That "Hundred Beasts" Kaido… is missing an arm?
What kind of absurd joke is this?!!
Just moments ago, Rowen had smashed his skull several times, and even in his Azure Dragon Form, Kaido had taken injuries that caused his brain to spill out, yet he still managed to persist.
It just shows how incredibly strong his defense is!
To break off Kaido's arm or even tear it right off, what kind of monstrous strength must that be?!
More importantly, Kizaru hadn't even understood what had just happened. In just the blink of an eye, Rowen...
"Hiss… Wait a second, where's Rowen?!"
Suddenly, Kizaru realized something and looked down toward the massive crater in the ocean that was slowly beginning to heal.
One second… two seconds… three seconds…
Thunder-like rumbles echoed from the ocean. The churning seawater surged into the deep pit. No matter how great the destruction, nature's power could always quickly heal the wound.
But no matter how hard Kizaru looked, there was no sign of Rowen in the ocean below.
"Don't tell me…" His lips twitched.
Splashhhh…
The waves crashed and surged, a splash of white appeared amid the tides. Rowen was floating on his back in the ocean currents, eyes closed, completely still.
"Found him!"
Relieved, Kizaru breathed out and instantly moved to the surface, scooping Rowen up in one motion.
Looking at him lying unconscious in his arms, although he hadn't woken up, his injuries weren't actually that bad. Most of the bruises were from restraining Kaido's struggling movements during the brutal beating earlier, and they were already healing rapidly.
So, the only reason he fainted was...
"He's exhausted… huh? What a reckless guy, Rowen." Saying this, Kizaru showed a self-mocking smile on his lecherous face.
"But I guess it makes sense. To completely suppress someone like Kaido in a fight, if you didn't pay a price… that would be even scarier."
Rowen had already spent a great deal of stamina on the way here. After arriving, he unleashed one powerful move after another, without resting for even a second. In the end, he erupted with power strong enough to shake the heavens, beating Kaido into the ground.
If he didn't collapse from exhaustion, that would defy all logic.
Thinking this, Kizaru looked in the direction Kaido had retreated, and took a deep breath.
"No matter what, the mission's been accomplished… Now we should head back, just in case Kaido decides to retaliate… Though I doubt he'll dare make another move, because…"
At this moment, Kizaru had to admit, even at his age, he'd been completely outplayed. Both he and Kaido had been fooled. From the beginning, Rowen had never planned to follow the mission's original plan to encircle Kaido or simply stall him.
He understood perfectly well, Kaido was the type of guy who wouldn't back off unless you made him feel pain.
As long as he could recover, he'd come back for revenge, again and again.
Now, with an all-out war between both sides on the horizon, this unexpected battle was like a prelude before two armies clash, a necessary morale-boosting victory.
For that, Rowen risked everything and plotted out this whole dramatic performance!
Even Kizaru had written the whole thing off as a simple stalling tactic, which further lowered Kaido's guard. Then, Rowen used words to provoke him, forcing Kaido into a reckless, brute-force attack that snapped the magnetic lines, detonating lightning-charged electric currents in return.
Only then did Rowen bare his fangs and reveal his true intent!
Kizaru had called him "reckless" because he understood exactly what Rowen had done.
"Well… what else can I say, as expected of that Azure Dragon. Even this old man got played."
Whoosh!!
A beam of golden light shot across the sky, the wind pressure from its path carving a deep semicircular dent in the sea. Kizaru, carrying Rowen, disappeared from the area like a flash.
This great battle could be called a draw, with both sides suffering.
But without a doubt, Rowen had won.
He had successfully planted a seed inside Kaido's heart, a seed called "fear."
Meanwhile, in the first half of the New World, far from any land, Aokiji was in a bitter struggle on a deserted sea.
ROAR!!
A monstrous Sea King, its eyeballs alone bigger than a battleship, lunged with a savage glare. The overwhelming aura of this prehistoric beast was enough to make one's heart tremble and nearly faint from fear.
The aura of this apex predator atop the food chain was no weaker than the Conqueror's Haki of the strongest warriors of the seas. For ordinary people, forget fighting, even running away was nearly impossible. All that awaited them was death.
But Aokiji wasn't an ordinary man.
He took a deep breath, and his statue-like body of ice suddenly raised a hand, slow, but unwavering.
Ice Age!
Shua…
As he moved, a sheet of white suddenly spread across the sea.
There was no gradual freezing effect. In just an instant, the entire world was engulfed in white.
