies below him was fantastic for his ego.
When Kid finally saw the tiny, ancient lunar Automata waddling around the deck, his eyes practically popped out of his head. His passion for mechanical engineering was just as strong as his love for music. He immediately begged Bardock to let him completely dismantle one of the robots just to see how its internal gears functioned. Naturally, Bardock violently rejected the request.
However, upon learning that Bardock possessed a massive, highly classified digital archive containing the entirety of ancient Birkan lunar technology—and that Chopper was currently studying it—Kid's disappointment vanished. He eagerly joined the reindeer in his studies.
Meanwhile, Killer was incredibly envious upon learning that Daz Bonez possessed the Dice-Dice Fruit. The ability to turn any part of one's body into a razor-sharp steel blade was essentially the ultimate dream power for a dual-wielding scythe user like him.
Because Bardock had to spend an extra day acclimating the two new rookies to the ship's routines, they stayed on the island slightly longer than planned before finally setting sail.
A little over a month quickly passed.
Thanks to his already terrifyingly vast mastery of Observation Haki, Enel was finally able to conceptualize and awaken his Armament Haki.
"Bardock. I'm ready. When do we duel?" Enel demanded eagerly, electricity violently arcing around his golden staff.
With Armament Haki finally in his arsenal, the sheer, crushing frustration he had felt against Kuzan and Kaido was gone. He was no longer completely useless against opponents who were immune to raw electricity.
"Anytime you want," Bardock smiled, cracking his neck. "But we definitely need to find a completely deserted island first. I don't want to accidentally fry innocent civilians. Plus, if we fight on a barren rock, we don't have to hold back for fear of destroying the landscape."
Enel's El Thor and Raigo possessed massive, catastrophic areas of effect. Fighting near civilization was out of the question.
"If we maintain our current trajectory, we should encounter a highly unstable, uninhabited island within three days," Robin stated, pointing at a nautical chart spread across the table. She sighed softly. "Do you two really have to fight? Even with Mansherry's miraculous healing, repairing extreme structural damage to your bodies is an agonizingly painful process."
"It's absolutely necessary, Robin," Bardock replied seriously. "I need this fight with Enel to fully acclimate myself to fighting extreme-speed opponents. If we don't prepare now, we'll be sitting ducks the next time we run into Admiral Kizaru."
The primary reason Bardock had specifically told Enel about Kizaru's 'Speed is Weight' philosophy wasn't just to mock the Admiral; he was actively manipulating Enel into mimicking Kizaru's fighting style.
Among the three future Admirals—Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru—who was the most dangerous threat to the White Dragon?
Now that their ship could freely navigate the stratosphere, Aokiji and Akainu were largely manageable. But Kizaru, who could literally move at the speed of light and fly effortlessly, was a terrifying logistical nightmare. Bardock had already stockpiled Flash Dials and Lamp Dials specifically to counter Kizaru's lasers, but he needed practical combat experience against a Light-speed equivalent.
"Bardock, is it actually safe for us to watch you two fight?" Perona asked, floating nervously above the deck. She vividly remembered the apocalyptic, island-destroying Raigo Enel had unleashed on Kuzan. If he dropped that on an island, the entire landmass would sink!
"Yahahahaha! Don't worry, Ghost Girl!" Enel laughed arrogantly. "I won't easily resort to my absolute strongest destructive techniques today. Besides, I can easily construct a 'Faraday Cage' around the ship! You won't have to worry about stray lightning at all!"
Over the past month, Enel had been intensely studying the ancient lunar archives with Chopper and Kid, and he had actually learned some highly advanced physics.
"A Faraday Cage?" Perona blinked, completely unfamiliar with the scientific term.
"It's a new concept I learned. Just know that it will absolutely protect you from getting electrocuted," Enel scoffed dismissively.
"Tch. Show-off," Perona rolled her eyes.
Three days later, the White Dragon arrived at their destination: a completely desolate, uninhabited island.
Islands like this were common across the Four Blues and the Grand Line. They were typically abandoned either because the local climate was too violently extreme for human habitation, or because the island was overrun by terrifying, apex-predator wildlife that had successfully driven humans to extinction.
This specific island belonged to the former category. The climate was incredibly hostile; the ambient temperature was so scorching hot that an ordinary human would suffer severe, fatal heatstroke within an hour of exposure.
Bardock and Enel stood on the scorched, cracked earth, facing each other from a distance of about fifteen meters.
