Seeing Chouchou frozen solid, pierced through the chest, and floating helplessly in the icy water, something inside Ray snapped.
No matter how calm Ray usually was, a cold, dark rage gradually overwhelmed his rational mind.
His red eyes narrowed into slits.
In Ray's eyes, Aokiji was an intelligent man.
As an Admiral, he naturally possessed corresponding abilities—especially a sharp memory.
'Does he not know Chouchou was my pet?' Ray thought, his grip tightening on his sword.
On Nameless Island, Chouchou fought Aokiji directly.
He knows what he looks like.
So why wasn't Aokiji dealing with the army of sea beasts storming Enies Lobby, but instead wasting time tormenting his dog here?
Could it be that Chouchou was holding Aokiji back?
'What a joke,' Ray scoffed internally.
He know exactly what Chouchou is capable of.
With Chouchou's strength, breaking free from Aokiji's ice would take at least three seconds of struggle.
In that time, Aokiji could easily have bypassed him and annihilated those sea beasts with a single Ice Age.
He didn't need to engage the dog.
Though Aokiji's actions were hard to comprehend logically, based on what Ray saw right now—the blood, the ice coffin, the unnecessary cruelty—it clearly looked like Aokiji was humiliating Chouchou.
He was making an example of him.
'Humiliating Chouchou means humiliating me!'
Ray's pride as a Great Demon flared. He had to reclaim some dignity from Aokiji.
He had to make him pay!
So, Ray erupted.
He burned half of his remaining Demonic Power as he swung Tokijin and charged straight at Aokiji!
...
Aokiji was just about to turn and rush toward Enies Lobby to save the day when suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
His powerful Observation Haki screamed a warning to him.
Danger! Behind you!
"Damn!!!"
Aokiji reacted instantly. He turn around, creating an ice wall over ten meters thick in a split second.
CRASH!
Ray's sword shattered the wall like glass.
Aokiji immediately dodged aside using Soru, glaring furiously at Ray.
"Ray!" Aokiji shouted, confused and angry. "Have you lost your mind?! What are you doing?!"
Aokiji was genuinely angry.
Ray's current actions seemed intended to hinder him, effectively aiding the sea beasts in destroying Enies Lobby.
Was Ray allied with the third party?
His remaining rationality told him Ray shouldn't be that kind of person.
But Enies Lobby urgently needed rescue now—there was no time for Aokiji to stop and analyze Ray's behavior or ask questions.
Moreover, Ray was an extremely aloof person.
He didn't even bother answering the question. He just swung his sword again, aiming for Aokiji's head.
Aokiji was rushing to save Enies Lobby, believing Ray was stopping him.
Ray only wanted to get justice for Chouchou, believing Aokiji had tortured him for fun.
Two rational powerhouses, driven by impatience and protectiveness, had temporarily suspended their reasoning.
"Get out of my way!" Aokiji roared.
He suppressed his anger and tried to ignore Ray, continuing his charge toward Enies Lobby.
But Ray wouldn't give him the chance.
"You're not going anywhere," Ray whispered.
Channeling his Demonic Power, he erupted with extreme speed, appearing in front of the Admiral.
WHOOSH!
He swung his sword at Aokiji once more.
A fifty-meter-wide sphere of green Demonic Power shot toward Aokiji at incredible speed.
At this, Aokiji's emotions also spiraled out of control.
He could hear the screams from Enies Lobby. More and more Marines were falling to the frenzied sea beasts.
The Gates of Justice were crumbling. And here was Ray, still holding him back for no reason.
"Fine!" Aokiji snapped. "If you want to fight, I'll freeze you until next winter!"
Aokiji could no longer hold back his strength either as he unleashed his ultimate move.
"Awakening Skill: Frozen Domain – Frigid Sphere!"
SNAP!
With Aokiji at its center, the temperature dropped to absolute zero.
A massive sphere of extreme white cold expanded instantly within a ten-meter radius. The air itself seemed to crack.
Even a Demonic Power sphere as formidable as Ray's froze solid the moment it touched the Frigid Sphere.
It turned into a glittering ball of green ice, then shattered completely into dust.
But Ray paid no heed. He didn't stop.
Overloading his Demonic Power and combining it with all three types of Haki, he charged straight into the absolute zero zone without hesitation.
CLANG!
A fierce sword strike clashed with Aokiji's freezing ice fist.
The sub-200-degree cold was difficult to withstand even with triple Haki and Demonic Power protection.
Frost crept up the blade instantly.
Tokijin, along with Ray's right hand, was instantly frozen solid in a block of blue ice.
However, Aokiji, who had activated the Frozen Domain, paid a price too.
The kinetic force of Ray's charge sent him flying dozens of meters backward from the impact.
Aokiji slid across the water. Everything in his path froze instantly, forming a long, jagged icy trail across the turbulent sea.
By the time Aokiji steadied himself, Ray had already flexed his muscles.
CRACK!
Ray broke the ice encasing his right hand with sheer brute force and Demonic Power.
Shaking off the frost, he charged at the Admiral again.
And so, the two clashed.
Back and forth, blow after blow, ice against demonic energy.
After several furious exchanges, breathing heavily, they finally came to a stop, floating on the water a hundred meters apart.
…
Floating on the sea surface, Ray slowly began to realize something was off.
Aokiji, too, gradually regained his composure during the fight as the adrenaline faded.