A frozen, snow-covered wasteland!
The towering, mountain-like Sea King remained frozen in place, its fierce gleam still locked in its eyes, even in the moment before it lost consciousness, it hadn't realized what had happened.
Before Aokiji could even catch his breath, the ice beneath his feet suddenly cracked open, and a massive, bloody maw lunged upward to bite him.
Ice Mass: Two Thorn Pikes!
Trident-shaped spears appeared at his side. Facing this sudden ambush, Aokiji had no time to evade. The Sea King's sheer size was overwhelming, a single bite was as wide as Marine Headquarters' main plaza. The Hie Hie no Mi (Ice-Ice Fruit) didn't grant the blinding speed of the Pika Pika no Mi (Glint-Glint Fruit) or the Goro Goro no Mi (Thunder-Thunder Fruit).
Whoosh! Whoosh!
RIPPPP... SPLAT—
With a shrill roar, icy spears tore through the crocodile-shaped Sea King's upper and lower jaws, blood gushing in torrents like a crimson downpour.
Thud… BOOM—RUMBLE!!
The dying Sea King collapsed onto the frozen plain, its boiling blood steaming into white mist before it could freeze.
Aokiji panted slightly, then refroze the sea surface, making it even tougher than steel.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Truly worthy of being hailed as one of the Marine Admirals, the strongest forces of the World Government… To most people, Sea Kings are untouchable monsters. Yet you've been slaying them one after another, as if it were nothing."
Several hundred meters ahead, half the massive Island Turtle's body had been frozen, groaning with deep, low-frequency bellows from beneath the icy surface.
Wearing the regal attire of Dragon Palace, Shirahoshi had a cold, snow-like expression on her lovely face. She gently lifted a hand to calm the turtle, then turned to face Aokiji.
"But… how many more can you stop?"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, the frozen sea trembled as towering waves exploded skyward.
One by one, colossal Sea Kings burst through the ice, heedless of injury, surrounding Aokiji in every direction.
He had already slain seven. Only five remained, but with this new wave of reinforcements, the number once again rose into double digits.
Thirty-nine total!
"Did she just summon all the Sea Kings in this region? What a troublesome power…" Aokiji's gaze sharpened, his face turning grave.
Things hadn't gone the way he expected. According to the intel, Princess Shirahoshi wasn't much of a threat, seemingly fragile, not even able to hurt a chicken. But bypassing these monstrous Sea Kings to reach her was proving extremely difficult.
Their immense size gave them terrifying brute strength, and made it harder for his freezing powers to be effective. Tearing through their defenses required his full concentration.
The Sea Kings were like mobile steel fortresses, walls of living metal that blocked his attacks without fear of death.
But what Aokiji couldn't understand was:
"Why?"
"…Hm?"
"Why are you doing this? The one you hate should be Orrick, not the government."
Half his face coated in frost, Aokiji frowned.
The moment he appeared, Shirahoshi hadn't shown the slightest hint of relief or happiness. Her demeanor was completely different from what the reports described.
Even that could be ignored, but what truly unnerved Aokiji was the unshakable hatred he saw in her eyes, so intense it almost felt like a living force.
This was a vengeful spirit!
Combining this with her movement patterns, a terrifying thought took root in Aokiji's mind—
Shirahoshi… no, the Ancient Weapon "Sea King" is planning to attack the Holy Land!!
But why?
"It was Orrick who killed your father and older brother. Why aren't you going after him? Why are you targeting the government? I don't like hitting women, but I can't allow you to act so recklessly!"
"Foolish."
At this, Shirahoshi's delicate lips parted as she uttered a line colder than ice.
She glanced at the stunned Aokiji and silently shook her head.
In the next second, a serpentine Sea King coiled its body and lunged at Aokiji. Chunks of solid, steel-hard ice shattered under the impact, yet not even a scratch marred the creature's armored scales.
Ice Ball!
Five thick jets of icy mist blasted out like cannon smoke. Facing such a heavily armored Sea King, Aokiji wasn't foolish enough to try cutting it with ice blades, instead, he focused on freezing it to restrict movement and wait for a better opportunity.
But at that moment, a frog-like Sea King soared high into the air, slamming down toward him like a falling mountain.
"Not good!"
BOOM—RUMBLE RUMBLE!!
As the blow smashed the Ice Mass, exposing the seawater below, Shirahoshi softly parted her lips and said:
"Why would you ever think, in my eyes, that you and Orrick are any different?"
(End of this chapter)
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