Chapter 139: Natural Enemy! Rubber vs. Lightning
On the golden deck of the Ark Maxim, a wind howled.
Using the elasticity of the giant beanstalk, Luffy slammed down into the center of the deck like a cannonball.
Without a word, he lowered his body, his eyes burning with rage as they locked onto Enel on the throne.
"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!!"
Luffy's arm shot forward, his fist aiming straight for Enel's face.
"Foolish!"
Watching Luffy charge over, a cruel sneer curled the corners of Enel's mouth.
He didn't even bother to dodge, merely tapping the golden staff in his hand against the thunder drums behind him:
"Did you not see the fate of those others just now? In this domain of God, resistance is futile."
Though he spoke with contempt, for some reason.
As he watched the Straw Hat boy charging at him without a shred of fear, an unprecedented sense of unease welled up inside Enel.
To quell this unease, he didn't use low voltage as he had to toy with the others; instead, he channeled terrifying power directly.
"Disappear, bug!!"
"100 Million Volts: Discharge!!!!"
Rumble—!!
A massive blue pillar of lightning, several meters in diameter and capable of melting rock, roared with earth-shattering thunder, instantly swallowing Luffy's small figure whole.
"Luffy!!!"
Below, Chopper, riding the Waver, screamed while covering his eyes in terror.
Zoro and Wyper were also forced to close their eyes against the blinding light, their hearts turning cold.
At this level of lightning strike, not to mention a human, even steel would be vaporized instantly.
However.
As the blinding lightning faded and the dust on the deck slowly settled.
Enel's expression, previously one of certain victory, froze.
There, in the center of the scorched deck, Luffy remained in his punching stance, standing perfectly unharmed.
He even had a hand free, looking bored as he stuck his pinky into his nose and picked it.
"Huh?"
Luffy flicked his finger and looked at Enel in confusion:
"What's wrong? Was that an attack just now? It only felt a little tingly."
Silence.
The entire world seemed to collapse in that moment.
Enel's pupils contracted violently, and then—
"Pop!!"
His eyeballs actually popped out of their sockets, his tongue hung out long, his jaw hit the golden floor with a loud "clang," and snot streamed down his face.
That face, once arrogant and cold like a god's, was now completely twisted into an expression of extreme shock, a true "meme face."
"Wh... Wh... Why?!!!"
Enel let out a shrill shriek, this scene completely shattering his worldview:
"What... what on earth are you?! Why is lightning ineffective against you?!"
Luffy tilted his head and, as if it were obvious, pulled on his cheek, stretching it out long:
"Because I am—a Rubber Human!"
"Rub... ber?" Enel's mind went blank; Skypiea had never known such a material.
"Gomu Gomu Gatling!!!!"
While Enel was still reeling from the shock, Luffy's attack arrived.
This wasn't just the elasticity of rubber.
Luffy's fists turned pitch black in an instant—that was Armament Haki!
Bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!!
Countless black fist shadows rained down like a storm onto Enel's face and body.
"Ugh! Wahh!!"
As a Logia-type user who considered himself an all-powerful god, Enel had never imagined in his life that he would be beaten so miserably by physical attacks.
Every punch landed solidly on his flesh, leaving him bruised and battered, his teeth flying out.
"Bastard!!"
Enduring the intense pain, Enel tried to turn his body into lightning to elementalize and escape, putting some distance between them.
"Don't think you can run!!"
Luffy was quick to react, grabbing Enel's ankle just as he began to elementalize, and yanked him back:
"I still have to take revenge for Nami... and for Tatsuya and the others!!!"
"Bang!!"
Luffy slammed his head into Enel's forehead with a powerful headbutt.
Driven into a corner, Enel finally forced himself to calm down amidst the agony, regaining his combat intelligence as a powerful fighter.
"Damn it... since lightning is ineffective..."
Enel broke free from Luffy's grasp and retreated rapidly.
He looked at the golden staff in his hand, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes.
"Zzzzzz..."
The terrifying current generated intense heat, causing the golden staff to instantly melt and deform, finally transforming into a sharp, searing-hot trident.
"Since lightning can't kill you, I'll cut you down with heat and blades!!"
Wielding the scorching trident and utilizing his fully activated "Mantra," Enel began to counter and suppress Luffy's straightforward attacks.
"Left!"
Enel predicted Luffy's move and thrust the trident down fiercely.
"Wahh! It's hot!"
Although Luffy was an insulator, rubber was vulnerable to slashing and even more so to high heat.
The skin that had been scorched instantly turned red and swollen, and burns began to appear on his body.
"It's useless! Your next move is a right hook!"
Enel sneered as he dodged the attack and slashed his trident across Luffy's arm.
The situation reversed in an instant.
Luffy was chased around the deck, dodging in a sorry state, his intentions completely seen through by his opponent.
Just then.
"Hum—"
A Waver zoomed up from below.
Chopper had activated his "Brain Point" form, his small body looking exceptionally wise.
He circled the Ark in the Waver and shouted:
"Luffy!! Don't think!!!"
"His Mantra reads your thoughts and intentions! If you think before attacking, he will see right through you!!"
Chopper recalled the scene from the Ordeal of Balls earlier:
"Fight using your reflexes!! Fight like an idiot!!"
"Just like! You did against that ball earlier!"
"Don't think..." Luffy muttered to himself while dodging.
Suddenly, Luffy stopped moving.
His expression instantly went blank, his mouth slightly agape, his eyes unfocused, as if his soul had been sucked out.
"Gomu Gomu... Blank Mind."
"Huh? Giving up?" Enel rushed over with the trident, "Die!"
However, as he thrust toward Luffy, Luffy's body twisted in an extremely bizarre, illogical way, narrowly avoiding the attack.
"What?" Enel was stunned.
Luffy began to punch wildly at the air, his fists rebounding off the golden walls in completely erratic trajectories.
"I can't... read his intentions at all?!"
Enel panicked, "Is this guy's head completely empty?!"
Just at the moment when Enel faltered due to his inability to predict the moves.
Though Luffy's blank gaze hadn't changed, his body's instincts captured the opening.
"Gomu Gomu Whip!!"
Without a single thought passing through his brain, Luffy whipped out his leg.
"Bang!!!"
The kick landed solidly on Enel's side.
"Gah!!"
Enel screamed, and his whole body was sent flying like a golden cannonball, slamming hard into the Ark's thick golden wall, stuck fast.
The battle paused.
Luffy scratched his head, his eyes clearing up as he looked at Enel embedded in the wall, looking completely bewildered:
"Ah. I kicked him away."
Below, Zoro watched this scene, the corner of his mouth twitching, and with a face full of black lines, he retorted:
"You really were spacing out... that fighting style without using your brain..."
"I really envy you, you single-celled organism."
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