Chapter 74

"200, 000, 000 Volt! Amaru!"

Enel used his ultimate technique at the climax of his battle with Teach. Turning into a giant, potbellied, lightning god figure, he intends to end Teach's life.

Teach himself looked miserable. His trousers were the only clothes left on his body. He was riddled with intense third degree burns all over his body. His hair was scorched and burnt away, leaving Teach as a bald man whose whole body was basically burnt.

But, the worst injury Enel inflicted on Teach was the nerve damage. Teach was erratically twitching. From what Enel could tell, he also gave Teach a speech impediment. After being hit by another of his lightning bolts, Teach started stuttering at the beginning of his sentence whenever he was taunting Enel.

"F-F-F-Fucking Devil Fruit!" Teach shouted. "W-W-W-Whoever said Haki is the supreme fighting force is an idiot!"

"YAHAHAHAHA! W-W-W-What's wrong, Teach?" Enel said, taunting Teach for the first time. "L-L-L-Lightning got your tongue?"

"F-F-F-Fuck you, Enel! I-I-I-I'll kill you!"

Despite his heavy injuries, Teach's fighting ability didn't drop. In fact, Enel felt that Teach's fighting style got wilder. In the beginning, Teach's attacks felt measured and calculated. Now, Enel felt as if Teach just let himself run wild.

Teach used Moon Walk and flew towards Enel. Despite being dwarfed by the massive figure made of lightning itself, Enel didn't underestimate Teach. He himself had sustained a number of slash wounds all over his body. Enel only survived until now because he was playing to his strengths, using Teach's weakness to achieve victory.

They were crewmates, after all. Ace had an innate talent that made people drawn to him. Teach was no different and he said so himself, making him open up sometimes. Through the times they bonded, everyone in the Royal Aces knew that Teach wasn't great at Observation Haki. So, Enel played to the speed he had as a lightning human and danced around Teach to survive.

Enel moved away from Teach. With his palms extended outwards, Enel shot giant bolts of lightning at Teach. Instead of avoiding them, Teach used his Haki enhanced flying slashes at the giant lightning bolts. Their exchange continued for a few moments until Enel suddenly disappeared from Teach's sight.

Teach looked around for Enel, his full attention on the battle at hand. Enel took advantage of this. When Teach found Enel by looking up, it was already too late. Enel launched an attack, but it wasn't aimed at Teach. It was aimed at his raft.

"N-N-N-No!"

Teach could do nothing but watch as Enel disintegrated the raft he built to get away from Karakuri Island. His face paled in horror as he realized that there was now a greater chance that Ace would catch him.

What Teach didn't realize in time, because his Observation Haki was absolutely terrible when compared to his Armament Haki, was that Enel launched two attacks in quick succession. After sending a blast of lightning at the raft, Enel switched focus and made a slicing motion towards Teach.

"Zeus Blade!"

An arc of lightning that was as sharp as a flying slash headed straight towards Teach. When Teach felt Enel's intent with his basic Observation Haki, it was too late. He couldn't avoid the attack, so he opted to block it instead. Teach raised an Armament Haki coated arm to block the lightning arc that was right in front of him.

If Enel's attack was hastily made, Teach would have been able to block it. But it wasn't. Enel's attack was charged 100,000,000 Volts.

"ARGHH!"

The lightning arc cut through Teach's right arm where he held his claw weapon. It didn't stop there and continued, slashing Teach deeply on his chest diagonally. But, Teach was no novice. Even if it was hastily made, the Hardening of his body using Armament Haki was enough to save him from a fatal injury. Still, it was a terrible one.

Teach crashed down to the cold blue sea. Enel used up almost all of his strength in his last attack that was fortunately very effective. He was forced to deactivate his Amaru form, but he still had enough strength to fly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Enel spotted the arm he severed from Teach. It was falling at a slower rate than its owner, still high up in the air. Enel flew towards it and caught it.

"YAHAHAHA!" Enel let himself celebrate a little since he felt like he deserved it. "How's that, Teach? I told you I'll kill you!"

With his incredible Observation Haki, Enel knew where Teach was. He was currently swimming up. The moment Teach broke the surface of the water, he used Moon Walk and flew towards Enel.

"YAHAHAHA! Are you that eager to die?"

Enel taunted Teach, but he was secretly panicking. He expected Teach to at least be winded out or too injured to move. Instead, Teach was still charging straight towards him.

'What a damn monster! I need to get out of here!'

Enel was about to turn into lightning and fly away to retreat to Karakuri Island when he suddenly found himself unable to move. He watched the grin on Teach's face widen as he got closer.

Teach landed a heavy hook on Enel, right on the jaw. Enel felt his brain shake inside his head as he reeled from Teach's Haki enhanced punch. Enel started falling and Teach followed.

"Z-Z-ZEHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Teach laughed the most gleefully he ever did. "F-F-F-Finally, the poison kicked in!"

Teach stopped Enel's freefall by kicking him around midair like a ball. Wherever Enel was kicked towards, Teach flew there with Moon Walk.