They stared at each other.
They had both been provoked by the other's actions. But seeing isn't always believing—the other's motives made no sense at all.
In Ray's mind, he analyzed Aokiji.
'This man... during our earlier fight, he clearly showed just how much he cared about the Marines. He was distracted by Enies Lobby's safety. So how could he possibly have deliberately wasted time torturing Chouchou while sea beasts were actively attacking the island? It's inefficient.'
In Aokiji's mind, he also analyzed Ray.
'There is no reason for Ray to delay my rescue of the Marines at Enies Lobby. He isn't allied with Big Mom. If he truly wanted to destroy Enies Lobby, he could have just gone there himself—there was no need to go out of his way to obstruct me here.'
After a moment's thought, Aokiji finally recalled something…
His eyes widened behind his sunglasses.
Wait... that white dog...
"Damn it," Aokiji muttered, slapping his forehead. "How careless of me..."
He looked at Ray.
"Hey, Ray," Aokiji called out awkwardly. "That white dog I froze earlier… the berserk one… was that your crew's pet, Chouchou?"
Hearing Aokiji's words, Ray's lips nearly twitched.
'So all this time, this guy didn't know that was Chouchou?'
Ray lowered his sword.
'Had I overestimated this Admiral's memory? Or was Chouchou just unrecognizable?'
Both of them inwardly cursed a certain ugly ass looking man (Spandam).
Recalling their earlier brawl, they felt utterly ashamed—it made them look so foolish.
Two top-tier fighters, brawling like children over a misunderstanding.
From an outsider's perspective, their clash today was purely the result of a lack of information.
After being driven berserk by Dr. Indigo's powder and further enhanced by biochemical drugs, Chouchou had become noticeably fiercer and larger compared to his previous demonized state when encountering Aokiji.
Even under the perception of Observation Haki, his aura felt entirely different.
Moreover, during the battle on the uninhabited island months ago, Aokiji had paid little attention to the dog, focusing on Ray.
As for Ray, he was unaware of how much Chouchou had been enhanced by the drugs, so in his understanding, it was impossible for Chouchou to hold back Aokiji for long.
That left only the highly unlikely explanation that Aokiji was deliberately tormenting him.
...
Although the two hadn't fully grasped the entire situation, now that they had ceased fighting, the tension broke. It was time to each do what they believed was right.
Aokiji pointed toward the burning island. "I'm going to save Enies Lobby."
Ray nodded, pointing at the ice block floating nearby. "I'm rescuing Chouchou."
As for who was right or wrong, it didn't matter in this tense moment Priorities shifted.
But suddenly—
BZXZT!
They both sensed something abnormal simultaneously.
Their Observation Haki screamed in unison.
A massive, 400-meter diameter shockwave carrying the purple thunder of Conqueror's Haki had arrived less than a kilometer behind them.
"Big Mom!" Aokiji shouted.
They had fought for too long and forgotten about this old hag.
Logically, Big Mom, who had been injured by Ray's Meido Zangetsuha and fallen into the ocean, shouldn't have been able to reemerge so quickly.
However, they had underestimated this monster.
Perospero had likely created a candy slug to save her, or Zeus had caught her.
Either way, both of them had been too caught up in their petty fight, causing Ray and Aokiji to let their guard down.
"IKOKU SOVEREIGNTY!"
The energy contained in this attack was far stronger than the one Ray had clashed with earlier.
It was a beam of pure destruction aimed right at their backs.
Ray didn't hesitate. He stepped forward.
He concentrated all his remaining Demonic Power into Tokijin in his right hand.
"Go," Ray said to Aokiji, not looking back. "You go save the people. I'll hold off Big Mom."
Aokiji paused. He guessed that Ray was probably repaying the favor for him sparing Chouchou's life and might even be expressing some apology for hindering his rescue efforts earlier.
Aokiji nodded grimly. "Don't die, Ray."
He had no time to dwell on it—saving people was urgent.
He fully activated Geppo and rapidly approached Enies Lobby, leaving the monster battle to the monster.
Meanwhile, Ray faced the incoming beam.
He poured almost all his remaining Demonic Power and Haki into the Tokijin in a short time.
"Azure Dragon Break!"
ROAR!
An attack that overdrew all of Ray's energy erupted.
A 380-meter giant azure dragon collided with the 400-meter terrifying energy sphere of Ikoku Sovereignty.
BOOM!
After a brief stalemate, the azure dragon shattered under the overwhelming power of the Yonko.
However, it had done its job.
It stripped away most of the energy, leaving only a 50-meter remnant of Ikoku Sovereignty, its impact speed slightly reduced.
But it still charged toward Ray with unstoppable force.
Ray initially intended to wield Tenseiga to swallow the remaining energy with another Meido, but then he froze.
Behind the beam of light, he saw Big Mom flying toward him on Zeus.
And in her hand, she was holding the frozen block of ice containing Chouchou.
'If I use Meido Zangetsuha, I might hit Chouchou too,' Ray realized.
Helpless, Ray could only grit his teeth.
He swung Tokijin to clash with the beam physically.
CRASH!
Relying on his immense physical strength and Haki, he blocked the beam.
He was pushed back, his feet skidding on the water, plowing a furrow through the ocean for about a hundred meters.
Finally, with a roar, he deflected the energy upward, completely erasing the Ikoku Sovereignty.
---------
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