The sun was warm.
Aokiji stood in the spacious backyard of the villa, wearing a blindfold.
Today was a rare peaceful day.
No Monster incidents had occurred anywhere.
Aokiji slightly tilted his head.
A fist attacked from behind!
He narrowly dodged it as it whistled past his ear.
A flurry of consecutive attacks, turning into afterimages, followed immediately!
Still facing away, still dodging appropriately.
The Martial Arts proficiency that Garou believed he had improved seemed like merely his own illusion under Aokiji's effortless response.
Garou stepped, shattering the ground, radiating fervent fighting spirit, and launched his strongest strike!
He struck out with both hands transformed into palms!!
The air tore with a shriek!
Aokiji vanished in an instant.
The strike landed on empty air.
Before Garou could recover from the recoil of overexerting himself.
Aokiji was already standing behind him, raising his fist.
"After honing my skills with Bang for a few days, I've gained some insights into Martial Arts. You're the first to see this move—"
"Ice shelf collapse—"
Garou barely managed to turn his head.
An intense sense of danger flooded his entire body!
It felt as if he wasn't facing a fist,
but a massive, weighty glacial continent!
Its speed was slow, yet it possessed an incredibly terrifying mass.
Even a vast expanse of land would be forced to bulge into a towering mountain range upon contact.
And Garou?
He was merely a stream on that land.
He could change nothing.
He watched helplessly as the glacier roared toward him!!
Buzz—
The booming sound was deep and lingering!
The fist, seemingly condensed from a glacier, stopped less than half a palm's distance from his face.
A layer of ice crystals quietly formed on Garou's white hair.
"How was that? Did it capture some of the profound mystery of Martial Arts?"
Raising his blindfold, Aokiji was quite satisfied.
As expected of a talent capable of becoming a world-class powerhouse, his efficiency in learning Martial Arts was also astonishing.
"...Again!"
Garou's gaze sharpened once more.
The gap he had clearly felt did not make him lose his fighting spirit.
His internal drive became even more vigorous!
To eliminate all 'Evil'.
I must defeat this fake hero!
Even if I sacrifice everything!
Even my life!!
Thump—
Garou lay flat on his back on the ground.
Aokiji withdrew his fist and said:
"I'm being too nice to you. Didn't you hear me ask for your thoughts?"
Garou wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.
Aokiji decided to go grab a can of cola.
But he sensed that his actress neighbor, Kiiro, had just arrived outside the villa.
The gate opened, and the beautiful, enthusiastic neighbor walked into the villa.
As soon as she entered, Kiiro spun around slightly excitedly to show off:
"Lord Aokiji, do you like this battlesuit?"
What she was wearing now was not her usual fashionable and casual style.
The bright yellow battlesuit clung tightly to her body's curves, and her excellent, well-maintained physique rose and fell with her breathing, radiating vitality.
The battlesuit's quality was exaggeratedly good, with a subtle metallic sheen appearing on the flexible material.
The helmet tucked under her arm and the animal emblem on her belt were quite elaborate.
The long boots covering her legs added a touch of competence to her aura.
"Not bad." Aokiji observed and asked, "Is this a costume from that Tokusatsu Drama? Is the quality really this good?"
It felt good enough to be used as a professional hero costume.
This was much more costly than the Tokusatsu Dramas he had seen before.
"Yes, this is the battlesuit for Gao Yellow, but it's not the one we used for previous filming."
Gao Yellow is the hero Kiiro plays in the Tokusatsu Drama, the Beast Sentai Gauranger.
Kiiro stretched her body, showcasing the brand new battlesuit.
As the curves stretched, the battlesuit subtly revealed the contours of the skin underneath.
"The Beast Sentai Gauranger is filming a movie to commemorate its fifth anniversary, and the crew specially found a newly established Research Institute to customize these battlesuits."
Kiiro placed her hand on her belt.
She gently pressed and rotated the embedded animal emblem.
"This battlesuit can also enhance strength, allowing some fight scenes to be done without special effects!"
She moved around a bit.
Her movements were indeed lighter.
Garou had gotten up from the ground at some point.
He stared blankly at the Tokusatsu hero, who was exactly like the ones in his memory.
At this moment, he actually showed a bit of youthful shyness.
Unfortunately, Kiiro's attention was not on him at all.
"Lord Aokiji, your hero costume hasn't been decided yet, right?"
"Why don't you come to the set with me? People from that Research Institute will be there today. You could ask them to customize a hero costume for you?"
Kiiro asked expectantly.
Due to the earlier movements, her golden long hair was a bit messy, but it added a sense of vibrant beauty.
"No, thank you. I still need to Train," Aokiji waved his hand.
"Besides, whatever I wear doesn't matter."
Logia Devil Fruit users can elementalize their clothes along with themselves.
The original intention of this mechanism,
was perhaps the consideration that if the clothes didn't follow the user when they elementalized to dodge or move,
or were even destroyed by the user's element, the scene would be quite awkward.
Take Akainu, for example.
If this mechanism didn't exist.
Every time he used his Devil Fruit ability to turn into magma and fight, his clothes would have long been burned away.
Kizaru was the same, perhaps even more awkward.
If he used his Light Speed Kick, his body would fly out, but his clothes would remain in place.
Then the Supernovas who were kicked away would see a scene where—
A naked, creepy old man instantly flashed in front of them, then raised his leg... *Ew*~~
Fortunately, this mechanism existed.
Not only did it protect their eyes,
but Aokiji also didn't need to specially prepare durable combat clothing.
"I see..." Kiiro showed a slightly disappointed expression.
"I originally wanted to ask Lord Aokiji for help piloting the Combined Robot for the final battle scene, but it looks like we'll have to let the Action Director..."
"Wait a minute." Aokiji caught the key phrase.
"Combined Robot? Tell me more."
A hint of a smile flashed in Kiiro's eyes:
"In the final battle of the plot, the Beast Sentai Gauranger controls a Combined Robot to fight against a robot controlled by the Main Villain."
"To achieve the desired filming effect, the crew commissioned that Research Institute to customize a life-sized Giant Robot."
"However, none of us have experience actually piloting a Giant Robot, and we were worried about not achieving the best effect, so I originally planned to ask for your help."
"As a hero, Lord Aokiji must have had similar experience."
"It's a shame you don't have time..."
"No." Aokiji pondered, covering his mouth. "I've thought it over carefully."
"Compared to Cultivating and all that, helping a neighbor in need is more important."
"Really! That's wonderful!"
Kiiro happily clasped her hands together.
She looked at Aokiji joyfully and said:
"Lord Aokiji must have a lot of experience piloting robots! Now we don't have to worry about the filming quality!"
"Experience... Mm, yes, I have plenty of experience."
Aokiji nodded naturally.
How could piloting a Giant Robot in a dream not count as experience?
"Then you will pilot the Beast Sentai Gauranger's Combined Robot, and the Main Villain's robot will be handled by the crew's Action Director."
Kiiro pulled out her phone: "I need to tell everyone this good news, they'll be so excited!"
"Wait a minute. Speaking of the Villain Robot..."
Aokiji turned his head to look at Garou.
"How about we fight in a different way?"
...
(Throw some stones)