Just moments ago, it had been an ordinary forest. Now, the environment had been deliberately transformed into a frozen wasteland.
He shivered.
The shiver dragged on, with no sign of stopping.
Cold. Bone-chilling cold.
Luffy jolted awake, his consciousness snapping back in the extreme cold.
For a moment, even his thoughts had seemed to freeze.
Now, the forest had become an endless ice field. Beneath his feet, ice frozen for millennia. Above, a gray sky that looked frozen solid.
The wind sliced against his skin like a thousand cold blades, cutting through muscle, stabbing into his marrow.
Hiss—!
He sucked in a sharp breath. The frigid air filled his lungs—for a moment, he thought his insides might freeze too.
"Damn. How much did you buff them?"
Luffy cursed under his breath.
He had felt Aokiji's cold before. In reality, he had been frozen. But never like this—a cold so intense it felt like even his thoughts would solidify.
For as far as he could see, only ice and snow.
Aokiji stood motionless in the distance, like a statue on the ice field. Cold radiated from him visibly. He wasn't attacking. But just standing there, his presence was terrifying.
Before he could adapt to this cold, Luffy could feel his strength, his speed, even the flow of his Haki being reduced, slowed by the pervasive chill.
"This power that completely changes the terrain... it's familiar."
Luffy studied Aokiji. He sensed something in him like what he felt when he entered Gear Fifth Nika form—the sense of being one with the environment.
Meaning—this was Awakened Devil Fruit power?
It made sense. Paramecia and Zoan could awaken. There was no reason Logia couldn't.
Aokiji was a Marine Admiral, after all. Of course he had developed his fruit to this level.
"But this is too damn cold."
Luffy rubbed his arms, which were losing feeling. Snowflakes fell as the wind blew.
His breath condensed into ice crystals, briefly obscuring his vision before the wind scattered them.
It was so cold. Luffy didn't know how many degrees. Back in Foosha Village, he'd run around in shorts and a T-shirt all winter, ignoring Makino and the mayor telling him to dress warmer.
But now, his strong body—his pride—felt fragile before this awakened Ice Age.
Devil Fruit power really was more terrifying than natural disasters. Especially Logia, once developed.
Luffy thought of Vivi's future.
The Fūfū no Mi's ceiling was no lower than other Logia fruits. Storms were a sailor's greatest fear.
A real storm—tens of levels of wind—could destroy any ship.
But back to the matter at hand. What Luffy needed to do now was adapt.
If the enemy didn't move, he wouldn't move.
If Aokiji wasn't going to attack, Luffy didn't want to fight either.
He forced himself to stand straight, stop shivering. He focused on feeling the cold, trying to let his body remember this sensation.
Never underestimate his adaptability.
Just then, translucent text appeared before him:
[Physical energy compressed and trained. Body strength increased. Busoshoku Haki proficiency +1.]
[Cold Resistance +1.]
"Right on time."
Luffy grimaced—but smiled.
Pain and suffering really were the best catalysts for growth. The process was agonizing, but the rewards were real.
"I'll face Aokiji again someday. To keep up with him, this kind of training is necessary."
He thought about using Gear Second—accelerating his blood flow to generate heat, fight off the cold.
But the moment he opened his mouth, the freezing wind rushed in, burning his throat. He shut it quickly.
Even his tongue felt like it was growing a thin layer of ice.
"Gear Second!"
He used willpower instead. His skin flushed red. White steam billowed. Blood surged under pressure. Warmth rose from deep within, driving back some of the cold.
The steam around him, meeting the freezing air, skipped the liquid stage entirely—condensing directly into ice crystals that surrounded Luffy like frozen mist.
"Ha."
Luffy exhaled, feeling slightly better.
But soon, he realized—this was only a temporary fix.
Fighting the cold consumed energy. His body's reserves were finite. Under Gear Second's rapid consumption, he wouldn't last long.
Once his energy was gone, he'd freeze solid on this ice field.
Then revive. Freeze again. On and on.
Logia were awful like that. Especially awakened users who could alter the environment. Aokiji, in his own Ice Age domain, felt no cold at all. Meanwhile, his enemies suffered the environmental erosion constantly.
"Could Haki help?"
Luffy thought quickly.
He had been considering an idea—a new form combining his Devil Fruit power with Haki on a deeper level. This extreme environment was the perfect place to test it.
"This is a dream. Dying here doesn't matter."
Luffy smiled grimly. He had plenty of experience with that.
And this cold—aside from the pain—had no downside.
Both Busoshoku and Kenbunshoku Haki could be refined through resisting the cold and sensing the environment's subtleties.
Add the rising Cold Resistance stat, plus his innate Seimei Kikan, and proficiency was constantly increasing.
Meaning...
"Aside from the pain... it's fine."
Let's begin.
Luffy focused inward.
In past battles, he had coated his fists and arms in Busoshoku Haki to strengthen attacks and defense.
Using Gomu Gomu no Giant Pistol, he had coated the entire giant fist for more power.
"What if I take it further? Deeper integration with Gear Second?"
