Chapter 23: Chapter 23: First Mission

__________ POV Narration__________

Enel looked at the sea in front of him with a relaxed smile on his face. The fact that there was a storm raging about didn't really seem to phase him much.

The rain didn't get him wet due to a large umbrella sprouting out of his golden staff.

There were quite a few things on the young Marine's mind, one of them being his current mission.

'Hunt down the Gorrila Pirates' A pirate crew with a captain that had a 400 million bounty on his head, rather notorious in the beginning parts of the New World.

It was a rather high bounty for a newcomer to be chasing. Under normal circumstances, Sengoku would've refrained from sending Enel on such a mission...

But not this time.

"I can't believe the Fleet Admiral is wasting my time in such a way! This is outrageous!" A voice was raging on the ship, probably speaking to some poor sod back in Marneford through the transponder snail.

The enraged voice belonged to none other than Akainu, the Admiral that was supposed to have a week off right now but was stuck on a ship, going for a pirate that was well below him.

Enel took a deep sigh when hearing that voice. A few days had already passed like this, his opinion of Akainu souring day by day.

Akainu also started hating Enel to the core, as the 'newcomer' didn't bother much with honorifics or with respecting the hierarchy that the marines had in place.

They both were bearing with each other as best as they could. Neither had any clue why Sengoku even thought this was a good idea.

Most of the marines steering the ship were also being stressed out by Akainu's rageful shouting, this was just a random crew of another Vice Admiral that was supposed to be patrolling the seas where the Gorrila Pirates were last spotted.

They were already somewhat stressed due to the location they were constantly patrolling, this time their usual leader wasn't even present, so having Akainu's rage breathing down their necks made things even worse.

At least the presence of an Admiral gave them some semblance of safety. But Akainu didn't really have a great reputation for protecting other marines during missions, he had always been the type to do anything needed in order to finish a mission swiftly.

Enel smiled even more when hearing that stupid Admiral's voice die down a bit, he started humming a calming tune, it was in a quiet tone, but it was still audible. Almost like wind-chimes.

A tune he remembered from his past life, one that he used to hum while trekking the desert sands, vast expanses of nothingness that he used to explore for years on end.

It was where he had spent most of his time, sometimes with a team, sometimes alone.

Not many trekked those paths by themselves, it was considered dangerous.

But Enel was the type of person that always worked better when left to his own devices... And he also loved to revel in the silence, the cold of the desert nights was the most calming thing there was.

If only the sky could've been more accommodating, the feeling that the stars were looking at him, was what he found to be the most disturbing in his journey. Therefore he had started humming, humming like there was an audience.

Humming as if he was nothing more than a ghost in that desert, his curiosity binding him to haunt them for as long as his life allowed him to.

Maybe he had always been a deranged individual after all... All of it contained under a facade of class and the track record of a legendary archaeologist.

It also made more sense for him to be insane, maybe everything he was experiencing now was nothing but a delusion?

He had let his mind be driven by curiosity of all things, that was what had always created monsters in history. Geniuses always tended to either be remembered fondly or with horror.

Enel had always been afraid that he was going to end up as the second, so he put his curiosity to some good use, finding traces of that Ancient civilization was nothing more than a stroke of luck.

Without it, Enel was unsure of what would've become of him. He knew that he would've one day become bored of the deserts and that his curiosity would aim elsewhere, maybe on a much worse path...

But curiosity was also what drove him to approach the mad god's messenger on earth, completely disregarding the warnings that the ancient tribal people had left for him.

So, with those thoughts and memories in mind, Enel hummed, he hummed like the madman he was. He hummed without holding anything back at all.

Maybe it was a sea shanty, maybe it used to be an Orchestra, he had never managed to remember where that song had originated from...

Enel's humming seemed to outshine the storms, the marines that had been scrambling on deck looked at him in wonder, and the lightning and thunder even seemed to pause.

The calm smile of the Rear Admiral, coupled with the calming tune, had managed to relax the nerves of all of the marines that had heard it, making them look at him in admiration.

Many recruits had found Enel's addition to the Marines unfair at first, but his strength was nothing to scoff at, and they all knew it.

What was always brought into question was his attitude. His demeanour when interacting with the top brass of the Marine Base.

It appeared that, despite what the rumours would have them believe, Enel didn't seem like an arrogant man, nor did he seem like a temperamental one.

