One Piece: Investing In Whitebeard At The Start.

The palace exploded, and Vane emerged through the gaping hole in the wall. Enel lay collapsed on a boulder, several of his teeth knocked out, his face battered and bruised like he'd been violently pummeled. His eyes were dazed, unfocused.

Enel was pitifully weak now. On Skypiea, he may have been revered as a god, but in the New World, that meant nothing. His only real strength lay in his Devil Fruit—he was a Logia-type user of the Thunder Fruit, a power that made him near untouchable. For many Logia users, that sort of invincibility made them monsters.

Enel, in particular, had grown arrogant, confident that no one could even land a hit on him.

What he didn't realize was that in this world, there was another kind of power: Armament Haki, created specifically to counter Logia types.

"Impossible... I actually got hit..."

Enel trembled, arcs of electricity snapping across his body as he struggled to endure the pain ravaging his face and skull. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand. His golden staff was lost, but that didn't matter—he could still use his powers.

"Die, insect!"

"Thirty Million Volts: Thunderbird!"

A massive Thunderbird made of lightning surged from Enel's hand, flying straight at Vane.

"Thirty Million Volts: Thunder Beast!"

"Sixty Million Volts: Brontosaurus!"

Three monstrous thunder-beasts formed in an instant, crackling with lethal energy. The forest around them turned white from the sheer intensity. Trees exploded, the air crackled, and fire erupted behind Vane as he dodged the attacks.

"You think you can hit me at that speed?"

Vane vanished and reappeared in front of Enel in a blink, driving a Haki-coated kick into his stomach. The impact was immense. It was enhanced by advanced Armament Haki, and Vane could see Enel's expression shift from rage to terror to pale agony. He nearly vomited bile.

Enel was launched, spinning through the air like a ragdoll, smashing through trees and rocks for nearly a hundred meters. A path of destruction marked where he flew.

"How… What kind of power is this? I actually got hit again... Damn it...!"

Before he could finish his thought, a shadow loomed over him—it was Vane. Another punch came down, laced with powerful Haki.

"One Bone!"

The technique echoed the strength of Yamamoto's legendary strikes—blows said to collapse entire cities. Vane wasn't quite that extreme, but he wasn't far off either.

The punch came down like a mountain crashing from the heavens.

For the first time in his life, Enel felt fear.

A thunderous explosion followed, shaking the entire forest. At the epicenter, the ground caved in. Massive trees were swallowed by the crater.

Two minutes later, Vane emerged from the forest, dragging Enel's limp body behind him. A corpse.

Though Enel still had powerful attacks left—like his 200 million volt Raigo—he never got the chance to use them. His flaw was simple: after years of being untouchable, he'd never trained his body. He was physically weak.

To Vane, he was fragile.

Like the difference between a porcelain water tank and one forged from iron.

Outside the forest, Kalifa waited with a basket of fruit in hand.

Vane dropped Enel's body on the ground. Kalifa's eyes widened as she noticed the large hole in his chest and the twisted, contorted expression frozen on his face. Though she had taken lives before in her days as a spy, this was on another level—raw, brutal, final.

"Empty the fruit from the basket beside him," Vane ordered.

Kalifa did as instructed.

Vane sat on a nearby boulder, watching closely. After a minute, one of the pineapples began to change. Its color grew more vibrant, a rich yellow, and strange spiral patterns formed on its surface. It even grew in size.

"It worked," Vane muttered with relief.

[Can the system eliminate the side effects of Devil Fruits?] he asked mentally.

[Yes.]

[How?]

[The host must hold the Devil Fruit and pay 10 million Berries.]

He still had hundreds of millions left from the last plunder. Vane followed the instructions. He picked up the transformed Thunder Fruit. Once the system confirmed payment, he handed it to Kalifa.

"Eat it."

"I thought Devil Fruits taste awful?"

"To be safe, I removed the drawbacks. If it tastes bad, you don't have to finish it."

"I'll eat it!"

Kalifa swallowed the pineapple-shaped Thunder Fruit with effort. She immediately dropped to her knees and gagged, retching from the taste.

Devil Fruits were notorious for how horrible they tasted.

Vane had never tried one himself, but Kalifa's face turned blue.

Then, lightning danced across her fingers.

Joy overtook her nausea. Kalifa gasped and looked at her hands, electricity crackling between her fingertips. She was ecstatic.

She turned to throw her arms around Vane—but he was already walking away.

"Good. Let's go."

"Uh-huh!!"

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