This really is a huge headache, Aokiji thought irritably.
That brat had not only left a clone behind to toy with him, but had also used such terrifying lightning to attack him.
He was not afraid, but the Marines below were.
After thinking it over, Aokiji realized that even if he blocked the attack, he could not let the current reach the sea. Otherwise, the people below would surely die!
As countless thoughts raced through his mind, Aokiji raised a hand and released his cold air in an instant.
"Crack~"
In an instant, the water vapor produced by the two men's battle was frozen solid, forming an incomparably massive platform of ice!!
Perhaps because he had been lucky, the several warships near Aokiji were already damaged, with all their supports collapsed. Combined with the other warships being far away, there was not much debris within this block of ice.
"Get up!"
Holding up the enormous block of ice with both hands, Aokiji exerted force through his legs and flew upward while supporting it overhead, soaring toward the high ground!
It seemed he intended to take this attack all by himself.
"Admiral Aokiji!!"
The Marines cried out. Was this the strength of an Admiral?
Not only could he create such a colossal block of ice in an instant, but he could also carry it into the sky... What terrifying strength!
"Roar!!"
In the end, that terrifying thunder beast slammed viciously into Aokiji's massive ice block, instantly producing an incomparably terrifying roar.
Boom!!
In an instant, the sky lit up.
The light produced by that thunderous power illuminated the entire area in a flash, as if the brilliance of the Sleepless City had returned here.
Yet every Marine knew that was the enemy's attack—an attack capable of destroying every last one of them!!
"Admiral!!"
Boom!!
The terrifying roar rang out, shaking the Marines so badly that they screamed and covered their ears, their faces twisted in agony.
The three Vice Admirals used Armament Haki to protect their bodies as they sat on the ground and stared fixedly at the sky.
If even an Admiral could not stop such a wide-ranging attack, then naturally neither could they. The lightning covered far too vast an area!
Boom!!
Finally, after an incomparably terrifying explosion, the giant ice mass in the sky shattered into countless pieces, with most of the ice directly vaporizing!
"Bzz~"
The shockwave generated by the collision and explosion surged madly in every direction, and the distant High Tower was immediately caught in the disaster!
But because of Marine Admiral Aokiji, that power did not spread to the sea directly below. It was at least a small blessing amid disaster.
Yet to those Marines, it still felt as though they had endured the end of the world!
Having blocked the attack, Aokiji descended from the sky and stood silently atop a damaged warship.
Judging by his smoking hair and blackened clothes, Aokiji had not emerged from that blow unscathed.
Of course, compared to his hair and clothes, Aokiji's expression looked even darker.
"I got played..." Aokiji murmured. "A parting gift?"
This sea truly continued to exceed his expectations.
"Even the Admiral..." A colonel said in disbelief. "Was he injured?"
"Isn't the Admiral a Logia?"
Why had a Logia user been struck by an attack that was not entwining Haki?
"Of course, it was to save us." Momonga said grimly. "If the Admiral had turned into his elements, how could he have blocked that attack?"
An Elementalized body was not as tough as people imagined, much less while carrying such an enormous block of ice.
Only a body wrapped in Haki could withstand such a massive ice block and stop that gigantic thunder beast that seemed capable of destroying the world.
"This..."
The Marines looked at each other. Had they actually held the Admiral back?
"As expected of an Admiral. He really did block that attack," T-Bone muttered.
If Admiral Aokiji had not come, their losses today would have been horrifying. Even the Marines here might have all been killed.
"Strange, why haven't we seen that Ninja?" a Marine colonel asked doubtfully.
The moment those words were spoken, T-Bone's expression immediately darkened. Did that even need asking?
"So the one fighting us all along was a clone." Strawberry rose to his feet, gritting his teeth. "What a despicable bastard!"
Strawberry could not understand why the opponent, despite being a clone, had still not dared to engage them in close combat.
Could a clone be afraid of dying?
Or perhaps... the enemy simply enjoyed toying with them like this?
"What? So that wasn't the enemy's real body?"
"This..."
"Vice Admiral, should we pursue them?" a Marine asked tentatively.
Although they no longer had a single ship left, if they requested reinforcements from Navy Headquarters, warships could reach this place in half an hour at the soonest.
With the speed of a warship, catching up to the enemy was not impossible.
"Of course we pursue them!" Momonga said coldly. "The Marines suffered such heavy losses, all because of that damned Ninja."
"If I don't cut him down, I won't be able to swallow this anger."
Since becoming a Vice Admiral, Momonga had never felt so humiliated. Even when facing those powerful pirates of the New World, he had never lost face so badly.
With that thought, Momonga immediately looked at Aokiji. "Admiral Aokiji, please authorize us to pursue that group of pirates!"
"As long as we request reinforcements from Headquarters, warships will soon—"
Before Momonga could finish, Aokiji interrupted him. "Enough. Don't say any more."
His expression restored to normal, Aokiji turned and glanced at Momonga. "Even after deploying national-level forces like a Buster Call, we still could not take down the Straw Hat Pirates. We have already lost."
There was no point in continuing the pursuit. The Marines' dignity had already been lost and could not be recovered.
"But the dignity of the Marines and the World Government's—"
"Go say that to Marshal Sengoku." Aokiji swept his gaze across the Vice Admirals. "See whether he will agree to let you continue the pursuit."
After saying that, Aokiji ignored him.
Momonga opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he merely sighed and said nothing more.
Report directly to the Marshal?
Without an order from Admiral Aokiji, Marshal Sengoku would most likely not agree to their request. More likely, he would order them to return and recover.
The losses this time... were simply too great!
Two Vice Admirals from Navy Headquarters were on the verge of death, and only five of the ten Navy warships had not been destroyed.
The Marine casualties were considerable as well. Exactly how many had been killed would have to be determined later through a count.
"How long has Headquarters gone without suffering such severe losses..." T-Bone said. "The last time was when Golden Lion stormed Navy Headquarters alone, wasn't it?"
"You mean..."
"This man will definitely become a formidable enemy in the future!"
But T-Bone did not insist on pursuing the Straw Hat Pirates immediately. Besides, they might not even be able to catch them.
Facing a Ninja who possessed Water Release, trying to catch up with him at sea was rather absurd.
"What are you all standing around for?!" Aokiji shouted. "Hurry up and clear out the five warships. Take them back to Headquarters for treatment as quickly as possible!"
"Yes!"