Enel's sudden assault caught everyone completely off guard.
At this critical moment, Carrot, Kotatsu, and Cavendish were the first to react. They instinctively grabbed their nearest friends and leaped away with desperate strength, trying to escape the terrifying thunder attack.
Ace's face twisted with rage as he pushed himself to his absolute limits, racing back toward his crew. Finally, just as the massive lightning fist and Enel's Thunder God form were about to strike, he appeared in front of Deuce and the others.
He quickly swung his left hand upward, launching a Fire Fist toward the descending divine judgment. Then he hurriedly thrust his right fist forward to meet Enel's thunder god assault head-on.
In a brilliant flash, Ace's Fire Fist collided with the falling lightning, continuously neutralizing its devastating power. This bought precious seconds for Deuce and the others, allowing them to successfully leap clear of the attack zone.
However, during his direct confrontation with Enel's full-power Thunder God transformation, Ace was struck by an intense electrical current.
His body seized up instantly, and he was sent flying backward uncontrollably, crashing into the massive vine behind him with a thunderous impact.
"Ace... how could he be hurt by lightning?!"
Deuce and the others, who had narrowly escaped, stared in shock. They couldn't understand why Enel's previous attacks and lightning had been completely ineffective against Ace's Logia body, only to suddenly work now.
Though Enel's Thunder God form had been knocked back by Ace's counterattack, he couldn't help but burst into triumphant laughter.
"Yahaha! You ignorant mortals! Don't you know that island clouds are formed from 'Pyrobloin particles' contained in Sea Stone after absorbing moisture?"
"That white mist!" Deuce exclaimed, suddenly understanding.
"Exactly! That mist contained diluted island cloud particles—Pyrobloin from Sea Stone. Of course his elemental transformation would be negated!" Enel explained with obvious pride.
He glanced at Ace, who remained motionless where he'd been embedded in the vine, then turned his attention to the weakened crew members scattered across the ground.
"That brat's gotten awfully quiet. Next, it's your turn! Yahaha!"
Enel's left hand transformed into pure lightning as he hurled an electrical bolt horizontally at Deuce, who was being helped up by Cavendish.
"Divine Judgment!"
Everyone's hair stood on end in terror. Then, in a blur of motion, they saw the lightning bolt suddenly split down the middle by a black shadow.
The next instant, Enel felt sharp agony in his abdomen as burning blood rushed up his throat.
Blood erupted from Enel's mouth as his massive Thunder God body was launched at incredible speed, crashing down more than ten meters away with a tremendous bang.
"Phew... Auntie, that was a pretty dirty sneak attack, wasn't it?"
The black shadow stood before the fallen Enel, cracking his knuckles while his arrow-sharp gaze fixed on the self-proclaimed god.
"Ace! You're okay? That's wonderful!"
Deuce and the others cheered as they recognized the familiar Whitebeard jolly roger tattooed on their friend's back.
With slight scorch marks still visible on his body, Ace waved his left hand without turning around.
"Nothing serious. Lucky for me, this 'auntie' knocked me far enough away that I could re-elementalize. Plus, her surprise attack was actually a blessing in disguise."
"I've had a breakthrough. Now it's time for you to have yours, Auntie!"
Ace was furious. If he hadn't been training so diligently to develop his abilities—allowing him to burst back fast enough to protect his friends—that combination attack could have been devastating.
At the critical moment, Ace's Observation Haki had finally stabilized into full awakening, and his control over Conqueror's Haki had become much smoother as well.
But the close call still terrified him, and he couldn't forgive his own carelessness. He had no intention of letting this pretentious fake god escape.
Just as Ace prepared to resume his battle with Enel, a tremendous crash echoed from the sky above, followed by powerful winds that made everyone's hearts race.
They couldn't help but look upward, where two blurred figures were engaged in furious combat—repeatedly colliding, separating, and clashing again. Sometimes they vanished entirely from sight, only to reappear moments later.
Two forms, one gold and one blue, seemed to be fighting across the entire expanse of sky, their battle ranging from one horizon to another.
"Boy, you can fight me to this extent!" the Golden Lion called out with booming laughter after launching another devastating kick-slash. "I'll give you one chance—join me and help me dominate the seas again! What do you say? Jahahaha!"
"Follow you?" Jerry replied with a wry smile, shattering the incoming attack with a single punch before continuing his forward assault. "Hiding up here day after day, fishing for sky fish?"
"You don't understand anything!" the Golden Lion snapped defensively. "I'm planning a comeback! When I reach the East Blue—" His impulsive response nearly exposed his entire strategy. Realizing this, he cut himself off abruptly.
But he didn't stop attacking, continuing with fierce laughter. "Haha! We'll discuss the details after you join me. However, I don't want that fire brat. Something about him just rubs me the wrong way."
Jerry understood the Golden Lion's intentions perfectly—revenge and destruction in the East Blue, making a statement to the World Government.
As for his aversion to Ace, it was probably because Shiki sensed the young man's bloodline. Plus, Ace had already joined the Whitebeard Pirates, and the prominent tattoo on his back made that affiliation obvious.
Jerry had no interest in the Golden Lion's recruitment pitch or his destructive plans. He curled his lip dismissively.
"Tsk, even without you telling me, I know what you want to do. You want to cause havoc in the East Blue, right? Don't be so delusional—what can you accomplish in your current condition?"
"You've been hiding for decades already. Why not just keep disappearing? Roger's era is over, and you still won't admit you're past your prime?"
"Besides, you started this fight and tried to hurt my friends. Don't think that's just going to slide!"
With that declaration, Jerry flashed forward like a streak of light and threw a devastating punch.
"Taste this! Maelstrom Abyss Breaker!"
"If you won't accept my generous offer, then I'll beat some sense into you!" The smile vanished instantly from the Golden Lion's face. Jerry's words had clearly struck a nerve.
"Iron-Cutting Slash!"
The impact of their collision resounded across the heavens, with aftershocks spreading outward like ripples from a massive stone dropped in water.
Both fighters' head-on attacks canceled each other out momentarily before launching them in opposite directions.
The Golden Lion's fury continued building. After forcibly stabilizing his position, his sword-legs began drawing countless marks in the air at incredible speed.
In the blink of an eye, countless golden sword lights sliced through the void, creating a devastating barrage aimed at Jerry.
However, the Golden Lion's confident smile had already transferred to Jerry's face.
"Still trying to go for cheap shots, you bald lion?"
Facing the overwhelming torrent of golden sword light pouring down on him, Jerry clenched both fists, stepped forward aggressively, and released a thunderous roar.
Water Dragon: Soaring Across Heaven
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