But now, the front of the luxurious warship had already been melted away. More than half the bow was reduced to red-hot magma, and every piece of equipment on it had been obliterated by Akainu's single punch.
Everyone watched in terror. Many of them could not help wondering whether they would have been melted like that ship if the punch had landed on them.
But Akainu had no time for such thoughts. After missing with one strike, he immediately shot into the air and pursued Ronglin.
"You're really arrogant!" Ronglin shouted. Though his hand seals did not move, he waved his hand and a streak of lightning surged forth. It exploded with a boom, transforming into six spiraling bolts of electricity that blasted down toward Akainu. "Take this Lightning Release!"
"Crack! Crack!"
Before the lightning could reach Akainu, the sea below suddenly erupted with the thunderous sound of freezing. A curtain of water shot into the sky between Ronglin and Akainu. It abruptly flashed with white crystalline light, and the entire curtain froze into a wall of ice, blocking Ronglin's attack. The lightning crashed against the ice wall, shattering it to pieces.
Amid the ice shards drifting through the sky, a dark crimson fiery fist burst through and slammed toward Ronglin. Ronglin sneered and spread his palms. His Observation Haki had long sensed that Akainu was taking advantage of Aokiji's defensive interference to conceal a counterattack.
"Haki: Starfall!"
As Ronglin spread his palms, countless starlike lights flickered around him, gathering his power. The lights transformed into streams of radiance and shot toward the fiery magma fist like a torrential rain of arrows.
"Pfft!"
Akainu's magma fist was crushed upon contact in the first exchange. The starlight streams immediately rained down. Aokiji and Akainu both leaped up at once, raising their