Aramaki's vines dragged Joy Boy down from the sky toward the frozen sea. The instant Joy Boy's body touched the icy surface, it suddenly expanded. His limbs sank into the ice like compressed springs, bending his entire body into the shape of a drawn bow.
The accumulated elastic force erupted in an instant. Aramaki's vines snapped apart one after another as Joy Boy launched himself from the ice like a white meteor. The tremendous sonic boom carved a trench stretching over a thousand meters across the frozen battlefield.
High above, Kizaru's Yasakani no Magatama had not even fully formed before the shockwave shattered its light paths into countless glowing fragments that scattered across the sky.
At that very moment, Akainu burst upward from beneath the ice in his magma form. Intercepting Joy Boy in midair, he unleashed the fully charged Hell Hound without hesitation.
Even Joy Boy did not dare underestimate Akainu's most destructive attack. His fist, coated in powerful Haki, slammed directly into the blazing magma hound.
The collision detonated violently.
Molten magma exploded across the sky while crimson black Haki lightning crackled wildly through the air. A heartbeat later, Akainu and Joy Boy shot away from each other like red and white meteors before crashing into the frozen sea, leaving behind two enormous spiderwebs of shattered ice.
The moment Joy Boy climbed back onto the surface, Aokiji, Kuma, and Aramaki closed in simultaneously.
Ice, forest vines, Paw Paw abilities, and Haki struck him together from every direction.
Facing the combined assault of several Admirals, even Joy Boy's relaxed expression faded. He was forced backward repeatedly, no longer able to toy with his opponents as casually as before.
Akainu and Kizaru instantly seized the opening.
Columns of magma erupted from beneath the ice while brilliant laser beams descended from the sky, engulfing Joy Boy in a relentless barrage from above and below.
After another devastating exchange, the five Admirals withdrew to a broad stretch of frozen sea, standing shoulder to shoulder.
Moments later, Joy Boy staggered out of the thick cloud of smoke.
His body was covered in bruises and burns, his clothes were torn in several places, and he looked far more battered than before.
Removing the straw hat from his head, he casually fanned himself and muttered,
"That actually stung a little. Five against one is pretty unfair, don't you think?"
When it came to provoking an opponent, Aramaki never held back.
Raising an eyebrow, he sneered,
"Trash like you still has the nerve to talk about fairness? A piece of garbage like you doesn't even deserve to be called human."
Joy Boy glanced at him with an annoyed expression.
"Green-haired guy, your mouth is seriously irritating."
Aramaki stomped heavily onto the ice and charged again.
"Trash! Remember this well, this old man is Navy Admiral Ryokugyu!"
Boom!
His fist smashed into the frozen sea, shattering the ice beneath Joy Boy's feet.
Seawater burst upward through the opening, launching Joy Boy high into the air.
Instead of regaining his footing immediately, Joy Boy floated on his back atop the surging seawater, his arms and legs pointing skyward while letting out his usual bizarre noises.
Just as Aramaki prepared to continue his assault, Joy Boy suddenly stopped making those strange sounds.
A mysterious smile spread across his face.
The next instant, his mouth stretched to an impossible size.
With one swift motion, he swallowed Aramaki whole.
Everyone froze.
Even Aokiji's usually composed face changed dramatically.
Without wasting another second, he vanished from his position in a blur.
Joy Boy's jaw had stretched to an absurd degree. Holding Aramaki inside his mouth, he shook his head violently as muffled curses echoed from within, mixed with disgusting sounds of saliva sloshing around.
Sharp protrusions repeatedly bulged from Joy Boy's cheeks as Aramaki fought desperately inside, yet none of them managed to pierce Joy Boy's rubbery body.
Aokiji appeared instantly before him.
A terrifying chill condensed around his fist as frost spread across his arm.
"Ice Glove."
His strike targeted Joy Boy's heart without hesitation.
Joy Boy suddenly widened his eyes in exaggerated surprise.
His mouth opened so far that his jaw nearly reached his feet, exposing the thoroughly soaked Aramaki trapped inside.
Seeing Aramaki unharmed, Aokiji instinctively halted his attack.
