Kael's "personal supervision" came with extremely serious consequences.
Early the next morning, Enel and Crocodile were dragged out of bed and thrown onto a deserted, uninhabited island outside the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Before nightfall, whichever one of you collapses first, or whichever one of you runs first, doesn't get dinner."
After tossing out that sentence, Kael lay beneath a coconut tree in the distance and leisurely sipped fruit juice.
Enel and Crocodile exchanged a look. In each other's eyes, they saw blazing battle-fire.
Since neither of them could beat Kael, all that pent-up anger could only be vented on the other guy.
"Raigo!"
"Sandstorm: Heavy!"
In an instant, the entire island turned into a scene of thunder and lightning, flying sand and shattered rock, like the end of the world had arrived.
And Kael, with that natural-disaster soundtrack roaring behind him, peacefully… fell asleep.
By the time he woke up, the sun was already sinking.
The center of the island had been flattened into nothing.
Enel and Crocodile, one scorched black and the other caked head to toe in sand, lay in two enormous craters like a pair of dead dogs, panting, without the strength to even twitch a finger.
"Mmm, not bad. Got it all out?" Kael clapped his hands and strolled over. "Looks like we'll need to do this once every day from now on."
The two of them, at the same time, rolled their eyes and almost passed out on the spot.
From that day onward, there were no more fights in Kael's backyard.
Enel and Crocodile were drilled into exhaustion daily. The moment they returned to the villa, they dropped and slept. Forget fighting over territory, they didn't even have the energy to trade insults.
And Enel's beloved "Supreme God statue" was therefore shelved indefinitely.
Until a month later.
That day was Kael's birthday.
Kael himself didn't care about such things at all. He didn't even know when his birthday was. He'd once casually blurted out a random date, but Caron had actually memorized it and insisted on throwing him a party.
The entire villa was decorated with lanterns and lights, bustling and lively.
Nearly all of Kael's core members were present, except Doflamingo, who was away on a mission.
Everyone sat around a long dining table, enjoying a feast prepared by top-tier chefs from around the world.
"Lord Kael, happy birthday." Tesoro raised his glass, sincere to the core. Stella beside him smiled and offered Kael her greetings as well.
"Boss, happy birthday!" Moria lifted a mug bigger than his face and roared.
Mihawk said nothing. He simply raised his cup in acknowledgment and took a quiet sip.
"Kael, happy birthday." Robin wore a gentle smile.
"Boss, happy birthday." Crocodile, for once, set aside his gloomy expression and raised his glass as well.
Just as the atmosphere settled into warmth and harmony, Enel suddenly stood up.
He was dressed unusually formal today, in a pure white robe that really did make him look like some kind of cult preacher.
He cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention.
"Everyone!" he announced in a sing-song, theatrical tone. "Today is the anniversary of our great Supreme God descending upon this world! A sacred and glorious day!"
Everyone: "…"
Not again.
"To celebrate this magnificent moment, to express our faithful's supreme reverence for the Supreme God!" Enel's voice grew impassioned. "I, Enel, the first apostle beneath the Supreme God, have specially prepared a small gift for my master!"
He snapped his fingers.
With a deep rumble, the entire villa began to tremble slightly.
From the backyard came the sound of massive machinery turning.
Everyone turned toward the yard, curious.
They saw the ground slowly split apart. A huge lifting platform rose up, carrying a mountain-sized object hidden beneath an enormous red cloth.
The thing was at least ten meters tall, like a small hill, radiating oppressive presence.
"What is that? Don't tell me…" Tesoro frowned.
"Kishishishi… what's that brat up to now?" Moria chuckled.
Kael raised an eyebrow. Watching Enel's smug face, a sense of impending doom crept into his heart.
"Now! Let us bear witness together to the arrival of the Supreme God's radiance!"
Enel lifted both hands and shouted, "Unveil it!"
The enormous red cloth was yanked away by an unseen force.
