Chapter 440: Long time no see, Aokiji

In the world of One Piece, strength is intimately related to continuous battles.

Without regular battles, a person's strength begins to recede.

The will to armament and the will to observe will gradually weaken.

The Golden Lion and Gekko Moria are the most striking examples of such a regression of power.

At its peak, Gekko Moria dominated the entire Grand Line.

He caused a stir throughout the New World and broke into the Wano Country, where he entered into battle with the Beast Pirates, as a result of which he was personally defeated by Kaido.

This event made a lot of noise in Wano Country.

Gekko Moria's power at that time was beyond doubt.

Although he was defeated by Kaido, he was obviously not that far behind the strongest people in the New World.

But the fact is that Moria lost his will, having suffered a cruel defeat at the hands of Kaido.

After that, he returned to the first half of the Grand Line and hid in the waters of the Florian Triangle, leading an idle life there, without constant battles with strong opponents.

Twenty years later, he could not even defeat the Straw Hat Pirates, becoming almost the weakest of the Shichibukai.

Whether it was willpower, physical strength or something else, Gekko Moria was very weakened in every aspect.

The same goes for the Lion of Dorado.

After escaping from Impel Down, he hid in the flying islands for twenty years, without doing any heavy training and without engaging in battles with strong opponents.

In the end, Shiki weakened to such an extent that he was defeated by Luffy, who at that time did not even master Haki, becoming a disgrace to the three legends of the last era.

But the current Golden Lion is different.

After escaping from Impel Down, he disappeared for only a few years and then returned to the expanses of the sea, having gone through several battles with strong opponents in Grand Line and East Blue.

Shiki even got into a battle with Garp, the Hero of the Navy, as a result of which he was able to successfully escape.

Although the current Lion of Gold has been weakened due to the loss of his legs, noticeably inferior to Roger and Whitebeard at the top, he still has strength similar to the level of an Admiral.

Aokiji had not yet reached the peak of his strength and had not yet become an Admiral, so although he could resist Shiki, he could not count on winning.

"..."

After flying off the island, Aokiji floated in the air with the help of geppo.

He looked at his opponent and abruptly retreated, preferring to retreat to continue the battle with the Golden Lion.

Initially it was very difficult for him to win, and after being expelled from the island, it became impossible at all.

It would be extremely stupid to conduct a dogfight with the Golden Lion with the Devil Fruit's ability to fly, relying on geppo.

In such a situation, there was no chance of winning at all.

"Hmph!"

The Golden Lion snorted coldly, looking at the fleeing Aokiji, and flew to its island, deciding not to chase after it.

The invisible will of armament that enveloped Shiki's entire body began to gradually weaken.

Initially, Aokiji was going to secretly infiltrate and hide on Golden Lion Island, and then contact the Navy headquarters, so that a special strike group would be prepared and sent there to suppress the Golden Lion.

Unfortunately, it was discovered by the Golden Lion.

But the penetration was not a complete failure, because Aokiji managed to leave the 'den den mushi signal' on Golden Lion Island.

The 'den den mushi signal' can continuously transmit data about its location to the 'den den den mushi receiver'.

With the help of this den den mushi, the Navy will be able to monitor the Golden Lion's movements, making it possible to prepare an effective plan for its capture.

The Golden Lion's minions in East Blue are nothing more than a bunch of small fish that the elite spotters at headquarters can easily handle, but the problem is that the Golden Lion's huge fleet moves high in the sky, and not on the surface of the sea.

It is simply impossible to hunt this fleet until its location is clearly established.

In the past, the Golden Lion was an extremely problematic opponent even compared to Roger and Whitebeard, and all because of the fact that, thanks to his skill with the Devil Fruit, Shiki was the most elusive of the three legends of the last era.

If the Golden Lion had not launched a suicide attack on Marinford, losing his mind at the news of Golden Roger's 'capture', then it would be extremely difficult for the Navy to catch him.

Pooh!!!

Aokiji instantly froze the water around him, falling into the sea from a height of several kilometers.

He stood on the ice and looked around, lazily stroking his head, "Well, where should I go..."

During the battle with the Golden Lion, all the remaining Aokiji den den mushi were destroyed, so he lost the opportunity to contact the Marine Patrol directly.

"Forget it."

"I'll just go where my eyes look, ara-ra..."

Aokiji looked around once more and shook his head, realizing that he couldn't recognize his location, so he decided to go in a random direction.

After a while, on his way, in the direction of two o'clock, the shadow of an island appeared on the horizon.

Aokiji immediately changed course slightly, heading straight for this island.

He quickly ran across the surface of the sea, freezing the water under his feet.

Whoosh! whoosh! whoosh! whoosh!!!!

Aokiji's figure shimmered above the surface of the sea, quickly reaching the island and disembarking.

He briefly examined the shore and went further into the island.

First it was necessary to find out what kind of island it is and where it is located in order to determine the location of the nearest Navy base.

It was necessary to contact the headquarters as soon as possible!

Soon after.

Aokiji sighed helplessly, looking around the village near the shore, because it was empty... not a single living soul.

"No one..."

Unfamiliar with East Blue and unable to determine its location without receiving information from the locals, Aokiji immediately left the empty village and hurried inland.

The island did not seem small.

According to Aokiji, there may be at least five villages located here.

All the villages wouldn't be empty, would they?

Soon Aokiji came to another village, but this time there was no need to enter, for his eyes were drawn to figures sitting around a fire in a nearby clearing.

He immediately ran to the fire.

But in the next instant, he froze in place, about a hundred meters from the fire.

Aokiji's whole body visibly tensed and his eyes trembled.

A very familiar young man with medium-length silver-white hair was sitting on the grass in front of the fire.

Next to him was a girl with silky black hair, cooking kebabs on the fire with the help of many hands.

Robin turned her head to look at Aokiji nearby and said politely with a smile, "It's been a long time, Vice Admiral Aokiji."

"..."

Aokiji's expression became very tense and nervous.

Yeruashi couldn't help but smile as he watched the scene unfold out of the corner of his eye.

It had been quite a few years since Aokiji and Robin last saw each other.

Now Aokiji was still the same Aokiji, but Robin was no longer the same little Robin.

This time, Robin was calm and Aokiji was nervous.

Only the overall impression had not changed.

His behavior, as before, seemed very natural.