"D-D-Do you feel it? M-M-Marco and Thatch's genius? ZEHAHAHAHAHA!" Teach was fighting through his stutter for the chance to taunt the unmoving Enel. "Th-Th-They made it for me! I… I'm a Whitebeard Pirate!"

Enel was still conscious despite suffering from the effects of the poison. He listened to Teach's words, but he wasn't having any of it. He tried his best to move.

"L-L-L-Look at you! Purple!"

Teach's words made Enel realize that he was indeed purple. The wounds he sustained from Teach's weapon were colored purple and slowly spreading outwards.

"Th-Th-That poison! I-It spreads through your body first before activating! ZEHAHAHAHA!" Teach had fun taunting Enel as he kicked him around in the sky, playing with him before letting him fall to the sea. "L-L-L-Look at that beautiful chain reaction! F-Feel your heart stop beating and accept the coming death!"

Teach's loudmouth gave Enel the help he needed. Since his heart stopped beating, the rest of his body wasn't getting the blood it needed to function. So, Enel had to get creative. He may be unable to move, but he was still a lightning human. Enel used his Devil Fruit power to make his own heart beat.

Soon, Enel regained the ability to move. He wasted not a single second and flew away.

"Tch!"

Teach was visibly annoyed that Enel was able to get away. He wanted to chase after him, but he had many reasons not to. First, his main goal in the first place was to escape and get away from Ace. Going to the island where Ace was is nothing but idiotic. Second, Teach was already pushing himself beyond his current limits. His body groaned in pain at the effort he was forcing himself to do.

With his body so tired, Teach let himself fall to the sea. He used his Haki to protect himself from the impact of crashing down on water from a high place. At this moment, Teach was thankful that he never ate a Devil Fruit.

'Pops. I finally have a goal as Captain of my own soon to be formed crew. I knew it ever since I met Ace! The son of Roger, and a monster of a man!'

Teach let himself be carried by the underwater waves, floating along with a school of fish.

'He's just a rookie, but he's already strong enough to handle me like a child! If I was loyal to anyone but you, Pops… I would be so glad to have someone like him as my Captain…'

Teach felt himself float up. He did nothing besides holding his breath to rest as much as he could.

'But, I'm a Whitebeard Pirate. Nothing will ever change that. Even so, I'm not blind. Even someone like me can see how Ace brims with sheer potential! Eventually, he'll surpass the best of us all! Better than that old hag Linlin, that drunk Kaido, that Red Head, Roger himself… and even you, Pops.'

Teach floated up to the surface as he let go of the breath he was holding. His body was strong enough to treat the icy cold water like a slightly cold bath. Teach basked in the feeling of being empty, floating on the sea and watching the snow around him fall.

'Gol D. Ace is a name that will be etched in history… because he is the man who'll become King of the Pirates!'

Teach reached into the pocket of his trousers, hoping that he still had what he wishes to find in it.

'But… I'm your son. I can't accept that! Pops, you're the one who should be King! The one to find the One Piece! If I do nothing, Ace will snatch it from you… but I won't let that happen!'

Teach took out what he had in his pocket. It was a piece of paper that was moving towards a specific direction. It was a piece of a Vivre Card.

'Ace… when we meet again… one of us will die… I swear it in my honor as a Whitebeard Pirate!'

…

"This is it!" Hepha said, recognizing the machine that lay in front of her. "The DFOB Machine!"

When Hepha entered the room she was currently in, all her attention was caught by the machine placed right in the center of the room. It was a hulking piece of machinery that had only one function: to fuse a Devil Fruit into an object. It was rather aptly named. The machine is called a Devil Fruit and Object Binding Machine, or DFOB Machine for short.

"Yeah, I don't think I'll ever find equipment to build something like this other than future islands," Hepha said with a chuckle as she marveled at the familiar machine… one that she had a hand in inventing.

'The Genius of Frotha Island… some genius you are, Hepha. Advancing the date of your home island's destruction by years...'

Hepha shook herself out of the depressing thoughts she had about her home that was long gone. She had a new one now, after all.

"Please tell me you still work," Hepha said to the DFOB Machine as she ran her hand along its exterior. "Fixing you would be a pain…"

Hepha's hand stopped on a lever. She pulled down and was delighted to see the machine light up.

"Yes! Good job, you beautiful baby!" Hepha said. "But, just to be sure…"

Hepha moved to the screen that would let her operate the machine. She was about to activate its self-diagnosis function when its status caught her eye.

[DEVIL FRUIT CHAMBER: READY – OBJECT CHAMBER: STANDBY]

"Ready? But, that would mean…"

Hepha knew what the status meant. The Devil Fruit Chamber of the machine being ready means that there was a Devil Fruit inside, loaded for fusion. She quickly moved to one side of the machine where a panel could be opened. It was where a Devil Fruit was loaded.

With a hand that trembled slightly from excitement, Hepha opened the Devil Fruit Chamber of the DFOB Machine. If it belonged to Vegapunk, it was bound to be exciting in one way or another.

As Hepha expected, there was a Devil Fruit inside. She didn't know what it was. It looked like an apple, for the most part. It was white in color and had black stripes running horizontally all over the fruit.

"What Devil Fruit were you playing with, Vegapunk?"