Even though Kizaru kept saying, "How terrifying," his hands never slowed for even a second.
Golden clusters of light exploded into the sky again and again, shredding Esdeath's falling ice meteor into a storm of glittering fragments.
As shards of ice rained down over Area 60, Kizaru scratched his head and muttered, "Isn't that Kuzan's ability?"
He wasn't the only one thinking it.
Across the world, everyone watching the live broadcast had the same thought.
That woman's power looked far too much like Aokiji's.
It was impossible not to make the connection.
But Kizaru didn't have time to think about it for long.
Through the curtain of shattered ice, Esdeath came straight at him, sword in hand.
The moment Kizaru saw the black Haki wrapped around her blade, he gave up the idea of turning intangible to dodge.
Against a Haki user, that kind of carelessness could get you killed.
"Ama no Murakumo Sword."
Light gathered in his hand and condensed into a glowing blade.
The next instant, the two collided in midair.
Far away, in the West Blue, Aokiji received a Den Den Mushi call from Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
"Sengoku-san, what is it?"
The moment the line connected, Sengoku's voice exploded through the shell.
"Kuzan, you're still alive, right?!"
Aokiji blinked.
"…Yeah?"
He was completely thrown off.
He hadn't done anything lately, so why was Sengoku opening with something like that?
On the other end, Sengoku let out a long breath of relief.
Watching the live broadcast and seeing Esdeath summon ice meteors, he had almost thought Kuzan had died somewhere and his Ice-Ice Fruit had returned to the world.
And since Kuzan had gone to the West Blue recently and hadn't been in much contact, Sengoku had grown even more uneasy.
Now that he had confirmed Kuzan was still alive, the woman's ice ability had to be something else.
After a short pause, Sengoku asked in a strangely serious tone, "Kuzan… do you have a daughter?"
Kuzan's heart skipped a beat.
For one horrifying second, he thought the thing with Nico Robin had somehow been exposed.
Impossible.
Every time he met her, he was careful. Sengoku shouldn't know anything.
So Kuzan immediately played dumb.
"Sengoku-san, what are you talking about? How could I possibly have a daughter? You know me better than anyone."
Sengoku fell silent again.
As one of the three Admirals, Kuzan's background had already been investigated from top to bottom by Marine intelligence. If there had really been some hidden daughter, it should have surfaced long ago.
And although Kuzan was lazy and loose-mouthed, he really didn't have one.
In the end, Sengoku only said, "…I see," and hung up.
Aokiji stared at the silent Den Den Mushi, confused.
What kind of question was that?
Had Garp driven Sengoku insane again?
Whatever.
He rolled over and went right back to sleep.
Meanwhile, Sabaody's Area 60 had already turned into a battlefield straight out of a nightmare.
Ice and craters covered the land.
One enormous section of a Yarukiman Mangrove had already collapsed to the ground.
The Marine base that had once stood there was now nothing more than a wasteland of smoking pits and frozen trenches.
One second, a laser would rip through the air.
The next, a giant block of ice would smash down from above.
At this point, the place looked worse than an actual warzone.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
High above the ruined battlefield, Esdeath and Kizaru exchanged blows at blinding speed, their swords flashing over and over in a storm of steel and light.
Of course, neither of them fought like ordinary swordsmen.
Kizaru kept firing beams of light whenever he found an opening, trying to catch Esdeath off guard.
Esdeath answered by raising walls of ice to block them, then returning the favor with casual, terrifying ice meteors.
Outside Area 60, the Marines had set up a perimeter to keep everyone else out.
Thankfully, both fighters had kept their clash contained within the area itself.
Otherwise, nobody could even guess how many mangrove trunks would have been shattered by now.
As for the reporters…
They were having the time of their lives.
Visual Den Den Mushi were transmitting everything live to the world, while the reporters themselves shouted into their microphones with the excitement of men witnessing history.
The Marines had tried to drive them away.
