43 Chapter 7
It took every ounce of his self-control for Markus to not instantly leap to his feet and run out of the ship to watch Luffy deliver the final blow. The biggest thing preventing him from moving was the chance he could be seen. As necessary as it was for him to stay hidden and wait patiently, it was still a dick move on his part. He didn't think the crew would appreciate him letting them take such a beating and suffer as they had while he sat comfortably in the Arc Maxim. It would be even worse if they thought he was a coward. So, he waited where he was until he heard the most beautiful sound in the world.
Luffy had delivered his final blow crushing Enel between his fist and the golden bell. The sound of the bell ringing echoed through all of Skypiea and even down to the blue sea. It was a signal to Markus, the starting pistol, the beginning of the next stage. He instantly shot to his feet and ran through the ship as fast as he could. As he arrived at the main door to the deck, the ship lost power and began to free fall through the air.
He merely cracked the door open a little bit and watched for the moment that the Arc Maxim passed through the layer of cloud separating Skypiea from the White White sea below. It didn't take long. As soon as the ship passed through the cloud layer, Markus locked onto Enel's life sign as he too was falling through the air. Wasting no time, Markus jumped as close to Enel's unconscious body as he could before using his Geppo to cover the remaining distance between them.
Once he was within range, Markus grabbed Enel by the ankle and ran back to the Arc Maxim. He arrived just in time to experience the ship impacting the White White Sea. The ship started to sink into the clouds but at the last moment, the emergency jet dials kicked in and stopped the ship from sinking further. That explained how the ship hadn't fallen all the way down to the blue sea. With the ship stable, Markus dropped Enel down on the deck and pulled the Devil Fruit Extraction Serum from his inventory.
It was finally time and Markus wasn't foolish enough to waste even a moment. He instantly coated the needle of the syringe in a layer of black Armament Haki. Even though Enel was unconscious and his Logia shouldn't protect him in that state, he was taking zero chances. With no hesitation at all, Markus gripped the syringe in a reverse grip and slammed his hand down plunging the thick needle directly into Enel's heart. The moment the full needle was inserted he pushed down on the plunger and injected the mysterious serum into Enel's heart.
Markus held his breath, it was the moment of truth. He pulled the needle out and stored the syringe away. He would need a good story to tell the crew and the syringe would act as evidence for part of that story. Just an instant later, Enel began thrashing around as if he was having a seizure. The next moment his eyes opened wide as he screamed in utter agony. Blood even shot out of his mouth as he screamed so hard that he tore his throat. As he screamed his lungs out, a pitch-black hole opened in his chest just above his heart.
The hole didn't reveal anything gory or disturbing, it was like looking into an empty abyss. It didn't stay empty for long as a blue object slowly began to rise out of it and come out into the open. The Devil Fruit of the Goro Goro no Mi was almost nondescript. It was a round fruit that could have been anything. Apple, peach, orange, or plum, any kind of round fruit. What made it distinctive was the typical swirling design on the skin that all Devil Fruit had along with a unique stem. The fruit was mainly blue with a swirling white pattern that looked like depictions of lightning bolts. Instead of the standard T-shaped stem, it had a stem that looked like a lightning bolt.
The moment the fruit completely exited the gaping black hole in Enel's chest, Markus grabbed the fruit and instantly took a bite out of it. He was taking zero chances here. The moment he bit into the fruit and tasted it, he gagged and nearly vomited it out. It was like all the worst rotten food had their flavors combined into one and were now inhabiting his mouth and having a dirty party. There was simply no way to explain just how disgusting the taste of the Devil Fruit was. Still, he persevered and swallowed that single bite down. That's all it took but he still stored the remainder of the Devil Fruit inside of his inventory, another piece of his story.
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Devil Fruit obtained! Integrating the Goro Goro no Mi with the system. 1%...
