Chapter 431: Clash of Lightning and Ambition

So, even though Opera dodged Luffy’s attack, the lightning armor he summoned was only a third of what it used to be. He was far from his peak.

“I might not be at my limit, but this should be more than enough to deal with you.”

“A million volts—Thunderbird!”

“Screech!”

A massive thunderbird shot forward like a meteor, racing toward Luffy. The air was thick with the smell of something burning.

To Luffy’s eyes, the thunderbird flashed by like lightning, so fast he didn’t even have time to react before it passed straight through him.

“What are you doing?”

“I said, what are you playing at?”

Luffy had braced himself, thinking this attack would hurt like hell. He was ready to grit his teeth, but to his surprise, after the thunderbird zipped through him, he didn’t feel a thing. Not even a twinge.

The main thing is, Opera just doesn’t know—back in the original story, Enel’s lightning attacks never really worked on Luffy. After all, Luffy’s the holder of the Sun God Nika Fruit, and that rubber body of his is a natural insulator. Lightning’s nothing to him.

“What?!”

“How can you just stand there like nothing happened?”

Opera knew Luffy was strong, but still—this was a million volts. By all rights, only someone who’s mastered their Devil Fruit to the highest level could shrug off a current this strong.

Or maybe someone whose body alone was on par with a Vice Admiral could survive this attack unscathed.

That’s what puzzled him most. How could a freak like this, at Vice Admiral level, just pop up so soon in the first half of the Grand Line?

“Wait, am I supposed to feel something right now?”

Luffy was a little confused. The guy in front of him really did his homework, but this attack did nothing to him at all.

As the million-volt current surged through Luffy, he didn’t feel the slightest hint of danger.

“If a million doesn’t do it, then ten million. If ten million doesn’t work, how about a hundred million? I don’t believe you really don’t feel anything from this!”

“Thirty million volts—Thunder Dragon!”

Opera clapped his hands together. Suddenly a thunder dragon nearly a hundred meters long appeared out of thin air. “Screech!!!”

“Ahahaha! This is awesome. Way too cool!”

“Kong Gun!”

Luffy watched the massive thunder dragon rush toward him, bit into his right arm and started blowing air into it, swelling the limb in an instant. His arm, covered in dense Armament Haki, rocketed straight at the dragon’s head barreling his way.

Crackle crackle crackle!!!

The lightning didn’t even make a sound. It passed through Luffy’s body just as quickly.

“Urgh, cough!”

The dragon, nearly a hundred meters long, tore through Luffy in three seconds. The electric surge shot through his organs, making him spit up two mouthfuls of blood right there.

As the current flowed through him, Luffy’s chest glowed white for a split second.

“Ha, told you! No way that didn’t work at all.”

Seeing Luffy spit blood at last, Opera finally looked satisfied.

Normally, a million volts would drop just about anyone except maybe a Navy Headquarters Admiral or someone big in the New World. Hardly anyone else would walk away from that unharmed.

“Five hundred million volts—Lightning Armor!”

With a roar, Opera’s whole body crackled as armor forged from pure lightning thickened around him. He charged at Luffy again.

Now he was like a raging brown bear, adrenaline flooding his veins, betting everything on this one fight.

Luffy might not be great with math, but even he knew five hundred million volts was way beyond ten million. He immediately tensed, ready for what’s next.

“Gum-Gum King Kong Gun!”

With a shout, Luffy gave off a faint surge of Conqueror’s Haki. Thin red waves curled around his fists as he launched a soul-shaking attack straight at Opera’s face.

“So that’s it, huh? Because of this?” Feeling Luffy’s Conqueror’s Haki, Opera was jealous—but now he understood why his father had given such a hefty bounty for Luffy.

Still, was having Conqueror’s Haki really worth such a massive price?

Sure, in the New World, it feels like everyone’s got Conqueror’s Haki. But those who do always end up top-tier. That’s just fact.

Look at the current Four Emperors—each one has Conqueror’s Haki. It’s said that if you do, the path to power gets just a little easier.

Boom!!

This time, the electricity didn’t just pass through Luffy. Instead, it blasted out with a dull roar as the two of them collided.

The force of the impact was monstrous, a wall of power no one could stand against. Their auras clashed like gods and demons locked in battle.

Soon, the fight turned into a drawn-out slugfest.

“Bang bang bang bang!!!”

The two kept crashing into each other, fists and feet slamming together with heavy thuds.

But as the fight dragged on, currents of electricity began to crawl all over Luffy’s body.

Elsewhere, Zoro and Sanji had already passed the second stage and moved on to the third, joined by a long-eared young man who’d also made it through.

“Is that—Luffy!”

“I can’t believe that guy’s made it so far. He’s already on to the fourth stage.”

Neither Sanji nor Zoro seemed worried about Luffy at all. To them, the guy was ridiculously tough, and the fight above still hadn’t ended.

Right now, they had to pay attention to themselves.

“Congratulations on clearing the second stage.”

“The third stage is simple: beat me, or just survive under my attacks for ten minutes.” A voice echoed from the clouds as a figure—a six-meter-tall little giant made entirely of clouds—took shape.

It was Zikt, user of the Cloud-Cloud Fruit. In this sky, he was born unbeatable.

“Alright, let’s get this over with. We still need to get to the fourth stage.” Seeing the wreckage left behind by stage two, both Zoro and Sanji were burning to fight. They may call themselves pirates, but they’d never gone to such brutal lengths against their foes.

Most folks who failed stage two didn’t even leave corpses behind. For the first time, they truly faced how brutal these trials could get.

“Santoryu—Three Thousand Worlds!” Zoro showed off his trademark move right out the gate.

All three black blades flashed, the air thick with killing intent.

Seeing Zoro’s attack, Zikt didn’t flinch. He just charged in swinging both fists.

His golden fists shimmered under the sun. As Zoro’s blade connected, he could feel that Zikt’s knuckles were as tough as if they were coated in Armament Haki.

“Flambé—Collier!” Sanji flipped through the air, legs spinning as he cracked a blazing kick down on Zikt’s head.

The blow rang out like metal striking metal.

“Crushing Fist!”

The long-eared young man slammed his fist into Zikt’s waist.

Zikt just shrugged and said, “Pathetic. Go train some more.”

Then his body exploded with a wave of wind that sent all three flying.

In a flash, he darted up to Enel, and before Enel could even react, grabbed his throat and punched him square in the face, knocking out his front teeth.

But he didn’t stop there—he just kept pummeling Enel again and again.

After a dozen blows, Enel’s arms finally dropped limply, losing all fight.