Chapter 464: A Clash of Combat Wits
After canceling out Ian's Black Dragon Wave with the energy of his Thunder Dragon, Enel looked somewhat smug.
He thought he had found a way to counter Ian.
However, Ian suddenly grinned and said, "Oh really? Then try this again!"
With that, Ian clenched his right fist, and another black dragon pattern coiled up his arm before being released toward the Ark.
"No matter how many times you try, it'll be the same!" Enel roared arrogantly: "Sixty Million Volts! Thunder Dragon!"
The rampaging lightning dragon once again flew out from the Thunder Drum, meeting the flame dragon head-on. But at the moment of impact, something terrifying happened to Enel—his Thunder Dragon vanished upon colliding with Ian's Black Dragon Wave, yet Ian's Black Dragon Wave only shrank slightly before continuing to fly toward the Ark!
Enel had made an error based on experience. His Goro Goro no Mi ability had different energy forms depending on the voltage, while Ian's Black Dragon Wave had only one outward appearance. However, the energy contained within it could be freely adjusted by Ian!
It was the same Black Dragon Wave, but the one fired earlier was only at the most basic Psychic Power level, while this one had been infused with double the Psychic Power. They were not the same!
The greater the Psychic Power consumption, the stronger the Black Dragon Wave and the longer it lasted.
Not seeing the expected cancellation of the Black Dragon Wave, Enel was shocked. He knew full well the destructive power this high-temperature flame could have on his Ark, so he didn't hesitate to use his maximum strength.
"Two Hundred Million Volts! Thor!"
A massive image of Thor, with hair standing on end and formed from a vast amount of lightning, manifested around Enel. The Thor figure opened its palm and slammed it fiercely toward Ian's Black Dragon Wave.
This time, it finally dispersed Ian's Black Dragon Wave.
But before Enel could catch his breath, he suddenly saw Ian flying in the air, his entire body flickering with streaks of lightning.
Enel was momentarily stunned. He knew Ian could also control lightning, but he couldn't understand why Ian would use lightning power at this moment!
His Ark Maxim had been designed from the start to complement his Devil Fruit ability. The reason the ship had a cabin made of gold was that gold was an excellent conductor, capable of transmitting his electric current to charge the Ark. If Ian kept using flame power against him, Enel would find it troublesome. But now, trying to attack the Ark with the same lightning power was a huge mistake!
When his lightning struck the Ark, it would not only be useless but could even charge the Ark ahead of time, allowing it to fly.
Thinking this, Enel's face broke into a smile. He didn't point it out, just watched Ian.
But then, he noticed something was off. The countless electric currents on Ian's body weren't striking the Ark... they were striking the ground!
Ian's hands and feet sent arcs of electricity into the ground, crackling loudly, and soon, a large amount of dust began to rise from the surface.
Ian wasn't that stupid. He knew electricity was useless against the Ark Maxim. The reason he was using lightning power now was that he planned to fire a Railgun at the Ark!
The rising dust was actually a large number of iron-containing particles!
From the moment he set foot on this sky island, Ian had noticed something: the ground of Angel Island wasn't truly earth. It was composed of specific elements—condensed cloud moisture and atmospheric dust—making it very homogeneous.
In other words, the ground of Angel Island wasn't real soil; it contained no metallic elements.
The metal elements here mainly referred to iron particles. If one observed carefully, there were no steel products on Angel Island, at most a hard cloud layer called "Iron Cloud," but that wasn't steel either.
Unable to sense metal elements, Ian's electromagnetic power naturally couldn't attract any iron.
But the ground where Enel's palace now stood was different. This was part of the ancient golden city of Shandora that had been blasted into the sky—true "earth"!
Here, there was real soil, so Ian could easily extract iron sand from the ground.
As the iron sand gathered and formed a ball in Ian's hand, he held it and increased his electrical output. The iron particles then melted in the rising temperature.
Seeing this, Enel's eyes nearly popped out. This scene was all too familiar to him.
This was "Lightning Metallurgy"! Enel could also use this technique; it was one of his proudest applications of his Goro Goro no Mi ability. He never expected Ian to do the same, and right in front of him!
"What... what is he going to do!?" Enel couldn't grasp Ian's intention and could only stare dumbfounded.
Once the bullet was formed, Ian looked at the pigeon-egg-sized projectile in his hand and smiled. The flame power of the Black Dragon Wave was strong, but it wasn't invincible. Flame was different from lightning, so the Black Dragon Wave's flight speed was relatively slow. This was why Enel had time to launch a second Thor attack to cancel it out mid-flight.
But with the Railgun, it was different. At this close range, Enel wouldn't even have time to react!
Zzzz! Stronger arcs began to crackle around Ian's arm, circling it entirely. Then, Ian used his thumb and middle finger to hold the bullet, aiming at Enel's position.
Ian had tested the Railgun's projectile before; it couldn't be made too large. A bigger bullet would increase power but was harder to launch—his hand couldn't hold it properly.
But this size was enough for the task.
When Enel saw Ian aim at him, he sensed danger and quickly gathered his power again, manifesting the two-hundred-million-volt Thor and reaching out to grab Ian.
But at that moment, Ian struck.
Boom! As Ian fired the Railgun, a fierce gale blew away the surrounding clouds. Accompanied by a massive sonic boom, the bullet shot forward and slammed into the palm of Enel's Thor... and then...
It passed right through!
Energy was energy, matter was matter. Enel's lightning could cancel out Ian's Black Dragon Wave, but when faced with this tiny bullet, it was helpless!
Because iron itself was a conductor. The lightning contained immense energy, but it offered no resistance, so it couldn't stop the bullet's advance. Even if the high voltage caused thermal effects, the time was too short to melt the bullet. At this close range, with the bullet's incredible speed, it instantly struck the cabin of the Ark.
Thud!!! A loud impact echoed. The moment the bullet touched the Ark's cabin, its immense energy exploded. Though it was just a small projectile, it instantly blasted a huge hole in the cabin—about a meter in diameter—and pierced straight through the entire structure!
"My Ark!" Enel cried out in pain at the sight. He stared blankly at the smoking hole in the Ark, unsure how to react.
Cracking sounds came from the Ark as several propellers stopped spinning. Clearly, Ian's Railgun had pierced the hull and damaged the internal machinery, causing the propellers to cease operation.
Seeing this, Ian knew he had achieved his goal. This Ark wouldn't be flying anytime soon.
Flying ships were rare; at least in the Blue Sea, Ian had never seen such a flying vehicle. Normally, he could have claimed it as a prize for his own use. But considering the danger of combining the Ark with Enel's ability, Ian decided it was better to disable it first.
However, at that moment, Enel, who had been mourning his Ark, suddenly froze and looked up at the sky.
Ian noticed his action and also looked up.
He saw that the dark thunderclouds in the sky were still expanding, now covering a huge area of the clouds above.
"Not good!" Ian's heart sank. He looked down at the chimney on top of the Ark and, sure enough, it was still spewing clouds upward!
Ian's Railgun had pierced the hull, but it only disrupted the flight system. The system for creating thunderclouds remained unharmed...
"Hahaha! Heaven helps me!" Seeing this, Enel beamed with joy, spreading his arms and shouting at the sky.
(Sanqi Chinese Literature Network)