Ice and Fire

The next day at noon, Vivi boarded a ship located in the harbor and sailed off into the distance.

Vivi stood on the ship, glancing at the guard beside her—a World Government agent whom Aokiji had asked her to bring along. In the distance stood a Baroque Works bounty hunter.

I hope it can be done.

Vivi squinted her eyes and waited quietly.

After the ship had been moving forward for some time, a figure riding a bicycle appeared on the sea, following far behind the ship.

Every time he traveled a certain distance, the sea beneath his tires would freeze into ice, allowing him to ride his bicycle freely across the sea.

He wore a black Den Den Mushi on his right hand. This Den Den Mushi could eavesdrop on certain signals in the vicinity, and could hear the contents of a phone call if the distance was relatively close.

He would occasionally take out a Vivre Card to determine his location.

This figure was Aokiji. After Vivi requested to meet with the president of Baroque Works on Elvin Island before setting off, he followed her there.

"This is such a hassle."

Aokiji rode his bicycle, looking somewhat irritated. He took out Vivi's Vivre Card, glanced at it, and then turned around.

And so, time passed by, minute by minute.

Alabasta is not far from Elvin Island, only about two hours away.

Soon, Vivi arrived at the island. She stepped onto the shore and, seeing the guards on the beach, asked somewhat nervously, "Is the president here?"

The guard nodded and said, "The president is inside."

"Alright then."

Vivi took a breath and walked towards the depths of the coast.

Deep in the coast, there was a white building. After entering the white building, two figures appeared inside, namely Heckle and Xia Qiu.

"Greetings, President."

Vivi bowed slightly, looking somewhat nervous.

Heckle asked with a smile, "I wonder why Princess Vivi is in such a hurry to meet me?"

"I have something I want to talk to the president about, it's about opening a second casino."

Vivi slowly began to deliver her prepared statement.

As he narrated, Aokiji slowly approached on his bicycle in the distance. After traveling a distance, he saw the ship anchored on the shore.

Is that the place?

Aokiji gazed intently at the distant island, where the ship was located, and where his Vivre Card pointed. "In that case..."

There seems to be someone on the sea.

The island's guards were vigilantly surveying their surroundings when they suddenly spotted Aokiji's figure on the vast sea. Seeing the figure plunge his hands into the water, they immediately shouted, "!"

"Sound the alarm immediately and notify the president."

The guard immediately shouted.

But the next moment, the sea surface began to freeze over at a visible speed, spreading towards this side.

Wow.

The guard had just blown the conch shell, the melodious sound carrying far and wide, when the Freezing Gas spread to the edge of the island and froze him.

Not only him, but also the guards on the edge of the island and the ships on the sea were all frozen in ice.

Even the ocean was frozen by the Freezing Gas, stretching far into the distance, its end invisible to the naked eye.

"The Ice Age".

Aokiji slowly exhaled a breath of Freezing Gas, steadied himself, and with a flash, leaped towards the island.

"That's a warning sound, what's going on?"

Heckle suddenly woke up and looked into the distance. "Is there an enemy attack?"

At that moment, someone burst into the room with a bang, shouting, "The sea, the sea is frozen!"

"The sea is frozen?" Heckle was slightly taken aback.

The guard replied, "That's right, the ships, the sea, and the guards along the island's edge are all frozen. What should we do?"

Freeze the sea surface?

Who else but Admiral Aokiji could do all this?

"But how did he find his way here?"

Xia Qiu looked at Vivi, whose expression changed, and she said without revealing her thoughts, "I don't know anything about it."

"Besides you, who else can bring the Admiral?"

Heckle said coldly.

"Die."

Xia Qiu rushed over, opened her blood-red maw, and bit at Vivi.

Vivi immediately retreated, facing the giant maw. Just as she was about to turn into sand, a figure appeared in front of Xia Qiu and raised his hand.

The tall figure raised his right hand and pressed it against one of Xia Qiu's teeth.

Thump.

Xia Qiu's figure froze instantly, the immense force vanished without a trace, and the next moment, streaks of ice spread along Xia Qiu's teeth.

Karaara.

The ice appeared and instantly enveloped Xia Qiu's body, turning him into a giant ice sculpture.

"Not good."

Seeing this, Heckle knew he was no match for the Admiral, so he stomped his feet, his body suddenly lightened, and he instantly launched himself backward.

"Trying to run?"

Upon seeing this, Aokiji vanished instantly, appearing behind Heckle in a few leaps and bounds, reaching out his right hand to touch Heckle.

But just as his hand was about to touch Heckle, a scorching heat emanated from him.

"Cross Fire".

