"Fleet Admiral, the enemy has arrived!"
A shadowy figure shot forth. With one star on his shoulder, he was a Marine High-Ranking Officer.
Sengoku showed a serious expression, he nodded slowly and said: "I already know, return to duty."
The officer received the order, then immediately turned and rushed back to the battlefield.
"Aokiji!"
Sengoku turned toward Aokiji sitting beside him, then gave a slight signal: "Don't let those pirate ships approach easily. I'll leave it to you!"
"Alright!"
Aokiji nodded, he pressed his chair back and his body immediately shot high toward the port.
"Look! That's Admiral Aokiji!"
A sharp-eyed Marine soldier looked up and exclaimed full of spirit. Marine personnel around him also looked up; their spirits blazed, and the fear that had appeared due to the great pirate fleet's arrival instantly faded.
For ordinary Marine soldiers, an Admiral was a pillar of strength as well as their greatest hope. As long as an Admiral took action, any pirate would surely submit.
"That kid Aokiji!"
Whitebeard snorted coldly from the ship's bow, staring at Aokiji who was shooting rapidly toward the port.
"The one called Aokiji?" Roger looked at the figure with curiosity.
"Just a rising star. A Logia-type Devil Fruit user, the Ice-Ice Fruit. His strength is quite decent," Shanks explained while smiling.
Getting such an assessment from a Yonko was already extraordinary recognition.
Roger nodded; in his time before he died, Aokiji was just a young soldier who was unknown and unremarkable. Even the Fleet Admiral at that time wasn't Sengoku.
"Yasopp," Shanks signaled, "Take him down for me!"
The man wearing a checkered-patterned robe on his back stepped forward while grinning. "Leave it to me, Captain!"
While speaking, he drew his flintlock rifle from his waist, and without needing to aim long, he immediately released a shot.
*BANG!*
A bullet enveloped in a strange black aura split the sky, shooting straight toward Aokiji who was still in the air. The distance between them was over a thousand meters, but this bullet's range was very extraordinary, producing a sharp whistling sound in the air.
Aokiji keenly sensed danger. He looked up, waved his hand, and a giant ice spear was instantly created in his hand, then thrown forcefully.
*WHOOSH— CRACK—*
The two collided in the air, producing an ear-piercing friction sound. Instantly, the ice spear was pierced by the bullet and shattered into pieces. The black bullet didn't slow down and continued shooting toward Aokiji's heart.
Aokiji snorted coldly. Unexpectedly, he didn't dodge or parry, but instead charged forward toward that black bullet.
Under everyone's shocked gaze, the black bullet pierced his chest, but no blood spurted. The bullet continued shooting far behind.
"How is that possible?" Yasopp was stunned. "My bullet was already coated with Busoshoku Haki. Even if he's Logia-type, he shouldn't be able to withstand it. At least he should be injured, damn it!"
As the sniper of the Red-Haired Pirates, he felt his pride slightly disturbed.
Shanks narrowed his eyes, then chuckled while patting Yasopp's shoulder. "Busoshoku Haki can indeed counter Logia-types effectively. However, Aokiji has trained his elemental control to a very precise level."
Whitebeard also nodded in agreement: "Right, this kid is interesting. Just as the bullet was about to touch his body, he transformed that body part into ice element and opened it, so the bullet just passed through. That created an illusion as if the bullet had no effect on him."
Aokiji stared at the great pirate fleet from afar with a flat expression. Suddenly he dove down, and just before touching the sea surface, he slammed his palm to the water.
"Ice Age!"
In an instant, starting from his position, the sea surface immediately froze. That freezing area expanded at crazy speed in all directions. Even waves that were rolling instantly froze into beautiful ice crystals.
The pirates who had been cheering spiritedly on their respective ships were shocked when they realized their ships suddenly stopped completely. When looking down, they saw the sea that had been flowing was now a very thick layer of ice.
All pirate ships seemed stranded on land, unable to move an inch!
"Wh-what... what happened?"
"The ocean froze!"
"That's Aokiji! The ice power user, Admiral Aokiji!"
Some experienced pirates shouted loudly while pointing toward Mary Geoise, toward the man standing alone on the ice surface.
The majority of pirates instantly turned pale. Many of them were small-time pirates from the four seas who didn't even have bounty values yet. With low strength, they had never seen such magical and terrifying techniques. Doubt began to appear among them, and some began thinking of retreating.
"Th-this is the power of a Marine Admiral?"
"So terrifying!"
"Fighting such a figure, aren't we just sending our lives?"
Whitebeard sensed the unease behind him, he furrowed his brow and snorted coldly: "A small trick like this wants to shake our fighting spirit? How funny!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he slammed his Bisento handle down hard.
"Sea Earthquake!"
Right under his weapon's handle, that thick ice layer shook violently then shattered completely. The sea surface that had just frozen flowed again, and large ice chunks crumbled into dust that immediately melted in the seawater.
Aokiji's face looked somewhat sour. He didn't expect his ability could be broken so easily by Whitebeard.
Indeed, a Yonko's power wasn't just empty talk. Moreover, Whitebeard had now returned to the peak of his strength—a figure who once competed fiercely with the Pirate King Roger, the legend of an era.
Seeing Whitebeard display his power, all pirates instantly cheered loudly. The fighting spirit that had fallen due to Aokiji's actions now blazed again.
"This is Whitebeard's power!"
"A Yonko is still a Yonko! Extraordinary!"
"Admiral Aokiji's technique in Whitebeard's eyes is just like child's play, broken with just one move. Terrifying!"
"Pirates will surely win! Bring down the World Government!"
"Long live Oyaji—!"
Members of the Whitebeard Pirates shouted loudest with full spirit.
"Tch!" Lucky Roux who was chewing a chicken leg until it was oily snorted dismissively. "Just that much? Our captain can do it too!"
However, Aokiji didn't give up. He stomped his foot to the sea surface again.
"Great Ice Age!"
This time, the freezing occurred far faster, deeper, and its range was far wider.
The ice layer freezing on the sea surface even reached depths of tens of meters. This showed that Aokiji's use of the Ice-Ice Fruit had reached an unreasonable level.
Kaido laughed coldly: "This kid really has no end. Does he think this can stop us?"
Whitebeard shook his head: "No need to make a fuss about this anymore. Earlier I destroyed the ice just to calm the troops. Now our distance from the port isn't far, we can directly launch an attack!"