On the palm of the Guanyin statue.
The skin of Onigumo's face was completely gone, leaving only gruesome, terrifying flesh and white bone.
His voice was as hoarse as a demon's. Ignoring the pain, he managed a smile. "I told you, you would regret not killing me immediately."
"Admiral Aokiji was in the nearby waters. I knew he would come."
Luo Chen's face turned completely grim.
Aokiji's arrival was completely unexpected.
A Marine Admiral was an existence he absolutely could not contend with at present. Even in a desperate, bloody battle, he might not even be able to touch the corner of his clothes.
Luo Chen willed the Wood Dragon to quickly charge into the distance.
At the same time, a wooden spike extended from his palm, thrusting toward Onigumo's brow.
"Ice Time Capsule."
A lazy voice sounded from several hundred meters away.
A blast of white, cold air shot toward them.
Luo Chen glanced out of the corner of his eye, his hand moving even faster.
But he was still too slow.
The six to seven-hundred-meter-tall Guanyin statue was instantly frozen solid.
Luo Chen, Onigumo, and Crocodile, on the palm of the statue, were also sealed within the ice, unable to move an inch.
The wooden spike from Luo Chen's palm stopped a millimeter from Onigumo's brow, unable to advance any further.
On the back of the Wood Dragon fleeing into the distance, everyone's face was filled with terror.
Such a massive Guanyin statue had been frozen in an instant.
And Admiral Aokiji was still several hundred meters away.
Nami let out a piercing scream, "Luo Chen!"
The next moment, on the palm of the Guanyin statue, the figure of Luo Chen within the ice flashed and disappeared.
Beside Nami, Luo Chen appeared, a cold chill emanating from his body.
Luo Chen had no time to comfort Nami. Without a word, he controlled the Wood Dragon to speed away.
Ace suddenly reminded them, "Here it comes again!"
Across the desert, a stream of pale, cold air shot along the ground at incredible speed, heading straight for the Wood Dragon.
Ace threw out two punches of scorching flames.
The flames and the cold air collided, and a massive cloud of white steam rose into the sky.
Just as everyone was breathing a sigh of relief, Ace said gravely, "Aokiji is here!"
As his voice fell, a figure charged out from the white steam at the Wood Dragon's tail.
It was none other than Admiral Aokiji.
He stepped on the air, his speed incredible, each step covering dozens of meters.
In a flash, he had caught up to the Wood Dragon.
Ace charged out, taking the initiative to engage him, buying time for Luo Chen and the others to escape.
Of those present, only he could use his fruit's elemental advantage to tie Aokiji down for a moment.
If the fight dragged on, he would not be his opponent either.
"'Fire Fist' Ace, don't get in my way," Aokiji's expression was still lazy, his gaze fixed on Luo Chen.
"He is my target. Mr. Sengoku gave a direct order."
Ace ignited a giant wall of fire behind him to prevent Aokiji from chasing Luffy and the others. He smiled.
"Luo Chen is my little brother's friend. How can I let you lay a hand on him?"
Aokiji's eyes turned slightly cold. A chill emanated from his body, and his figure flashed and charged forward.
"Your fruit ability's development isn't bad, but your Haki and taijutsu are far too weak."
Ace said nothing, pushing his Flame-Flame Fruit powers to their limit.
The entire blue sky was dyed a crimson red.
The sand below crystallized under the high temperature.
The battle of ice and fire erupted violently in an instant.
...
On the Wood Dragon, Luo Chen looked back at the giant wall of fire, his expression changing slightly.
He hadn't expected Ace to voluntarily intercept Aokiji.
Facing a Marine Admiral alone, Ace had no chance of winning and might even be captured by Aokiji.
'Damn it, don't tell me Ace is going to be captured by Aokiji, thus kicking off the Summit War?'
The thought couldn't help but pop into Luo Chen's head.
But soon, he knew he was overthinking it.
The wall of fire was still burning, but a figure quickly charged out of it. It was Admiral Aokiji.
In just a short moment, he seemed to have shaken off Ace's entanglement and was once again in pursuit.
At that moment, the wall of fire dissipated.
Ace was just climbing up from the desert, a sunken, dark-red fist print clearly visible on his chest.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he stared unwillingly at Aokiji's back.
But it was obviously too late to stop him.
"Ace was defeated! He's coming after us!" Carina, Usopp, and Chopper shrieked in terror.
Nami was also so scared her face was deathly pale, the hand gripping Luo Chen's arm exceptionally cold.
Robin bit her lip tightly, looking back at the pursuing Aokiji, her face devoid of color.
Luo Chen said in a low voice, "We have to split up. He's after me."
Aokiji wasn't even going after Ace; his target was obvious.
Nami gripped his arm tightly, shaking her head nonstop.
Luo Chen revealed a smile. "You go with Luffy and the others. They'll protect you."
Hearing this, Nami's body trembled, and her tears could no longer be held back. "I'll go with you, Luo Chen."
Luo Chen said nothing. He controlled a wooden vine to bind Nami and handed her over to Carina.
"Please take care of Nami."
With that, Luo Chen was about to leap off the Wood Dragon.
Carina called out to him, handing him a palm-sized, square piece of white paper.
"This is my Vivre Card. If... if you escape, you can use it to find us."
Luo Chen took it and put it away.
At this time, Aokiji was already very close to the Wood Dragon.
His gaze swept over Luo Chen and then Robin. His tone was lazy.
"Neither of you should think about escaping."
"Mr. Sengoku gave a direct order."
"Nico Robin, I have to capture you today."
Hearing this, Robin's face on the back of the Wood Dragon turned ashen, her body trembling.
She knew it. As soon as she encountered a Marine Admiral, she would definitely be a target for capture. And she would absolutely not be able to escape.
Luo Chen glanced at Robin, grabbed her arm with one hand, and threw a piece of wood into the distance with the other.
The next moment, Luo Chen and Robin's figures appeared in the air a hundred meters away.
Aokiji's eyes narrowed. He had already witnessed Luo Chen's teleportation technique. He could even escape from his ice.
Of course, when he had frozen Luo Chen and Onigumo just now, he hadn't used his full power. It was mainly to control Luo Chen's movements and save Onigumo.
'What's the meaning of him throwing a piece of wood before teleporting?'
Aokiji didn't give the Wood Dragon carrying the Straw Hat crew a second glance.
He used Moonwalk, pursuing the two of them a hundred meters away.
These two were the targets Mr. Sengoku had ordered him to capture.
If it came down to it, he could even let Robin go. But Luo Chen had to be captured, or killed on the spot.
...
Seeing Aokiji in pursuit, Luo Chen once again threw out a piece of wood with a Flying Thunder God mark on it.
The wood chip flew over three hundred meters in an instant.
The Flying Thunder God activated.
He appeared with Robin in the air three hundred meters away.
At this point, the two of them were very far from the Wood Dragon.
Having lost Luo Chen's control, the Wood Dragon fell toward the desert.
Luffy sucked in a large breath of air, turning into a highly elastic ball to catch everyone.
They looked at the departing Luo Chen and Aokiji, their expressions filled with worry.
"Let's go, now! There are still other Marines over there!"
Carina supported the sobbing Nami and reminded everyone.
Gmil and the other four Vice Admirals were already in pursuit but had been intercepted by Ace.
Smoker and Hina, however, were unopposed and were chasing them.
Luffy nodded. "Let's run first. I can't hit that smoke-man."
Everyone reached a consensus and fled into the distance.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]