Had he continued, his fist would have landed squarely on Aramaki's face instead.
Aramaki naturally seized the opportunity.
He burst out of Joy Boy's mouth in an instant.
Standing beside Aokiji, the two launched a synchronized punch.
Accompanied by deafening sonic booms, Joy Boy was blasted straight into the sea, creating a gigantic wave that surged across the battlefield.
The two Admirals landed steadily atop the frozen sea.
Looking down at himself, Aramaki's entire body was drenched with saliva.
His face twisted in disgust as he cursed nonstop.
Using his Forest Forest Fruit powers, drying ordinary seawater would have been effortless.
Unfortunately, this was Joy Boy's saliva.
He refused to absorb it into his own body.
Instead, suppressing his embarrassment, he walked over to Akainu.
Understanding exactly what Aramaki wanted, Akainu simply raised a hand.
The intense heat from his magma instantly evaporated every drop of moisture covering Aramaki.
Although effective, the process was agonizing.
The scorching heat caused Aramaki to grit his teeth in pain, making his hatred toward Joy Boy grow even deeper.
This time, however, after crashing into the sea, Joy Boy did not immediately leap back into battle.
The five Admirals silently watched the unusually calm water.
Several moments later...
Pairs of crimson eyes slowly appeared beneath the sea's surface.
One pair became ten.
Ten became hundreds.
Soon, countless glowing crimson eyes filled the ocean, each rapidly growing larger.
Then, accompanied by the thunderous roar of ancient machinery, enormous figures emerged from the depths.
They were giant robots.
Each stood nearly one hundred meters tall.
The instant they surfaced, the mechanical army divided into two groups.
One force charged directly toward Akainu and the other Admirals.
The second wave marched across the battlefield toward the Navy forces in the distance.
Akainu frowned.
Both of his arms transformed into surging magma rivers that swallowed the two leading robots almost instantly.
Kizaru, Aokiji, Kuma, and Aramaki also moved without delay, each unleashing devastating attacks to eliminate the advancing mechanical army.
Although these robots were nowhere near as intelligent as the ancient robot Emeth that had attacked Mary Geoise, nor were they as individually powerful, they possessed one overwhelming advantage.
Their numbers.
No matter where one looked, countless machines stretched endlessly across the frozen sea, like an army without end.
Flying through the sky, Kizaru sliced off a robot's head with a single beam of light.
Looking across the battlefield, he frowned.
"Strange. Where did Joy Boy even get this many robots?"
Golden light crossed between his hands.
"Yasakani no Magatama."
Countless beams of light rained from the sky, blasting dozens of giant robots into heaps of twisted scrap metal.
Akainu and the others unleashed their own large-scale abilities without restraint.
Their Devil Fruit powers were exceptionally suited for battles against massive armies.
Even Kuma, despite being the only Paramecia user among them, displayed astonishing efficiency as wave after wave of robots were destroyed.
Yet while the Admirals continuously reduced the mechanical horde to piles of wreckage, they never stopped searching for Joy Boy himself.
Time passed.
Broken robot parts accumulated into mountains across the frozen sea.
Still, Joy Boy remained nowhere to be seen.
Now transformed into his towering tree form, Aramaki smashed another giant robot apart with a single punch before roaring furiously,
"You dead flea! Get out here! This old man still hasn't settled the score with you from earlier!"
His answer came not from Joy Boy...
But from the heavens themselves.
A deafening elephant's trumpet echoed across the battlefield.
The colossal elephant, Zou, which had remained motionless since its appearance, finally began to move.
Its unimaginably massive trunk swept through the air with terrifying speed.
Before Aramaki could react, the enormous trunk crashed into him.
Compared to Zou's colossal body, towering over thirty-five thousand meters high, Aramaki was no more than an insignificant insect.
The impact instantly pulverized his tree form into countless fragments of shattered wood that scattered across the battlefield.
Even an Admiral possessed no chance of matching the overwhelming physical strength of Zou.
Fortunately for Aramaki, Zou was not using Haki.
Moments later, the scattered sawdust slowly gathered together, gradually reforming his body.
However, his regeneration was noticeably slower than before.