Half an hour after leaving Water 7.
In the ship's kitchen.
Kaku stood in front of a refrigerator full of fruits and drinks, lost in thought.
Enel casually walked over, grabbed an apple from the fridge, wiped it off, took a bite, and began walking out.
Seeing Enel about to leave, Kaku quickly called out, "Hold on, don't tell me you guys always eat this kind of stuff…"
"What's wrong?" Enel asked nonchalantly, "Is there something wrong with eating this?"
"It's not that it's wrong… it's just that occasionally it's fine, but not all the time," Kaku scratched his long nose and said helplessly. "It might be fine for you, but Takumi is still growing, right? Eating these nutrient-poor foods every day won't help him grow tall."
"Eh… what do you mean it's fine for me? You looking for a fight?" Enel's body crackled ominously with lightning once more.
Kaku, speechless, said, "Calm down… I was just saying it casually, no offense…"
"Do you guys not cook for yourselves normally?" Kaku couldn't help but ask.
Enel's electric aura gradually faded, "I'm the god of thunder. Are you suggesting a god should cook? What a joke!"
Suddenly remembering something, Enel added, "Takumi can't cook either. Since you're here, you'll be in charge of cooking from now on."
"Eh? But I don't know how to cook…" Kaku broke out in a cold sweat, realizing he had dug himself into a hole…
Enel didn't care, "Since you're learning ship repair, learning to cook on the side isn't a big deal, right?"
Kaku: "…"
What a convenient side task!
Spandam really gave him a troublesome mission…
Learning to repair the ship was already a big challenge; now he had to learn to cook too?
"Oh, by the way," Enel said as he was leaving the kitchen, "If you're free, clean up the place as well. Takumi is a bit of a neat freak; don't make a mess on the ship. Also, Takumi has a bad temper in the morning. Don't disturb him before he's fully awake, or if you get beaten up, it's your own fault."
Kaku: "…"
So, what exactly was his role on this ship?
Repairing the ship, cooking, cleaning…
Was he being treated like a servant?
Kaku clenched his fists tightly, then, after Enel left, he took out the transponder snail to contact Spandam.
On the deck, Enel's voice suddenly rang out again, "We didn't buy much in Water 7. There's a small island with over 300 people ahead. Should we stop to replenish some supplies?"
"Whatever," Takumi said indifferently.
Kaku was momentarily stunned, then put the transponder snail back into his pocket, walked out of the cabin, and looked at the small island in the distance. He asked, "Can you sense how many people are on that island?"
Enel grinned, "I'm the god of thunder. If I want to, I can hear any sound. Ya hahahaha."
Takumi took a sip from his wine gourd and threw in a jab, "Is Observation Haki that rare?"
Enel's lips twitched slightly, annoyed, "Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you defeated me!"
Takumi sneered, then lay back on his special deck chair, casually saying, "I'm not going ashore. If you need to buy anything, you two go."
"Tch!" Enel extended his hand to Takumi, "I don't have any money."
Takumi took out a bag of Berries, weighed it, and tossed it to Kaku.
Kaku quickly caught it.
Seeing this, Enel complained, "I even extended my hand. Are you doing this to humiliate me on purpose?"
Takumi ignored him and suddenly remembered something. He took out several bottles of apple juice that he had brought from the iceberg and tossed them to Enel.
Enel nearly used lightning to strike the items Takumi tossed over. When he saw that it was apple juice, he quickly caught all the bottles, his tone improving slightly, "At least you have some conscience."
Takumi closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
Enel wisely chose not to bother him further.
Kaku looked at the bag of money in his hand, feeling both amused and helpless, "Why give the money to me?"
"Just take it," Enel said, opening a bottle of apple juice and taking a sip. His eyes lit up, "This tastes good, better than what's sold in stores."
Kaku glanced at the apple juice bottle Enel was holding and was momentarily surprised.
This juice was specifically provided for government officials, made from the best and freshest apples using special methods.
Such juice wasn't available in regular markets.
Kaku looked at Takumi, who was sunbathing and sleeping.
