Two days later, a small boat cut across the waves toward an island wrapped in gloom. Overhead, the sky churned with thick gray thunderclouds, a constant low growl of thunder rolling across the sea.
Through the drifting mist, a black silhouette emerged, a jagged mountain peak stabbing high into the storm.
Thunder God Peak.
The first pirates to discover this island had found natives who worshiped that mountain daily, convinced it was the dwelling place of a god. Generations of life beneath constant storms had changed them; their bodies grew bronze and unyielding, their flesh hardened to endure lightning, and their strength rivaled monsters.
Even the beasts here had mutated.
Some could fight on par with pirates worth a hundred million berries or more. The strongest native of the Thunder Tribe ruled the island now, and outsiders tread carefully in their domain.
The island itself was a death trap. A violent magnetic field filled the air, drawing lightning as if every living thing were a lightning rod. Thunder crashed day and night, and a single stray bolt could end a man in an instant.
But for the strong? It was paradise. A natural training ground.
Legends whispered that Kaido himself had once stayed at Thunder God Island, surviving half a year in its depths. Others had followed in his footsteps, chasing strength in the heart of the storm.
And now, so had Marshall D. Teach.
His lightning techniques, while useful, lacked the sheer destructive power he craved. Unlike the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, his current barely reached a few million volts. Enough to enhance his swordsmanship and fuel explosive bursts of speed, but against true monsters, it wasn't enough.
This place might change that.
"Listen up," Teach told Mobius and the others as they made landfall. "Don't let your guard down. Out here, a bolt from the sky can fry you before you take three steps."
The town they entered had grown over decades. Pirates mingled with rugged locals, but all eyes were wary of the bronze-skinned Thunder Tribe guards. The tribe respected strength above all, and outsiders quickly learned not to pick fights without cause.
On the streets, most wore rubber headgear, thick coverings sold by merchants who'd turned survival into a thriving business. Some Thunder Tribe warriors scoffed at such protection, but many outsiders clung to it like lifelines.
Teach bought three and tossed them to his men.
Mobius grimaced as he tugged the thing over his head, his face poking awkwardly from the rubber shell. "Boss… these look ridiculous. Out here, we probably don't even need them."
BOOM!
A lightning bolt slammed into a pirate just a few steps away. Sparks sizzled over the street as the man collapsed. Onlookers froze then breathed when he twitched, groaned, and sat up. His rubber headpiece smoked with a blackened scar where the bolt had struck.
"What… what happened?" the pirate stammered.
"You got struck, you idiot!" his friend laughed nervously. "Luckily you had that thing on. Otherwise you'd be charcoal." He clapped his shoulder. "Come on, I'm buying you dinner!"
Mobius's cheeks flushed red beneath his rubber hood. He didn't complain again.
"You three find a place to stay," Teach ordered, striding off alone. "I'll be gone for ten days."
Already, he felt the storm reacting to him. His body's magnetic field, honed through years of lightning training, thrummed in resonance with the island. Each step he took deeper inland pulled harder.
The air cracked.
A massive bolt, thick as a child's arm, came screaming from the heavens. Gasps erupted from the crowd, it was rare to see lightning fall here in the outskirts, let alone twice in one day.
But Teach didn't flinch.
He clenched his fist, swung upward, and met the bolt head-on. The impact boomed like cannon fire, sparks scattering across the square. For three whole seconds, man and lightning clashed.
Then Teach roared, "Zehahahaha! Not enough!" and shattered the bolt apart with his fist.
The crowd erupted in shouts.
And then another bolt came. And another. Each time, Teach met it with bare fists, scattering nature's wrath as if mocking the heavens. His black coat smoldered, so he stripped it off and tossed it aside, walking bare-chested into the storm. His tricorn hat and bandana followed, set carefully on a rock.
The lightning hunted him relentlessly.
At first, once every several seconds. Then once a second. Then faster. By the time he reached the mountains, it was a constant barrage, his body the center of a storm that refused to let him go.
A crowd followed, drawn by the spectacle.
Pirates, townsfolk, even Thunder Tribe warriors. More than half the island trailed after him until the mists swallowed his figure. None dared follow deeper, beyond lay the true trial grounds.
Mobius, watching from afar, clenched his fists. "Boss Teach…" His voice trembled with awe. "He's fighting nature itself."
The islanders murmured in disbelief. Some swore they'd seen this before, years ago. Finally, a young Thunder Tribe boy shouted the name that had been on all their tongues.
"Kaido! Years ago, Kaido of the Beasts came here. The lightning struck him again and again, but it couldn't touch him!"
Memories stirred. Yes, Kaido had entered these very mountains, survived half a year, and emerged changed. Stronger. A monster who shook the New World.
Now, before their eyes, another man was walking the same path.
"Zehahaha!" Teach's laughter rang from the storm, even as the fog swallowed him whole.
The people left behind could only whisper.
"Another monster's being born."