At the Going Merry.
Zoro's face darkened as he said deeply, "Usopp, Sanji, Johnny, Yosaku, Bartolomeo—protect the ship! The Knock Up Stream is coming!"
His Observation Haki had already detected the sound from the bottom of the sea.
"As for that... leave it to Luffy!"
---
On the Thousand Sunny.
Robin covered her mouth, her pupils suddenly contracting.
He's here to capture her!!
"..."
"Stay quiet, Robin!" Nami's face was serious as she clenched her fist and whispered, "We have to believe in Luffy! If we can't trust Luffy, then who can we trust?"
Robin couldn't say anything in response.
Will these people really protect her from an Admiral?
Vivi held her hand and gently reassured her, "Don't be afraid, Robin. Aren't we comrades? We have to believe in Mr. Luffy!"
---
On the frozen surface.
Luffy's Haki continued to rise. He raised his right hand, moved his fingers, and made a snapping sound.
"No matter what your mission is, I've got some free time, so let's fight a little."
Aokiji was by his bike, silently rubbing his head.
Full of youthful energy... truly worthy of being Garp's grandson.
Does he even know why I'm here?
"Monkey D. Luffy, I also received a lot of help from your grandfather in the past. Now that you're a Shichibukai, do you really want to fight me?"
After a pause, he continued, "I'm just here to take a woman. Her name is Ni...!"
Boom!!
Suddenly, a tremendous force emerged from the sea.
The frozen surface of the sea, created by Aokiji, was instantly shattered as the sea surged upward, lifting a pirate ship.
Immediately afterward, a loud, resounding sound echoed.
The terrifying impact launched the three ships into the sky.
"Ahaha..." Aokiji looked up, laughing casually. "If you want to go to the island of heaven, there's a safer route. The Knock Up Stream has a mortality rate of 99%. Your companions could fall."
"No, I have an excellent navigator."
Luffy smiled. "Are you here to take Robin away? Give up. With me here, you won't take her."
"So you knew," Aokiji said, unsurprised.
"Without her, how could I decipher the texts on the four Road Poneglyphs?"
"This is a government order."
"The government means nothing to me."
Aokiji couldn't help but laugh, rubbing his forehead as he said, "I really can't do anything about you. Since that's the case... I'll have to use force to take her!"
He extended his palm toward Luffy.
Cold air emanated from his hand, as if he wanted to freeze even the atmosphere.
"Ice Hour!"
The cold air spread rapidly, freezing Luffy almost instantly, turning him into a statue.
However, in the next second...
Crack, crack, crack!
Small fractures appeared on the surface of the ice and, with a bang, the ice shattered into bright fragments.
Luffy moved, immediately entering Gear Second and charging at Aokiji.
"Fighting melee?" Aokiji smiled, thinking, This boy really thinks an admiral's physical ability is weak? But... what kind of skill is this?
Steam emanated from Luffy's body, and Aokiji couldn't figure out what kind of Akuma no Mi ability it was.
Luffy kicked fiercely.
His Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki enveloped him.
Using Observation Haki to aim, Luffy predicted Aokiji's next blocking movement.
In the blink of an eye, Conqueror's Haki erupted—Luffy had no intention of holding back.
The corners of Aokiji's mouth suddenly froze.
He raised his right leg to block the attack, but before contact was made, the power of Conqueror's Haki was transmitted.
Bang!!
With an incredibly strong blow and a powerful explosion, Aokiji was directly expelled from his elemental form.
His body became an ice sculpture, like a ray of white light streaking across the frozen surface.
With a swift motion, he flew hundreds, maybe even thousands, of kilometers in an instant.
How is this possible...?! He's reached this level with Conqueror's Haki!?
The impact was too much for Aokiji to maintain his form. As he was sent flying, his ice body shattered into countless pieces.
From afar, it looked as if Luffy's kick had reduced Aokiji to fragments.
"Don't hide."
Luffy walked step by step, his Conqueror's Haki continuing to rise.
The power of the Conqueror at level IV5 caused even the surface of the ice for miles around to tremble violently and break.
At the same time, off the ice layer, the distant sea surface began to freeze suddenly.
Pieces of broken ice continued to gather, gradually taking the shape of Aokiji.
He crouched down, with a trace of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
"At this age... you've really mastered Conqueror's Haki...??"
Aokiji wore a confused expression.
He knew Luffy had Conqueror's Haki; he had read it clearly in the report about the new Shichibukai.
Luffy was an Akuma no Mi user—he knew that—but not the specific nature of his fruit.
However, this level of Conqueror's Haki was a power that only a very small number of individuals could master.
"The body of an admiral is really sturdy. After receiving my blow, you only bled a little?"
Luffy raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Hearing this, Aokiji wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, got up, and smiled.
"Don't underestimate me. After all, I'm an admiral."
His expression turned much more serious as he fixed his gaze on Luffy. "But it's really something... does Garp know about your mastery of Haki?"
"Stop talking nonsense!"
With one step, Luffy's foot struck the ice, making it crack. He looked like a streak of light as he shot toward Aokiji.
With his right fist tightly clenched, strands of black and red lightning emerged.
"Conqueror's Haki is really formidable... but even with a high level of mastery, it can still be countered by Weapon's Haki."
Aokiji neither dodged nor avoided; instead, he met Luffy's Conqueror's Haki attack with a punch of his own.
Crash!
Although their fists didn't collide directly, a terrifying shockwave burst out.
From the center of the shock, waves of force spread rapidly in a spherical shape.
The speed of its expansion was supersonic!
In an instant, the sea surface collapsed, forming a hemisphere one kilometer in diameter.
The resounding sound even reached an altitude of ten thousand meters.
In the sky above Skypiea, before the golden bell could ring, the confrontation between two of the greatest experts of the Blue Sea had already aroused the god of thunder within the temple.
---
At an altitude of ten thousand meters.
Above the White Sea.
Inside a temple.
In the bed where God resided.
Enel suddenly opened his eyes.
Crash!
The resounding sound that reached his ears made him frown.
"What is that?!"
(End of Chapter)
Give me some power stones there you go~😉