After finally finding the children and spending ages coaxing, cajoling, and tricking them out, Jinbe had thought the job was done. Then, to his surprise, the base exploded. As he watched the blazing inferno surge into the sky, its rapidly spreading reach filled Jinbe with despair.
Had the very first mission Uchiha Hiko assigned him already failed?
Just as Jinbe despaired, a bone-chilling cold blanketed everything. The base engulfed in flames abruptly froze in place. Every flame went out, every explosion vanished, and the entire base was sealed beneath a thick layer of ice and snow.
This sudden turn of events had saved Jinbe and the children... Jinbe himself would not have been killed by the blast, but the children likely could not have endured its shockwave. Given Jinbe's character, he would surely have thrown himself in front of them to shield them.
"We're saved!" Jinbe let out a breath of relief. Amid the stunned children, he stared at the ice-covered base, his heart suddenly sinking. "That ability... Aokiji?"
Jinbe was faintly worried. He was not afraid that Hiko would be caught up in an explosion of that scale, but he worried that the appearance of this Ice-Ice Fruit ability might bring some unforeseen obstacle to Hiko.
But when he remembered how Hiko had fought Momousagi and Chaton alone on Fishman Island without falling behind, then easily defeated Chaton, Jinbe felt much more at ease. He believed Hiko could handle the problem. His immediate priority was to get these children out of here.
Looking at the towering iceberg and feeling the biting cold rushing toward him, Hiko slowly turned around. He calmly regarded the lazy man behind him, nearly three meters tall. Former Marine Admiral Aokiji, dressed in casual clothes, had appeared behind Hiko without warning.
"Why is a Marine