"My sons, all of you, prepare for battle!" Whitebeard roared.
Instantly, all members of the Whitebeard Pirates stood firm, their weapons drawn as they faced the impossible.
"Kill them all!" Akainu sneered and let out a furious roar.
"This time, we will completely annihilate the Whitebeard Pirates!"
In an instant, the two sides clashed once again.
Akainu, leading a group of Seraphim, confronted Whitebeard.
The Imperial Angel fought alongside them, its power shaking the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Kizaru moved like light through the ranks of the Whitebeard Pirates, his laser beams striking as fast as lightning.
Cries of pain echoed wherever he passed.
Aokiji, for his part, unleashed the full might of his ice powers, freezing pirates solid wherever he went.
The battle grew intensely fierce.
"Hah!" Whitebeard bellowed, his dragon claws striking repeatedly.
Akainu, relying on the combined power of his two Devil Fruits, met him head-on again and again.
"Damn you, Whitebeard!" Akainu's eyes flashed with boundless madness.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and, ignoring his own safety, charged at Whitebeard.
"To the sea with you!"
His plan was to drag Whitebeard into the water.
As a Devil Fruit user, Whitebeard would become powerless once submerged.
Like a loyal hound of the World Government, Akainu was determined to drag his target down with him.
Whitebeard's waist was seized, and his expression changed drastically as he instantly guessed Akainu's intention.
The moment his feet touched the water, Whitebeard became enraged.
He threw a punch at Akainu, imbuing it with terrifying lightning, Conqueror's Haki, and the full power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
BOOM! CRACK—
The sound of Akainu's body shattering echoed across the battlefield, yet the intense pain didn't make him let go; instead, his expression grew even more ferocious.
"TO HELL WITH YOU, WHITEBEARD!"
His entire body turned into magma as he tightly embraced Whitebeard, erupting violently as he dragged them both toward the seafloor.
"Not good! Pops fell into the water!" Marco paled, shouting to his brothers.
"I'll hold them off! You all go save Pops!"
"Alright, Marco, we're counting on you!" Vista and Izo, being non-Devil Fruit users, immediately dove in to rescue Whitebeard.
"Stop them!"
Sensing the situation, Aokiji unleashed his power from afar, and a thick layer of ice began to spread across the sea's surface.
"Not good!" Vista's expression darkened.
Shiki gritted his teeth and immediately transformed into his towering golden Buddha form, releasing a powerful shockwave.
Aokiji snorted coldly and deftly dodged the blast, soaring into the air to look down on Shiki.
"Golden Lion, I didn't expect you to dare attack me," he said calmly.
Aokiji realized that as long as the seawater was under Shiki's control, the pirates wouldn't drown.
'In that case, he thought, 'why not just take down the Golden Lion? Once he loses control of the sea, the water will drown them all, and we can easily capture Whitebeard'.
A cold smile spread across his face.
"Damn it..." Shiki's expression turned grim. He had been reckless.
Aokiji, with his Mythical Zoan-Phoenix, possessed extremely high mobility.
Shiki, on the other hand, had to remain in one place, one hand touching the water, to maintain control.
Under these circumstances, how could he possibly defeat an Admiral?
SHATTER!
Aokiji immediately attacked.
"Ice Claw!" He dove down, a piercing sound echoing through the sky as he transformed into a streak of chilling light.
His claws, infused with Armament Haki and the freezing power of his Ice-Ice Fruit, grabbed at the Golden Lion in an instant.
"Ah..." Shiki's expression changed drastically.
He knew with only one free hand, he couldn't possibly block this move.
And if he failed, he would lose control of the sea, dooming all of his Devil Fruit-using comrades.
It was a true crisis!
"Don't even think about it! Fire Fist!"
Suddenly, a cold shout rang out.
Ace turned and threw a punch, and a wall of blazing flames erupted to intercept Aokiji, who dodged sideways.
"Tch..." Aokiji shook his head.
"Imperial Angel, you don't need to deal with the Golden Lion anymore. Leave him to me. Just capture Ace!"
The Imperial Angel nodded and turned to charge at Ace.
"Damn it..." Shiki grew anxious.
Now, with Whitebeard trapped and Aokiji free to attack him, he was in a dilemma.
If he abandoned control of the sea, everyone would drown.
If he didn't, he was a sitting duck.
Seeing Aokiji approaching so quickly, his heart sank.
Just then, a fierce roar suddenly erupted.
"Gum-Gum...!"
A figure, wreathed in steam and cloaked in invisibility, appeared ferociously in front of the Golden Lion, blocking Aokiji's path.
It was Luffy.
"Jet Gatling Gun!"
Luffy's arms, hardened with Armament Haki, unleashed a barrage of unpredictable, high-speed Jet Gatling fists.
Aokiji, caught by surprise by the invisible, Haki-infused attack, was forced back.
"Straw Hat Luffy?!" Shiki's expression froze.
"You can't beat him!" he blurted out.
"How would I know without trying?" Luffy's face was resolute, his gaze fixed firmly on the enemy before him.
"Besides, Uncle Golden Lion, you need to focus on controlling the seawater!"
"Then let me be your opponent," Aokiji said, his wings of ice beating slowly as he looked down at Luffy with an air of indifference.