Floating safely off the coast, the White Dragon was completely enveloped in a massive, dome-shaped cage constructed of thin, conductive gold wire. The bottom of the cage was submerged deep into the ocean. Any stray lightning that struck the ship would instantly be grounded and dispersed harmlessly into the sea.
While the veteran crew members watched with calm apprehension, the three newest recruits—Galdino, Kid, and Killer—were practically vibrating with excitement, crowding the very front of the railing.
Even though Galdino fiercely claimed to be a 'strategic intellectual', witnessing a clash between two absolute monsters made his blood boil. As for Kid and Killer, the two combat-obsessed rookies couldn't take their eyes off the island.
"Hey, do you guys think Enel is actually going to give the Captain trouble?" Kid asked, nudging Killer and Galdino with his shoulders without looking away.
"Given that Enel eagerly initiated the challenge, he must have developed a specific, highly lethal trump card," Galdino analyzed seriously, pushing up his glasses. "He doesn't strike me as the type of man who actively seeks out a humiliating beating."
"I'm betting everything on the Captain," Killer stated bluntly.
Even Robin and the veterans were quietly speculating about Enel's hidden ace. Although Enel no longer arrogantly called himself a 'God', his core pride remained absolute. He absolutely wouldn't challenge Bardock unless he genuinely believed he had a viable path to victory.
"Yahahahaha! Bardock! The audience is getting impatient! Let's begin!" Enel roared.
He raised his golden staff, instantly coating it in a thick layer of pitch-black Armament Haki.
Enel knew perfectly well that Bardock's Mythical Zoan form granted him near-absolute immunity to magical and elemental damage. Even the catastrophic Raigo had merely drained Bardock's stamina without inflicting a single physical burn. Therefore, spamming standard lightning blasts would be a complete waste of energy. Today, he was going to rely entirely on extreme-speed martial arts, staff techniques, and Haki!
Bardock instantly transformed into his Golden Ape form. He drew his Jingu Bang, heavily coating the heavy staff in Armament Haki.
Thanks to observing Kaido's Thunder Bagua, Bardock's staff techniques had improved exponentially recently. Enel was the perfect sparring partner to test his new forms. Furthermore, thanks to his 'Indestructible Vajra Body', Bardock's margin for error was incredibly high; he literally couldn't be electrocuted.
BOOM!
Enel vanished instantly, breaking the sound barrier. He reappeared directly in front of Bardock, violently swinging his Haki-coated, heavily electrified golden staff.
CLANG!
Bardock swung the Jingu Bang up to parry. The two Haki-infused weapons violently collided, sending a massive shockwave tearing across the scorched earth.
Because Bardock possessed significantly greater physical strength and his staff was significantly heavier, Enel was violently blasted backward by the sheer kinetic force.
However, while tumbling mid-air, Enel instantly dissolved into pure lightning. He reappeared directly behind Bardock a microsecond later, thrusting his staff forward.
Bardock rapidly pivoted, parrying the strike flawlessly. This time, Enel didn't fully commit to the clash. The moment their staffs connected, he instantly retreated, utilizing his terrifying speed to relentlessly assault Bardock from every conceivable angle.
Relying entirely on his Master-class Observation Haki, Bardock perfectly predicted Enel's chaotic movements, flawlessly blocking and parrying every single high-speed strike.
To the untrained eye watching from the ship, the battlefield looked utterly incomprehensible. It appeared as though hundreds of Enels were simultaneously attacking Bardock from every direction, while Bardock seemed to have sprouted a thousand arms to effortlessly deflect them all.
"Is... is this actually possible for a human to achieve?!" Galdino gasped, his jaw practically hitting the deck.
God be his witness, if Galdino had known that raw physical combat could reach this terrifying, apocalyptic level, he absolutely never would have wasted his life relying entirely on petty schemes! The most brilliant, flawless tactical plot in the world meant absolutely nothing against a monster who could just flip the entire continent upside down! Fortunately, he had joined the crew early enough; it wasn't too late to start training like a madman!
"Killer, are you seeing this?!" Kid yelled, his eyes burning with intense, manic ambition. "I'm going to become that strong! Just you watch!"
Killer didn't even respond; his eyes were frantically darting back and forth, desperately trying to track the blurred movements.
Meanwhile, Sai and Daz Bonez watched the clash with narrowed eyes. The exact same thought simultaneously popped into their heads:
'That's the Thunder Bagua!'
