Chapter 23: Fruit Development Concepts

Sky Island, the Island of the Gods.

Thunder God Palace.

In a luxurious dining hall with ceilings ten meters high, an intricately carved table was laid with shimmering, radiant dishes and nectar.

Crystal-clear juice in silver cups, sizzling roasted meat on cloud-shaped trays, braised fresh clams coated in savory broth, and an array of rare delicacies filled the table.

But to Seven, these dishes revered as treasures barely reached half his own culinary standard.

Still, they were undeniably real gourmet fare.

Successfully awakening Armament Haki deserved a full half-day holiday—slow down, savor, indulge properly.

Seven lifted the silver cup, took a sip, and his gaze swept over Xia Ni, standing silently beside him, eyes lowered.

“Sit down and eat with me.”

“Yes, Thunder God.”

Xia Ni smoothed her skirt, stepped forward, pulled out a chair, her movements gentle yet unmistakably tense.

Idle chatter mingled with the soft clink of cups and glasses; Xia Ni occasionally spoke of Sky Island’s local customs, while Seven recounted tales from the Grand Line.

Since becoming the god of Sky Island, he had never before eaten so slowly, so elegantly, savoring each bite.

This dinner lasted two and a half hours; the relaxed atmosphere, like drifting clouds in the dining hall, made them forget time entirely.

The dishes were cleared; the table was spotless again.

Xia Ni lifted her head, her clear eyes reflecting the fractured light of the cloud-crystal chandelier: “Thunder God, I… could I learn swordsmanship from you?”

“Swordsmanship?” Seven set down his silver cup. “Why suddenly want to learn this?”

Xia Ni’s voice was clearer now: “I want to grow stronger… to protect Sky Island like you do.”

Seven rubbed his temples: I may not be a great swordsman, but I am one—surely I won’t lead students astray.

Protect Sky Island? Clearly Gan Fuer’s propaganda worked well: Aokiji was successfully cast as the evil villain attempting to invade Sky Island.

The one who drove away the evil villain Aokiji—Thunder God Barzab Seven—became Sky Island’s guardian deity by default.

“Go rest early tonight. Come to me tomorrow morning with Xia Lu.”

“Thank you.”

If Xia Ni wanted to learn anything other than swordsmanship, Seven truly couldn’t teach it—his only standout skill, Conqueror’s Haki wrapping, required first awakening Conqueror’s Haki.

He’d just begun Armament Haki—he couldn’t teach it yet.

Fruit ability development? Forget it.

Seven’s own development of the Raito Fruit was still in its infancy; he couldn’t even generate magnetism from electricity.

Sitting on the dining chair, fingers flickering with multicolored sparks, Seven was attempting to generate a magnetic field with electric current.

Electricity and magnetism are inseparable.

Where there is electricity, there is magnetism; where there is magnetism, there is electricity.

This statement isn’t entirely correct—only moving charges or changing electric fields produce magnetic fields; stationary charges generate no magnetic field.

And magnetism generating electricity—

Magnetic field particles must move at sufficient speed for their kinetic energy to overcome electron inertia, thereby pushing electrons to generate current.

In short, for Seven to generate a magnetic field from electricity, he must set the charges in motion.

Relatively speaking, this is simpler.

His desire to generate magnetism from electricity stemmed from inspiration drawn from a listing on the trading platform: the Ultra Electromagnetic Cannon.

【Ultra Electromagnetic Cannon: 20,000 points. The sparks dancing at your fingertips are my eternal faith. Seller’s note: My Ultra Electromagnetic Cannon shall endure forever.】

Who doesn’t love Railgun Girl?

With sufficient development of the Raito Fruit, Seven could perfectly replicate the Ultra Electromagnetic Cannon—even without tossing a coin.

Well, tossing the coin is the soul of it.

Generating magnetism from electricity to unleash the Ultra Electromagnetic Cannon was one of Seven’s proposed directions for Raito Fruit development.

