The next day at noon, Vivi boarded a ship at the port and sailed towards the distance.
Standing on the ship, Vivi glanced at the guard beside her. He was a World Government agent that Aokiji had asked her to bring along. In the distance, there were bounty hunters from Baroque Works.
I hope I can do this.
Vivi narrowed her eyes and waited quietly.
After the ship had been sailing for some time, a figure appeared on the sea, riding a bicycle and following the sea ship from afar.
With every distance he covered, the sea surface beneath his tires would freeze over. He rode his bicycle, sailing unimpeded across the sea.
On his right wrist, he wore a black Den Den Mushi. This Den Den Mushi could eavesdrop on certain nearby signals. As long as the distance was close enough, it could intercept phone conversations.
He would occasionally take out a Life Card to determine his direction.
This figure was Aokiji. After Vivi requested a meeting with the president of Baroque Works on Elvin Island and they set off, he had followed them.
"This is really troublesome."
Aokiji rode his bicycle, looking somewhat annoyed. He took out Vivi's Life Card, glanced at it, and changed his direction.
Thus, time ticked by, second by second.
Alabasta wasn't far from Elvin Island, only about a two-hour journey.
Soon, Vivi arrived at the island. She landed on the shore and, seeing the guards by the coast, nervously asked, "Is the president here?"
A guard nodded and said, "The president is inside."
"Alright then."
Vivi took a breath and walked deeper inland from the coast.
Deeper inland from the coast was a complex of white buildings. Upon entering the white building, two figures appeared: Heckle and Xia Qiu.
"Greetings, President."
Vivi bowed slightly, her expression somewhat nervous.
Heckle smiled and asked, "Why is Princess Vivi in such a hurry to meet with me?"
"I have something I want to discuss with you, President. It's about opening a second casino."
Vivi slowly explained the prepared statement.
As she spoke, Aokiji in the distance was slowly approaching on his bicycle. He traveled a certain distance and saw the ship docked on the shore.
"Is that it?"
Aokiji gazed at the island in the distance. The sea ship was there, and his Life Card also pointed there. "In that case, then..."
"There seems to be someone on the sea."
The guards on the island were vigilantly watching their surroundings. In the vast expanse of the sea, they suddenly spotted Aokiji's figure. Seeing him plunge his hands into the sea, they immediately shouted:
"Quick, sound the alarm! Notify the president!"
The guard shouted immediately.
But in the next moment, the sea began to freeze at a visible rate, spreading towards them.
Splash.
The guard had just blown the conch shell, its melodious sound carrying out, when the freezing gas spread to the island's edge, freezing him solid.
Not only him, but the guards at the island's edge and the sea ship on the water were all frozen by the ice.
Even the ocean was frozen by the freezing gas, spreading endlessly into the distance, its end invisible to the eye.
"Ice Age."
Aokiji slowly exhaled a breath of freezing gas, stopped, and with a flash, leaped towards the island.
"This is the warning signal, what happened?"
Heckle jolted awake and looked into the distance. "Are we under attack?"
At this moment, someone burst through the door with a bang, shouting, "The, the sea is frozen."
"The sea is frozen?" Heckle was slightly stunned.
The guard replied, "That's right, the sea ship, the sea surface, and the guards at the island's edge are all frozen. What should we do?"
Frozen sea surface?
Who else could do this besides Admiral Aokiji?
"But how did he find this place?"
Xia Qiu looked at Vivi, whose face changed. She said subtly, "I don't know anything."
"Besides you, who else could bring an Admiral here?"
Heckle said coldly.
"Die."
Xia Qiu lunged forward, opening his massive maw to bite at Vivi.
Vivi immediately retreated, facing the giant maw. Just as she was about to turn to sand, a figure appeared before Xia Qiu, raising a hand.
The tall figure raised his right hand and pressed it against one of Xia Qiu's teeth.
Thump.
Xia Qiu's body froze instantly, the immense force vanishing into nothingness. The next moment, ice spread along Xia Qiu's teeth.
Crackling.
Ice appeared, instantly encasing Xia Qiu's body and turning him into a giant ice sculpture.
"This is bad."
Heckle saw this and knew he was no match for an Admiral. He stomped his feet, his body suddenly feeling light, and he shot backward.
"Trying to run?"
Aokiji saw this and vanished. With a few leaps, he appeared behind Heckle, reaching out his right hand towards him.
But just as his hand was about to touch Heckle, a scorching heat washed over them.
"Cross Fire."
A pillar of flame swept forward, instantly arriving before Aokiji.
"Fire Fist Ace?"