"Straw Hat brat, you're no match for me."
"Enough talk! Let's fight!" Luffy roared.
"Gomu Gomu no... Python!"
Like a striking snake, his Haki-clad fist twisted and coiled as it shot toward Aokiji at incredible speed.
"Hmph. Partizan," Aokiji said, waving his hand.
Several sharp lances of ice suddenly shot out, forcing Luffy to retreat.
Seeing the situation turn against him, Luffy quickly vanished.
"Invisibility!"
"Pointless," Aokiji shook his head.
The next moment, the ice lances slammed into the ground where Luffy had been, sending sharp ice shards flying in all directions.
The invisible Luffy was forced to block the fragments, but the moment the ice touched him, an extreme chill surged through his body.
A layer of frost appeared out of nowhere, instantly revealing his figure.
"Straw Hat Luffy, if your Clear-Clear Fruit is only at this level, it's useless against me," Aokiji stated calmly.
It was the truth; between Aokiji's own Observation Haki and the revealing nature of his ice, Luffy's stealth was useless.
"Damn it..." Luffy's expression turned ugly.
He knew he was still far too weak compare to an Admiral with two Devil Fruit abilities.
But the current situation didn't allow him to retreat.
He shot forward again. "Gomu Gomu no... King Kong Gun!"
"Hmph. Ice Claw."
A massive rubber fist and a claw filled with freezing mist collided violently.
Luffy was sent tumbling through the air, completely outmatched.
Aokiji pressed the attack, and with each blow that landed, Luffy's body began to freeze over.
"Argh!" Luffy's face turned deathly pale.
"LUFFFYYY!" Zoro, Nami, and the others cried out, immediately wanting to help him, but Aokiji knocked them all away with a single, dismissive strike.
"It's over, Straw Hat."
Waves of cold air spread from Aokiji's body.
The next moment, Luffy had been turned into a solid ice sculpture.
"Damn it..."
Seeing this, Shiki's face was extremely grim.
He knew Aokiji's next target would be him.
All around, the Straw Hat crew lay fallen.
Aokiji, holding the frozen Luffy with one hand, slowly walked toward Shiki, his overwhelming pressure advancing step by step.
***
Meanwhile, in the sea below, "Flower Sword" Vista had successfully broken through the surface ice and was swimming swiftly toward Whitebeard.
Behind him, Izo hurriedly followed.
Vista swam straight toward Akainu.
With his dual swords, countless ferocious petals materialized in the water, slashing toward the Admiral with the utmost killing intent.
"Clang!"
Akainu instantly turned and blocked Vista's attack with a single magma fist.
"Hmph, 'Flower Sword' Vista, you think you can hurt me underwater?" he sneered, throwing a punch of his own.
In an instant, Vista felt a tremendous force strike him, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood as his body sank toward the seabed.
"Ah?!" Akainu sneered coldly and turned back to deal with Whitebeard, but he saw that Izo had already lifted the weakened Emperor and was swimming swiftly away.
"Don't even think about escaping!" Akainu's face darkened as he moved to intercept.
However, his leg was suddenly grabbed.
Enraged, he looked down.
It was Vista.
He had discarded his swords and was now gripping Akainu with both hands, holding him in place.
"'Flower Sword' Vista!" Seeing Whitebeard about to escape the sea, Akainu grew frantic with anger.
"DIE YOU SCUM!" His eyes blazed with endless killing intent as he plunged his magma-clad fist into Vista's body.
Pfft— Bright red blood blossomed in the water.
"VISTA!"
"Grr..."
Rescued from the sea, Whitebeard immediately regained his strength.
His eyes were bloodshot, and he let out a hoarse roar like a wounded beast.
"AKAINU! If you have the guts, come at me! I'll fight you to the death!"
At that moment, his eyes were filled with pure murderous intent.
"Whitebeard!" Akainu's eyes were also filled with madness as he laughed viciously.
"Don't worry, you're next!" He tossed Vista's limp body aside and swam toward Whitebeard.
"Admiral Akainu! It's time—stop fighting!"
Suddenly, Vice Admiral Momonga urgently spoke into his Den Den Mushi.
Hearing this, Akainu paused.
A flicker of reluctance passed through his eyes, but he gritted his teeth and stopped.
"Everyone, retreat immediately!" he ordered.
He shot a final, cold glance at Whitebeard.
"Whitebeard, I'll take your life next time! Hmph!"
Then, he turned and swam away, effortlessly grabbing Vista as he went.
On the other side, Aokiji frowned as he glanced at Shiki.
"The time is up... What a missed opportunity." His eyes were full of regret as he shook his head.
Then, carrying the frozen Luffy, he too entered the sea to leave.
Before departing, he shot an ice bullet at Ace, who was still fighting the Imperial Angel.
Instantly, Ace's right leg was frozen and he was punched into the seabed by the powerful Seraphim.
"Imperial Angel, capture Ace and bring him back alive."
"Yes."
With that, all the Marines jumped into the sea and swiftly withdrew.
"Magma brat! Marines! Come back here and die!" Whitebeard, watching Ace being taken away again, roared, tears of rage and grief streaming from his eyes.
At that moment, the entire sea trembled.
But in the end, he had no way to stop them and could only watch them leave with reddened eyes...
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