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For most people a Devil Fruit ability was instantly obtained, thanks to his system it looked like it would take a few extra minutes for Markus's to kick in. Still, he couldn't hold down his excitement! He had it! He finally had one of the most powerful and useful Devil Fruits in the entire world! Once he practiced with it and developed his skills with it he could easily rise to the strength of a Yonko! He would be nearly untouchable and virtually invincible! His heart hammered violently in his chest as his face flushed with excitement. He was finally free! He could finally stop holding back and letting things play out! He was going to show the world the power he obtained, the power of his friends, the power of the Strawhat Fleet!
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Integrating the Goro Goro no Mi with the system. 3%...
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With his internal 'villain' monologue finished, Markus returned his attention back to Enel. The pitch-black hole in his chest had closed and Enel was still breathing, though now he was unconscious from the pain of having his Devil Fruit extracted. Enel was still very much alive, the extraction process clearly hurt like hell but it hadn't killed him. So, that was good, he could present Enel as a prisoner and it would help his story since he hadn't actually killed Enel for his fruit. That was one worry off his mind... still... He looked at his quest for Skypiea and smiled to himself. He was curious to see if he could scam the system. For that... he waited.
For the next half an hour, Markus sat on the deck of the Arc Maxim in the middle of nowhere on the White White Sea and watched the percentage for the integration of his fruit tick up one percent at a time. The moment it hit one hundred percent, a multitude of notifications went off while bolts of purple electricity started to spark off of his body randomly while a newfound feeling of power flooded through his entire being. The sparks lasted for just a few moments but they made Markus curious. In the Manga, Enel's lightning was yellow. In the anime it was blue, in this world it had been blue as well, but now his own was purple? The hell?
He decided to ignore that for now, what was most important was the sudden influx of new abilities in his arsenal! He quickly opened his list of skills and looked through every single new one!
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Goro Goro no Mi Control
[Passive, Level 1, 0.0%]
The basis of using any Devil Fruit is the user's control over the abilities the fruit grants. The Goro Goro no Mi allows the user to control, create, and become lightning. The more familiar the user becomes with their Devil Fruit the more efficient and powerful their abilities with the fruit become.
Every ten levels that the users gains in Goro Goro no Mi control allows the user to design a custom skill based on the fruit's power. This doesn't prevent the user from creating skills on their own.
Damage dealt by the Goro Goro no Mi is based on the Spirit attribute.
+1% Damage with Goro Goro no Mi abilities
-0.5% Willpower cost to Goro Goro no Mi abilities
Logia Intangibility
[Passive]
As with all Logia class Devil Fruits, the user of the Goro Goro no Mi is invulnerable to all normal attacks. Unlike most Logia's, the user of the Goro Goro no Mi can also use their intangibility to travel through solid conductive matter. This intangibility stops working when faced with Armament Haki, seawater, seastone, or a Devil Fruit that can be considered an insulator, such as Gomu Gomu no Mi and it's rubber property.
Electricity Detection
[Passive]
By detecting the electrical signals emitted by just about everything in existence, the user of the Goro Goro no Mi can detect things at a much greater distance and with more clarity than normal. This skill increases the range of the user's Observation Haki by a factor of 1,000.
Lightning Speed
[Passive, Level 1, 0.0%]
One of the greatest aspects of lightning is its sheer speed. However, you are not fully prepared to deal with it. This skill will restrict your top speed until you grow used to it. Additionally, Lightning Speed cannot be increased by other movement techniques.
1% of Maximum speed unlocked (2.2 Million MPH/611 MPS)
Quick Travel
[Active]
A special feature implemented by the system. By using the System Map the user can automatically travel to anywhere they have been before using the maximum speed of lightning.
Cost: 500 Willpower
Cooldown: 12 Hours
Second Life
[Passive]
When your HP is reduced to zero a jolt of electricity will restart your heart and bring you back to life with 1 HP, provided you are still conscious.
Cooldown: 1 Year
Lightning Bolt
[Active, Level 1, 0.0%]
The most basic attack of the Goro Goro no Mi, the user is capable of firing a bolt of lightning at a target within sight.