The bold idea surfaced.
"What if I don't just coat the surface—but merge Busoshoku Haki into Gear Second's rapid blood flow? Let Haki circulate through my whole body, strengthen every cell from within?"
This seemed like something only a rubber man could attempt.
Luffy knew using Busoshoku Haki drained stamina. Gear Second drained stamina. This fighting form would be strictly short-term burst.
He glanced at Aokiji, still like an ice sculpture in the distance.
He decided to try.
In Gear Second, Luffy began mobilizing his Busoshoku Haki internally. It was harder than he expected. Haki was usually applied to the surface or to weapons. Merging it into flowing blood required extremely fine control.
At first, beneath his flushed skin, faint black veins flickered erratically—threatening to disperse in the rushing blood.
The pain was intense. Like needles piercing through his vessels.
Luffy clenched his jaw. Veins bulged on his forehead. Sweat beaded and froze. But he forced the Haki to stabilize, the black patterns slowly spreading.
As Busoshoku Haki integrated deeper into his body, something unexpected happened. The steam from Gear Second stopped.
Not because heat stopped generating. The integrated Haki formed a kind of invisible barrier, trapping most of the heat and energy inside—reducing waste.
Visibly, Luffy's form changed.
His skin remained Gear Second red, but now overlaid with distinct patterns like circuit diagrams, red intertwined with black.
Standing there, Luffy seemed to push back the surrounding cold.
"Gear Second: Internal Fortification!"
He felt the surging power and heat inside him.
In this form, his cold resistance was greatly enhanced. Strength and speed surpassed standard Gear Second.
The moment he grasped this new form, Aokiji moved—as if triggered by Luffy's energy.
He raised a hand. An ice ball, massive as a meteor, hurtled toward him.
"Been waiting."
Luffy's reaction speed in this new form was incredible. He dodged, ice exploding behind him, then launched himself at Aokiji like a cannonball.
"Triple Release!"
His fist—no longer just red, but streaked with black-red light—slammed into Aokiji.
By adjusting and releasing his Haki, Luffy had found a new way to attack.
This kind of release amplified the flowing Haki's power exponentially.
Aokiji dispersed into elements. Behind him, the cold created a vacuum.
He had dodged—but not completely. Blood trickled from his mouth. He seemed enraged. Countless ice spears materialized, raining down like a storm.
"Useless!"
Luffy laughed. His fists became blurs.
"Gomu Gomu no: Jet Gatling!"
Red-black fists met ice spears. At contact, the spears shattered, ice crystals flying.
His fists were not only stronger—the integrated Haki seemed to disrupt Logia elementalization, making it harder for Aokiji to ignore physical attacks like before.
Luffy was used to Aokiji's attacks by now.
But in this environment, he had to maintain the new form and full alertness constantly. One moment of sluggishness, and Aokiji would freeze him solid.
Still hard.
But Luffy knew how to act smug too.
In a short time, using his new form, he actually held his own against this system-enhanced dream Aokiji. He even seized an opening to smash one of Aokiji's ice-formed legs.
But good times never lasted.
This form drained stamina faster than he expected.
Between the freezing environment and the intense combat, his heat and energy reserves bottomed out.
After one clash, Luffy felt himself empty. His form dropped. The cold rushed back. His movements stiffened.
Aokiji—though missing one ice leg—was barely hindered.
He pointed at Luffy.
Ice Age: Capsule!
The extreme cold swallowed Luffy. This time, he couldn't resist. Consciousness faded in absolute zero.
Even seeing Aokiji missing a leg—he couldn't do anything.
He was out of energy.
Time to do it again.
The scene reset. Luffy revived, grinning at Aokiji.
Aokiji: "..."
He had words, but maybe he shouldn't say them.
[Warning. Wake-up time reached...]
Luffy's eyes snapped open. Consciousness returned.
The soreness in his body, the lingering chill—he realized he had finished sleeping.
He sighed deeply, utterly defeated.
"This counts as sleep?"
He wailed internally. This was torture!
Sleep used to be the best part of the day. A family tradition—Monkey D.s could sleep anywhere, anytime.
Not anymore. His dreams had become a training ground. Every sleep, he died countless times.
He'd fought Aokiji in his dreams—died so many ways, none of them the same.
The only silver lining.
"At least when I'm studying, I can multitask. Uses brainpower. Can even slack a little."
Even if slacking was why he got extra training—how could he not slack?
[Warning. Penalty countdown... 10, 9...]
Lingering drowsiness mixed with the piercing alert. The jolt woke him fully.
He was lying on grass. Vivi was beside him, hugging his arm, curled up, sleeping peacefully. She mumbled something in her sleep:
"No more... no more eating..."
Luffy: "..."
They had slept outside all night?
He rubbed his temples. They'd have some explaining to do when they got back.
At his movement, Vivi stirred. She had been sleeping lightly—or maybe not sleeping much at all.
Last night's events rushed back. Her heart jumped. Her cheeks flushed. She let go of his arm quickly and sat up, flushed.
***
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