The Fist of Haki, Facing One's True Heart

On the Golden Merry,

Because the Golden Merry was anchored on the other side of the island, it was not affected by Aokiji's ice attack. Meanwhile, in the ship's bathroom:

Is that all?

"I don't know either. I've never seen a case of someone's entire body being instantly frozen..."

"You're the ship's doctor!"

"Okay, okay, just shut up!!"

In a flurry of activity, Usopp and Chopper placed the ice sculpture of Robin in the bathtub, continuously heating it with warm water to melt the ice shell. Outside, Nami faced Zoro and Sanji, who had rushed back.

"How could you..."

"Stop talking about that, quickly figure out a way to thaw us out!"

"We must immediately melt the frozen areas with water and then massage the muscles, otherwise they will become necrotic. —What about Luffy and Roman?"

"Luffy is going to have a one-on-one fight with him, Roman..."

"I'll go take a look!"

Nami, the only one who was unharmed, jumped off the ship and rushed towards the battlefield.

On the 'battlefield' just now,

Second Gear!

As Luffy entered Second Gear, he left a trail of afterimages, his entire body flying and refracting across the battlefield.

Luffy's speed is now vastly different from before! But the tall man opposite him can still dodge every attack without missing a beat, whether it's a punch or a kick, as if he knows everything that happens to Luffy.

"That's a good move, but in my opinion, it puts a lot of strain on your body."

That's obvious. Artificially accelerating blood flow beyond its limits is playing with your heart, blood vessels, and even your life. If it weren't for Luffy's rubber body, he would have killed himself long ago.

Previously, on Sky Island, the thin air actually minimized the side effects of this move. But now, if used for an extended period...

Facing Luffy at high speed once again, the slow-moving Kuzan stretched out his right hand from afar.

"I'll let you have your way—"

Flash!

Snap,

The scene before Luffy's eyes jolted, and the enemy standing in front of him vanished instantly! Before he could even react, a large, cold hand covered his face. Along with the biting cold came a darkness that instantly engulfed his consciousness.

"Calm down."

Click.

The ice Luffy remained frozen in place, still in the pose of charging and throwing a punch.

"Next is your turn,"

When Aokiji turned around, Roman wisely raised his hands.

"I'll pass, Mr. Kuzan."

"Even if you stand here and let me hit you while you're wearing Seastone handcuffs, I still can't break through your Armament Haki."

·······

How will you know if you don't try?

Hey, hey, hey, aren't you supposed to be a lazy champion of justice? There's no one else around, why do you have to kick everyone like Uncle Kizaru to be considered 'fair'?

"Alright, I'll accept your offer."

Since the Marine Admiral had time to step in and offer "guidance," Roman shouldn't be so tactless as to refuse.

Please advise!

Whew, whimper, whimper~~

Nami ran straight to the battlefield, not harboring any naive notion that 'one-on-one combat is sacred.' Putting herself in the pirates' shoes, she believed the Marines wouldn't honor their ridiculous verbal 'agreement' with the pirates either.

Since it's a one-on-one fight, once I defeat you, I can't attack anyone else?

Joke!

It is only natural for the navy to catch pirates.

No country, no ordinary person, would consider it dishonorable for the navy not to engage in "one-on-one" battles with pirates. For the vast majority of people, killing pirates, and killing more pirates, makes them "heroes"!

Roman... Luffy...

You two mustn't—

?!

However, things didn't go as planned. As Nami climbed over a small hill, a vast ice field came into view. Luffy was frozen into an ice sculpture, and Roman was kneeling on one knee, covered in blood, clutching a wound on his waist.

That was close, that was close!

It almost damaged his internal organs.

Splash,

Sheets of white paper flew out and wrapped around the wound. Roman stood up with lingering fear and looked resentfully at the Marine Admiral opposite him.

Brother, you're just acting, why did you suddenly go so far? If I had dodged a little slower... no, thinking about it carefully, with Aokiji's skills, even if I had dodged faster, I would have been cut in two anyway, right?

So, is this also a result of the other side going easy on us...?

"You seem to,"

The tall man opposite him tilted his head and sized up Roman.

"Are you absolutely certain I won't kill him?"

"I... Mr. Kuzan,"

Roman scratched his head helplessly. "You didn't come here just to beat us up, did you?"

You've already played the bad cop and given them a warning. Shouldn't the rest of the job be for you, Big Brother, to go to Water 7 and prepare for the next 'test' for the Straw Hat crew?

