"Truly… you're leaving already?"
Hancock's eyes shimmered with regret. Rengoku gave her a resigned smile.
"Mhm. As much as I wish I could stay longer, I am a Vice Admiral of the Navy. There is still work that must be done."
Most importantly, he needed to check in on the training of the 3,000 Marines he had entrusted to Zephyr.
"I… I understand that, but…"
Her mind understood, but her heart refused to accept it.
Like a child clinging to its departing mother, Hancock gripped the cuff of his sleeve and wouldn't let go.
To comfort her, Rengoku stepped closer, offering a gentle, bittersweet smile.
Then, meeting her trembling gaze, he softly wrapped her in his arms.
It was the first time he had initiated a hug.
Hancock recognized the significance of this gesture, and her heart thudded in her chest.
"K–Kyojuro…"
"Though I must leave now, we will meet again soon. I hope you can endure until that day comes."
He withdrew his hands from the body of the world's most beautiful empress, ruffling her hair like a child's in reassurance.
"Until we meet again."
"Yes… we will meet again!"
Leaving her looking as if she might faint from sheer excitement, Rengoku turned toward the dock where his ship awaited.
Once he was gone, Hancock pressed a hand to her pounding chest and called for her younger sisters.
"Sonia, Marigold…"
The two approached immediately, taking place at her sides.
"Yes, sister?"
"What is it you require?"
Her face flushed, Hancock posed a question in a voice brimming with excitement.
"How many nieces and nephews do you think would be… appropriate?"
"…Eh?"
"N–Nephews?"
Sandersonia and Marigold could not hide their shock.
"Yes. Perhaps… one hundred or so? Wouldn't that be heavenly? One hundred children between Kyojuro and I…"
Her breath grew heavier as she began to outline her birthing plan.
"The first will be raised strong and responsible—just like Kyojuro. The second will be taught the arts, to grow into a free-spirited master of beauty. And the third… a mischievous little rascal with Kyojuro's face, clinging to me for affection… haaangh…♥"
Her sisters could only stare, utterly speechless, as their elder sister sank deeper into her fantasy.
...
Meanwhile, Rengoku was already well on his way back to Marineford, his warship cutting swiftly through the waves.
"Vice Admiral! Three hundred meters ahead—the sea has suddenly frozen over!"
"…Frozen? The sea?"
"Yes, sir! Just moments ago, it was ordinary water, but it froze in an instant!"
Even on the Grand Line—or in the New World—seas freezing solid was far from common.
"Reduce speed to eighty percent of cruising speed! Keep sharp watch to port and starboard and chart a course around it! I'll investigate how this happened myself."
"Yes, sir!"
Freezing an expanse of sea like this was no easy feat. If done by machinery, the energy required would be astronomical.
And judging from the report, the waters had been normal just moments ago before flash-freezing.
Only one person Rengoku knew possessed the ability to do such a thing.
Admiral Aokiji.
For Kuzan to unleash this level of freezing power… it could only mean he's encountered, at minimum, a top commander of a Yonko—perhaps even the Yonko themselves.
No matter how capable an admiral might be, Rengoku still felt a twinge of concern. He pushed his SkyRunning technique to its maximum speed.
In just twenty seconds at full sprint, a distant island came into view. From afar, he could make out the towering silhouette of a man he knew well—along with several smaller figures.
That massive frame and unmistakable hairstyle could only belong to Admiral Kuzan.
"Kuzan-san!"
Rengoku halted his SkyRunning, channeling the full power of Thunder Breathing into his legs.
"Moon Step – Thunderclap!"
BOOM!
With triple the acceleration of a normal Moon Step, he shot forward and landed on the island in an instant.
...
"Huh? Luffy, something's coming this way," Usopp said, spotting a figure streaking through the air.
"Maybe it's someone from that merchant ship we saw?"
"Yeah, except—wait—why are they flying? And getting faster—AHH!"
CRASH!
A figure landed squarely between Aokiji and the Straw Hat crew, sending up a cloud of dust.
Recognizing the newcomer, Aokiji scratched his head.
"Ara ara… what are you doing here, Rengoku?"
"I saw your Ice Age and came to provide backup!"
"Uh… this isn't actually a fight…"
Meanwhile, the Straw Hats were left blinking in confusion.
As the dust settled, the groups instinctively split apart into two sides.
"W–Wait! That guy!"
"Isn't he the Marine officer we saw back in Syrup Village and at Baratie?" Nami and Usopp exclaimed.
"Better stay sharp," Zoro warned. "Back then, he was already a Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters."
"Vice Admiral since Baratie?!" Usopp yelped. "Then that means he was one back in Syrup Village too?!"
