"A Monster?"
Bang stood up as well.
After focusing carefully, he sensed nothing.
Yet looking at Aokiji, Bang could faintly feel the man's seriousness.
He didn't believe Aokiji was bluffing.
It only proved Aokiji's perception surpassed his own.
The other passengers were bewildered by the sudden announcement.
A Monster?
The plane hadn't even hit turbulence—where would a Monster come from?
A flight attendant, hearing the commotion, walked over with mild irritation.
"Sir, please sit down; don't disturb the other passengers."
Too lazy to explain, Aokiji grabbed her shoulder and pressed her into his own seat.
Before she could react, a wave of cold filled the cabin; she shivered involuntarily.
As Aokiji's hand turned to solid ice, spikes of frost raced out, extending precisely to every passenger's seat and forming safety rails like those on a roller-coaster.
They trapped the other crew members, the economy-class passengers in the rear, and even one unlucky soul squatting in the lavatory.
"Hey! What is this?!"
"It's freezing! I can't push it away!!"
"What the hell—my pants aren't even up yet!"
…The whole plane plunged into chaos.
Many tried at once to pry the ice rails apart; their hands turned scarlet with cold, accomplishing nothing.
Bang didn't stop him.
It was indeed the quickest way to keep everyone glued to their seats.
Just… physically cold-hearted.
Under the passengers' terrified stares, Aokiji walked to the cockpit door.
The anti-hijack door proved useless; he ripped it off and stepped inside.
Then set the door down gently.
Pressing the two panicking pilots, he spoke calmly:
"Keep flying. Nothing will happen."
——
Aokiji stood atop the plane, clouds drifting beneath him in an unbroken sheet.
Howling wind battered the fuselage; Bang trudged forward against the gale.
"Whew—at my age I can't take this wind for long. Is the Monster almost here?"
"Almost dead."
"Huh??"
Two winged humanoid figures encased in ice dropped out of the cloud-sea, plummeting straight toward the ground.
Their pupils trembled inside the ice.
They watched the earth rush closer.
And finally shattered into scattered shards of frost.
"It's… over just like that?" Bang looked baffled; had they come up here to freeze for nothing?
"Just two scouts."
Aokiji glanced at the progress bar—no change in completion.
Was the act not lazy enough for lazy justice?
Or would it only calculate after the incident ended?
Good chance to study how the bar worked.
"Damned humans!!!"
In the distant sky, a crimson, ogre-like Monster flapped two pairs of jet-black wings, roaring hideously.
"I am Sky King! You dare slaughter my kin!!"
"I can't bear it—now I begin humanity's extinction!!!"
Behind him followed several more winged Monsters with similarly bizarre skin tones.
Sky King streaked toward them, the rest of the sky-folk close behind, their ugly faces twisted in bloodthirsty grins.
Aokiji watched them, mind still on the progress bar.
lazy justice… what counts as lazy?
Too lazy to waste time—would one-shotting them qualify?
"Ice-Make: Dual Halberds."
Several long spears condensed in the air beside him.
Jet-black Armament Haki coiled around them.
"Now what?"
Bang was almost numb.
Ice powers, strange martial arts, absurd perception range—and now this?
How many surprises are you hiding, Aokiji?
'Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—'
The ice spears shot out.
"Kekeke, you dare use ice against mighty Sky King!?"
Sky King opened his maw, fangs glowing with fire.
The flames gathered into a searing sphere!
He spat several fireballs at the ice spears!
"Onward, children! Slaughter every human in this metal bird—our first step to conquering the world!"
"Your Majesty, something's wrong—your fireballs—"
The exploding fireballs didn't melt the spears, didn't even slow them!
The sky-folk had no time to dodge.
Spears wrapped in Armament Haki pierced straight through them!
Even Sky King, strongest of them all,
never imagined his attack would fail; he barely twisted aside.
An ice spear sheared off his left arm and a wing.
"Aargh!! Impossible! A mere human—!!"
Clutching his severed arm, Sky King howled in disbelief.
Ice had carved through his tough body so easily!?
It was only frozen water—how could it be so destructive!?
Anxiety toward a stronger foe.
Terror at his ruined body.
Grief as his race was wiped out.
All those fierce feelings fused into one.
Sky King stopped trembling.
With one wing gone he lurched in flight, his crimson skin darkening further.
He gazed down at the falling corpses of his kin.
Under pale brows his eyes turned eerily calm.
The plane still followed its route, wake churning clouds, drawing ever closer.
"Humans," Sky King murmured, igniting a fireball in his remaining hand.
"Don't take our home for granted…"
Blood dripped from his wounds as his three uneven wings beat frantically!
His ogre face contorted, flame raised, he charged!
"The sky… belongs to the sky-folk!!!"
——
—Click.
He snapped a selfie with Sky King frozen mid-charge inside the ice.
Aokiji uploaded the photo to the Hero Association app.
[lazy justice: 1.6 %]
Not bad—at least it wasn't 0.01 %.
The bar's mechanics needed more study, but the keyword was probably "Justice."
As for the prefix "Lazy",
maybe it meant choosing restraint, as Aokiji would, in a complex world.
lazy justice wasn't inaction.
It was calculated restraint amid pirates' tangled loyalties.
But in this world, things were simpler.
"Bang, want a photo too?"
"No, no. I did nothing—can't share your credit."
Bang was still mulling over the Armament Haki Aokiji had used.
It looked like energy.
Yet it felt like… Aura?
What an incredible young man.
How much talent are you still hiding?
He watched Aokiji figuring how to stuff the Sky King ice-statue into the cabin.
Teaching him my Flowing Rock Crushing Fist might only hold him back.
What he truly needs
is a martial art of his own creation!
All I can do is help the young avoid needless detours.
Bang thought of the dojo
and that talented, swaggering little punk.
Maybe… invite Aokiji to take Wolf down a peg?