"The admiral dispatched by Navy Headquarters is Aokiji? That's alright then."
Flying in the direction Perona had pointed, El asked her—following with all her might—what had happened.
After learning that the highest combat power assisting the CP agents was Aokiji, who pursued 'Lazy Justice,' El felt slightly relieved.
He had been afraid the three girls would encounter Kizaru, who pursued 'Unclear Justice,' or Akainu, who pursued 'Absolute Justice.'
The former possessed ultimate speed. Though Kuina's Rumble-Rumble Fruit allowed them to match his velocity, it would be difficult to protect Robin and Perona if he targeted them. The latter might ignore the three girls entirely, willing to kill Robin to uphold his Absolute Justice.
In their Asura Form, the three girls could, at best, fight them to a draw, but never defeat them.
Aokiji was the exception. He lacked Kizaru's speed and Akainu's ruthlessness, and his Ice-Ice Fruit was mutually restrained by Nami's Flame-Flame Fruit.
Moreover, the admiral was currently conflicted and had personally let Robin escape several times before, so El wasn't worried he would kill her.
Therefore, El didn't immediately go to support the three girls. Instead, he flew toward the direction where Perona and Robin were hiding.
Before encountering Aokiji, the five girls had returned to the fourth area to find El, so it didn't take long for him to reach the island where Perona and Robin were hiding.
Descending to the ground, El touched the earth and instantly took control of the island. The ground began to shake violently.
Inside a naturally formed tree hollow not far away, Robin—who was watching over Perona's body—suddenly noticed the ground around them emit a crisp cracking sound. As fissures appeared, the section of earth broke free, floated up, and carried them out of the hollow.
Simultaneously, the ground around the tree liquefied and soared upward, forming a massive sphere that protected Robin and Perona as they rose into the sky.
The sphere's wall was immensely thick. Unless the attacker was a master swordsman like Rayleigh or El, the flying slashes of other swordsmen couldn't hope to cut through it.
"Tempest Kick! (Rankyaku)!"
When the CP agents noticed the commotion and realized Nico Robin might be inside the giant sphere, they kicked in unison, unleashing a barrage of sharp, compressed blades of wind. These struck the sphere, leaving deep and shallow cuts one after another.
Unfortunately, by the time they successfully breached a hole and used Moon Step (Geppo) to fly inside, Robin and Perona were long gone.
Had they possessed Observation Haki, they would have discovered Robin and Perona already over 2,000 meters in the air—and still ascending.
"Knowing this sphere is man-made, yet you dare charge inside… what courageous idiots."
Just as the CP agents, having searched the sphere and found no trace of Nico Robin, prepared to leave, an indifferent voice slowly echoed from the hole they had created. Hearing it, their faces changed.
However, their reaction was too slow. The sound of quaking earth rang out again, and the massive sphere moved once more.
The hole created by the Tempest Kick rapidly healed, cutting off the light inside. The sphere then began to constrict toward the agents within. The speed of contraction was tremendous; the agents didn't even have a chance to create another opening with Tempest Kick before they were completely engulfed.
Outside, El floated before the giant sphere, watching dispassionately as the hole sealed and the sphere mercilessly crushed the CP agents inside.
Unlike Shiki—who liquefied earth to seal the Straw Hat Pirates while leaving their heads exposed to intimidate Nami—El crushed them within or buried them alive on the spot.
After eliminating the CP agents, El continued flying toward the battlefield between the three girls and Aokiji.
A short while later, El arrived in the zone of ice and fire.
"Nii-san…"
Sensing El's presence, the three girls—who had been colliding Fire Fists against Aokiji's waves of ice—immediately halted their next move.
"Flying… this ability…"
Aokiji also stopped attacking, staring at El floating in the air. His face grew extremely solemn.
A Devil Fruit that granted flight was extremely rare, and most were of the Zoan type. Moreover, when Zoan users flew, their bodies would always display animal characteristics.
Without any animal features and floating freely in the air made him think of a famously infamous Devil Fruit ability.
If he remembered correctly, that ability should have had a user long ago—a certain legendary pirate. Could it be that…
El's next actions confirmed Aokiji's suspicion.
"Fighting him will never end. Let's go."
El glanced at the silent Aokiji, then spoke to the girls. He raised his palm.
The moment his palm rose, the ground of the entire island shook violently once more. Then, a section of land around the three girls detached from the earth and floated upward, carrying El and the trio.
The ground for several miles with Aokiji at its center liquefied again, forming a wave-like tsunami that surged toward the admiral.
By the time El flew away, the earth had already submerged Aokiji. However, it did not close to form a solid sphere, because a biting cold erupted from within. In an instant, the small hill of earth was frozen into a white iceberg.
After Aokiji used elementalization to seep out of the iceberg, all traces of El and the girls had completely vanished.
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