Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
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"Get aboard and destroy that ship, haha!"
On the Flying Dutchman, Vander Decken IX waved his hands and laughed as he gave orders to his men.
For him, destroying ships trying to go to Fish-Man Island was just a pastime.
"Yes, captain...?"
The crew of the pirate ship turned around, grinning ferociously and trying to respond to their captain.
However, after seeing the figure behind Vander Decken IX, they immediately stepped aside.
"Huh? What's wrong with you? Why don't you follow my orders?"
Vander Decken IX stared at his crew members with dissatisfaction.
"Boss, you... there's someone behind you... a human!"
Some crew members raised their hands to remind Vander Decken IX.
"Human? I think you're dreaming. How could there be someone on my ship?"
Vander Decken IX snorted coldly. Even so, he still subconsciously turned his head and looked behind him.
"Hey! There really are humans? Where did you come from?"
Vander Decken IX rubbed his eyes and asked the two people standing behind him, Ikki and Vivi, with some confusion.
"Well, from the ship opposite you."
Ikki pointed at the Explorer that Vander Decken IX and others were attacking, and said meaningfully.
"The ship on the other side? Wait, how did you get here?"
"We ran here? No, we swam here. Forget it - do you have any last words? Since you've launched an attack on us, even if you're killed by us, you won't have any complaints, right?"
"Kill me? Haha, figure out who you're talking to, human. Do you think you can be an opponent of us fish-men at the bottom of the sea?"
"You are indeed a fish-man, but now that you've eaten the Mato Mato no Mi, you can no longer swim. Theoretically speaking, you're not as good as us humans who don't have Devil Fruit abilities when it comes to swimming."
"Hey! How did you know that I ate the Mato Mato no Mi? Who are you?!"
"There is too much nonsense. If you don't want to leave any last words, then we'll take action."
Ikki patted Vivi on the shoulder and continued:
"Do it, Vivi! Remember not to smash his body into pieces - you have to keep his body to go to the king of Fish-Man Island in exchange for profit."
Hearing this, Vivi nodded slightly and took a step forward, planning to take action.
"Wait, you're here because of King Neptune's bounty?"
Vander Decken IX frowned and took a huge ax from his subordinates.
And his men also stood on both sides of Vander Decken IX.
"No, I like Shirahoshi. I'm here for her future."
"Bastard, Shirahoshi is mine! Guys, kill him for me!"
Just as Ikki thought, Vander Decken IX, who wanted to take Princess Shirahoshi as his own, was furious on the spot and ordered his subordinates to attack Ikki.
However...
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"
Vivi's eyes flashed with a cold light, and the Zanpakutō in her hand quickly entered the Shikai state.
She inserted the blade into the deck of the pirate ship. In an instant, ten gusts of cold wind drifted in front of Vivi and quickly moved toward Vander Decken IX and others, quickly freezing their feet.
"What's wrong? Ice! Why are we frozen by ice?"
"So... so cold. What on earth is this?"
"Devil Fruit power! That woman has Devil Fruit powers!"
"No... it won't work! The ice is spreading upward. Captain, please think of a way!"
"No, I don't want to die!"
Feeling the cold ice on their bodies, the crew of the pirate ship suddenly fell into extreme panic.
Among them, Vander Decken IX was also included.
"Damn it, hurry up... break free!"
Vander Decken IX angrily threw the huge double-edged ax in his hand at Vivi.
However, Vivi just raised Sode no Shirayuki slightly and deflected the ax through the air, landing it on a corner of the deck of the pirate ship.
"Sleep. This is your destination."
Vivi exhaled a cold breath and once again increased the power to activate Sode no Shirayuki.
The next moment, all the pirates, including Vander Decken IX, turned into human-shaped ice sculptures.
"Well done, Vivi. Your control is maintained pretty well."
Ikki laughed.
He could see that among the pirates frozen by Vivi, the stronger ones hadn't even lost their vitality.
The same went for Vander Decken IX.