Both Bardock and Enel were heavily utilizing the exact kinetic flow and striking forms they had observed from Kaido. Because Enel naturally infused his staff with devastatingly high-voltage electricity, his strikes perfectly mirrored the Yonko's technique. If Enel's opponent were anyone other than Bardock, that paralyzing electricity would be an absolute nightmare to defend against.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
The deafening barrage of impacts suddenly ceased. Bardock and Enel separated, standing several meters apart. Enel was panting heavily, his chest heaving.
Continuously utilizing high-speed Soru combined with Haki-infused Thunder Bagua variants had rapidly pushed Enel to his physical limits.
"Is the fight over already?" Chopper asked innocently, leaning over the railing. He had honestly just been enjoying the flashy light show.
"No, that was just the warm-up," Robin observed astutely, her eyes narrowing. "Now, Enel is going to get serious."
"Don't worry, Robin! Bardock has this in the bag!" Perona cheered. Even though she couldn't track the high-speed movements, it was painfully obvious that Bardock was in significantly better condition than Enel.
"Mhm! No one who Captain Bardock has surpassed has ever managed to overtake him again!" Leo nodded confidently.
"Sigh... I just hope they don't break any major bones," Mansherry murmured, gripping her tiny hands together.
Down on the scorched island, Enel finally caught his breath.
"As expected of you, Bardock," Enel grinned fiercely, wiping sweat from his brow. "We just exchanged hundreds of lethal strikes, and your breathing hasn't even slightly accelerated. That Mythical Zoan durability is an absolute cheat code!"
"Oh, shut up. This is the result of relentless, grueling physical training!" Bardock shot back. "If anything is a cheat code, it's your ridiculous lightning speed!"
In terms of absolute, raw movement speed, Enel was undeniably faster than Bardock. However, human reflexes were still human reflexes. Enel's brain still had to process the environment and formulate attacks, which provided Bardock's Observation Haki with the microscopic window needed to react.
"Hmph! I already figured it out, Bardock," Enel sneered confidently. "The only reason you can perfectly parry my absolute speed is because your Observation Haki is exceptionally refined. Therefore, if I can aggressively disrupt your Observation Haki, I will win."
Enel pointed his staff directly at Bardock. "Furthermore... I don't think you've noticed this yet, but whenever you transform into your giant ape form, your baseline temper becomes significantly more volatile."
"What do you mean?" Bardock frowned, his guard instantly rising.
'Disrupt my Observation Haki? Is he talking about 'Observation Killing'? Did he somehow independently figure out Shanks' legendary technique?!' Bardock instantly focused, bracing himself for a terrifying new attack.
"Watch closely!" Enel roared, instantly charging forward again.
He swung his staff viciously. Bardock parried it effortlessly.
They exchanged several more blows, but Enel still hadn't deployed any mysterious 'Observation Killing' technique. Bardock began to suspect Enel was just bluffing to make him overthink.
Suddenly, right in the middle of a clash, a tiny, hyper-concentrated bolt of lightning shot out from... Enel's crotch area.
The bolt moved in a highly irregular, bizarrely curved trajectory. Caught completely off guard by the sheer absurdity of the attack angle, Bardock violently twisted his torso, barely dodging the strike.
Before Bardock could even process what just happened, Enel fired several more curved lightning bolts from the exact same inappropriate area. One of them actually managed to graze Bardock's calf.
Because of his Magic Immunity, the lightning didn't hurt Bardock at all. He stared at Enel in utter bewilderment, desperately trying to analyze the tactical purpose behind the bizarre attack.
Then, he noticed Enel was actively whistling a cheerful, mocking tune while aggressively thrusting his hips forward to fire the curved lightning bolts.
In a flash, absolute clarity hit Bardock.
He wasn't using a high-level Haki technique.He was actively mocking him! He was violently disrespecting him!
An intense, utterly irrational surge of pure, primal rage violently erupted in Bardock's chest. His fiery golden eyes instantly became heavily bloodshot.
"It's working!" Enel cheered gleefully, rapidly circling Bardock and launching a barrage of strikes.
This time, Bardock couldn't perfectly parry the attacks. Enel's staff began landing solid blows against his arms and torso.
The more Enel hit him, the angrier Bardock became. And the angrier he became, the faster his calm, focused Observation Haki deteriorated.
Technically, Bardock wasn't actually taking any physical damage. His 'Indestructible Vajra Body' was absolute. Unless Enel's Armament Haki completely surpassed Bardock's, or unless Enel learned Advanced Armament (Internal Destruction) to bypass his external durability, the strikes were essentially harmless.
