Without wasting a single second on useless reactions, he launched a decisive attack, making leverage of the fact that he still wasn’t feeling the full brunt of the incoming lightning to initiate the beginning of his plan immediately.

Spikes grew out of his back and he immediately curled up and began spinning with a remarkable agility that could only be achieved due to his manipulation over water. Merely 1.5 seconds later, he had become an indistinct blur in the shape of a ring. It was much easier to generate speed when he was using the opposite ends of his body weight to increase it (thanks to the rotation) than it was to move forward in one direction.

Regardless, he wasn’t spinning around to put on a show. He released the spikes on his back at precise moments and with the momentum he had gained, they got sent flying towards Bilibu with great force.

Naturally a few of them went wayward since his aim was solely based on the time he decided to release them, not some kind of automatic homing that could assist him. He had practised this technique many times over the years but it was pretty much impossible to reach 100% accuracy. His brain just couldn’t calculate for all of those spikes and especially at that speed.

Fortunately, Bililu was so huge that only a small few of them completely missed.

Furthermore, the closer they got to their target, the more lightning it attracted which actually sped it up, not to mention that the metal itself got attracted to the main source of electricity. Conclusion? His metal spikes which were already fast gained even more speed and it was noticeably increasing.

He had used this technique on many creatures with a lightning affinity and without fail, they had all suffered. None of them had expected his attacks to suddenly speed up and for the few that could dodge, the electricity that they had shrouded themselves in became their greatest enemy.

Things would be different here of course, the target was just too strong. His metal spikes would land true but the damage wouldn’t be too great. However, he had already known that and was already enacting his next plan. He had never planned to rely on-

‘!!!’

Zuko recoiled in shock as he watched the metal spikes he had shot out suddenly rebound towards him. The lightning they absorbed increased exponentially out of nowhere and all of a sudden the spikes were zooming towards HIM with twice the speed. Moreover, all of their sharp ends were directly pointing at him despite the fact that they had been knocked out of their original trajectory, something which should have had them spinning every which way. And now, out of nowhere, he was in trouble.

‘How is this possible?!’ He exclaimed inwardly. Still, he reacted quickly and swam downwards to avoid the super charged spikes. It wasn’t super difficult to dodge but he still got hit by a few.

As expected, they penetrated his carapace despite the Metal Enhancement. Actually it would have been weird if it didn’t. The spikes were made from the very same material and they had the assistance of speed, sharpness and electricity to make penetration possible.

However, he didn’t feel pain from that at all, his carapace was designed to take damage and had little to no feeling. The electric currents that were seeping into his flesh were certainly uncomfortable but with the amount of adrenaline that was coursing through his veins,

But soon enough, he realised that he had made a mistake.

*BZZZZZZZZ!*

Having chosen to descend to dodge the spikes rather than swim backwards, he had given Bilibu the time needed to come close enough to thoroughly enshroud him in his electric domain. Now, he could barely feel the water around. It had become filled with electricity and now obeyed the command of only one being.

What a blunder.

‘I Should have endured the spikes and ran rather than focusing on dodging. I really messed up.’ Zuko thought warily as he felt the foreign water around him. ‘But how in the Sea did he do that?’

How crazy is it that his own attacks would be reflected back at him. How was he even supposed to respond to that? How was that in any way fair?

Unfortunately he didn’t have time to ponder.

“You should understand your situation.” Emperor Bilibu spoke out for the first time, his physical voice even colder than his telepathic one. “You cannot escape. You’re trapped. You’ve lost before anything began.”

Zuko realised the situation for what it was immediately, and as if to confirm his suspicions, Bilibu continued talking.

“However, I have heard of your feats. You are talented. A life like yours is hard to come by and it would be a waste to extinguish it. Submit to me, give me the fruit, and you can live to see another day. Do not let pride become the advent of your own destruction.”

It was exactly as Zuko thought. Bilibu wanted nothing but the fruit. All this talk was to get him to lower his guard and prevent him from doing anything crazy that would cause both of them to suffer. He himself had employed that tactic in the past and could definitely recognise it being used on him.

As implied, Zuko had not yet eaten the fruit even if it was in his mouth and tantalising his taste buds. There was no way he would do such a stupid thing. Bilibu knew this too, but there had been many people in the past who would do just that and end up getting killed, causing all the parties involved to lose out.

The thing is, of all the many fruits all over the Sea, only a select few were easy to digest. As for the rest of them, whilst most wouldn’t be dangerous it would still kick up a storm in the Mana Core and Circuits, something that in a situation like this would be extremely deadly.

On top of that, Zuko was 90% sure that it would send him into Realm 4 which was-

‘.......Wait!!!!!!’ Zuko’s mind flashed with remembrance. ‘Realm 4 Tribulations! I just remembered that anyone who tries to intervene will be caught within too, making the Tribulation even stronger! How could I forget?! I thought that entering Realm 4 would be a death sentence since I would lose control and become an easy target, but… Kakaka! Would this Jellyfish dare?!’

Zuko was feeling excited now, he tuned out the Jellyfish’s propaganda as he delved into his thoughts.

‘This is good! This is good!!! Others would still suffer in my place, but I have a great chance of achieving evolution and receiving the protective cocoon! Kakaka! I smell victory!