Raleigh withdrew his right hand and turned to address Enel.
Enel glanced at the splintered stake, then at Raleigh, bowing his head in genuine admiration.
"Raleigh-sama, please teach me this technique! I beg you!"
Looking at the youthful Enel before him, Raleigh felt a complex emotion stir within—so this was what it felt like to mentor someone.
'The rewards I drew from the system are indeed quite useful,' Raleigh thought.
Indeed, what Raleigh had just demonstrated was the secret technique of the Third Raikage from the ninja world: Hell Stab: Four-Finger Nukite!
This was an incredibly penetrating technique that would evolve from four fingers to one finger as the user's power grew.
At its peak, it would become Hell Stab: One-Finger Nukite, a move capable of slaying admirals and yonko alike.
However, Raleigh had no intention of wasting time on this technique himself, as what he had drawn was only the Four-Finger version.
Who knew how long it would take to evolve to the One-Finger version? Moreover, his Devil Fruit ability wasn't the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, making it less compatible with this technique than it would be for Enel.
"Thank you, Raleigh-sama! I'll go practice now."
After receiving detailed training methods from Raleigh, Enel cheerfully departed from the deck.
He needed to optimize the technique before beginning formal combat practice.
After Enel left, Gion, who had been standing guard nearby, approached.
"Raleigh, according to the nautical chart, we'll reach the island where the Shandia People live this afternoon."
"Have you decided what to do?"
Raleigh rubbed his nose—he hadn't really given it much thought. The conflict between the Skypieans and the Shandia People was likely arranged by fate itself.
All of it was probably to provide sufficient training for the "Sun God"—why else would a centuries-old conflict be resolved precisely when the Sun God happened to pass through Skypiea in the future?
But only someone with the Sun God's reckless personality could make such decisions.
...
At the top of the Giant Jack beanstalk on God's Island, Upper Yard, stood an enormous, golden bell silently erected there.
This was the legendary Shandora Bell.
When the City of Gold, Shandora, still existed, this golden bell was one of its iconic landmarks.
In the four hundred years since Upper Yard was carried from the Blue Sea to the White Sea by the Knock Up Stream, no one had ever dared to touch this bell.
Two golden pillars, each standing eight meters tall, supported the structure at this location, with the Shandora Bell hanging between them.
From a global perspective, the base of the bell housed a Poneglyph.
In the eyes of the Skypieans and the Shandia People, it represented the legendary "Song of the Island" and the signal that had marked four hundred years of continuous war.
Beneath the Shandora Bell stood a man in white robes, who had been standing there for a long time.
He had reached out multiple times, ready to ring the Shandora Bell, but always stopped just before doing so.
This robed figure was none other than the God of Skypiea—Gan Fall.
At this moment, his gaze was complex as he looked at the bell before him. In truth, the Shandora Bell had existed in this very spot for the past four hundred years, yet none of the successive gods had mustered the resolve to ring it.
Because ringing it would lead to only two outcomes: either both sides would reach a consensus, finally ending the four-hundred-year war, or their agreement would collapse, triggering an all-out, relentless war that would only end with the complete annihilation of one of the two races.
It was these two extreme possibilities that had deterred the successive gods of Skypiea, even those who wished to negotiate peace with the Shandia People, from daring to ring it.
The Shandia People, too, dared not ring it, for in the four centuries of conflict, both races had been deeply scarred, accumulating centuries of blood-soaked grudges.
If the leaders of the two races were to reach an agreement, all the hatred built up over four hundred years would be directed at these two individuals.
After a moment of contemplation, Gan Fall still could not bring himself to ring the Shandora Bell.
"Mr. Raleigh, will you be the one to accomplish this?"
In truth, Gan Fall had no confidence in his own heart, but he had no choice but to take a gamble.
After all, aside from gambling, there were no other options.
...
In the Shandia People's settlement.
A rugged, narrow path wound through the lush forest of the cloud island. At this moment, two figures were walking along this path.
One was a tall, sturdy man with a lazy expression on his face. The other was a young boy who seemed full of curiosity about everything around him.
"Commander Raleigh, how much longer until we reach the Shandia People's camp?" Enel suddenly asked.
Raleigh scratched his head, pulled out the map Gan Fall had given him earlier, glanced at it, and then put it away.
"According to the location marked on the map, we should arrive in about twenty minutes."
Hearing this, Enel closed his mouth and stopped complaining.
The two continued along the path for roughly another twenty minutes.
Just as Raleigh caught sight of traces of human activity, he sensed hostility.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
From the forest, strangely dressed Shandia warriors suddenly appeared.
They moved with agility, their attacks swift, precise, and ruthless.
The spears they threw were aimed directly at Raleigh's vital points—his brow, heart, chest, and abdomen.
Enel received the same treatment, yet neither of them showed any panic.
The reason was simple: both of them were Ability Users of Logia-type Devil Fruits.
Such simple physical attacks could easily be avoided by elementalizing one's body.
However, unlike Enel, Raleigh did not choose to elementalize his body. Instead, he merely twisted his torso slightly to dodge the incoming javelins.
The other three spears, as expected, pierced directly into Enel's body.
Before the Shandia people could even rejoice, they witnessed a bizarre scene.
Despite having three spears piercing three vital points of his body, Enel stood there as if nothing had happened, casually chatting with the other person.
This miraculous sight made the Shandia warriors unable to resist pulling out the Burn Bazookas from their backs and firing several explosive shots at Enel.
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