While the Straw Hats reeled, Rengoku finally pieced together Aokiji's earlier words. One look told him there was no hostility here—at least, not between Aokiji and the pirates.
Well… except for three of them.
Zoro's wariness was understandable. But another pair—one blond man and one dark-haired woman—radiated very different kinds of hostility.
"You! Who the hell are you?!" Luffy demanded, stepping forward boldly.
"Vice Admiral Rengoku, the 'Flame Pillar' of Marine Headquarters! It's been a while, Straw Hat crew!"
"You know us?"
"Of course. We crossed paths in Syrup Village and at Baratie."
"Oh yeah? Sorry, I forgot! Shishishishi!"
At that, Sanji stepped forward, his glare sharp enough to cut.
"Oi… you're the bastard who put that bounty photo of me out there, aren't you?"
"Hey, Sanji! He's a Vice Admiral! That's just one rank below Aokiji!" Usopp tried to restrain him.
"You bastard!!"
Sanji lunged, only to be held back by Usopp and Chopper.
"You had to take that kind of picture for my bounty?! Look at my handsome face—how could you—!"
Rengoku sighed. This kind of grudge was hardly worth addressing. His attention instead shifted to the other source of hostility—Nico Robin.
"Mhm… bounty 79 million Berries. The 'Devil's Child' herself. I've heard all about your departure from Baroque Works."
"Flame Pillar…" Robin's voice was quiet but edged. She knew exactly who he was—and just how dangerous.
"Five years ago, right after I first became a Vice Admiral, we crossed paths. Circumstances made me let you slip away… but I haven't forgotten."
Rengoku's words made Nami blink in surprise.
"Five years ago? But… you look about the same age as us!"
Before Rengoku could answer, Aokiji draped an arm over his shoulder and replied with a proud smirk.
"This guy? He enlisted at thirteen, became a Marine Headquarters Colonel at fourteen, Rear Admiral at fifteen, and Vice Admiral at sixteen. He's a scary one~."
"Vice Admiral in just three years? Th–That's insane!" Usopp's jaw dropped, unable to finish his sentence.
"Still… never thought you'd have met Nico Robin before. Man, I'm jealous, Vice Admiral Rengoku—your luck with women never seems to run out."
"Please don't tease me, Kuzan-san."
"C'mon, you've got that drop-dead gorgeous, curvy aide of yours, the princess of Alabasta under your command, and that sharp-tongued goth-loli locked up in your office. Rumor even has it you've got some romantic history with the Pirate Empress. And now I hear you've met Nico Robin too? As a man, I can't help but be jealous~."
Half of his tone was teasing, but Sanji's reaction was anything but playful.
"Curvy aide? Princess of Alabasta? Goth-loli and the Pirate Empress…?!" Sanji's eyes blazed with fire.
"Forget the bounty photo—you, Vice Admiral, I hate you even more now!!!"
Rengoku sighed at the antics of his senior officer.
"In any case… every organization you've been involved with so far has been destroyed," he said, turning the conversation toward Nico Robin. "So… is the Straw Hat crew next?"
The comment made the crew stiffen. The man they remembered from past encounters—now confirmed as a Vice Admiral—wasn't just some passing Marine.
As pirates with bounties, they were his enemies.
Robin's expression tightened. "What exactly are you implying?"
"Oh, I wonder~ What is Rengoku trying to say?" Aokiji drawled lazily, goading her further.
Cornered, Robin made the first move.
"If you want to catch me, then just try!"
"Cien Fleur—Clutch!"
A hundred arms burst forth from Rengoku and Aokiji's bodies, locking onto their joints.
CRACK!
At Robin's command, Aokiji's torso twisted unnaturally before his body shattered into ice.
"Kuzan-san, perhaps now isn't the time for jokes."
"Ara ara… is that so?"
The broken ice slowly slid back together, reforming Aokiji's figure.
But while his reaction was expected of a Logia user, what truly shocked Robin—and the rest of the Straw Hats—was Rengoku.
He hadn't even been bent.
If anything, the arms clutching him were straining under the pressure of his joints.
"Mhm! Using quantity to try and make up for quality—an admirable tactic. But the individual power is still far too lacking. Strength training is essential!"
Rengoku coolly analyzed her attack, effortlessly withstanding the clutch from a hundred arms.
"Well, in any case… since you're here, I might as well take the chance to arrest you~."
"Ice Sabre."
Aokiji reached down, plucked a blade of grass from the ground, and froze it into a gleaming sword of ice. Without hesitation, he raised it and brought it down toward Robin.
---------------
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