A Fire Pillar of fire swept over and instantly reached Aokiji.

"Fire Fist Ace?"

Aokiji snorted coldly, his body paused, and his right hand pressed against the Cross Fire.

Da da da.

The flames kept crashing into Aokiji's hands, only to be extinguished by the constantly condensing ice. The flames melted the ice into water, which then evaporated into water vapor, continuing to resist the flames.

The flames vanished, steam rose, and Heckle had already appeared in the distance.

Aokiji, however, had no time to pay attention to that and instead looked into the distance.

"Fire Fist Ace," Aokiji said coldly.

"Admiral Kuzan."

Ace slowly walked out from a distance, adjusted his hat brim, and said with a smile, "I really didn't expect to see you here."

Aokiji looked at Ace and said, "I didn't expect Fire Fist Ace to be here, so are you going to help them?"

"They saved my life."

Ace laughed and said, "Of course I have to help them, otherwise wouldn't I be an ungrateful wretch?"

"Looks like we have one more person to deal with today."

Aokiji exhaled, and his breath instantly froze into ice, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Yeah?"

Ace laughed and said, "Then let's give it a try."

With those words, Ace's right fist suddenly shot forward. Before the movement was even complete, flames erupted from his fist to his arm, growing larger and larger until it finally transformed into a giant fiery fist that attacked Aokiji.

"Ice Bird Beak."

Aokiji released Freezing Gas from his right hand, forming a blue ice bird in front of him. It then slowly grew larger, Freezing Gas everything in its path before charging directly towards the flames.

boom.

The ice bird and the Fire Fist collided, and the ice bird transformed into countless icicles, blocking the flames' onslaught.

The heat of the flames evaporated the ice, but the pervasive Freezing Gas also extinguished the flames.

Moreover, the ice turned into water vapor, but then froze again, continuing to block the flames.

Wow.

As the surrounding flames intensified, the temperature on both sides rose higher and higher.

Click.

Xia Qiu broke through the ice, glanced into the distance, and then ran off into the distance.

Meanwhile, Heckle had also fled far away and disappeared into the distance.

"We can't let them get away."

Seeing this, Aokiji's face turned ugly, and his left hand suddenly pressed down.

Karaara.

The ground quickly froze, and Freezing Gas adhered to it, spreading in all directions, chasing after Xia Qiu and Heckle. It also spread forward from the ground, rising in sections, extinguishing the flames from below, and then rising into the sky, transforming into a cliff that crashed down on Ace.

"Very good."

But just as the ice was about to touch Ace, flames began to spread around Ace, which then transformed into a huge Fire Pillar.

"Fire Pillar."

boom.

The Fire Pillar shattered the cliff, and Ace spread his hands to the sides, transforming the Fire Pillar into two enormous fiery wings that spread outwards, instantly melting the ice.

Aokiji flicked his right hand horizontally, and suddenly two Ice Dragon roared out, continuing to chase after them into the distance.

Then the Freezing Gas in her left hand continued to transform into cliffs, rushing towards Ace and instantly reaching Ace.

But at that moment, Ace suddenly opened his mouth wide and spat it forward.

boom.

A massive burst of flame erupted, transforming into a phoenix's head, which pecked at the Aokiji's head, shattering ice cliffs one after another, but then slowly disappeared.

"We can't beat them."

Seeing this, Ace's face turned ugly, and flames suddenly appeared around his body, swirling around him.

These flames swirled towards the top, eventually converging overhead to form a giant fireball.

The fireball continued to condense, eventually turning a bright white.

"The Great Flame Ring, the Flame Emperor."

As Ace's voice rang out, a fireball flew toward Aokiji and then expanded. Ace took the opportunity to run away into the distance.

"Very strong power."

Aokiji sensed Ace's movement, and as the flames exploded before him, he gently turned his hands up and down.

"Ice Roar".

Accompanied by Aokiji's voice, Freezing Gas emanated from his body, transforming into a gigantic lion's head that was a hundred meters tall. Just as the fireball was about to explode, it opened its massive jaws and bit down on the fireball.

boom.

The fireball exploded, and flames spread in all directions, instantly blasting the lion's head apart and causing it to swell.

However, the Freezing Gas behind them continued to spread, gradually covering the flames and preventing an explosion, thus preventing it from bursting open.

"Truly a Admiral."

Ace was surprised to see what was happening behind him. Even Blackbeard, whose ability could devour flames, could only neutralize them, unlike Aokiji who could stop his own outburst.

Of course, Ace didn't want to settle things with Aokiji; he had already run off into the distance, heading towards the island.

But after running a distance, he suddenly felt a chill behind him as a figure rapidly approached.

