Chapter 132: Aokiji Appears and Freezes the Sea.

"Straw Hat boy, I'll remember you!"

"We'll remember this humiliation for the rest of our lives—"

"We'll be back..."

Standard loser talk.

No need to remember, you'll probably 'carry' this mark for the rest of your lives.

Watching the unwilling Foxy Pirates leave, Roman touched his chin thoughtfully.

Although the abstract fox pirate mark drawn by Luffy was a humiliation for the Foxy Pirates now, once Luffy ruled the New World as the 'Fifth Emperor', no one would dare to laugh at the pirate flag he personally drew.

By then, it would be a 'honor', even though the fox looked like a kindergarten doodle of a cat...

"Hahahaha, what a great festival~~~"

For the Straw Hat crew, the so-called cruel game Davy Back Fight was just a leisure activity, not even a warm-up. With the current strength of the Straw Hat crew, defeating the entire Foxy Pirates was just a matter of time.

"I didn't expect we've become so strong!"

Finally encountering a group of 'ordinary people' gave Nami a more accurate understanding of their own strength. After all, their previous opponents were all—

"By the way, old man."

On this island, there was only one household left, which belonged to the old man who stayed behind because of his stilts and his horse. This island, along with a circle of nearby islands, formed a ring-shaped archipelago. Every year, they would migrate when the sea receded and connected the islands.

"Do you want us to build you a big wooden ship so you can catch up with your fellow—?"

!!

"Who are you?"

When everyone turned around, they saw a tall figure standing behind them!

It was a tall man wearing a white suit vest and a dark blue shirt, with white trousers. He had medium-length black curly hair and wore a green eye mask over his eyes, as if he was:

.....zZ

"Who are you!"

"Has he been here all along...?"

Amazing!

Roman was also surprised. His scouting paper birds had been circling around, but he didn't know when this person appeared behind them.

If he were an enemy, the Straw Hat crew would already be lying dead.

"Huh?"

As the tall man lifted his eye mask, an unforgettable face appeared before Robin, causing her to collapse to the ground in shock, unable to maintain her usual elegant smile. All that was left was shock!

And despair.

"Oh my, you've grown into a fine young lady."

The man calmly looked at the intellectual beauty sitting on the grass, his face showing no expression.

"Nico Robin."

!?

"How... how are you here...?"

To Robin, this face was an absolute nightmare! He was the one who 'killed' her only childhood friend, destroyed her hometown, and was the demon who toyed with her like a cat with a mouse...

"Robin, who is this guy? Do you know him?"

Luffy asked, instinctively standing between them.

"We knew each other before,"

Before Robin could speak, the tall man answered on his own. — Anyone who could scare Robin to the point of collapsing and turning pale, and was 'known from before,' couldn't be a friend, so that left only,

An enemy!

In an instant, Zoro's hand was on the hilt of his sword, Sanji slightly retreated and raised his right foot, and Usopp pulled back his slingshot... only Roman looked conflicted.

Should he pretend to attack now... forget it, in front of Admiral Aokiji's top-level Observation Haki, pretending would be pointless.

"Oh my, let's talk this out. Gentlemen~~"

Facing the murderous Straw Hat crew, the tall man remained calm despite being surrounded by drawn weapons.

"I'm not here on orders, I just came here because the weather is nice... just taking a walk..."

Who would believe that!

Roman couldn't help but think, how could he just happen to walk to the vicinity where the Going Merry landed from Skypiea on the vast Grand Line?

Thinking deeper, could it be that this ice admiral had been using 'Observation Haki' to track Robin's location all along?

Suddenly noticing her presence thousands of meters in the sky, he rushed over—

This babysitter is something else.

"Hmm?"

The tall man turned to Roman and slowly spoke.

"You look familiar, young man. Have we met somewhere before?"

...

"No, no, Admiral Kuzan must be mistaken."

Roman waved his hand, "If we had met, I would have asked for your autograph and a photo." Making an album of photos with admirals and emperors, and reminiscing about the 'glorious days' in his spare time, wouldn't that be wonderful?

Of course, just a thought.

"Ah... an autograph is possible, but a photo is out of the question."

?

Splash~

"Then I'll trouble you," Roman directly produced some paper and handed a pen to the other party, making it look like some kind of meet-and-greet.

"Roman, who is he?"

Since Roman and the other person seemed familiar and not hostile, the Straw Hat crew put away their combat stances in confusion.

"This is a Marine Admiral..."

Are you serious? A pirate asking a Marine Admiral for an autograph???