In an instant, golden light exploded in every direction.
The blinding glare made everyone squint on reflex.
When they opened their eyes again, they were struck speechless by what they saw.
It was a gigantic statue, forged entirely from pure gold.
And the model for that statue was Kael.
Only… this statue-version of Kael had been given just a tiny, teeny bit of "artistic enhancement."
He wore golden holy armor, stood atop thunderclouds, held a diamond planet in his left hand, and gripped a naginata made of obsidian in his right.
Behind him spread six pairs of enormous platinum wings in a circular halo, each feather carved so vividly it looked alive.
His face carried that cold, world-despising expression of someone who regarded all living beings as ants.
His golden eyes, inlaid with unknown gemstones, glittered in the sunlight as if they truly possessed life.
The whole statue could be described in three words.
Gaudy. Tacky. Filthy rich.
The courtyard fell into dead silence.
Crocodile's cigar dropped to the ground. Moria's laugh jammed in his throat.
Even Mihawk's eyes widened slightly. Tesoro covered his face, as if he could hear countless gold bars in his vault screaming.
Only Robin kept smiling, though the faint twitch at her lips betrayed the turbulence inside.
Kael himself was completely stunned.
Mouth hanging open, he stared at that glittering, final-boss-looking version of himself for a long time without managing a word.
"…Holy hell."
Only after a long while did he squeeze those two words out through his teeth.
"Supreme God, I'm glad you like it!" Enel saw Kael's "shock" and beamed with boundless pride and satisfaction. "I made it in my spare time, together with Uncle Tom. It took a full month, used all the gold I brought from Skypiea, and… and also some I purchased on credit from Tesoro. At last, my masterpiece is complete! Its name is… 'Creator God: Kael'!"
"Pff!"
The moment he heard "on credit," Tesoro nearly spat blood.
So for the past month, while he looked like he was being drilled, the bastard had secretly been building a mega-project… and even had the nerve to target him for funding!
Kael didn't spare the near-collapsing Tesoro a glance.
He walked a circle around his own statue. The more he looked, the more satisfied he became. The more he looked, the harder it got not to laugh.
This thing was unbelievably stupid.
And unbelievably fun.
He suddenly felt like this birthday party had gotten a lot more interesting.
With a grand wave of his hand, he shouted at the still-stunned crowd, "Why are you all standing there? Party! Move the booze into the yard! Tonight we drink under my statue!"
Only then did everyone snap out of it, laughing and groaning as they got moving.
So a party that should have been warm and wholesome took a hard turn in aesthetic.
A pack of monsters standing at the pinnacle of the world held a wild banquet around a massive, vulgar golden statue.
Enel, even more excited, delivered a full half-hour speech about "the Supreme God creating the world," though basically nobody listened.
Late into the night, the feast finally began to wind down.
Kael grabbed a bottle of liquor and hopped onto the head of his golden statue.
He sat cross-legged, enjoying the night breeze, looking down at the brightly lit Sabaody Archipelago, feeling utterly content.
A figure appeared beside him without a sound.
Robin.
She sat the same way, hugging her knees.
"You seem to really like this gift," Robin said with a smile.
"Yeah. It's pretty entertaining." Kael took a swig. "It's stupid, sure, but looking at it makes me happy."
They fell silent for a while, simply appreciating the night view.
"Kael," Robin spoke again softly, "what is your ultimate goal, exactly? Unify the world? Or become the king of the world, like Rocks?"
It was something she'd wanted to ask for a long time.
Everything Kael did felt casual, almost random, making it impossible to see his true purpose.
"A goal?" Kael chuckled and shook his head.
"I don't have some grand goal."
He turned to look at Robin. Under the moonlight, his golden eyes were especially bright.
"I just want to live in a world where I can sleep in, laugh when I want, fool around when I want, and never have to watch anyone's face."
"If there isn't a place like that in this world…"
He bared a radiant grin.
"Then I'll make it with my own hands."