The image of him, humming through a heavy storm remained ingrained in the minds of the marines that were on that ship, and stories of it were bound to reach the others at the base.

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'A serene mind brings about the greatest of preceptions. One can never understand the world around them if they are too caught up in it.' That was a concept that Enel lived by for the longest time.

To view the world as an outsider, unperturbed by anger and sadness, the point of view of the neutral observer was bound to always be the cleanest.

Enel controlled the overcharged clouds above him with that same calm smile on his face, the clouds stopped raging at his behest, the massive storm becoming nothing more than a slight drizzle.

Enel's umbrella seemed to retract into itself, turning back into a staff as he let some of the water hit his skin.

"Stop humming! You're being annoying!" Akainu had walked on the deck, breaking the serenity of that scene for the rest of the marines, as they all scampered back to finish their duties.

"If I wanted your opinion, I would've asked for it, Admiral Akainu," Enel said as he studied the clouds, the storm quickly started kicking off again, and Enel stopped bothering to suppress it.

His staff also quickly turned back into an umbrella, covering Enel perfectly, but not quite reaching Akainu.

The Admiral had turned completely red at Enel's words, and rain was evaporating as it touched his body. Enel was unsure whether or not that was due to Akainu's Devil Fruit, or due to his anger.

"I've had it with your disrespect! Do you think Sengoku can protect you forever you litt-"

"Pft! Hahaha~" Enel's laughter interrupted Akainu's tirade before it even started properly.

"You really think I'm afraid of you? Are you actually insane?!?" Enel held his stomach as he spoke to Akainu without holding back much.

He didn't hate Akainu because of his actions in the original show, but Akainu had been nothing but a nuisance ever since the two of them were given this mission.

Enel wasn't about to treat someone this rude with kindness.

"... YOU LITTLE SHI-" Akainu's right arm instantly turned into magma, as he was about to grab Enel's shoulder. In that instant, Enel's umbrella turned right back into a staff.

Akainu didn't think much of it, but what the Admiral didn't expect was to receive a staff to the face, at a speed he could barely react to.

Magma splattered everywhere as his head completely disappeared from his body.

The magma was thankfully mostly blown into the water, with only a few droplets landing on the deck, quickly being cooled off by the raging storm.

"Don't test me, Admiral. My mood has just soured, and I don't feel too welcoming to your antics right now..." Enel then started walking away without even bothering to look back.

Akainu's head reformed, and his eyes were almost bloodshot with anger. He wanted so much to just explode and destroy the ship they were on completely. But he was also against needlessly damaging Marine property.

The Admiral quickly dashed towards Enel, his fist cocked back and ready to strike the Rear Admiral only once, just to prove a point, to establish his superiority, a single punch was all that he needed.

Enel's staff expanded at that moment though, like a thick golden shield, it blocked Akainu's Haki-clad punch. Or at least it tried to.

Gold wasn't an especially strong metal, it only managed to stop Akainu's fist for a half-second, as he tore through the shield as if it were paper.

But instead of striking Enel, his fist only hit the deck of the ship, sending a tremor through the ship that managed to shake it even worse than the storm around them.

Akainu's eyes widened as he felt a strange weight on his shoulder for a second. Enel had just stepped on his shoulder, then simply jumped back on deck landing behind him.

The broken shield seemed to extend from a small handle in Enel's hand, he retracted all of it and quickly turned it into a pristine staff.

"We really won't benefit much from fighting like this..." Akainu turned around, restraining himself, not wanting to do any more damage to the ship than necessary.

He knew that Enel was right. He had somewhat lost himself in anger due to the circumstances, but he knew that if something happened to Enel, Sengoku and Garp would likely cripple him.

He had seen it with his own eyes, the amount of importance the two of them put on Enel. It wasn't just that he had a promising future, the three of them got along like three old men in a park, playing chess.

Enel was also a symbol for the marines right now, so harming him in any way would warrant a huge punishment, especially while Enel was supposed to be under his care.

Akainu was about to turn around and leave, not wanting to look at Enel anymore, lest his anger got the best of him again.

"Say... How about a small contest?" A smile spread upon Enel's lips as he spoke out those words.

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Hope you liked the chapter! A bit later than usual, just arrived home rn

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