+2% Damage
Lightning Blast
[Active, Level 1, 0.0%]
A more powerful version of the Lightning Bolt attack that the user can control the power of. By increasing the amount of Willpower used for the attack the user can increase the damage dealt.
[Minimum]
+2% Damage
Cost: 1 Willpower
Extra:
+2% Damage per additional Willpower Point spent
Electrical Self Defense
[Passive]
When attacked, the user of the Goro Goro no Mi will automatically counter attack with electricity. This automatic attack deals the same damage as the base Lightning Bolt skill.
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After carefully looking over everything, Markus was both excited and annoyed. He was excited for obvious reasons, he was now the owner of one of the strongest Logia Devil Fruits and could grow its power as he saw fit! However, it was annoying knowing he had many skills he needed to level up to get them up to par with his physical skills. He was also very thankful that he was in the middle of nowhere. His Observation Haki in the passive mode now had a massive range of 75,000 feet! That was just over 14 miles! If he used the active mode that would increase by a factor of ten and cover a range of over 140 miles! No wonder Enel could hear everything happening in Skypeia.
There were two skills in particular that irked him the most though. Lightning Speed and Second Life. One of the reasons he coveted the Goro Goro no Mi was its speed! Having it gated to just one percent of its maximum potential sucked! That was a skill he intended to grind like mad! He was already slower than Kizaru and his Pika Pika no Mi with his fruit at its maximum potential. Now? Now, he was like a snail compared to Kizaru! The Second Life skill was literally a lifesaver, but why the hell did if have a one-year cooldown?! It wasn't like he planned to abuse the skill or anything, who in their right mind would want to come that close to death? Even so, he'd feel a whole lot better if it had a shorter cooldown.
He didn't have much else to complain about and closed his sheet before climbing to his feet. He turned to look at the horizon and grinned widely. He'd looked them over, now it was time to try them! He lifted his right hand and with just a simple thought, a quick blast of purple lightning launched out of his hand and struck the white cloud sea off the side of the ship. The strike sent up a spray of water and steam. At least the heat of his lightning hadn't been gated by the system! He was counting on abusing that heat in the future.
He laughed as he fired off lightning bolt after lightning bolt. Because it was such a simple basic skill, he could use it for free. His laugher became an uproar after he started firing lightning bolts like he was a human machinegun. Once he had his fun with that, he decided to try the more powerful Lightning Blast skill. The base damage of the Lightning Blast was the same as the Lightning Bolt, however, he could dump more willpower into it to increase its damage. The only limit was his total Willpower!
He grinned like an idiot as he took a pose anyone familiar with anime would likely recognize. He placed his arms straight out in front of himself with his wrists touching and his fingers curled toward each other like claws, "Ka..."
He slowly pulled his arms back towards his right hip while chanting, "Me..."
As his wrists came close to his waist purple electricity began to gather between his curled fingers. It crackled ominously as he continued to pour more Willpower into it while chanting, "Ha..."
He channeled even more Willpower into the electricity causing its color to go from a bright purple to a dark royal purple, "Me..."
He threw his arms foreword and placed them directly in front of his chest while shouting, "HA!"
The lightning, charged with five hundred extra Willpower, exploded out of his hands as a massive beam of lighting a couple of meters thick, similar to the pillars of lighting Enel attacked with. With that much Willpower in it, even at level one, it was dealing +1002% damage. The dark purple beam of lightning slammed into the White White Sea and caused a massive explosion. Markus wasn't an idiot and had aimed the blast five miles away from his current location. Turns out, that wasn't quite enough. The explosion of steam from the supermassive superheated lightning blast caused a riot of waves to crash into the Arc Maxim and toss it around like a rubber duckie in a bathtub.
Markus held on for dear life until the ship stopped rocking back and forth on the sea. His chances of actually falling into the sea were extremely low. He had Geppo and his new fruit abilities to keep him from landing in the cloud sea. With the sea calm, he let out a sigh and simultaneously heard a pained groan behind him. He turned and smiled when he saw Enel struggling to wake up. Markus walked over near him and waited patiently until Enel woke up a few moments later.