This guy, who knows Garp and seems to have connections with government officials, who exactly is he?
"Is Takumi very strong?" Kaku asked Enel quietly.
After all, he had never seen Takumi fight.
Enel chuckled, "Ridiculous. Do you think someone who can make me, the god of thunder, willingly become a crew member would be weak?"
"No, I don't think he's weak. It's just a bit unbelievable," Kaku said with a smile, "Haha, since you're so strong, it's hard to imagine someone younger than me being stronger than you."
"Ha, ignorant," Enel said with a smirk. Although he was defeated by one strike, if it was Takumi who defeated him, it was another story. "Back in Skypiea, he used one move to defeat me."
"One move?" Kaku was surprised, "He could withstand your lightning attack?"
"Exactly. Or rather, he was completely immune to my lightning attacks," Enel still found it hard to believe. "Facing my two hundred million volts, Takumi didn't even frown and used his lightning to cut through my thunder!"
"Wait, I'm a bit confused," Kaku asked, "How many volts was the lightning bird you struck me with yesterday?"
"Thirty million," Enel said disdainfully.
Kaku: "…"
A lightning bird of thirty million volts almost overwhelmed him. That two hundred million volts would have turned him to ashes!
Can this Takumi really be immune to two hundred million volts of lightning?
Or is Takumi a Devil Fruit user?
Kaku couldn't help but glance at Takumi again.
Enel guessed what Kaku was thinking and sneered, "He's not a Devil Fruit user."
"If he's not a Devil Fruit user, how could a normal person be immune to lightning?" Kaku asked, skeptical.
Enel shrugged, "Believe it or not."
At this time, the ship had already docked at the coast of the unknown island Enel had his eyes on.
Enel instantly appeared on the shore.
Kaku followed with a leap, landing beside Enel, "What do we need to buy?"
Enel shrugged, "Whatever."
Kaku sighed in resignation, "Fine, let's just buy some ingredients first…"
This was a small island, not very large in size.
Just as Enel had mentioned earlier on the ship, there were only about 300 people on this island.
Even though the population was small, all the necessary commercial buildings were present.
What particularly caught the attention of Enel and Kaku, who had come to purchase supplies, was a large factory located in the center of the island.
"Do you smell that?" Kaku sniffed the air and asked.
Enel looked towards the factory. There was a faint sweet fragrance in the air, seemingly coming from the factory.
"The smell of cream and jam… is it a dessert factory?" Enel asked curiously.
"Probably," Kaku laughed. "Hahaha, perfect! Let's buy some to take back. Eating sweets puts people in a good mood."
"Whatever," Enel said indifferently.
The two soon reached the circular street built around the factory.
Even though it wasn't yet noon, the street was unusually empty, with only a few shops still open, most of them run by the elderly or children.
"This island seems strange," Kaku said, looking around.
Enel, however, scoffed, "So what? What does it have to do with us?"
"Hahaha, true." Kaku laughed, scratching his nose. "Let's hurry and buy what we need."
They entered a shop selling fruits and vegetables, but as soon as they stepped inside, the smell almost made them turn around and leave.
Glancing at the shelves filled with rotting produce that had clearly been there for a long time, Kaku looked at the old man sitting inside reading a newspaper and said, speechless, "Boss, why don't you throw out these spoiled fruits and vegetables?"
The old man glanced up from his newspaper at Kaku and Enel, his face emotionless, "Buy it if you want. If not, get lost."
Kaku: "…"
Enel frowned slightly, sparks of lightning flashing around him.
Kaku, smiling wryly, said, "He's just a regular person. Killing him won't do us any good. Let's avoid trouble and find another store."
"Hmph!" Enel snorted. "What, you think you can tell me what to do?"
"That's not what I meant," Kaku said helplessly. "I just think it's unnecessary. You're the god of thunder, aren't you? Killing powerless ordinary people lowers your dignity as a god. Let's go find another store."
Enel was silent for a moment. Strangely, that reasoning made sense to him, so the lightning around him dissipated.
