"One hundred and thirty million Beli? That's quite a bit of pocket money," Rosinante said, putting on an exaggerated look of surprise when he heard the pirate captain's words.
Seeing Rosinante's reaction, the pirate captain showed a hint of smugness.
"Enel, what's my bounty again?" Rosinante asked casually.
"Your Majesty's bounty seems to be… zero," Enel replied with a grin.
"What? So I don't even have a bounty?" Rosinante laughed.
"What a joke. Turns out you're just a rookie who's only just gone out to sea," the pirate captain sneered.
"How could a rookie release such terrifying Conqueror's Haki?"
"Who knows. Maybe he got scared when he saw our pirate ship and it burst out."
"A nobody with no bounty dares to act so arrogantly toward our captain. Kid, you're our prisoner now. Stand still and don't move."
"You Marines, don't move either. Otherwise, we'll slaughter everyone on this ship. This cruise ship is so luxurious, the people on board definitely aren't ordinary. If we kill them, you won't be able to explain it so easily, will you?" the pirate captain shouted, pointing his blade at the Navy.
"That's right. You Marines better back off immediately, or don't blame us for killing everyone on this ship."
After all, they were pirates who had survived the New World. Their mental fortitude was far stronger than that of ordinary people.
On the pirate ship, there were actually several pirate officers who had not been knocked out by the earlier burst of Conqueror's Haki. Upon hearing that Rosinante supposedly had no bounty, they immediately grew even more arrogant.
Conqueror's Haki was indeed terrifying and carried overwhelming intimidation. Those with weak willpower would instantly lose consciousness.
But for those who could endure it, Conqueror's Haki was nothing more than a pressure of spirit. It could not truly injure them.
Rosinante's youthful appearance also made it easy for them to assume that he was merely a rookie who only knew how to use Conqueror's Haki.
In this world of pirates, newcomers appeared every day, just like idols debuting one after another, while countless old pirates were swallowed by the sea. If you were not active enough, people would quickly forget you, assuming you had died somewhere in the ocean.
Rosinante had not appeared before the public for three whole years.
Three years was more than enough time for many people to forget him, even if he was one of the emperors of the sea.
"He is not under my protection. If you want to kill him, go ahead and do it right now, assuming you even can," Hinaoyama said calmly.
"It seems I'm being looked down on," the pirate captain sneered coldly.
"Go. Show them the power of my Eiffel Pirate Crew," the pirate captain roared.
"The smell of blood affects my appetite, so don't dirty my cruise ship. And they're too noisy," Rosinante said lightly.
"Understood," Enel replied with a smile.
As he spoke, Enel raised one hand, and lightning began to crackle and dance across his palm.
The pirate captain's expression changed drastically when he saw the lightning.
"A Devil Fruit user? Lightning powers? You're the Thunder God, Enel," the pirate captain shouted in shock.
Rosinante had vanished for three years, but Enel had not.
As one of the main overseers of Nightless City, Enel's ferocity over the past three years had been widely known.
Although the four great pirate crews had jointly declared the protection of Nightless City's three great promises, there were always plenty of people who were not afraid of death.
Some believed they could secretly snatch merfolk out of Nightless City without being discovered.
In the end, each of them was struck down by lightning that fell from the sky without warning.
There were also newly rising supernovas, arrogant beyond measure, who believed that even the Four Emperors could not do anything to them. They thought that entering the New World meant challenging the emperors and ultimately claiming the throne of Pirate King.
Relying on their strength, they attempted to forcibly capture merfolk.
Those with weak strength did not even require Katakuri to act. They were directly executed by the Oathbound Guard.
Those with stronger strength were dealt with by Enel himself.
With the power of the Logia Rumble Rumble Fruit and three years of combat experience in Nightless City, Enel's strength had reached the level of a top Vice Admiral. Unless an Admiral personally took action, no one could stand against him.
One after another, they fell beneath Enel's lightning.
Over these three years, Enel had terrified those who dared covet merfolk or violate Nightless City's three great promises into submission.
Thus, no one dared to cause trouble in Nightless City anymore.
At the same time, Enel carved out a fearsome reputation for himself as the Thunder God.
"Since you know who I am, then you should also know who the one beside me is," Enel said with a smile. "Our Majesty doesn't lack a bounty because he's unimportant. It's because no one dares to issue one. Now you can die satisfied. After all, no one who offends an emperor gets to live."
"Dragon King Rosinante," the pirate captain cried out in horror.
As his scream rang out, a massive pillar of lightning blasted forth from Enel's palm.
Where it passed, the sea split apart, the pirate ship was reduced to ashes, and the pirates themselves were burned into charred corpses.
After annihilating the pirate crew entirely, the lightning pillar continued forward, shooting straight toward the Navy warship.
Seeing the enormous column of lightning, the officers aboard the Navy warship all turned pale, cold sweat pouring down their faces.
At that critical moment, a figure stepped forward, raised his long blade, and slashed fiercely at the incoming lightning.
"Vice Admiral Hinaoyama," the officers cried out.
The one who stepped forward was none other than Vice Admiral Hinaoyama of Marine Headquarters.
Armament Haki collided violently with the lightning, and for a moment, the two forces were locked in a stalemate.
The lightning pillar seemed endless in power.
Even with Armament Haki protecting him, the lightning continued to seep into Hinaoyama's body, the numbing electricity gradually making it harder and harder for him to exert strength.
If this continued, Hinaoyama would undoubtedly be defeated.
"Ha," at the moment he was about to be overwhelmed, Hinaoyama suddenly burst out with all his remaining strength and swung his blade upward with full force, flinging the lightning pillar straight into the sky.