"Ahhhhhh…"
Luffy clutched the golden headpiece, bouncing and whooping with childish glee. "Hehehe, I'm rich, I'm rich!"
Inside the Sky Monster's belly lay a trove of golden trinkets and ornaments that had been swallowed whole and preserved. The creature's stomach could not digest the metal, so everything stayed intact — which turned into a fortunate windfall for the boy who had been swallowed.
After half a day of jumping around in bliss, Luffy stopped and blinked. "But how do I get out?"
If Nami were here, she'd be over the moon, he thought, hefting a pile of gilded baubles and a crown, then wandering deeper into the cave.
…
"Ah! It's the Sky Monster!"
High among the broken columns of Gold City Shandora, Conis crouched behind a toppled wall with Aisa. Their breaths were shallow as they watched the enormous python slide away from the ruins.
"Phew, we weren't seen," Conis breathed, clutching her chest.
The Sky Monster slithered on, then suddenly reared and issued a painful hiss, a long, rumbling sound of discomfort. It had eaten only a small bug, but now its belly convulsed as if something inside was punching against its entrails.
The creature writhed, gnawing at stones and rubble to soothe the pain. With a crunch it snapped off a bit of ruined wall, and two small pairs of frightened eyes stared back from the rubble.
"Ah ah ah!" Aisa raised her hands and trembled.
"We've been found! Run!" Conis cried, yanking Aisa clear. With desperation she fired her candle cannon at the snake's snout.
Bang!
The projectile hit the Sky Monster's nose. The beast sneezed, a tremendous explosive expulsion.
"Ah ah! Was that an earthquake?"
By coincidence, Luffy, who had been trapped in the Sky Monster's throat, was launched into the air by the sneeze.
"How did I fly up? Gum-Gum Balloon!" he shouted, inhaling a great breath until his body ballooned, and slowly he drifted down like a floating ball.
Outside, the python began to calm; its stomachache eased as if the tickling had been cured. Feeling grateful, it lowered its head and gently rubbed its great muzzle against Conis and Aisa, as if to say thank you. The two froze, shaken by the friendly rubbing of an enormous snake.
After a few lingering hisses, the Sky Monster turned and slithered off again, searching for the ruined place it had loved as a child and the sound it couldn't forget.
"Wow, where is this? What a huge snake! Was I swallowed by that?" Luffy dropped onto a toppled wall and shaded his eyes, taking in the ruined complex around him.
"So many walls. Is this the ruin Robin and Nami mentioned, with hidden gold?"
"Luffy! Haso!" Conis called, waving from a distance. She had watched him sneeze free.
"Hehe, Conis!" Luffy grinned and leapt toward her.
A cold voice cut through the air.
"30 Million Volt, Lightning Bird."
Rumble.
A blinding bolt struck Luffy mid-leap, a furious arc of electricity consuming him.
"Luffy!" Conis screamed as her friend was struck and crumpled from the blow.
Enel stood on an attic of broken stone, a smug curl at his mouth. "Ha, is that all? That fool actually thinks he can stand against a god?"
"Enel!" Conis shouted, aiming her candle cannon at him. Her fingers shook.
"You, what did you do to Miss Robin?" she demanded, voice breaking.
Enel tilted his head, amusement in his expression. He looked past Conis, at Aisa and the ruin. "Her? Dead, of course."
Conis tightened her grip and fired all five of her remaining candle shots. Wax projectiles streaked through the air but missed Enel. He vanished, leaving only the shattered attic beneath his feet to be hit. One candle burst, splattering hot wax; another exploded into sharp needles.
"Is this the divine weapon your monster prepared?" Enel's voice came from behind Conis and Aisa, soft and mocking.
Before she could turn, a cold hand seized Conis by the throat and lifted her until she choked. Her candle cannon fell from her limp fingers.
"You Sky Person," Enel said, watching her struggle, "it seems this god had been too kind to you."
Lightning arcs danced on his skin. "This god will send you to your death now."
From the air came Luffy's roar, raw and furious. "What are you doing? Let her go! Gum-Gum Pistol!"
Luffy's body snapped forward like rubber, a fist launching toward Enel. The blow struck; Conis fell free from his grasp. Luffy's fist hit with enough force to stagger even someone bolstered by electricity. He slammed repeatedly, not graceful but unstoppable, and the air sizzled around Enel as electricity tried to meet Luffy's unbending will.
Enel laughed, a cold sound, and retaliated with a jagged flash. The lightning carved the air, but Luffy kept moving, stretching the limits of his body. Nearby, Aisa began to cry out, the fear in her voice strangled by hope that Luffy could hold on.
Enel's contempt never died. "You meddlesome fool," he said, attempting to draw the fight out. "You are merely a child."
But Luffy's eyes were fierce. He moved like a force of nature, raw and direct. The clash of rubber and lightning made the ruins tremble.
Conis, shaken but alive, crawled for her dropped weapon and pulled herself behind a toppled column. Aisa clutched her mother's memory in her chest and watched, praying.
Electric arcs hissed and crackled. Enel unleashed another brutal bolt, and Luffy countered with a flurry of rubber strikes that bent and absorbed blow after blow. He did not speak much; he did not need to. His actions were enough — unstoppable, honest, and simple.
Finally, with a roar and an extended arm, Luffy sent Enel reeling. He did not gloat; he simply breathed.
Conis staggered out from her cover, eyes wide. "Luffy… you're amazing."
Enel's eyebrow twitched, a hint of calculation beneath his steely composure. He stepped back into the shadows of the attic, not yet finished, not entirely defeated.
Luffy, chest heaving, laughed with that careless grin of his. "Hehe, I told you. Nami would love the treasure. Let's go."
Conis and Aisa exhaled in relief. Around them, the ruins held their secrets a while longer, half-hidden and half-mournful, as the Sky Monster's slither receded into the distance and the sky tilted toward afternoon.
____
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