Crackle!
In a flash of lightning, Zino appeared beside Enel, gripping his shoulder. The sudden move froze Enel in place. Zino gave him a wide grin.
"Thanks for the lightning," he said casually.
Enel's eyes widened. "W-What… What are you?"
Zino tilted his head slightly, still smiling. "Just a guy who can swallow anything."
Enel's heart dropped. The monster in front of him wasn't bound by logic.
Zino patted his shoulder lightly. "Now, go ahead. Keep producing the lightning sphere."
Enel flinched. "And if I don't?"
Zino leaned closer, smile fading. "Then I'll beat you again."
Enel didn't answer. He couldn't. His pride, his power—everything was being trampled. This guy was his nemesis. No amount of lightning, no divine title, could save him now.
"You can control lightning now," Enel said, trying to reason his way out. "Why not just make the sphere yourself?"
Zino narrowed his eyes. "Are you dumb?"
"Uh—"
"Would you donate blood to yourself?"
"...No?"
"Exactly. You generate the lightning. I absorb it. That's how this works."
Enel was utterly defeated—physically and mentally. He turned his head away in frustration.
This guy… He's forcing me to power him up. I've become his power generator.
Zino didn't even look threatening anymore—just annoyingly calm, confident, and completely in control.
Reluctantly, Enel raised his hand. Once again, thunderclouds gathered, and a new dark sphere of lightning began forming in the sky.
Zino floated nearby, smiling like a satisfied customer at a buffet.
"Good," he said. "Keep it steady."
"..."
Enel gritted his teeth and focused, silently producing lightning while Zino absorbed it without a care in the world.
The God of Skypiea had become a battery.
...
Time passed.
The golden hue of the setting sun painted the skies in warm orange and pink. As night gradually crept over the sea of clouds, a calm breeze blew across the cloud island atop the Giant Jack.
The Orcas sat near the Golden Belfry, waiting. The Shandians had already departed earlier, heading back to their village to inform their Chief of the bell's rediscovery. Gan Fall had flown away too, carrying the weight of truth in his heart.
Now, only the Silent Orcas, Pagaya, Conis, Lakuari, and the Mimic Chest remained.
Everyone was starting to get restless.
"What's going on?" Nami asked, arms crossed, her gaze fixed on the horizon. "What's taking Zino so long?"
"Is he still fighting Enel?" Usopp added, glancing up nervously.
The tension was thick in the air—until—
Crackle!
A sharp bolt of lightning split the sky and struck down on the cloud platform in front of them. Sparks burst out as the lightning condensed—and then, slowly, began reshaping into a humanoid figure.
Zino.
His body shimmered with electric light before stabilizing into his original form. His right hand still flickered slightly with residual lightning as if his body hadn't fully turned back from its elemental state.
Floating beside his eye was a faint glowing panel:
[Lightning Element: Level 100 – You can now turn into lightning.]
He smiled coolly at his crewmates. "Looking for me?"
Everyone jumped at the sudden arrival.
"You—your body is a lightning?!" Usopp yelped, pointing at Zino's still-glowing hand. "Did you swallow Enel or something?!"
Zino raised an eyebrow. "Why would I swallow him? That's cannibalism."
He made a disgusted face. "I only swallow elements, not humans."
"Then how did you turn into lightning?!" Nami asked, still stunned.
"Simple," Zino replied with a shrug. "I kept swallowing lightning. Enough of it, and my body adapted. Now I can become lightning."
"...That kinda makes sense," Usopp muttered, though he still looked unconvinced.
Sanji on the side asked, "So? Where's Enel now? Did you finish him off?"
Zoro chimed in. "Did you kill him?"
Zino shook his head calmly. "We made a deal."
"A deal?" Robin echoed, curious.
"Yeah. He supplies me with as much lightning as I want... and I let him go."
Everyone blinked in silence.
"Wait, so you turned Enel, self-proclaimed 'God,' into a power supply?" Sanji asked, incredulous.
Zino smiled. "Pretty much."
"That's... kind of insane," Nami muttered.
"Well, he's not much use dead," Zino added, stretching. "Besides, I already got what I wanted. He left. Probably sulking somewhere."
"And you're just letting him go?" Zoro said flatly.
Zino gave him a sideways glance. "If he causes trouble again, I'll handle it. But for now, he's powerless compared to me."
The group slowly relaxed, absorbing everything they'd just heard.
Usopp leaned toward Stev and whispered, "We're really traveling with a monster…"
Zino clapped his hands. "Anyway! That aside—Sanji, did you cook? I'm starving after digesting all that lightning."
Sanji gave a proud smirk. "Food's ready. You're just in time."
As the cool night blanketed Skypiea, the Silent Orcas gathered around for dinner near the Golden Belfry. The island cloud was glowing gently under the starlight, and the hum of laughter and the clinking of utensils echoed around. Plates were filled, and after everything they had gone through—surviving battles, ringing the fabled bell, uncovering centuries-old truths—it was finally time to relax.
Lakuari shared stories, Conis helped serve, and the mimic chest even mimicked Sanji's moves with comedic timing. There was a sense of peace and unity that hadn't existed in Skypiea for centuries.
But not all was merry in the sky.
Far away from the joy, a colossal ship silently glided above the white sea of clouds. The Ark Maxim, forged almost entirely from gold, soared higher and higher, away from the lands of Skypiea.
Enel stood alone on its deck, arms on the railing. His eyes, once gleaming with arrogance and self-proclaimed divinity, were now dimmed with caution.
He looked down one last time at the ever-shrinking Skypiea, now nothing but a floating speck behind him.
"That guy… he's not coming after me, is he?" Enel muttered, his voice laced with unease.