The moment Enel opened his eyes he shot up into a sitting position and looked around to get his bearings. The moment he spotted Markus standing a few feet away he threw his arm up and aimed it directly at him.
...
Nothing happened. Enel clearly looked confused before thrusting his arm at Markus once again. When nothing happened once more he began to panic a little, "What's going on?! Why can't I kill you?!" His eyes turned to Markus, "Answer me you bastard!"
Markus just smiled mockingly, "What's the matter 'god'? Can't get it up?"
Enraged, Enel leaped to his feet while clenching his fists, "How dare you speak to me like that you insect! I am God Enel! I am a GOD!"
Markus smirked as he taunted Enel some more, "Well, if you're such a powerful 'god', why aren't you smiting me? Hmmmm? I was right, wasn't I? The 'Almighty God Enel' can't get it up after getting his ass beaten by my captain eh?"
Markus watched, amused, as Enel did everything in his power to summon his lightning and smite him. Nothing Enel did worked, obviously. Enel's frustration, fear, and panic mounted moment by moment as he felt something was dreadfully wrong. In his frustration, he charged at Markus with his fist cocked back to punch the insolent insect for being amused at his struggle.
Markus watched as Enel seemed to be moving so slowly. His perception of time changed somewhat as he tapped into the speed of the Goro Goro no Mi. He patiently waited until the very last moment when Enel's fist was just millimeters away from the tip of his nose. The instant before Enel's fist touched him, Markus vanished from where he was and appeared behind Enel covered in purple sparks of Electricity. The instantaneous movement was extremely disorienting as one instant Markus was in front of Enel and the next he was facing Enel's back. It was jarring as hell and he understood why his speed was limited. Even at one percent, it was going to take a lot to get used to it.
Enel stumbled as he overextended his punch. Once he recovered he looked around utterly confused at the disappearance of Markus, it was almost as if... no, that was impossible...
Seeing Enel looking left and right, Markus grinned like a devil and tapped Enel on his shoulder. Enel nearly jumped out of his skin and spun around to face Markus once again, "You! What did you just do?!"
Seeing that Enel was too emotional and freaked out by the sudden loss of his power to use his weak ass 'Mantra', Markus decided to explain. He held up his right hand and caused sparks of bright purple electricity to dance on his fingers and palm, "Oh, nothing much, just stole the power of a 'God' and made it my own."
Enel's eyes widened to a comical degree as he saw the oh-so-familiar lightning dancing on the palm of Markus's hand. He stuttered and sputtered, "N...no... it... n-no... IMPOSSIBLE!!"
"Oh, but it is. Goodnight ex-god Enel."
Enel looked confused, "Goodnight?"
Markus didn't reply as he curled his sparking hand into a fist and charged more energy into it by using his Lightning Bolt ability. Nothing in the skill said it was exclusively a long-range attack, and it was worth testing to see if he could use it in melee so he could combine it with his other skills. It seemed like he could. Before Enel could utter another word, Markus took a solid step forward, instantly planting himself solidly, and slammed his lightning coated fist into Enel's exposed stomach with enough force to bend Enel in half over his arm. Enel's eyes bulged as bile was forced out of his stomach. When Markus removed his fist from Enel's, now burnt, stomach, Enel collapsed to the ground out cold once again.
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You have defeated Enel, +7,500 experience.
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Markus smirked. Nothing in his quest said he had to defeat Enel when he still had the Goro Goro no Mi right? Obviously, if Enel still had the fruit he would have been worth more experience but Markus didn't care in the least. He'd already gotten his real prize. With that taken care of, it was time to address the big ass elephant he was standing on. He wanted the Arc Maxim, but he couldn't just sail it around. It was ugly as sin and heavy as hell. He was all about speed so this thing just wouldn't do. Besides, he wanted to convert all the gold into cash. Or at least, most of it. He had a plan, but there was something else he needed to do first. It was almost time to rejoin his friends and spin his tail.