Beyond that, once he mastered electromagnetism, he might even receive electromagnetic waves and brainwaves, greatly enhancing his Observation Haki.

Telepathy would follow naturally.

Moreover, the speed of light equals the speed of electromagnetic waves—light itself is an electromagnetic wave.

These were subtle developments of the Raito Fruit; for larger, stronger applications, Seven currently had only ideas like Raijin and Thunder God Form.

Raijin, the ultimate technique developed by Enel in the anime, is one of the few attacks in the pirate world capable of destroying an entire island in a single strike—on par with ancient weapons.

When facing large-scale battles like the Marineford War, Seven could simply unleash Raijin.

Whether it would actually explode was debatable, but the intimidation factor would be absolute.

Thunder God Form was Seven’s envisioned development path for the Raito Fruit, inspired by Susano’o—currently existing only as a concept.

For the higher-level awakening of the Raito Fruit, Seven had no ideas at all, but he suspected the system store would eventually sell Fruit Awakening.

50,000 points? 100,000 points?

Too distant for him right now.

Setting aside lofty ambitions, Seven instantly flashed to his bedroom beneath the Thunder God Palace’s dome, and slept with the starry sky as his pillow.

In the courtyard west of the Thunder God Palace’s main hall, two chattering voices pierced the silent night.

“Sis, I can’t sleep.”

On the white bed, Xia Ni hugged her knees, shaping the waves of her chest into different forms.

Xia Lu, with her short hair, ignored her sister’s rule-breaking figure, glanced down at her own flat chest.

“Sleep if you want to.”

…

The next day, dawn lit up the White Sea.

Thunder God Palace, Training Ground.

Seven wore black training attire, held a wooden sword, and casually slashed out a flying cut, then fixed his calm gaze on Xia Ni and Xia Lu.

“The essence of swordsmanship lies in intent and momentum—not brute force.”

“Of course, if you’re strong enough, brute force can still create miracles.”

“Follow the method I just taught you—swing your sword ten thousand… three thousand times daily.”

Both sisters wore black training attire, yet carried entirely different vibes: Xia Ni, curvaceous and magnetic, seemed to pull eyes toward her; Xia Lu, youthful yet fiercely determined.

“Yes, Thunder God.”

Teaching swordsmanship to these sisters was merely a casual pastime for Seven.

He didn’t care how well they’d master it, nor did he expect these two girls to become top-tier fighters—it was just a small adornment to his monotonous training.

On the other side of the training ground.

Thirty Thunder Cloud Guards, clad in silver armor, wielding long spears embedded with cutting shells, stood in perfect formation like pine trees, awaiting the Thunder God’s inspection.

Seven instantly flashed before the Thunder Cloud Guards, then casually pulled a black cloth from his system inventory and tied it over his eyes.

“Starting today, attack me with your weapons—I won’t retaliate.”

“Yes, Thunder God!”

Thirty voices rang in unison, shaking the air slightly.

After over three months of conditioning, Seven had long since subdued the Thunder Cloud Guards with absolute power; now, they revered him with unquestioning obedience.

After awakening Armament Haki,

Seven turned his focus to Observation Haki, choosing the most direct and simplest method: taking hits.

The black cloth blocked his vision; he shut off his electromagnetic prediction ability entirely, emptied his mind, and relied solely on his body to sense the flow of all things around him.

The path of the wind, the tremors of air, and the breaths and heartbeats of the thirty Thunder Cloud Guards gradually became clear in his perception.

“Clang—Clang—Clang—”

Sharp cuts from the cutting shells struck Seven repeatedly; the metallic clangs echoed through the training ground.

Attacks capable of splitting cloud-rock landed on his steel-balloon body, leaving not even a white mark—only dull thuds remained.

The Thunder Cloud Guards froze in unison, their grip tightening on their weapons, eyes filled with disbelief.

“Continue.”

Clang~ Clang~ Clang~

Each time he dodged an attack, it honed Seven’s perception, making his sensitivity to energy signatures increasingly sharp.