But every time they made a move, Kurogane Ren simply pressed a blade to the Celestial Dragon's neck and said the same thing—
If the reporters left, he'd cut off one of the man's arms.
Under those conditions, even Sengoku's orders meant nothing.
The Marines could do absolutely nothing.
Up on the ice pillar, Ren watched the brutal duel below and slowly lifted a loudspeaker.
"Kizaru! I heard you're the laziest out of all three Admirals. So why are you working so hard today?"
Kizaru nearly got cut in half for that one.
He usually liked slacking off, sure—but slacking off and being lazy were two different things.
Unfortunately, Esdeath was far too dangerous for him to spare Ren any attention.
Seeing Kizaru almost lose focus, Ren's grin widened.
The pressure was working.
So he raised the loudspeaker again.
"Kizaru! I also heard that if the price is right, you'll beat anyone half to death. How much do you make in a month? I'll pay double. Go cripple Sengoku for me."
"And another thing—how are you this ugly and still a Marine Admiral? Doesn't the Navy care about appearances? Is this really okay?"
"Actually, are you sure you didn't eat the Creepy-Creepy Fruit? A guy as creepy as you being alive is a waste of air. Cars would blow their tires if they saw your face, flowers would wither on sight, and Sea Kings in the deep ocean would claw out their own eyes—"
Everyone watching from outside the battlefield was dumbfounded.
Then they looked at Kizaru, whose attacks were suddenly getting noticeably fiercer.
At that moment, everyone came to the same conclusion.
Ren was vicious.
Utterly vicious.
And then Ren tossed out the final knife.
"Kizaru! I also heard you're actually a Revolutionary Army spy planted inside the Marines. Is that true?"
That did it.
Several beams of light shot toward the top of the ice pillar in an instant.
But Ren merely raised his slippers and casually smashed the attacks apart.
At the same time, Kizaru's distraction cost him.
Esdeath's blade slashed across him.
Though he elementalized in time, the Haki coating on her sword still cut him and drew blood.
Kizaru immediately disengaged.
At that point, he already understood the truth.
This situation was beyond what a single Admiral could solve.
If they wanted to bring the Celestial Dragon hostage crisis to an end, they would need at least one more Admiral.
Esdeath didn't chase him.
No matter how strong she was, Kizaru's speed was still one of the greatest in the world.
Seeing him pull back, Ren raised the loudspeaker again with a bright smile.
"Kizaru! Was it because I exposed your secret? Is that why you attacked me so desperately? Before this, I cursed your ancestors all the way back eighteen generations and you didn't care. But the moment I mentioned the Revolutionary Army, you lost it!"
The people watching all turned to stare at Kizaru.
Could it be true?
Could a Marine Admiral really be a Revolutionary infiltrator?
It sounded ridiculous.
But Ren's logic was horrifyingly convincing.
He had mocked Kizaru nonstop before that, yet Kizaru endured it all.
But the second the word "Revolutionary" came up, Kizaru attacked him directly.
Already irritated, already lightly wounded, and now hearing Ren say that in front of the entire world, Kizaru finally seemed to reach his limit.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Then he fell.
"Admiral Kizaru!"
The Marines panicked.
And the image of Kizaru collapsing was broadcast live across the entire world.
Countless viewers were stunned speechless.
Esdeath was still standing there, sword in hand, looking perfectly fine.
The Marine Admiral who had fought her… had gone down.
In that single instant, the whole world remembered one name.
Esdeath.
As for Ren, he merely curled his lip.
Old fox.
Pretending to faint just to slip out of the pressure.
With his Observation Haki, Ren could tell clearly enough that Kizaru had been injured—but only lightly. For someone at that level, it wasn't even close to a serious wound.
There was no way that alone would make him collapse.
But to the rest of the world, the truth didn't matter.
What mattered was the image.
An Admiral had fallen.
And from that moment on, the name of the woman who made it happen began spreading across the sea like wildfire.