In his leopard form, Rob Lucci's eyes burned scarlet red.
His entire presence radiated like a wild beast—swift as lightning, his figure continuously flickered around Aokiji, each Shigan strike more violent than the last.
The ice clones shattered again and again, reformed, and shattered once more.
And yet—Aokiji himself remained completely unscathed!
This cat-and-mouse battle drove the genius once hailed as a talent unseen in a century into a state of utter frenzy.
The clash raged on. With his unique fortuitous encounters, Lucci was indeed dozens of times stronger than before—but strong as he was, Aokiji was stronger still.
Even under the torrential storm of blows, Aokiji's expression stayed calm, unshaken.
"Damn it!"
Lucci smashed apart another clone, only for the figure to instantly reappear before him once more. The only words left to vent his rage were a snarled curse.
"Already at your limit, huh?"
Aokiji gazed at the panting Lucci and exhaled a chilling breath.
A frigid current, like a white fog, surged toward Lucci.
Crack… crack… crack…
The biting cold instantly froze the very moisture in the air—fog billowed, crystalline frost glittering within it.
Seeing the frost sweeping in, Lucci didn't dare hesitate. His figure flashed aside in retreat.
Bang!
But mid-dodge, his body collided with a suddenly rising pillar of ice.
"Not good!"
The instant his body struck the column, dread surged in his heart. Before he could react, a translucent blue hand thrust out from within the ice itself.
Snap!
It seized his shoulder. Lucci's expression darkened, his arm rising to smash the icy grip.
But the freezing cold spread faster than he could move—half his body instantly encased in ice, his attacking arm locking up in mid-motion.
"Damn it!"
His Shigan was a hair's breadth from striking—but before it could land, the frost had already engulfed him completely.
Encased in solid ice, Lucci froze in place.
"Heh… what a troublesome guy."
Appearing before him in a flicker, Aokiji glanced at the icebound Lucci, then drew out a Den Den Mushi to contact Sabo.
Whoosh!
But just as he took it out, his entire body sank into the ice floor and reemerged dozens of meters away.
"So… you've finally decided to make a move?"
Aokiji looked toward the unfamiliar man before him. Even while fighting Lucci earlier, he had sensed this figure watching from the shadows.
That alone had put him on guard—even while pulling out the Den Den Mushi, he hadn't relaxed for a moment. Now, it was clear his caution was justified.
"Are you here to rescue him?"
"For a failure like him? He has no right to live."
The stranger's voice was cold. Raising his obsidian-black fist, he swung it down at the ice-encased Lucci.
Aokiji hadn't expected it—the man wasn't here to save Lucci, but to silence him. Without hesitation, Aokiji willed the ice to respond.
Crack, crack, crack—
A forest of razor-sharp ice spikes surged up from beneath the man's feet, cutting off his strike.
The stranger dodged, narrowly avoiding the attack. Seeing Lucci still intact, he hesitated only for a moment before abruptly retreating into the distance—clearly unwilling to clash with Aokiji.
Aokiji glanced once more at the frozen Lucci, then gave up pursuit, turning instead to connect with Sabo.
Boom!!
"Bastard!"
"I'm going to be Pirate King—there's no way I'll fall to cheap tricks like yours!"
Covered in black markings, his body rebounding ceaselessly, Luffy glared furiously at the figures before him—thick fog swirling, a crowd of pirates standing in his way.
At their head was Luchiru, user of the Brewing-Brew Fruit. Around him were numerous pirate captains—each one enslaved by his control.
Their individual strength was nothing compared to Luffy's—but as the saying goes, two fists can't beat four hands.
Even for him, facing so many New World captains—each with bounties in the hundreds of millions—was no easy fight.
Yet Luffy never once thought of surrender. Pouring out the full power of his fruit, he charged into a battle of life and death.
"Hah! What a joke—Pirate King? Then go be Pirate King in hell!"
Luchiru burst into mocking laughter, directing the unwilling captains to attack.
Assaulted on all sides, Luffy showed no fear. His rubber body lashed out in a storm of blows, sending bodies flying.
Meanwhile, Luchiru, who usually appeared as a fat, jovial middle-aged man, now looked gaunt and hollow, his wide mouth like that of a hippopotamus, stripped of its former mask.
But even under the relentless onslaught, Luchiru's forces were steadily pushed back. His own body, drained of fermented energy, left him with a dark, sour expression.
"Damn it… where the hell did this brat come from?!"
"Captain! Bad news! Something's happened with that great one!"
One of his men rushed to him, breathless, reporting that Aokiji had defeated Lucci.
"What?!"
Luchiru's face twisted in shock. His gaze fell on Luffy, still locked in combat with the captains, his fury boiling over.
Grinding his teeth, he reached into his coat for a special Den Den Mushi—
But before he could dial, a voice cut in.
"No need to call,Luchiru."
The sudden voice made him flinch. He turned, then immediately bowed in respect.
"Kozuki-sama!"
"Take what you need and come with me," the man called Kozuki said calmly. His eyes swept toward Luffy's battlefield.
When his gaze landed on the straw hat on Luffy's back, his pupils froze for a heartbeat.
"Could it be… him?" he murmured to himself.
As one who had lived through the previous era, he knew full well the meaning of that hat.
But now wasn't the time for speculation. The operation on this island had already failed. His only priority was taking Luchiru away—because Luchiru's ability was far more valuable to them.
Even more so than Rob Lucci.
Hearing this, Luchiru hesitated only briefly before nodding. Whatever these people were, he dared not defy their orders.
In the midst of battle, Luffy caught sight of Luchiru and the unfamiliar man retreating. His face twisted with rage, like a wife abandoned, and he roared:
"Bastard! Don't you dare run!"
Blasting one captain aside with a punch, he shot his arm out, stretching toward Rachiru.
Whirr—Shing!
"Argh! That hurts!"
A blade of blue light flashed. In that instant, Luffy's instincts forced his arm into Haki—barely deflecting the strike.
Even so, his arm was sliced open, leaving a deep, jagged wound.
Staring at the injury, Luffy felt a flicker of fear.
If not for his instinctive reaction, he would have lost the entire arm.
But by the time he looked back, Luchiru was already disappearing into the distance. Luffy's frustration burned—but there was no time to dwell on it, as the controlled captains swarmed him again.
He couldn't bring himself to truly hurt them. The fight dragged on, mired in stalemate.
Fortunately, the rest of the Straw Hat crew finished their battles soon after and rushed to his aid.
Meanwhile, on the far side of the island—
Luchiru and the man called "Kozuki" arrived at the beach, where an unmarked merchant vessel waited.
Standing at the shore was another familiar figure.
If Luffy had been there, he would have recognized him instantly—Trafalgar Law, the man who had parted ways with them.
"All ready?" asked the black-haired Kozuki.
"Everything's prepared. We can set sail at any time," Law replied flatly.
"Good. Then let's depart."