At that moment, Aokiji's expression turned extremely serious. He no longer looked down on Lu Zhuo and the others at all.
"I really underestimated you, Holy Sword Pirates. Ghost Sword Lu Zhuo disappeared for half a year, only to suddenly gain this kind of strength. Even Nico Robin, who's with you, has learned Armament Haki."
He spoke calmly, and the air seemed to grow even colder. Lu Zhuo snorted, releasing his sword intent to clash with Aokiji's icy aura.
Although Lu Zhuo's sword intent was still no match for Aokiji's icy aura, he managed to hold his ground without being weakened.
Aokiji's chest froze over in an instant, sealing his wounds. He looked at Lu Zhuo and Robin and said coldly, "If you're already this strong, I absolutely can't let you go any farther!"
Ice Spear Pierce!
Aokiji swung both hands, and dozens of long ice spears instantly formed in midair, thrusting viciously toward Lu Zhuo and Robin.
Lu Zhuo's pupils narrowed slightly. These ice spears were all highly compressed and condensed, their strength comparable to steel!
Without hesitation, Lu Zhuo stepped forward, appearing in front of Robin.
Void-Breaking Draw Sword Strike!
Army Breaker Rising Dragon Strike!
A cross-shaped slash burst forth, crashing into the ice spears.
But in the next instant, Lu Zhuo's expression changed drastically. He grabbed Robin behind him, then flickered away several times, retreating dozens of meters!
Crack, crack!
A flurry of clattering sounds rang out as Lu Zhuo's sword beam shattered the ice spears, which turned into countless tiny, razor-sharp ice shards!
If Lu Zhuo hadn't reacted quickly, he would have ended up looking like a porcupine made of ice!
Even so, he grunted as three bloody gashes appeared across his back. The ice shards were intensely concentrated ice. Even after piercing Lu Zhuo's body, they didn't melt at once in his blood. Instead, they froze his blood solid!
Robin had already reacted and immediately realized how serious the situation was. She hurriedly pulled the ice shards from Lu Zhuo's body.
The extreme cold around them instantly froze Lu Zhuo's wounds.
The next moment, a massive bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, slamming into Aokiji just as he moved in to follow up with another attack. He grunted.
Aokiji spat out a puff of black smoke and glowered at the thundercloud overhead, which had already formed more than a thousand meters up.
The cloud was still generating more clouds, growing larger and larger.
But Nami's control had its limits. Before long, she was forced to stop expanding it and could only keep raining lightning down from above.
With lightning striking him again and again, Aokiji had no choice but to endure it with his body or evade with Observation Haki. He felt somewhat frustrated. If only Kizaru were here. I really can't fly.
As he thought this, Lu Zhuo suddenly disappeared from dozens of meters away and flashed to a point less than ten meters in front of him.
Lu Zhuo raised his sword high with both hands, catching a thick bolt of lightning as it fell from the sky.
Sky Thunder, Wave Sword!
A sword beam wreathed in lightning swept toward him. Aokiji's pupils contracted, and for the first time, a trace of shock showed on his face.
Ice Capsule!
Ice and sword beam collided, and the lightning's force shook the entire sky. The shock even reached the distant Marine Branch.
The Marine Branch had noticed the battle long ago. After all, the area covered by Aokiji's Ice Age was enormous; even the Marine Branch had been frozen over.
But no one came to help.
Seriously, did a Marine Admiral need backup? And even if he did, that would mean their opponent was on par with a Marine Admiral. What could their little Marine Branch do, even if they sent two Vice Admirals?
They had no idea
that Aokiji really did need help. He was facing three opponents at once: one on par with a Vice Admiral, one barely comparable to a Vice Admiral, and one at the level of an ordinary Admiral.
The battlefield had become incredibly lively.
With Nami's support, Lu Zhuo wielded his sword with even greater ease. He absolutely loved this kind of indiscriminate lightning attack.
But Aokiji was truly frustrated. Fortunately, his body was made of ice, not water. Otherwise, lightning would have countered him, and he surely wouldn't have stood a chance against Lu Zhuo.
However, the indiscriminate lightning attacks also left Robin watching from the sidelines, unable to join in at all.
Sky Thunder Sword!
Lu Zhuo flicked both hands, and Kitetsu sent out another strange, looping sword beam. It spun through the air several times, gathering the lightning into several swords of lightning before stabbing down toward Aokiji.
Aokiji's expression darkened. The ice covering the sea surged without pause, taking the shape of various weapons. Ice balls and other projectiles came hurtling mindlessly at Lu Zhuo.
He also tossed a few ice spears experimentally toward the sky.
Lu Zhuo caught every attack that came his way. An invisible, colorless coating of Armament Haki covered his body, allowing him to barely withstand the flying ice shards.
The sword in his hand drifted like a cloud, gleaming like a sudden bolt of lightning.
The ice spears he had sent into the sky flew only a few hundred meters before running out of momentum and falling. Seeing this, Aokiji finally gave up.
Nami's ability might not have much offensive power; even against Aokiji, her lightning couldn't inflict much damage. But combined with Lu Zhuo, it left Aokiji completely helpless.
Someone who could fly a thousand meters into the sky and attack a person who couldn't fly could strike while the other could only take it. There was no arguing about it!
It seemed he could only take down Ghost Sword Lu Zhuo first if he wanted to end this battle.
Aokiji's expression darkened. He roared, and the ice beneath his feet surged once more.
Lu Zhuo's expression changed at once. He gave a low shout, stepped forward, and used Geppo without hesitation.
In the next instant, several ice spears shot up from beneath his feet.
After a flurry of cracking sounds, the ice spears were sliced into countless fragments, but those fragments kept flying toward Lu Zhuo.
Lu Zhuo's expression darkened. That damn trick again.
He stepped into the air and shifted several times, dodging the fragments.
Seeing this, Aokiji's expression darkened further. The surprise in his eyes was gradually turning to shock.
Who is this guy? How did he learn Geppo?!
But there was no time to dwell on it. Aokiji waved his hand, and countless tiny flashes suddenly swarmed toward Lu Zhuo.
Lu Zhuo stepped away quickly. These were extremely fine ice needles.
The ice needles had tremendous penetrating power. They could pierce Lu Zhuo's invisible, colorless Haki, let alone Haki that was invisible but still had color!
But in the next instant, Lu Zhuo's expression suddenly changed, and he shouted angrily, "Aokiji, you despicable bastard!"
The ice needles were flying toward Robin in the distance.
How could Robin's Flower-Flower Fruit withstand these ice needles?
Lu Zhuo's expression turned extremely grim. He flashed in front of Robin, his sword weaving into an impenetrable wall that blocked every ice needle before them.
He'd miscalculated! He'd really miscalculated this time!
Though he had blocked all the ice needles, the effort had cost him a great deal of stamina.
If only he'd thought of it sooner—he should have had Robin grow wings and fly up into the sky from the start.
Now, he couldn't possibly escort Robin to the safety of a thousand meters overhead. Although her arms could hold her up, his Geppo definitely couldn't.
Geppo consumed too much stamina—more, in fact, than his sword techniques like Void-Breaking Draw Sword Strike.
Before you continue