By the time Terry Gilteo reached outside the stone building, the ship carrying Takumi and his crew had already landed on a flat patch of sand nearby.
Takumi was the first to jump off the ship. As soon as his feet touched the ground, a system prompt echoed in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully reaching the check-in location, Baltigo. Sign-in progress increased by 10%. Current total progress: 10%. Reward: Golden Staff, automatically stored in system inventory.]
[Ding! The Golden Staff is forged from celestial iron, possessing indestructible strength. Its power is determined by the user's own strength. The staff has a blood-binding feature. Before bonding, it's just an ordinary iron rod. Once bonded, it will activate its power and change form according to the owner's will—it can grow larger or smaller, lighter or heavier, with a maximum weight of up to one million kilograms.]
Takumi remained silent.
The system's rewards were becoming more diverse—even including the Golden Staff? Though to be fair, the staff could indeed be considered an extraordinary weapon.
After Takumi disembarked, Enel and Kaku followed suit, jumping off the ship.
"Tch, there's nobody particularly strong around here," Enel said dismissively. "I thought anyone Takumi knew would be strong."
Kaku curiously surveyed the surroundings. When he saw a few individuals exiting the stone building, they seemed vaguely familiar, though he couldn't remember where he had seen them.
After confirming that it was indeed Takumi and his crew who had descended from the ship, Terry Gilteo led a group of Revolutionary Army soldiers to approach them.
Both Dragon and Sabo had previously mentioned Takumi, and both had favorable impressions of him. Moreover, Takumi had killed a Celestial Dragon, an act that made him a de facto ally of the Revolutionary Army. Thus, Terry was polite toward Takumi and his companions. "Welcome, gentlemen. Have you come to see our leader?"
Takumi gave a slight nod.
Terry raised the transponder snail in his hand and continued, "Unfortunately, your timing could be better. Our leader and Sabo went out on a mission just yesterday. Judging from the usual duration of such missions, it could take anywhere from three to six months before they return. If it's something urgent, I can use this transponder snail to contact the leader directly."
Takumi glanced at the transponder snail in Terry's hand but said plainly, "No need. We'll wait here for his return."
"Huh?" Everyone present, including Enel and Kaku, was stunned.
"No way—are we really going to wait on this barren island for three to six months?" Enel asked in disbelief. "Takumi, are you sure you're not out of your mind?"
Before Enel could say more, Takumi jumped up and punched Enel right in the face, sending him flying.
Kaku had seen it happen too many times to even react.
A few beads of sweat formed on Terry and his team's foreheads.
"Um, is your crewmate going to be alright?" Terry asked awkwardly.
Takumi said indifferently, "Don't worry about him."
At that moment, a tall, muscular Fish-Man named Haku, who was just a bit shorter than Enel and sported long, wavy silver hair, rushed over from the training grounds behind the stone building. He was dressed in a martial arts uniform.
When Haku saw Enel swearing and pulling himself out of a pile of rubble in the distance, his brow furrowed. He looked at Terry and asked, "Did you guys attack them?"
Terry said helplessly, "No, it wasn't us. Takumi himself did that."
"Huh? Really?" Haku glanced at Takumi and his crew, scratching his head. "The leader and Sabo aren't here. If you're here to find them, you could return in about six months or try to catch up with them—they left just yesterday and shouldn't have gone far."
"They said they want to wait here for the leader's return," Terry replied with a sigh.
Haku was astonished. "Seriously? They want to stay here?"
Takumi asked calmly, "Are we not welcome?"
"No, no, not at all," Terry said with an awkward laugh. "Our leader has always hoped you'd come here. If you really intend to stay until he returns, let me arrange some guest rooms for you."
With that, Terry gave a signal to the Revolutionary Army soldiers accompanying him.
They immediately cleared a path for Takumi and his crew.
Takumi, without hesitation, led Kaku into the stone building.
"Aren't you going to help your companion?" Terry asked, surprised to see Takumi ignore Enel.
Takumi didn't respond.
Kaku smiled. "No need—that big guy will follow in a bit."
"Heh, it seems you guys are pretty close," Terry said with a dry laugh. Just as Takumi and Kaku entered the stone building, a bolt of lightning flashed past him.
Enel suddenly appeared beside Kaku and immediately punched the unsuspecting Kaku in the head. "Stupid long nose! Don't think I didn't hear you talking about me!"
Kaku stumbled, nearly falling over. "How dare you! Would you dare hit the captain?"
"You think I'm that stupid?" Enel scoffed. "Hitting you is enough—I don't want to fight that monster Takumi."
As Enel spoke, Kaku threw a punch. Enel quickly raised his arm to block.
Kaku's fist, enhanced with Armament Haki, landed squarely in Enel's palm, forcing him back two steps. Kaku then leaped forward, aiming a kick at Enel.
Enel once again blocked, raising his arm to intercept Kaku's kick.
With a grin, Kaku used his other leg to unleash a Rankyaku, one of the Six Powers techniques, sending a sharp vacuum slash toward Enel.
"You idiot, you're asking for it," Enel growled before instantly shifting into his elemental form.
Kaku's Rankyaku attack passed harmlessly through Enel's elementalized body, slicing a massive boulder fifty meters behind him cleanly in half.
"What a pity," Kaku said with a smirk. "If I'd been just a bit faster, I could have hit you before you transformed. Maybe I could have dealt some serious damage."
"Damn you, long nose!" Enel shouted, launching a barrage of lightning strikes at Kaku.
Kaku dodged nimbly and pulled out his modified third-generation lightning absorption device. When unable to dodge, he absorbed the approaching lightning and returned it toward Enel.
As the wielder of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Enel was immune to electricity, so the redirected lightning simply merged back into his body.
"Your stupid invention actually worked?" Enel asked, half-amused while continuing his attack.
Kaku replied while dodging, "It needs further improvement—it can only absorb and release one strike at a time."
"Hmph, I don't understand why you waste your time on these useless inventions," Enel grumbled. "You could use that time to improve your cooking. Your meals have been awful lately."
"You should be grateful," Kaku shot back. "You're just getting pickier. My cooking hasn't declined one bit. Think back to what you and the captain used to eat before I joined. It was practically garbage!"
"Damn it!" Enel yelled, throwing another set of lightning bolts at Kaku.
Kaku dodged once again, but this time, Enel's attack struck the stone building's entrance, shattering the door into pieces.
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