Zino's power—his ability to not only control but swallow lightning—had completely shattered Enel's sense of invincibility. Even after surviving, the memory of Zino casually walking into his Raigo, devouring it, and forcing him into a humiliating deal still haunted him.
"…Tch. No. He let me go," Enel reminded himself, though a nervous twitch pulled at his lip. "I don't ever want to see that monster again."
Turning away from the skies of Skypiea, Enel looked ahead—toward the endless, dark void above.
"Fairy Vearth… that is where I truly belong."
His gaze locked onto the distant celestial body—the Moon—a massive silver sphere hanging alone in the vast sky.
There, he believed, lay his destiny. A land untouched, divine, perfect. No more gods. No more humiliation. Only power and purpose.
He stepped forward, whispering with conviction, "Let's go."
With a surge of electricity, the Ark Maxim rumbled and gained speed. Its golden hull shimmered under moonlight as it pierced through the upper layers of the sky. Slowly, it became a gleaming dot, drifting steadily toward the moon… fading away into the stars.
...
The Next Day.
The morning sun bathed Skypiea in a golden glow as a group of Shandians climbed the colossal Giant Jack. The ascent was no longer a perilous challenge; the great serpent Nola, pacified by the tolling of the Golden Bell, had returned to the forest, her rage soothed by the echo of ancient memories.
Leading the group was Wiper, his expression unreadable. Behind him followed the Chief of the Shandian tribe—an elder with eyes weighed by both history and hope. Several other warriors followed in silence, eager yet cautious about what they might find at the top.
After a long and steady climb, they reached the summit where the Giant Jack pierced through the cloud layers and connected to the sacred floating island. One by one, the Shandians stepped into the island, only to be stunned by the sight before them.
What was once an incomplete palace had transformed into a bustling construction zone—alive with energy and progress.
The Orcas were everywhere, working with impressive coordination.
Zino, Binko, Hibari, and Galdino were perched high, assembling an elegant seven-story pagoda made entirely from compressed cloudstone. Zino, the designer, was clearly overseeing the architecture, blending artistic vision with functional elegance.
Nearby, Sanji, dressed in his apron and chef's hat, cooked up foods for the crew. The aroma of sizzling meat and cloud-ingredients wafted through the air, bringing warmth and comfort.
Nami stood with a cloud-pencil and map scrolls, guiding the structural alignment. Her precision and calculations helped adjust the pagoda's balance, ensuring everything stayed stable in the floating environment.
In front of the pagoda, Gin, Usopp, and Stev worked on constructing an altar that would house the Golden Belfry.
Inside the pagoda, at the lower level, a lone mimic chest was busy creating statues. These statues were actually the exact images of all the Orca crew.
At the construction base, Alvida, Nojiko and Mikita were busy shaping bricks of cloud using press molds, while Kruz flew them up with ease. On the upper levels, Zoro caught the blocks with one hand and delivered them to the builders like clockwork.
A little further out, Marianne, Kaya, and Robin painted the lower walls using Chroma Dials and Pigment Dials, bringing life to the pagoda. Conis had joined them, helping with the finer details, while Lakuari helped bring blocks to Gin's group.
In the distance, under a parasol, Pagaya sipped tea while chatting with Gan Fall, who had returned quietly that morning. His demeanor was more subdued than usual, humbled by the previous day's revelations.
High atop the spiraling tip of the Giant Jack, the twin dryads, Chloris and Moris, sat on vines that coiled like thrones. They were absorbed in their work—carefully extracting something from the mighty beanstalk, by using their plant affinity.
The island buzzed with life. Clouds danced beneath the feet of builders and artists. Laughter mingled with hammer strikes and the sizzle of food. It was really a vibrant place.
Just then, Zino looked over from the pagoda construction, wiping sweat from his brow. He spotted the newcomers and offered a bright, casual grin.
"Oh, you guys came back," he said with a wave. "Sorry, we're kinda busy right now. But make yourselves at home."
The tone was light, almost too natural—like this place was already his.
"...Okay," the Shandian Chief replied, slightly stunned by Zino's informal welcome. He hadn't expected the man to speak like the master of the land. Was this really the same outsider they'd heard so much about?
Leaning closer, the Chief whispered to Wiper, "Who is he, exactly?"
Wiper, arms crossed and eyes forward, responded quietly, "Chief, he's the leader of those people."
"The leader?" The Chief blinked, skeptical. "He looks far too young."
"Don't underestimate him," Wiper warned. "That guy is... something else. Strong beyond what you'd expect. From what I heard, he's the one who defeated Enel."
The Chief turned sharply to Wiper. "He beat Enel?"
Wiper gave a slow nod. "Alone."
The weight of that statement wasn't lost on the Chief. He stared at Zino again—now watching him casually shaping clouds like clay, laughing with his crew. A man who took down a self-proclaimed god yet remained grounded and carefree. It was almost... unsettling.
Just then, a familiar voice called out, "Chief of the Shandians, greetings."
The Chief turned to see *Gan Fall*, dressed in his usual sky knight garb, approaching with a solemn air.
"Oh, Gan Fall," the Chief said, recognition softening his features. "It's been a long time."
Gan Fall gave a respectful nod. "Indeed. Much has changed."
The two old men exchanged a glance—one filled with years of unspoken tension, loss, and regret.
"Would you spare me a moment to speak, in private?" Gan Fall asked gently.
"…Sure," the Chief replied slowly.
The two veterans of Skypiea quietly stepped away from the crowd, walking along the edge of the cloud island. They found a quiet spot beneath the unfinished canopy of the floating pagoda, where soft wind rustled and golden rays reflected off the clouds.
There, finally away from watching eyes, they began to speak—not as enemies, not as leaders of rival factions—but as two old men trying to reconcile the past.