Drip, drip...
Tokikake's mind went blank, his eyes reflecting only the image of the icy spear.
A trickle of crimson blood slid down the transparent tip of the spear, dripping onto the ground and splattering into red blossoms.
Smoker's eyes snapped wide open, and his arms, now missing their forearms, reflexively lifted as if to pull out the spear that had pierced his heart.
But his severed arms only rose halfway before slowly lowering again.
A faint smile actually appeared on Smoker's face as the life force in his tall body rapidly faded.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth; he no longer had the strength to turn his head.
But Smoker could guess who stood behind him.
No, it was no longer him.
"Kuzan..."
Tears slowly welled in Smoker's eyes.
An extreme cold, emanating from the ice spear in his heart, swiftly spread throughout his entire body.
"Tokikake, don't... blame Kuzan... If it weren't for him, I would have died... back on Punk Hazard. If... cough... Kuzan wakes up... tell him I don't blame him..."
A thick layer of frost instantly spread across Smoker's entire body.
The tears at the corners of his eyes hadn't even fallen before they were frozen by the cold current, solidified on his cheeks.
"No... NO!!"
Tokikake's eyes turned bloodshot, his eye sockets instantly reddening and moistening.
Swoosh!
The ice spear between his eyes suddenly lengthened, thrusting toward his face.
At the critical moment, a gunshot came from afar.
Bang!
The ice spear before Tokikake exploded, breaking from the middle and scattering countless ice fragments.
The gunshot also jolted Tokikake out of his grief and rage, his body instinctively retreating backward.
Then he saw a scene that made his eyes nearly burst.
A tall, thin man with an expressionless face raised his right hand high, formed a fist, and chopped downward.
Boom!
Smoker, who had turned into a white ice sculpture, shattered and collapsed into pieces all over the ground!
"Ku... Kuzan, why, why did it come to this!!"
The corners of Tokikake's eyes split, shedding bloody tears.
"Pull yourself together, Tokikake!"
Not far away, a woman holding a revolver strode forward.
She had snow-white silver hair, a face full of wrinkles, and eyes that revealed an inescapable weariness, containing endless vicissitudes.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru... Kuzan he..."
Tokikake knew it was Vice Admiral Tsuru who had fired the shot earlier.
Vice Admiral Tsuru walked to Tokikake's side, looking at the scattered pieces on the ground, a trace of gloom flashing in her eyes.
Then she looked across at Kuzan, who stood expressionless, white smoke hissing from his hands as he reformed a sharp ice spear, his hollow, numb eyes looking their way.
"He's not Kuzan. His memories have been artificially erased. The current him has none of his past memories - he's just a puppet that only knows how to follow orders. Perhaps you could consider him a Pacifista."
As Vice Admiral Tsuru spoke, she sighed softly and slowly raised her revolver.
"Tokikake, pull yourself together! Stopping him with all your might, or killing him, is the greatest respect we can show Kuzan!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru's words made Tokikake grit his teeth and stand up, magnetic energy flickering in his hands.
"Ice Storm!"
An overwhelming cold current surged from Kuzan's body once again, covering Vice Admiral Tsuru and Tokikake.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Vice Admiral Tsuru decisively fired her revolver with her right hand.
The bullets wrapped in Armament Haki pierced through Kuzan's head, neck, and heart, creating bowl-sized holes and sending ice shards flying.
However, her attacks failed to halt Kuzan's advance.
The large holes on his body rapidly closed up.
Raising the ice spear in his hand, he paused for a moment before disappearing from their sight.
"Watch out! Vice Admiral Tsuru!"
Tokikake's face changed dramatically as he rushed forward urgently, spreading the fingers of his right hand and pressing forward.
"Magnetic Impact!" Howling magnetic force transformed into a raging hurricane, sweeping through the air before him.
A transparent, tall, thin figure suddenly faintly appeared, a gleaming ice spear thrusting like lightning from behind toward Vice Admiral Tsuru's head!
A gentle, spring-like smile appeared on Vice Admiral Tsuru's face.
"Don't worry, I'm not that fragile."
The next instant, her seemingly aged and withered body suddenly erupted with a formidable aura.
Her cloak flapped violently behind her as she instantly vanished from beneath Kuzan's ice spears.
Whoosh!
Tsuru stepped on the air, clenched her right fist, and coated it with black Busoshoku Haki.
Moving so fast that afterimages appeared, she landed a punch on the back of Kuzan's head before he could dodge!
Boom!
Kuzan's head smashed into the ground, blasting a deep crater into it.
Whoosh!
Tsuru's figure vanished again, reappearing beside Kuzan.
Her small fist threw a straightforward, unadorned punch, slamming into Kuzan's abdomen!
Boom!
Kuzan's body arched before he was sent flying like a cannonball into the distance.
Tokikake's jaw slowly dropped.
Swish, swish, swish!
Bang, bang, bang!
Vice Admiral Tsuru pressed her advantage relentlessly.
Her petite body unleashed a power that would terrify ordinary Vice Admirals, continuously flickering and turning into afterimages as she pummeled Kuzan's body like a bowling ball, sending him flying back and forth.
Amid the flurry of afterimages, Kuzan remained expressionless.
A blue icy ring suddenly burst from his body, spreading out in all directions.
"Ice Age!"
Whoosh!
Wherever the icy ring passed, everything froze.
The ground turned into a glacier, and all fell silent.
It was as if time and space had been frozen solid by Kuzan's ultimate move.
Vice Admiral Tsuru, who had been flickering through the air, was instantly encased in ice!
Kuzan landed, raised his hands, and two ice spears coated in Busoshoku Haki emerged from his chest, shooting directly at Tsuru in mid-air.
"Ice Spear!"
"Kuzan!"
Tokikake shattered the ice covering his body, transforming into a blue bolt of lightning as he launched a kick toward Kuzan's chest!
Boom!
Kuzan didn't dodge, allowing the kick to land on his chest.
Blood trickled from his mouth.
But his two ice spears had already shot out, moving at incredible speed and vanishing in a flash as they targeted Vice Admiral Tsuru in mid-air.
Tokikake's face paled dramatically.
Crack.
The ice in mid-air shattered, and a figure shot straight toward the standing Kuzan, completely ignoring the ice spears hurtling toward her!
"Vice Admiral Tsuru!" Tokikake cried out in shock.
Thud, thud!
The two sharp ice spears pierced through Vice Admiral Tsuru's abdomen and chest.
This sudden turn of events not only made Tokikake's pupils widen in disbelief.
Even Kuzan, whose memories had been erased by Caesar, froze for an instant.
Because now, he was nothing but a cold killing machine, programmed only for pure slaughter.
And in Kuzan's instinctive perception, Vice Admiral Tsuru clearly still had the strength to fight.
The probability of those two ice spears hitting her should have been low.
Yet now, they had struck true!
This caused Kuzan's instincts to hesitate for a split second.
And in that split second of hesitation, Vice Admiral Tsuru, still impaled by the two ice spears, charged right up to Kuzan.
Her withered hands reached out, grasping his shoulders, and she activated her Devil Fruit ability.
"Wash-Wash Fruit—Soul Wash!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru's eyes blazed with an unprecedented intensity.
Tokikake felt a refreshing breeze sweep past him, making him feel clear-minded and invigorated!
A stream of water, appearing from nowhere, washed over Kuzan's body.
Instantly, his body became light and airy, like a piece of clothing, and he was hung up in the air!
"Wake up, Kuzan!"