"Mr. Kuzan, codename 'Aokiji'."

"He's one of the Marine's top three forces!"

"Ad... Admiral..."

Sanji was the first to react.

"How strong is he?"

"Ah, stronger than any enemy we've encountered—"

Hey, you said that when we met Crocodile; you said that when we met that big black guy; you said that when we met the long-eared guy on Skypiea... 

And now there's an even stronger guy... Are top fighters just everywhere?

Although they were internally complaining, everyone knew Roman never joked. If he said this guy was strong, then he must be insanely strong.

"So, why is someone as strong as you here?"

"Yeah, you're a Marine Admiral, go catch those big pirates!"

Facing the still cautious crew, the man named Kuzan, codename Aokiji, waved his hand and leisurely sat on the grass.

"Don't worry, I believe in 'Lazy Justice'."

"I'm here to investigate the whereabouts of Nico Robin after the Alabasta incident. As expected, she's with you guys,"

"I'm going to report your situation to headquarters, adding her bounty of... 100 million... plus 60 million... plus 79 million... I can't calculate it, too troublesome."

After saying that, the man seemed too lazy to even sit, directly lying down on the ground.

"Is this guy really an Admiral?"

Facing Usopp's question, Roman nodded seriously.

"Absolutely, with a wave of his hand, he could kill us all"

"Oh my, this young man is really..."

Kuzan glanced at Roman again.

"Very familiar with us Marines."

"Of course, the Marine Admirals' fame is well-known. Who wouldn't know?"

However, Roman made a mistake.

In his view, the Marine Admirals' combat power was widely known, and there shouldn't be anyone in the entire sea who didn't recognize them.

But in reality, it was quite the opposite! To ordinary pirates, the Admirals were like distant clouds, dream demons... No, nightmare demons. They would never encounter them in their lifetime, and of course, wouldn't know how strong they were.

And the unlucky ones who did encounter the Admirals... didn't even have the chance to go to Impel Down, they were directly obliterated.

"Well, let's talk about this later."

The Admiral Aokiji, lying on the ground, pointed to the bewildered old man beside him.

"I heard you say you wanted to catch up with your people, right? Get ready to leave soon."

?

"Do you have a way to 'whoosh' the old man to another island?"

"How could I have that ability?"

After the old man packed his tent and furniture into a cart, the tall Admiral Aokiji stood up.

"Occasionally moving around isn't bad~~"

"Are you going to jump into the sea and pull the cart and luggage across?"

"I wouldn't do something that tiring,"

Facing Luffy's 'wild imagination', the tall Aokiji just walked to the sea and inserted his hand into the water.

~~~

"Whoosh!"

At that moment, a Sea King suddenly leaped out of the sea! Its lantern-sized eyes were filled with the cruelty of a predator about to devour its prey, and its enormous mouth, capable of swallowing a house, lunged at Kuzan! Two rows of interlocking fangs gleamed coldly.

"Danger!"

"Get away,"

As the Straw Hat crew shouted warnings, an icy voice came from Aokiji, who was squatting by the sea.

"Ice Age."

Swish—!

In an instant, a white light swept across the sea, spreading out! After the light passed, everything stopped, turning into ice crystals.

The entire sea turned into an ice field!!

In everyone's eyes, the sea in front of them instantly froze! All they could see was white, even though the sun was still shining brightly overhead, the scene before them was a frozen expanse, the so-called natural power easily overturned by one person.

The ice crystals that solidified everything were not smooth and flat but had a fierce, blazing shape like roaring flames, showing a kind of undulating, intense beauty in their crystal clarity.

As for the Sea King?

It had already turned into an inconspicuous ice sculpture on the ice field.

Ah—

Facing the stunned Straw Hat crew, Aokiji casually stood up and pointed to the frozen sea.

"This state can last for a week."

"Take your time, I hope you catch up with your migrating people soon."

"This is..."

Facing the dumbfounded Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji, Roman shrugged.

"A Logia-type Devil Fruit, the Ice-Ice Fruit."

"See, this is the power of a Marine Admiral, changing the world with a flip of the hand."

And this was just Aokiji's Devil Fruit ability. — Even without the Devil Fruit, the three Admirals of the past were called 'monsters' among the genius rookies.

Moreover, unlike the arrogant and flawed Crocodile and Enel, Aokiji was a fierce warrior who had fought through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, with impeccable physical skill, Haki, and mental fortitude. So:

Since resistance was futile, just sit back and watch the big shot show off.

——————

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