Aokiji snorted, his body halting as he pressed his right hand against the Cross Fire.
Tap tap tap.
Flames continuously struck Aokiji's hand, being extinguished by the constantly forming ice. The flames melted the ice into water, which then evaporated into steam, continuing to resist the fire.
The flames disappeared, steam rose, and Heckle was already far away.
Aokiji, however, had no time to pay attention to them and looked into the distance.
"Fire Fist Ace," Aokiji said coldly.
"Admiral Kuzan."
Ace slowly walked out from the distance, adjusted the brim of his hat, and smiled, "I never expected to see you here."
Aokiji looked at Ace and said, "I didn't expect Fire Fist Ace to be here either. So, are you going to help them?"
"They saved my life."
Ace smiled, "Of course I have to help them. Otherwise, wouldn't I be an ungrateful wretch?"
"It seems there's one more person to deal with today."
Aokiji let out a breath, which instantly condensed into ice and fell to the ground.
"Is that so?"
Ace smiled, "Then let's try."
With those words, Ace's right fist suddenly struck forward. Before the movement was even complete, starting from his fist and spreading up his arm, he transformed into raging flames, growing larger and larger until finally forming a giant fiery fist that attacked Aokiji.
"Ice Bird Beak."
Aokiji released freezing gas from his right hand, forming a blue ice bird in front of him. It slowly grew larger, freezing everything in its path with its chilling aura, and charged directly towards the flames.
Boom.
The ice bird and the fiery fist collided. The ice bird shattered into countless ice shards, blocking the flames' advance.
The temperature of the flames caused the ice to steam, but the encroaching freezing gas also extinguished the flames.
Furthermore, the ice turned into water vapor, only to freeze again, continuing to block the flames.
Whoosh.
Under the assault of the surrounding flames, the temperature on both sides grew increasingly high.
Crack.
Xia Qiu broke free from the ice, glanced into the distance, and bolted away.
Meanwhile, Heckle had long since fled, disappearing into the distance.
"Can't let them get away."
Seeing this, Aokiji's expression turned grim. He suddenly pressed his left hand downward.
Crackling.
The ground rapidly froze over, freezing gas clinging to it and spreading outwards, chasing after Xia Qiu and Heckle. It also spread forward from the ground, rising section by section, extinguishing the flames from below before surging upwards, forming cliffs that slammed towards Ace.
"Very good."
But just as the ice was about to touch Ace, flames began to emanate from around him, forming a giant pillar of fire.
"Fire Pillar."
Boom.
The fire pillar shattered the ice cliffs. Ace then spread his hands apart, and the fire pillar transformed into two giant wings of fire that spread outwards, instantly melting the ice.
Aokiji swung his right hand horizontally, and suddenly two ice dragons roared out, continuing to pursue in the distance.
Then, the freezing gas from his left hand continued to transform into cliffs, charging towards Ace, instantly arriving in front of him.
But at this moment, Ace suddenly opened his mouth wide and spat forward fiercely.
Boom.
A huge flame gushed out, transforming into a phoenix head, pecking towards Aokiji's head. It shattered the ice cliffs one by one, but slowly disappeared.
"I can't win."
Seeing this, Ace's expression turned grim. Flames suddenly appeared around his body, swirling.
These flames circled and finally gathered above his head, forming a giant fireball.
This fireball continuously condensed, finally turning white and bright.
"Great Flame Ring, Flame Emperor."
As Ace's voice sounded, the fireball flew towards Aokiji and then expanded. Ace, seizing this opportunity, ran into the distance.
"Such power."
Aokiji sensed Ace's movement. As the flames in front of him exploded, he gently turned his hands, one up and one down.
"Ice Roar."
Following Aokiji's voice, freezing gas permeated around his body, transforming into a giant lion's head a hundred meters tall. Just as the fireball was about to erupt, it opened its massive mouth and bit down on the fireball.
Boom.
The fireball exploded, flames spreading in all directions, instantly destroying the lion's head and expanding.
However, the freezing gas behind him continued to spread, covering the flames bit by bit, preventing the explosion and keeping it from erupting.
"As expected of an Admiral."
Seeing what was happening behind him, Ace was inwardly surprised. Even facing Blackbeard, whose ability could devour flames, he could only offset them, not prevent their eruption like Aokiji.
Of course, Ace didn't want to fight Aokiji to the finish. He had already fled into the distance, heading towards the island.
But after running a short distance, a chill suddenly came from behind him, and a figure rapidly approached.
"Here again."
Ace suddenly counterattacked with his right hand, striking towards Aokiji. "Mirror Flame."
