Chương 42: The Rumble-Rumble Fruit

They didn't stay in Arubana for long. After getting a Devil Fruit encyclopedia from King Cobra, Richard and his companions strolled around the capital.

That evening, I attended a banquet prepared by King Cobra and met Princess Vivi, who was still a young girl.

The next day, King Kobra left Alabasta with the feeling of sending away a plague god.

Cobra breathed a sigh of relief after seeing them off. These people were capable of killing the Shichibukai Crocodile; Alabasta couldn't afford to offend them.

Despite being a famous major power in the entire pirate world with a standing army of 600, 000, Alabasta may seem impressive.

But in reality, Cobra knew very well that they were actually a weak country, only good at bullying small countries that didn't have many strong powers.

If they encounter a strong opponent, an army of 600, 000 would be nothing more than easy prey.

Unfortunately, strong individuals are rare and hard to find, and he didn't have the resources to win them over; Alabasta was very poor.

So even when the hero Crocodile of Alabasta was killed, he dared not seek revenge, but instead had to treat the enemies who killed the hero to good food and drink.

Clearly, Cobra, unaware of Crocodile's intentions, thought Crocodile was a great guy and the guardian of Alabasta.

Richard and his group became outright villains.

Richard and the others may or may not know these things, who knows? Anyway, Cobra didn't show any hostility, did he?

Of course, it's also possible that Richard and his group wouldn't care even if they knew. This world is inherently dog-eat-dog; who cares about the thoughts of a weakling?

Meanwhile, at Navy Headquarters...

News also came back that Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, had been defeated and killed.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku rubbed his temples, looked at the noisy conference room, and slapped the table.

"Alright, this matter is settled. Crocodile's death only shows that he was not strong enough and that we should prepare to find a new Shichibukai."

They need to be able to fight, otherwise if they are defeated again shortly after being selected, the credibility of the Seven Warlords of the Sea will be completely lost, and the Navy will also lose face.

As for the person who defeated Crocodile, a bounty will be placed on him, with an initial bounty of 5000 million Berries.

His gang also issued bounties; you, He, can draft the proposal." Zhan Guo made the decision.

"Isn't this amount a bit low? After all, he's the one who defeated Crocodile," someone commented.

Some people think that raising it to 100 million would be more reasonable.

"No, just 5000 million. That's already a very high amount for an initial bounty," Sengoku said.

...

In the New World, Crocodile's death didn't cause much of a stir among the Four Emperors' crews; it merely drew their attention slightly to Richard and his group.

After all, in the eyes of the great pirates of the New World, Crocodile was nothing more than a loser.

Even if we defeat him, how much stronger can he be?

This caused quite a stir within the Seven Warlords of the Sea. As fellow Warlords, they generally acknowledged Crocodile's strength; he was no pushover.

Doflamingo and Jinbe, for example, focused their attention on Richard and his group. Hawkeye Mihawk, on the other hand, noticed that some of the group were carrying weapons.

As for Fat Moria, he said he didn't pay much attention to those things. Empress Hancock hasn't even become a Shichibukai yet.

At this time, Richard and his group were unaware that they were wanted by the authorities.

They set off again in a speedboat. After being identified by the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, the fiery red fruit they had obtained earlier was confirmed to be the Flame-Flame Fruit.

The group admired the two fruits displayed on the table.

Each one could make a strong person, but here they are despised by everyone, and no one is willing to eat them.

This thing doesn't boost strength much, and it also makes people fear seawater, making it completely useless.

"Have you figured it out yet?" Xia Mi nudged Richard.

"No, it's not that simple. I don't even understand the principles behind it. This thing is a technical black box," Richard said.

"I don't understand either. Didn't you obtain the Otsutsuki clan's Divine Tree technology? Chakra Fruits should be similar to this, right?" Xia Mi asked again.

"You're talking like a complete novice. How are you even? You're way off," Richard said irritably.

"However, it's not entirely the same." He said thoughtfully.

A day later, they learned that they were wanted.

I bought the newspaper from Newsbird, hoping to find something interesting to read.

Little did they expect that their group would become the butt of other people's jokes.

What came into view were the large faces of several people.

Richard, codenamed "Water Ghost" by the Navy, is suspected to be a user of the Water-Water Fruit, with a bounty of 5000 million Berries.

Navy codename: "Sword Demon" Kuina, bounty: 4500 million Berries.

The Navy named him "Ghost" Fenrir, with a bounty of 3000 million Berries.

In addition, Lin Feng, Erii, and Xia Mi all have a bounty of ten million Berries on their heads.

The total value of all employees exceeds 150 million. But nobody pays attention to this.

"Water ghost? Hahaha, I can laugh at that nickname for a hundred years." Xia Mi said with a loud laugh.

Everyone else couldn't help but laugh; the nickname was completely out of character for Richard. It sounded like the nickname of a nobody.

Richard looked utterly bewildered. These navy guys, are they trying to cause trouble?

This feud is huge; he's determined to destroy Marineford and drag out the Fleet Admiral and the three Admirals to torture them severely.

He'll go and cause trouble for the navy in a few days.

We've now reached the vicinity of the Sky Island; it's directly above us.

Everyone was very curious about what islands in the sky looked like, so they unanimously decided that they must come and visit the Sky Island.

When talking about Skypiea, one cannot ignore Enel, the God of Thunder, who proclaimed himself a god and ruled over the entire island.

If the group goes up to play, they'll definitely run into this guy.

Sure enough, as soon as the group that hadn't bothered to hide went up, a flash of lightning appeared. Enel had arrived.

Thanks to the convenience of the Lightning-Lightning Fruit, this guy's mental framework can be spread throughout the entire island.

The so-called "mindset" is Observation Haki, which is what the Skypiea people call Observation Haki.

This guy's Observation Haki can monitor the entire island, so he discovered them as soon as they arrived.

"Qinghai people? Go and pay homage to the gods. If you do, I will forgive your offense." Richard was curious to know what the consequences would be if this guy and Ye Zhen were put together.

"I don't want to say much. Who's going up? Is Kuina going?" Richard asked.

"I want to fight." Kuina did not hesitate; she would never back down from a battle.

"Hmph, you missed the best opportunity to beg for mercy. Now I've decided to punish you." Enel waved his hand, summoning lightning that struck the group.

Kuina raised her sword and cleaved the lightning in front of her, ignoring the lightning that was striking the others. She didn't believe that this amount of lightning could harm her companions.

If you look closely at her blade, you'll find that it's covered with a thin layer of Armament Haki.

Otherwise, metal objects will conduct electricity.

As for the lightning that was hurtling towards Richard and his companions, Richard guided it past them with a stream of water, since water is also an conductor of electricity.

Kuina swung her sword at Enel, who transformed into lightning in an attempt to dodge.

"Oh dear." Richard couldn't bear to look at him; this ignorant kid was going to suffer a great loss.

As expected, Enel, who had never seen Armament Haki before, suffered a great loss. In his elemental form, he was struck by Kuina's sword. His body immediately deactivated his elemental form, and a wound immediately appeared, with blood spurting out three meters away.

"Impossible! I am a god! How could you possibly touch me?" Enel's face turned pale; he couldn't understand what was going on.

This guy eventually died from excessive blood loss, his eyes wide open in death. Another guy who died a hasty death.

Richard took out the prepared fruit, skillfully sealed off space and time, and then obtained the Lightning Fruit, adding 1 more Logia-type Devil Fruit to his collection.