It also serves as a warning to Enies Lobby —that a bunch of weak spies dare to challenge the Navy...

"There's no point in continuing this fight, is there?"

Roman did try to use the newly acquired 'Slow Paper' to get close to Aokiji during the battle, but it only proved the sharpness of his advanced Observation Haki.

Even though Aokiji didn't know the purpose of the 'Slow Paper' that Roman had mixed in with the ordinary paper, the other party's almost divine high-level Observation Haki still made him feel the danger approaching and instinctively dodge, not giving Roman any chance for a 'first-meeting kill'.

That's true.

If it weren't for the inexplicable premonition of danger inherent in high-level Observation Haki, wouldn't Sugar from Doflamingo's family be invincible? He could seize any opportunity and slap one of the Four Emperors Three Admirals.

Unless one focuses a great deal of attention on other things or is in a highly unstable state of mind. —Refer to Whitebeard who was struck by the Filial Son Sword.

"The gap between us is so large that we don't even have a one percent chance of winning, no, a one-thousandth chance. So..."

"I see,"

Aokiji on the other side nodded.

"You knew my intelligence beforehand, and you also know my temperament. That's why you never showed any fighting spirit or killing intent when facing me."

What is this? Is it a cognitive bias?

Because Roman was certain that Aokiji wouldn't kill, all of Aokiji's attacks were considered 'non-lethal' by Roman. Therefore, no matter how fierce the fight, Roman would never find himself in a situation where he was 'fighting with all his might'...

"However," the tall Marine Admiral's face darkened as he faced an opponent who believed that "you wouldn't kill anyone."

"This makes me lose face."

"Big brother, I know you're just putting on an act. I've already been actively cooperating with your 'acting,' what more do you want from me? Is it my fault that your Observation Haki can read my emotions?"

"It's not your fault."

Seeing Roman's 'helplessness' written all over his face, Aokiji merely glanced behind him.

"Then I'll just casually 'kill' one or two pirates, so I can go back and report."

?!

"Roman, Luffy— "

The sound of Nami's panting and footsteps behind him brought Roman back to his senses, but before he could turn around, Aokiji had already clenched his fist at his waist, then twisted and threw a punch! A white fist flew out instantly, its target—

Nami in the back!

Holy crap—

Completely instinctively, Roman dodged to the side, blocking the opponent's white fist, or perhaps Devil Fruit ability, or some other attack. Then:

Die!!!!!!

In an instant, the white energy in Roman's eyes roared like an extreme cold storm! Or like a glacier collapsing! It was overwhelming and about to engulf him. This was not an illusion or delusion, but a real attack.

Roman could even feel countless cells on his face and chest beginning to crack, die, and wither under that fist!

This punch contained unwavering confidence and a chilling, ruthless killing intent capable of annihilating everything! There was not a trace of the so-called 'lazy justice' the opponent spoke of; there was only 'resolute justice'!

As the wind from the punch hit him, Roman felt an extreme chill throughout his body, a chill that penetrated to his very bones and was incredibly real! — Even before the punch touched Roman, the water in Roman's muscles and blood had already begun to freeze.

Hide--

There's no escaping it!

In an instant, Roman had a clear realization. This punch wasn't just affecting his physical body, but also his mind and soul! Even if he used 'Pseudo Elementalization' to create countless sheets of paper to dodge the punch, each sheet would be completely frozen into lifeless objects by the opponent's aura...

We have no choice but to tough it out!

Is this Armament Haki?

Compared to this Haki that extinguishes all life, Crocodile's Armament Haki, which only causes him 'unbearable pain,' is utterly insignificant.

Let's give it our all!

In Electric Light flash, Roman instinctively threw a punch to meet the attack.

He knew, of course, that he was no match for Aokiji, but Nami was right behind him. He couldn't hide! He wouldn't hide!

In an instant, a cold, solitary battle erupted, as fierce as a lone wolf. A chilling, brutal, and domineering killing intent exploded within Roman's heart!

This killing intent surged into Roman's fist, while a gentle will enveloped this cold killing intent! It was Luffy's cheerfulness, Zoro's steadfastness, Nami's mischievousness, Usopp's courage, Sanji's...

A burning passion, wrapped in icy killing intent, met Aokiji's fist without hesitation!

I will not back down from this punch!

Then:

Click-clack—

The spreading ice filled Roman's vision, along with the faint sound at the last moment.

"Good."

PS: Armament Haki loading. Since the first two chapters contain a lot of original content, I'll release them all together after I finish writing them.