His right hand transformed into flames, lunging towards Aokiji. Aokiji snorted coldly and struck forward with his left hand. An ice dragon leaped out, then slowly grew, transforming into a long dragon and crashing into the flames.
Aokiji then leaped up, coming into the air, stepping on it as he lunged towards Ace.
Aokiji used Soru, instantly appearing behind Ace and reaching for his shoulder.
At this moment, Ace was still a considerable distance from the shore.
Facing Aokiji's attack, flames blazed around Ace, rising and transforming into birds that attacked Aokiji.
Aokiji did not dodge the flames. Instead, he used Armament Haki, covering his entire body, and instantly appeared in front of Ace, throwing a punch.
But Ace had already bent down to dodge it, pressing his right hand towards the ground.
Aokiji raised his right foot and kicked towards Ace's abdomen.
Facing this kick, Ace slapped Aokiji's attacking foot with his left hand. A flame erupted from his palm, exploding fiercely.
Aokiji's right foot was covered with Armament Haki, which could resist flames and also capture Logia users. However, the explosion was consuming his Haki and pushing Ace back.
Aokiji's right foot paused, about to extend again.
But at this moment, the ground suddenly bulged, as if something terrifying was spreading beneath.
"Hmm?"
Aokiji was slightly startled and suddenly withdrew his right foot, leaping upwards. Freezing gas permeated his body and spread outwards, attempting to seal the ground.
"Firefly."
But Ace stood not far away, emitting streaks of yellow fireflies that flew in all directions.
Boom.
The fireflies exploded, canceling out the freezing gas.
With the freezing gas gone, the explosion from underground began to spread, directly erupting, and flames surged upwards.
A large amount of explosives was stored beneath the island. Ace had pressed down on the ground earlier to detonate them.
Aokiji could have prevented the explosives from detonating, but after Ace canceled his freezing gas, he could no longer do so.
The explosives detonated, instantly surging towards Aokiji. Amidst the flames, Ace thrust out his fists, and two fire fists shot towards Aokiji.
Facing the explosion.
Ice condensed around Aokiji, forming a huge sphere that continuously strengthened.
Both Ace and Aokiji were Logia users and could elementalize to dodge attacks.
However, for Aokiji, even if he turned into his elemental form, the exploding flames and shockwaves would still cause him damage and burns.
So he had to condense ice to resist, while Ace didn't need to worry about flames. Instead, he could use the spreading shockwaves to transform into flames and leave against the wind.
Splash.
Ace landed on the shore. Near a stone pillar, there was a small boat.
One end of the small boat was frozen. Ace waved his hand, and the boat was instantly unfrozen.
At this moment, without Ace's attack, the explosives on the island could no longer be stopped from exploding by Aokiji. Boundless freezing gas spread from his feet, freezing the explosions below bit by bit.
At the same time, he locked onto Ace's trail, and ice spread towards Ace.
Meanwhile, Ace stepped onto the small boat, flames surging from his feet. He instantly activated the device behind him.
Boom, boom, boom.
The cannons at the stern of the boat spewed fierce flames, instantly generating immense thrust. Not only that, but there were also small rotating wheels on both sides, constantly spinning.
Aokiji suppressed the explosions on the entire island and intended to pursue, but the small boat had already shot out.
Whoosh.
Because the ice surface offered less resistance than water, the small boat sailed even faster than it would on water.
"Can't catch up."
Aokiji saw the boat's speed and shook his head regretfully.
With fire propulsion and rotating wheels, a dual-layer drive system, and the low friction on the ice surface, its speed reached 180 kilometers per hour, over 50 meters per second.
This was already twice the standard speed of Soru. It would be difficult for Aokiji to reach this level with his Soru.
Even if he could catch up, Ace would still interfere. Whether it was freezing gas or himself, it would be difficult to keep up with his speed. They could only watch him get further and further away.
"They got away."
Aokiji clenched his fist and walked back step by step. On the sea, Aokiji saw Vivi.
"How did it go?" Vivi asked anxiously.
Aokiji said apologetically, "I'm sorry, they got away."
"You promised me you would kill them," Vivi shouted loudly. "Now that you've let them escape, what about Alabasta?"
"Don't say any more."
Aokiji sighed and said, "I'll think of a way about that later. But for now, I need to contact the Marines and head to the strongholds you mentioned to see if I can find any relevant information."
"I'll wait for your results."
Vivi said coldly, then turned and walked away into the distance.
This chapter is 4000 words. There is one more chapter of 3000 words. They will be released together.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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