Under normal circumstances, with the power of Sode no Shirayuki currently displayed by Vivi, Vander Decken IX would be absolutely unable to resist.
Being able to freeze others without killing them was enough to show that Vivi's control over her power had reached an extremely high level.
"It's all thanks to Captain's guidance."
Vivi lifted Sode no Shirayuki's Shikai with a smile on her face.
She knew that she was able to master Sode no Shirayuki to this extent thanks to Ikki's ability to teach her Transparent World.
"Okay, just absorb that guy's Devil Fruit. After Sode no Shirayuki enters Bankai, you may be able to use 'Absolute Zero' even in the Shikai state."
Ikki patted Vivi on the back and led her toward Vander Decken IX.
Sode no Shirayuki was the same as Katen Kyōkotsu - even its Shikai state was extremely powerful.
Katen Kyōkotsu won by rules, and Sode no Shirayuki won by the ice of 'absolute zero'.
To a certain extent, if it could use 'absolute zero', Sode no Shirayuki's freezing performance could even surpass Aokiji's.
Of course, it might not be able to match Aokiji in terms of scope.
[Ding! Host's partner Vivi's Zanpakutō has further evolved and is now able to freely use the Bankai state.]
[Vivi's personal attributes have been refreshed, please check it yourself.]
As Vivi raised and lowered her sword, piercing the long blade into Vander Decken IX's heart, the system's mechanical voice also sounded in Ikki's mind.
"Bankai: Hakka no Togame!"
At this moment, a cold voice sounded beside Ikki.
A huge white disk suddenly appeared hundreds of meters away from them.
Ikki looked closely and found that Vivi was now wearing a pure white feathered coat, and even her hair and eyebrows had turned into pure white snow color.
'This is really... she can't wait.'
Ikki shook his head, put his right hand on Vander Decken IX's shoulder, and used his speed to quickly leave the pirate ship and return to the Explorer.
Although Sode no Shirayuki's power didn't affect him, it affected other things.
Ikki didn't want Vander Decken IX's frozen body to turn into pieces.
'Hakka no Togame' was an ability that might cause self-destruction. Ikki didn't feel that Vivi could fully control its power with her current ability.
"Nami, move the ship away. I'll bring Vivi to you later."
After Ikki placed the body of Vander Decken IX on the deck of the Explorer, he broke out of the coating bubbles of the Explorer again and pushed against the hull with his palm.
Ikki's powerful strength gave the Explorer huge kinetic energy, causing it to float hundreds of meters into the distance in an instant.
After doing all this, Vivi could no longer restrain the power of 'Hakka no Togame'.
With a 'buzz' sound, with Vivi as the center, the seawater with a radius of hundreds of meters instantly turned into ice.
And this range was still spreading into the distance.
"What's going on? Is there an enemy attack?"
On the deck of the Explorer, Tashigi, wrapped in a bathrobe, rushed out from the cabin.
Behind her were Hina, who was also wearing a bathrobe, and Sadi-chan, who ran out without even having time to dress.
Just now, they felt a strong vibration in the hull.
The three of them rushed out of the gym bathhouse before they even had time to change clothes.
Little drops of gentle hot spring water continued to flow from their bodies.
"Then... what is that?"
Hina's beautiful eyes widened and she stared in disbelief at the deep-sea ice peaks hundreds of meters away and the ice that was constantly pursuing the Explorer.
"Ice... is it Marine Admiral Aokiji? Why did he attack us?"
Sadi-chan had her mouth wide open, her eyes full of disbelief.
She couldn't understand that the Marines had just approved her to come to the Explorer to study, and why in the next second, Aokiji, one of the most powerful warriors in the Marines, came to attack them.
And he was still using the power of ice in the deep sea.
Of course, Sadi-chan and others were also quite shocked that Aokiji could use the power of ice in the deep sea.
"Don't worry, it's not Aokiji attacking us. It's just Vivi getting familiar with her own power."