"Here we go again."

Ace suddenly swung his right hand back and struck at Aokiji, "Mirror Flame".

His right hand transformed into flames and lunged at Aokiji. Aokiji snorted coldly and struck forward with his left hand. An Ice Dragon leaped out and slowly grew larger, transforming into a long dragon that crashed into the flames.

Aokiji then leaped into the air, hovering there as he pounced on Ace.

Aokiji used Shave to instantly appear behind Ace and touched his shoulder.

At this time, Ace was still quite a distance from the coast.

Faced with Aokiji's attack, Ace's body burst into flames, which rose up and transformed into birds that attacked Aokiji.

Aokiji faced the flames without dodging. Instead, he used Armament Haki to cover his entire body and instantly appeared in front of Ace, throwing a punch.

But Ace had already ducked to avoid it, and pressed his right hand to the ground.

Aokiji raised his right foot and kicked Ace in the stomach.

Facing this kick, Ace slapped Aokiji's foot with his left hand, and a flame was born in his palm, which then exploded violently.

Aokiji's right foot was covered in Armament Haki, which could protect him from flames and also grab Logia Fruit users, but the explosion was depleting his Haki and pushing Ace away.

Aokiji paused with his right foot, about to extend it again.

But at that moment, the ground suddenly bulged up, as if something terrifying was spreading beneath it.

"Um?"

Aokiji paused for a moment, then suddenly pulled back his right foot and leaped into the air. Freezing Gas emanated from his body, spreading outwards and attempting to seal off the ground.

"Firefly".

But Ace stood not far away, his body emitting streaks of yellow Firefly that flew in all directions.

boom.

The Firefly exploded, neutralizing the Freezing Gas.

As the Freezing Gas disappeared, the underground explosion began to spread, bursting open and sending flames soaring upwards.

There is a large amount of explosives stored beneath the island. Ace pressed down just now to detonate the explosives.

Aokiji could stop the explosives from detonating, but he couldn't do that after Ace neutralized his Freezing Gas.

The explosives detonated, instantly rushing towards Aokiji. Amidst the flames, Ace unleashed two Fire Fist, each aimed at Aokiji.

Facing the explosion.

Ice froze around the Aokiji, forming a huge sphere that continued to grow stronger.

Both Ace and Aokiji are Logia Fruit users and can transform into elements to evade attacks.

However, even in his elemental form, Aokiji would still be harmed and burned by the flames and Shockwave from the explosion.

Therefore, he had to condense ice to resist, while Ace didn't need to worry about the flames. Instead, he could use the spreading Shockwave to transform into flames and leave into the wind.

Wow.

Ace landed on the shore, and there was a small boat near the stone pillar.

One section of the boat was frozen, Ace waved his hand and the boat thawed.

At this moment, without Ace's attack, the explosion of explosives on the island could no longer stop Aokiji. Boundless Freezing Gas spread from his feet, freezing the explosion below little by little.

At the same time, he locked onto Ace's trail, and the ice spread in Ace's direction.

At that moment, Ace stepped onto the small boat, flames raging from his feet, and instantly entered the device at the back.

Boom, boom, boom.

The cannons at the stern spewed out fierce flames, instantly increasing the thrust immensely. In addition, there were small rotating wheels on both sides that kept spinning.

Aokiji suppressed the explosion that engulfed the entire island and intended to give chase, but the small boat had already shot off.

Swoosh.

Because the ice surface offers less resistance than water, the small boat travels faster than it would on water.

"We can't catch up."

Seeing the ship's speed, Aokiji shook his head regretfully.

With its fire-breathing and rotating wheels, dual-drive system, and relatively low friction on ice, it reaches speeds of 180 kilometers per hour and over 50 meters per second.

This is already twice the standard shaving speed; it's difficult for Aokiji to achieve this level of shaving.

Even if he could catch up, Ace would still be there to stop him. Whether it was the Freezing Gas or himself, it would be difficult to keep up with his speed, and they would only fall further and further behind.

"They got away."

Aokiji clenched his fists and walked step by step back the way he came. On the sea, Aokiji saw Vivi.

"What was the result?" Vivi asked anxiously.

Aokiji said apologetically, "I'm sorry, they got away."

"You promised me you would kill them," Vivi shouted. "Now you've let them go. What about Alabasta?"

"Stop talking."

Aokiji sighed and said, "I'll figure out a way to handle that later. But right now, I need to contact the Navy and go to those bases you mentioned to see if we can find any relevant information."

"I will wait for your results."

Vivi said coldly, then turned and walked away.

This chapter has 4,000 words, and there will be another 3,000 words to be released together.