As the smoke and dust settled, a towering figure emerged—a ten-meter-tall manifestation of the God of Thunder.
This wasn't the limit of his power, but at this size, his strength was at its peak. In this state, his speed, attack power, and defense had all been pushed to their absolute limits.
Even if Kaido were here, he was confident that he could unleash his full strength and leave a massive hole in the Emperor's body.
A flash of purple lightning streaked across the sky as Hikaru controlled the God of Thunder, positioning himself above the rock giant's head. His wrist transformed into the shape of a cannon's barrel, and a destructive purple thunder blast shot forth.
Too fast!
Time seemed to freeze. The Golden Lion's eyes widened as the blinding purple light grew larger in his vision. At that moment, his entire life replayed in his mind.
There was no time to react. He could only take the attack head-on.
The devastating impact tore through the rock giant, shattering it completely.
"Is this the end of my era…?"
"The sea is so dull without Roger!"
"Roger!!!"
Despair overwhelmed him as he let out a final cry in his heart before losing consciousness.
For a moment, the floating islands above the sea lost their support and began plummeting toward the ocean.
As the purple light faded, the God of Thunder vanished, and Hikaru reappeared beside the unconscious Golden Lion, breathing heavily. Without hesitation, he clasped a pair of Seastone shackles onto him.
Hikaru knew that Seastone didn't strip a Devil Fruit user of their powers completely—it simply drained their strength, preventing them from actively using their abilities.
More importantly, it could temporarily turn certain ability users into ordinary people.
For example, Logia users couldn't transform into their elemental forms when exposed to Seastone. However, abilities that permanently altered a user's physiology would still remain intact.
Because of this, he needed to take additional precautions to ensure the Golden Lion was completely powerless.
Grabbing the bloodied head of the fallen pirate with one hand, Hikaru sent a surge of electricity through his body, jolting him awake.
He wasn't done with the Golden Lion just yet. His usefulness hadn't been exhausted. Hikaru wasn't the type to take what he wanted and walk away so easily.
As the Golden Lion's eyes fluttered open, the floating islands stopped falling and slowly began rising again.
Though he wanted to speak, the former legend found himself utterly powerless—he couldn't even move.
"Damn brat… you win!"
He could only mutter those words in his heart.
This was, of course, Hikaru's doing. By striking the Golden Lion's vital points with electricity, he had left him in a vegetative state—completely conscious but unable to move a muscle.
Hikaru exhaled deeply, steadying himself.
Maintaining the Thunder God state after his Devil Fruit's awakening drained an immense amount of stamina. He could feel the strain on his body.
But the power it granted him was undeniable.
From now on, dark storm clouds would forever cover this sky, and the sea below would be relentlessly struck by lightning.
Any pirate, Marine, or merchant ship that entered this sea would be caught in the endless storm—forced to endure the wrath of thunder.
Hikaru slowed his pace slightly, grabbed the Golden Lion by the neck, and, with a flash of lightning, reappeared on the central island.
By now, most of the Golden Lion's crew had been either killed or severely injured. Some of the less intelligent pirates had even jumped off the floating islands, believing they could survive the fall into the sea. But at an altitude of 50,000 meters, death was inevitable—no matter how they landed.
With ruthless efficiency, Hikaru rounded up the remaining survivors and imprisoned them in the cells scattered across the islands. Under the immense range of his Observation Haki, escape was impossible—he had complete control over the battlefield.
Meanwhile, he had placed Nami and the others on an isolated island, one that no one would bother to look for. To ensure their safety, he had enveloped the entire island in a cage of thunder—any intruder, even a Sea King, would be struck down instantly.
But for now, his focus was elsewhere.
Whether or not he could become a multi-fruit user depended entirely on whether the next experiment succeeded.
Hikaru knew one thing for certain: the Rumble-Rumble Fruit alone would never be enough to make him the true God of this world.
Even with the creative advantage granted by his past life's knowledge, it wasn't enough.
In the world of One Piece, mythical creatures seemed endless, and even more concerning was the existence of abilities like Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit. If both his Lightning and Light were pushed to their absolute limits, wouldn't it just end in a stalemate?
That wasn't good enough.
To achieve his goal, he needed to conduct various experiments—using "guinea pigs"—before he could find a way to wield multiple Devil Fruits himself.
There was no way he would test it on himself first. His body was his greatest asset—if something went wrong, there would be no way to undo it.
Even now, he wasn't entirely certain what Bai Lei (White Thunder) truly was.
Was it something granted by his golden finger when he traveled through worlds? Or was it a natural extension of his Rumble-Rumble Fruit's abilities?
The world of One Piece was an idealistic one—strength was determined not just by physical power, but by one's will and imagination.
Haki itself was proof of that—especially Conqueror's Haki.
Perhaps it was his sheer desire to obtain new abilities that had led him to awaken the ability of Bai Lei. Who could say for sure?
Regardless, he had to make full use of it. If there was even the slightest chance of gaining multiple Devil Fruits, then the hunting season had just begun.
The Experiment Begins
"Cat-Cat Fruit, Tabby Cat Model."
"Dog-Dog Fruit, Big Tongue Dog Model."
"Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit…"
"Poop-Poop Fruit…?"
Hikaru nodded in satisfaction.
There were eight Devil Fruits in total—some he recognized, others he didn't. Adding them to the three trophies in his hand, plus the Float-Float Fruit that had yet to be extracted, he had amassed quite the fortune.
By using Observation Haki, he had read through the thoughts of the Golden Lion and his subordinates, uncovering all of their hidden Devil Fruits, treasures, and valuables.
Still, he couldn't help but mock the Golden Lion a little.
"Seriously, old man? You have all these Devil Fruits, fifty pirate captains, and two thousand crew members, and not a single one of them is a Devil Fruit user?"
"Isn't that a little pathetic?"
But now, it was time for the real test.
Hikaru selected several pirates and brought them into the Golden Lion's fortress.
As White Thunder crackled around his hand, he picked up the Dog-Dog Fruit and activated his ability.
In an instant, the power of the Devil Fruit was absorbed into his palm.
The once-vibrant Dog-Dog Fruit rapidly lost its essence, withering into a shriveled husk before rotting away completely.
He then attempted to return the ability, but the dead fruit showed no reaction.
However, when he placed the absorbed power into a fresh fruit, something remarkable happened—it instantly transformed into the shape of the Dog-Dog Fruit.
A new discovery.
Once he extracted a Devil Fruit's power, it couldn't be restored to its original fruit—but it could be transferred into another fruit.
To test this further, he transferred the power of the Dog-Dog Fruit into Pirate No. 1, one of the captives standing nearby.
The results were shocking.
Pirate No. 1 immediately gained the ability of the Dog-Dog Fruit.
Seastone handcuffs had no effect—he could still use his powers freely!
Even when thrown into the sea, he did not lose his abilities!
Hikaru's eyes gleamed with excitement.
His Bai Lei ability could extract Devil Fruit powers without suffering their usual weaknesses.
More importantly, Pirate No. 1 couldn't even see the White Thunder in his hand.
The implications of this were terrifying.
If this experiment continued to succeed…
Then nothing could stop him.
His path to ultimate power had just begun.
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