Nico Robin, who was using Senbonzakura's Shikai state to continuously dissolve the chasing ice, looked back and her eyes fell on Sadi-chan.
"Although I know you're very confident about your figure, I think it's better for you to put on some clothes, lest a certain man appear later and leave this scene of yours on the drawing board forever."
Sadi-chan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when she heard that it wasn't Aokiji's attack.
This meant that she could continue to study with Ikki.
After finally finding an opportunity to become stronger, she was unwilling to give up Ikki's support.
But she didn't pay too much attention to what Robin said about clothes.
Sadi-chan waved her hand and walked up to Robin.
"The power of ice is really powerful - it can actually create such a large amount of ice in the deep sea. By the way, what kind of ability is this, and why is it so similar to Admiral Aokiji's?"
"What happened to your sword? Why is it only the hilt?"
Sadi-chan asked curiously.
Rather than getting dressed, she now wanted to get to know Ikki's partners well.
"The power of ice should be that princess of Alabasta. It turns out that the power that can create ice doesn't come from the breathing method - this breathing method isn't recorded in the 'Demon Slayer' comic book."
"The power of ice comes from the sword in her hand, just like Nami's sword can summon thunder and lightning. Hina remembers that your sword can summon purple lightning at first, and after further progress, it can produce more powerful golden lightning."
"Princess Vivi's current state should be due to the further power of her sword. Can Hina understand that the swords Ikki gave you have two states?"
"This second state often has stronger power, but it takes more time to develop?"
Hina walked behind Nami, Robin and others with Tashigi's support, her eyes full of exploration.
"With that said, why don't you ask Captain Ikki?"
Nico Robin took over the conversation with a constant smile on her face.
At the same time, after seeing that the ice in the distance was no longer spreading and even gradually retreating, she recalled the Sakura petals and reunited them into a katana.
This scene made Sadi-chan, who had just joined, couldn't help but see her eyes light up.
'What a beautiful sword.'
'Ikki's crew are all very skilled with their swords.'
'I wonder if there's any way to get a sword like this from Ikki.'
Sadi-chan thought to herself.
"Hmph, that guy definitely won't tell Hina."
Hina clicked her tongue, and seeing that the mysterious woman in front of her was unwilling to speak out, she gave up temporarily.
After all, she had asked Ikki such questions many times.
"Why are you so curious about the power of our swords? If you want, Hina, why don't you quit the Marines, officially become a member of my crew, and follow me to sail on the sea?"
"If you're willing, maybe I'll get you a sword that can control fire."
Suddenly, Ikki's voice sounded on the deck of the Explorer.
Hina followed the sound and saw Ikki standing not far in front of them, carrying Princess Vivi in a princess carry.
"Tch, Hina won't join you. Hina is going back to the hot springs."
Hina snorted coldly and wanted to turn around and leave.
"Haha, no matter what, thank you for your concern. You three just thought it was an enemy attack, so you wanted to help."
Ikki's eyes passed over Tashigi, Hina, and finally fell on Sadi-chan.
"You have a nice figure, Sadi-chan. If you don't mind, I'd like to draw you like this."
Hearing this, Sadi-chan also had a smile on her face.
"Although I'm very shy, there's nothing I can do if you see me, Mr. Ikki. However, if you want to get the same sword as Princess Vivi and others, do you really have to quit the Marines and join your crew?"
"I heard that you seemed to have given Empress Hancock a sword?"
Sadi-chan put her hands on her hips and looked at Ikki generously, as if she really didn't mind him looking at her.
Such a scene made Ikki feast his eyes and he couldn't help but look at Nami beside him.
"What are you looking at me for?"
Nami also put her hands on her hips, and the look in Ikki's eyes made her feel that he was thinking about something rude.
"It's nothing. I just thought someone who looked like you appeared on this ship. It's just that Sadi-chan doesn't seem to ask me for Berry."
"It seems that when I want to see benefits in the future, I can go find someone else. And Sadi-chan seems to be more mature than you are now."
Ikki laughed.