"What the heck…"
Luffy gnawed on a piece of meat still clinging to bone. In the distance, a flock of birds suddenly burst up from the shoreline, followed by a violent series of crashes.
He stared blankly.
"With a commotion that big… did a Sea King attack some ship?"
The Straw Hats had only just set up camp on the island. They had not even gotten a proper rest before trouble came knocking.
But the moment Luffy heard the words "Sea King," his mind instantly filled with mountains of meat. He started drooling on the spot.
"Hey, hey, hey! Then let's go catch it!"
"We can make barbecue!"
"…Sure." Sanji nodded. "You pretty much ate the ship's supplies down to nothing anyway."
"Then let's all go check the shore."
…
While the Straw Hats rushed over, something far less pleasant was already unfolding at the coast.
Clack, clack, clack.
A bicycle rolled forward.
Where its wheels touched, frost bloomed instantly, spreading across the sea in glittering sheets of ice. A tall, lean figure approached the island, cold mist curling around him.
"…Haa."
Kuzan yawned as he looked out over the endless ocean.
Ever since Ozz had half-retired from the world's stage, Kuzan had felt like something was missing. The longer he stayed in the Navy, the more he saw, the more the fire in his chest cooled.
The World Government's darkness.
The years without facing that old rival.
It was like his drive had been quietly stolen.
His sense of justice was still there, sure.
But once the spirit was gone, it was gone.
So on the surface, he had become… the Navy's second-greatest master of slacking, right after a certain someone.
"Ozz is back, but he still hasn't shown himself."
"And he's clearly doing something behind the scenes."
"That bastard… he's definitely thinking about how to flip the whole world upside down again."
"…But with my position, I don't have any excuse to act."
Kuzan sighed.
"Well, whatever."
"I'll go see old man Garp's grandson."
With that in mind, he pedaled his sea-bicycle toward the location intelligence had marked: the Straw Hat Pirates.
But even from far away, he heard that obnoxious laughter.
Zehahahaha.
And along with it… a feeling he could not ignore. Something familiar. Something he hated.
…
"Zehahahaha! Let's move!"
"Go capture Straw Hat Luffy and his crew!"
Teach, the heavyset man, led his crew forward, ready to snatch up Luffy. A pirate with a bounty over one hundred million would make a lovely gift to the World Government.
Get the Warlord seat first.
Then planning for Whitebeard would be much easier.
"Hey, Hades, you stay here and guard the ship. The rest of us, let's go!"
But before they could even take off, a bone-piercing chill swept over them.
They turned.
At some point, a tall figure in blue and white was already there, standing quietly, as if he had always been part of the scenery.
"You… you are…?!"
Teach's face twisted in shock.
"Marine Admiral… Aokiji!!!"
"Ara ara…"
Aokiji exhaled a thin stream of cold air, expression flat.
"You look like pirates."
"Even if I'm not on assignment… if I run into you, I still have to do things properly."
"Damn it…"
Teach's gaze turned heavy and vicious. He had never imagined he would run into a Marine Admiral here of all places.
"Hey!!! Kuzan!"
"We're one of the pirate crews nominated for the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
"There's no reason for us to fight you here!"
The moment he sensed Aokiji might move, Teach raised a hand, trying to stop it.
The Blackbeard Pirates faced the Admiral from a distance.
What a joke.
Their plans were finally rolling. How could they afford to clash with a Marine Admiral now?
Cold sweat dripped down Teach's face.
He could only try to…
"Hey, hey, hey!!! What Admiral?"
"As long as he's a Devil Fruit user, we're not scared!!!"
A voice cut into the tense standoff.
From the side, the man who had been spacing out moments ago suddenly looked sharp and awake. Hades stepped forward with twin axes in hand.
He grinned at Aokiji.
"An Admiral is nothing."
"I'm the man destined to become the right-hand of the future King of the World!!!"
"…!!"
The whole crew jolted.
Especially Teach, whose expression turned spectacularly ugly.
How did he forget about Hades, this fearless lunatic?!
This was the same madman who had dared to set his sights on the Teleportation Fruit!
"Wait, Hades! Now's not the time to fight the Navy…"
Teach tried to speak.
But at that moment…
Whoosh.
A terrifying wave of cold erupted from the tall figure opposite them.
Crack, crack, crack!!!
The shoreline froze in an instant, and the ice surged outward, spreading across a massive stretch of sea like a white tidal wave.
There was no mistaking it.
Even if the voice, build, appearance, even the tone had changed…
My heartbeat recognized you before my mind did.
Did you think changing your face would make me unable to tell?
Dotor Ozz!!!
"What?!!"
Teach did not understand why Aokiji suddenly went berserk, but the ice crawling up around his feet told him everything.
This would not end peacefully.
"Damn it!"
"Black Hole!"
He slammed his hand to the ground. Bottomless darkness spread outward, swallowing the ice whole.
"Zehahahaha… can't be helped!"
"Looks like we've got to fight!"
"Get ready, you bastards!!!"
Teach's hands poured out the power of the Yami Yami no Mi, finally suppressing the freezing tide.
Clang!
Hades stepped in as well. His twin axes flared with thick, pitch-black Armament Haki. He knocked them together, the sound ringing like iron colliding.
"A Marine Admiral is still worth killing."
As for the rest of the crew, they could only offer support at best.
Even the most useless of them, Jesus Burgess, had already been frozen into an ice sculpture.
And so, under Teach and Hades's so-called "full power," they managed to trade blows with Aokiji for a brief time.
The freezing power was constantly being erased by darkness. Teach and Hades were both skilled with Haki.
So they could, barely, keep up.
But against an Aokiji who had clearly lost control…
For some reason, it was Teach who was taking far heavier damage.
…
Deep in the distant forest, several figures were watching the battle in secret.
The moment Robin truly saw what was happening, her legs gave out. She dropped hard onto the ground, eyes shaking violently.
"T-that is…"
Childhood memories flooded back like a nightmare.
"The Marine fighting those two… is one of the Navy Headquarters' highest combat powers!"
"Admiral Aokiji!!!"
Maybe he noticed them.
Hades's smile lifted slightly as he shouted toward the trees.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
"You see an Admiral and you hide instead of fighting?!"
"Low-class pirates!!!"
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