"Hmph! Consider yourself lucky," Enel sneered at the old man before leaving the store without another word.
Seeing that Enel had calmed down, Kaku breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as Kaku was about to follow Enel out, the old man put down his newspaper and spoke in a calm tone, "No need to go. The other stores are the same. This island no longer has enough resources to sell to outsiders. If you don't want to get caught up in this, if you don't want to die, you still have time to leave the island."
Kaku froze mid-step and turned back to the old man, his expression darkening. "What do you mean by that?"
The old man chuckled lightly and continued, "This afternoon, someone is coming to collect ten tons of desserts. We were supposed to have them ready by now, but two days ago, the warehouse where we stored the desserts was robbed, and more than half of them disappeared. To make sure we could deliver the ten tons of desserts today, every young person on the island has been working non-stop for the past two days in the factory."
He took a sip from a cup of cold tea sitting on the small table next to him. "But it doesn't matter. Two of the dessert-making machines in the factory broke down. No matter how hard they work, they won't make it in time. This island is doomed to be destroyed today."
Kaku was momentarily stunned, and a name immediately popped into his mind.
"Here to collect desserts… Could it be Big Mom's people?" Kaku asked in surprise.
The old man set down his tea cup, a faint smile on his face as though he had long accepted his fate. "That's right. Since you know about Big Mom, you should understand her terror. This island's fate is sealed. You'd better take that big guy from earlier and leave quickly."
After leaving the old man's shop, Enel wandered the small street for a bit. In just a few minutes, he had already walked through the entire area.
"What a useless island. Absolutely pathetic," Enel scoffed, continuing forward.
In the distance, two strange-looking figures suddenly appeared.
One was a minkman wearing a pink suit, with a sword at his waist, sunglasses on, and a lion-like appearance that made him look quite fierce. This was Pekoms, a member of the Mink Tribe.
The other was a tall figure, even taller than Enel, also wearing sunglasses, dressed in pink, with egg-shaped pants and a cane in hand. His appearance resembled a French gentleman with a handlebar mustache. This was Baron Tamago of the Longleg Tribe.
Pekoms and Baron Tamago were both combatants under Big Mom.
Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin, was one of the Four Emperors of the New World, a powerful figure who had a terrifying obsession with sweets. She was known to go so far as to mobilize an army to conquer a country just for dessert.
Enel didn't even bother to glance at the two of them and continued walking forward.
"Hey, move aside! Don't block the way!" Pekoms shouted at Enel with an annoyed tone.
"Move for me? Hmph, how foolish. I'm a god. If you don't want to die, get out of my way!" Enel sneered, showing no fear.
Pekoms lifted his sunglasses, revealing his beady eyes, his expression turning fierce. "You bastard, are you looking down on me?"
Most people, when seeing Pekoms' small, beady eyes, either thought he looked cute or found him amusing.
But Enel, staring at Pekoms' eyes, had his face partially covered by shadow as he growled, "What's wrong with your eyes? You think you can look down on me? Hmph, interesting. Now die!"
With that, Enel turned into lightning. Before Pekoms could even react, Enel pointed his finger at Pekoms' forehead, and in an instant, a blinding flash of electricity surged.
Pekoms didn't even have time to scream before his body started emitting black smoke, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed on the ground.
"Hey, Pekoms, are you okay?" Baron Tamago's expression changed drastically.
Enel turned to look at Baron Tamago. "Hmph, what, you want to die too?"
"Who are you?" Baron Tamago asked, now calm.
Just as Enel was about to arrogantly introduce himself, Kaku caught up.
"Wait a minute!" Kaku leapt forward, landing steadily in front of Enel. He glanced at the electrocuted Pekoms on the ground, suddenly feeling that things were taking a turn for the worse. Taking a deep breath, Kaku looked at Baron Tamago and asked, "Are you with Big Mom?"
Baron Tamago smirked, "Since you know we're Mama's people, you must be quite brave to attack us!"
Enel, lazily picking at his ear, asked, "Big Mom? Who's that?"