At the same time, as ice dust and the dying embers of shockwaves rose from the distant island—coiling skyward like pillars of apocalyptic smoke—the deck of the warship fell into absolute silence.
Enel stood there, his golden staff hanging limply at his side.
It was as if his soul had been ripped from his body. He didn't move at all. Only his eyes—those eyes that were usually brimming with arrogance and lazy disdain—were now opened wide, reflecting the distant island whose very landscape had been completely rewritten.
Icebergs shattered and rose again.Colossal waves froze solid in an instant, only to be shattered into powder.Even the air itself still bore lingering fractures that had yet to close…
"Hm?"Tesoro glanced sideways at him. Seeing Enel standing there like a wooden statue, he couldn't help but curve his lips into a knowing smile.
"After all, he's just a seventeen-year-old kid from the Sky Islands who didn't even know what Haki was," Tesoro thought to himself."Sure, his personality is insanely arrogant—but seeing a full-power clash at the admiral level for the first time would shatter anyone's worldview."
"After all," he continued inwardly, "combat at this level genuinely exists beyond the bounds of normal understanding."
With that in mind, Tesoro sighed and stepped forward, intending to play the role of a "senior." He planned to pat this stunned, chūnibyō-like kid on the shoulder and say something along the lines of 'This is just how the New World is', to calm him down a bit.
However, just as he took a single step—before his hand could even rise—Tesoro froze.
Because he finally saw Enel's expression clearly.
That wasn't fear.Not shock.Not the blank confusion of a worldview collapsing.
It was… excitement.
A kind of near-maniacal, naked, completely unrestrained exhilaration.
Enel's slightly upturned lips trembled. His breathing grew rough and rapid, his chest heaving violently. Then, as if no longer able to control it, his mouth stretched wide into a twisted smile—distorted, yet burning with unfiltered fanaticism.
The next instant, Enel snapped his head around.
His gaze—like a bolt of solid lightning—nailed Tesoro in place.
"Hey—tell me!"Enel's voice was hoarse with extreme excitement, trembling as he spoke."That wasn't Gern's limit, right? Right?!"
"..."
Tesoro was stunned by the sudden question. Every line he had prepared jammed in his throat.
But under the pressure of Enel's eyes—eyes that looked ready to spit fire—he nodded instinctively.
"W-Well… after all, it wasn't a fight to the death. Vice Admiral Gern probably—"
Before he could finish—
"Yahahahahaha!!!"
A狂放, sky-piercing laugh erupted from Enel's throat.
And as that laughter rang out, blinding azure lightning exploded violently from his body!
In an instant, everyone on the deck turned to look at Enel, staring at the man who had suddenly burst into hysterical laughter.
And Tesoro—finally—understood.
This arrogant "god" hadn't seen an unreachable gap in power.
What he saw… was the future.
A realm he firmly believed he would one day reach—no, even surpass.
The terrifying power displayed by Gern and Kuzan hadn't crushed his arrogance. On the contrary, it had become the strongest fuel imaginable, igniting his ambition and sketching out a crystal-clear blueprint of his own future strength!
"BZZZT—!!!"
Violent currents of electricity writhed like berserk serpents.
"H-Hey! You—" Tesoro was forced to retreat half a step by the sudden surge of lightning, his words cut off mid-sentence.
Amid his wild laughter, Enel's feet slowly lifted from the deck.
He rose into the air—floating freely.
Lightning flared around his body, illuminating his face. That expression—pure, unrestrained exhilaration bordering on madness—made him look like a true thunder god descending into the world, radiating an ancient, overwhelming pressure.
"Do you see it?!"His voice merged with the roar of thunder, vibrating painfully against the eardrums."This is the power a god should possess! No—power that surpasses even gods!This is the stage worthy of the name god!"
"That man… Gern! And that ice guy!""Everything they can do—"
"I'll definitely be able to do it too someday! And even more!!!"
"This is incredible! The Blue Sea… is absolutely incredible!!"
To Enel, the battle between Gern and Kuzan wasn't a blow—it was a brilliant, divine preview, a revelation that pointed the way forward.
...
The dazzling lightning erupting around Enel, along with his arrogant levitation, naturally drew the attention of the true heavyweights on the warship's upper deck.
"Hm?"Kong crossed his arms, thick brows lifting slightly."That guy's a Logia too?"
(Enel's Marine enlistment paperwork had been stamped by Sengoku, so Kong wasn't fully aware—many routine Marine affairs had already been handed over.)
"Yeah, seems like the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!"Garp laughed loudly while picking his nose, utterly lacking decorum."Crackle-pop! Sounds like firecrackers during New Year!"
"That one's someone Gern brought back from the Sky Islands."Nearby, Zephyr spoke with his arms crossed, his expression far more serious."His talent and foundation are frightening. Just in terms of raw Devil Fruit destructive power, he might even surpass Borsalino. His speed isn't far behind either…"
As he said that, Zephyr recalled the months he'd spent training Enel. He sighed helplessly and rubbed his temples.
"But his personality… is terrible. Impulsive, arrogant, completely lacking in reverence.Sometimes he attacks purely on a whim—more rampant than even the Celestial Dragons."
While they were speaking—
High in the air, Enel was basking in the intoxicating sensation of power and attention, as though he had already stepped into the same realm as the two monsters battling below.
"Haha… huh?!"
Suddenly, his triumphant laughter cut off sharply.
Because an overwhelming chill swept across him without warning.
It wasn't a targeted attack—just a stray, out-of-control wave of extreme cold that had leaked out after another violent collision between Kuzan and Gern far away.
But the instant it passed over Enel's body—
"Crrrk—"
A faint, teeth-grinding sound of freezing echoed.
The狂暴 lightning dancing around Enel's body was instantly snuffed out, as if crushed by an invisible hand.
A thick shell of ice enveloped him from head to toe at a speed the naked eye couldn't follow.
That face—still carrying a trace of smugness and surprise, his bravado not yet fully unfurled—was permanently frozen inside the ice sculpture.
The next second, deprived of the lightning sustaining his levitation, the frozen Enel fell straight down from midair.
BANG!!!
A dull yet strangely crisp impact rang out.
The [Enel Ice Sculpture] even bounced elastically, tumbling twice—
before finally landing flat on its back, limbs splayed, locked in an utterly ridiculous and miserable pose.
The deck was plunged into deathly silence.
Tesoro: "..."
The muscles in his face twitched as he stared at the scene—
the man who, one second ago, looked ready to challenge an admiral on the spot—
now lying frozen at his feet like an oversized block of ice.
All the tangled emotions—shock, disbelief, absurdity, and a desperately suppressed urge to laugh—
ultimately condensed into a single, helpless sigh, and a complaint stuck halfway in his throat:
"You really wanted to show off, huh? Fine, show off… but why the hell did you have to start flying?"