But the sheer, humiliating disrespect caused Bardock's rage to skyrocket. Finally, the primal fury completely eclipsed his rational mind. His Observation Haki violently shattered.
Capitalizing on the massive opening, Enel swung his staff upward with terrifying force, violently knocking the Jingu Bang out of Bardock's hands and launching the Great Ape high into the air.
"Bardock!" "Captain!" "BOSS!"
The crew on the White Dragon shrieked in absolute terror.
What followed was a scene straight out of Dragon Ball. Enel violently teleported around the airborne Bardock, mercilessly kicking and punching the Great Ape back and forth across the sky like a helpless volleyball.
Just as Enel was laughing triumphantly, completely lost in his own arrogance, a pair of violently bloodshot eyes locked onto him.
The golden pupils were glowing with a terrifying, demonic crimson light. No matter how fast Enel teleported, Bardock's gaze tracked him flawlessly.
"ROAR!"
A deafening, primal roar violently erupted from the Great Ape's throat.
The roar was heavily infused with a terrifyingly dense, unrestrained blast of Supreme King's Haki. The sheer, physical impact of the Conqueror's wave caused Enel's brain to violently short-circuit for a fraction of a second. He froze perfectly still in mid-air.
That single microsecond was all Bardock needed.
Bardock instantly vanished, reappearing directly above the paralyzed Enel. He pulled his fist back.
Violently crackling, pitch-black lightning erupted from his fist, wildly lashing out into the surrounding atmosphere.
THOOOOOOOM!
Bardock's fist swung down with apocalyptic force. It didn't even physically touch Enel's body. The sheer, highly compressed shockwave of Advanced Conqueror's Haki slammed into Enel like a falling meteor.
Like a broken ragdoll, Enel was violently blasted out of the sky, crashing into the scorched earth with terrifying momentum.
KRA-KOOOOOOOM!
The entire island violently quaked. The ground instantly shattered like a spiderweb, forming a massive, incredibly deep crater. Enel lay motionless at the epicenter, completely and utterly unconscious.
Yet, completely consumed by his primal rage, Bardock wasn't finished. He began to plummet toward the crater, his fist heavily drawn back, aggressively trailing massive arcs of black lightning, fully intending to completely obliterate his opponent.
"BARDOCK!" "BARDOCK! STOP!" "..."
Suddenly, dozens of delicate, blooming mouths sprouted all over Bardock's fur, desperately screaming his name in Robin's voice.
Just as Bardock raised his fist to crush the mouths, the terrified, familiar voices finally pierced through his absolute rage. The demonic crimson light rapidly faded from his eyes.
Rationality snapped back into his mind. Realizing what he was about to do, Bardock instantly aborted the strike, quickly shifting back into his human form. He landed gently next to the crater and immediately looked back at the White Dragon.
Only four people were still standing on the deck: Robin, Daz Bonez, Sai, and Leo.
Everyone else—Perona, Mansherry, Chopper, Galdino, Kid, and Killer—had been completely knocked unconscious by the terrifying blast of Conqueror's Haki he had unleashed with his roar.
Bardock looked at Robin with genuine, profound admiration. The fact that she had managed to maintain consciousness and aggressively intervene with her Devil Fruit was incredible. If she hadn't desperately screamed his name, he absolutely would have landed that second ACoC punch. Whether Enel would have survived it was highly debatable.
Ignoring the unconscious crew—they would naturally wake up in a few minutes—Bardock carefully carried Enel's broken body out of the crater.
He sat down on the scorched earth and began meticulously analyzing the final moments of the fight.
At the very end, he had undeniably successfully executed Advanced Conqueror's Haki Infusion! Even as he was falling toward the crater the second time, he had subconsciously primed the technique again!
Following the muscle memory, Bardock concentrated and channeled his Conqueror's Haki into his fist. It felt slightly stiff and unpracticed, but he successfully achieved the compression. Thick, crackling black lightning violently arced around his knuckles.
He tested it on his feet and his elbows. It worked perfectly every time. He let out a massive sigh of relief. He had genuinely mastered it. After observing Kaido and practicing the fundamental theory for weeks, he had finally crossed the threshold into the absolute highest tier of combat power.
But as the adrenaline faded, a dark, deeply unsettling question crept into his mind.
Why exactly did he completely lose control of his emotions and fly into a primal rage during the fight?!