One Piece: Lightning's Heir

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Two days of acclimating to the chaotic environment of Raijin Island finally allowed Arthur to focus.

The thunder roared, deafeningly loud, the lightning bolts crackling with a power far exceeding his own two hundred million volts. A direct hit, even in his lightning form, could shatter his consciousness—He had to be cautious.

He'd spent those two days observing the island's weather patterns, studying the storms.

The more he observed, the more awestruck, and excited, he became.

The storm clouds above Raijin Island, a swirling vortex of raw power, had been accumulating for centuries, perhaps millennia—so dense and vast, that even flying high above them, he couldn't see their full extent.

The sheer power contained within them—it humbled him, a rare sensation for a man who rarely acknowledged his own limitations. Only the raw, untamed forces of nature could evoke such a feeling of insignificance—of being a mere speck of dust in the grand scheme of things.

And that very feeling... ignited his ambition, his desire to conquer, to master this untamed power.

Humans might fear nature—but they never yield.

They explored, they conquered, they pushed the boundaries of what was possible...

They feared the sky, believing it to be the domain of gods—then they invented airplanes.

They feared the depths of the sea, the origin of all life—then they built submarines.

Raijin Island's super storm—if unleashed in a single, concentrated blast—could shatter the Red Line itself.

This was the path to true power, to surpassing his limits!

Arthur, his excitement building, returned to the mountain peak, resuming his observation of the lightning, studying its every nuance.

Voltage, current, electromagnetism, electric waves, electrotherapy, electrothermal energy, electric field enhancement—he reviewed every aspect of his Rumble-Rumble Fruit abilities, pushing them to their limits, looking for improvement.

Time, in this desolate, storm-wracked landscape, passed slowly, monotonously.

Humans were social creatures. But Arthur was accustomed to solitude.

He'd spent three years alone on Skypiea, honing his skills, his only solace the thrill of growing stronger.

———

Three months later.

Rumble!

Lightning continued to strike, some of the smaller arcs drawn to Arthur, as if attracted by his own electrical aura, flowing into him.

"What's wrong? Still not enough? What am I missing?" Arthur's clothes were tattered, his hair singed, but he didn't care.

He frowned, frustrated. Arthur was so close—on the verge of advancement—but he couldn't quite grasp it.

Three months, and no progress.

What was the key? What did he need to do to achieve a qualitative change in his lightning? He didn't know—He could only continue his solitary quest for answers.

He wandered across Raijin Island, feeling the powerful electric field that permeated the air.

——

Several pirate ships appeared on the horizon, approaching Raijin Island.

From their trajectory, they were likely rookies, fresh from Fish-Man Island.

The ships, flying different Jolly Rogers, were filled with pirates—their expressions grim, determined, or simply arrogant—their weapons drawn, as if seeking a battle.

The closer they got to Raijin Island, the heavier the atmosphere became, the air crackling with a barely contained tension.

Arthur, standing on the beach, amidst the driving rain and flashing lightning, glanced at them, then dismissed them. Others had come to this island during his three-month vigil. As long as they didn't bother him—he didn't care.

His priority was developing his two-hundred-million-volt limit.

Everything else was a distraction.

The island's chaotic electrical field interfered with his own electric wave sense, limiting his Haki's range. He couldn't risk using Divine Judgment indiscriminately. It might trigger a chain reaction, unleashing the full fury of the storm clouds above.

He was lightning—but even he wasn't immune to the raw, untamed power of nature.

His gaze, though fixed on the approaching ships—was distant, his mind still focused on the puzzle of his own power.

He paced to the beach, his frustration growing.

Was time the only answer?

Arthur was already incredibly strong—surpassing most of his peers, even rivaling some of the older generation.

But he wasn't satisfied. His ambition wouldn't allow him to stagnate.

Crash!

Four pirate ships dropped anchor near Raijin Island. Hundreds of pirates, clad in plastic raincoats, disembarked, forming a protective perimeter around their four captains, who were apparently negotiating.

"LaBeouf! You think joining Kaido makes you invincible? I sailed into the New World expecting to die—I'm not afraid of you!"

Arthur, jolted from his reverie by the commotion, turned his attention towards the pirates.

The one called LaBeouf was a giant of a man—easily sixteen feet tall, his muscular chest, covered in thick black hair, visible beneath his open shirt.

Prolden, the one yelling—was smaller, barely ten feet tall, his aura clearly weaker.

LaBeouf... Arthur recognized him. He'd almost killed Arthur before he'd reached Skypiea.

———

"Joining Kaido is the smart move. The New World is in chaos. Without a strong ally, you're just cannon fodder. I'm joining you, LaBeouf."

A silver-haired man. Birdpence, barely six feet tall, a pistol tucked into his belt, stepped forward, aligning himself with LaBeouf.

"Hmph! You want me to be someone's lapdog? You can forget it. I came to the New World to crush the Emperors, not join them!" A bearded pirate, Dunlap, sided with Prolden.

LaBeouf, however, seemed oblivious to their argument, his gaze fixed on a figure standing near the beach—Arthur.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

"Thunder God Arthur? He vanished three months ago. What's he doing on Raijin Island?"

He didn't recognize the young man he'd almost killed years ago—But he recognized the infamous "Thunder God" Arthur, the rookie who'd been making waves for the past three months...

Everyone thought Arthur had disappeared to avoid Whitebeard's wrath. They hadn't expected to find him here—on Raijin Island, one of the New World's starting islands.

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