Ice World: Birth!?

Without the slightest delay, Babel, carrying Nozdon, Vikengam, and Eye Dragon in his arms, accelerated beneath his feet. Like a bulldozer, he charged wildly across the harbor pier. As he sent Doringer flying when he tried to stop him, Babel kicked off with one foot, his massive body leaping over a hundred meters with the three of them in his grasp as he plunged toward the sea beyond the harbor.

There was no doubt that, as a powerhouse of the Fish-Man Tribe, his strength on land and in the sea were completely different matters.

At that moment, he was preparing to enter the sea and fight!

But before he could truly crash into the water, Vikengam, trapped in his bear hug, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, fired a wisp of freezing air from his fingertips at the last moment.

The next second, Babel smashed headfirst into the frozen sea surface, and his massive body rolled away rather awkwardly.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Vikengam and Nozdon exerted themselves at the same time, forcing apart the bear hug. All three broke free.

After rolling twice, Vikengam was the first to get up, unafraid of slipping. He clapped his hands together before his chest and cursed, "You think this is your home turf? Trash, this is my home turf!"

As his words fell, freezing energy surged skyward from Vikengam's body. Then he growled, "Endless Winter!"

The thick ice rapidly changed, vicious ice spikes suddenly erupting and stabbing toward Babel.

Babel had only just risen to his feet when countless ice spikes rose around him. Without a word, he coated both arms in Armament Haki and swept them left and right, shattering every ice pillar that came at him.

It was not just the ice surface. Moisture in the air condensed as well, turning into ice spikes two or three meters long that fell from above like spears, stabbing straight at Babel.

Although Babel continuously used Armament Haki hardening to smash and knock down all those ice spikes, the terror of a Mythical Zoan was revealed at that moment. Vikengam was clearly no match for him in raw strength, yet with his ability, he could still contend with Babel.

No matter how many ice spikes Babel shattered, more kept coming without end. Perhaps Vikengam was right—the frozen sea was his home turf!

Before long, the shattered ice had piled up higher and higher, already burying Babel's legs. At the same time, the rapid strikes that broke the ice spikes kicked up massive clouds of crystalline ice dust, gradually obscuring Babel's figure.

With every breath he took, that ice-crystal dust silently entered his lungs. It was nothing at first, but once enough had accumulated, Babel realized something was wrong!

His breathing was becoming difficult, and every breath made his chest sting.

With his wealth of combat experience, Babel immediately understood. The endless barrage of ice spikes raining down upon him was merely cover. The true killing move was hidden in the inconspicuous ice-crystal dust!

Daring not to delay any longer, Babel let out a roar and swiftly coated his entire body in hardened Armament Haki. Then, instead of striking down the ice spikes, he simply endured them as they crashed against him and charged toward Vikengam in the distance.

At that moment, he had realized that the other combatants of the Roger Pirates did not pose much of a threat to him. Instead, this young man he had never seen before, who seemed to have only recently joined the Roger Pirates, gave him a far stronger sense of danger.

Especially since he had recognized that this young man was a damnably rare Mythical Zoan!

Seeing the damned Fish-Man charging at Vikengam, both Nozdon and Eye Dragon prepared to stop him.

But before either of them could do anything effective, the frosty energy radiating from Vikengam's body gathered beneath his feet. The ice beneath him then began rising rapidly. In the next instant, a smooth, gleaming frozen slope that constantly reflected cold light rose directly between Vikengam and Babel.

The friction was so low that after taking two steps, Babel not only failed to catch up, but nearly fell over.

"You bastard, I'll turn you into a frozen fish today!" Vikengam cursed. The biting wind lifted his flowing silver-white hair, making him look imposing at that moment.

On the other side, Babel punched the ground before him apart, breaking through the slick surface and sending huge chunks of ice flying.

His expression darkened, his eyes seeming ready to spit fire. His enormous palm struck through the air with a howl, smashing the ice blocks away as he roared, "Fish-Man Karate: Chain Gun Waves!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The rapidly launched ice blocks shot toward Vikengam above like cannonballs.

Yet Vikengam did not budge. Wherever his will reached, frosty energy surged again beneath his feet. In moments, a thick, curved wall of ice rose before him.

The incoming ice blocks struck the wall and slid off to either side. Only a very few left cracks behind, clearly causing no serious problem.

As the curved ice wall rose, Vikengam took a deep breath and once more drew out and unleashed the frost power within him. A glint of cold light flashed in his eyes as he stared fixedly at the Catfish Wrestler. "Take this, Ice World: Birth!!!"

The surging frost energy within Vikengam seemed to be drained out all at once, explosively erupting across the ice surface.

In an instant, countless ice flowers and ice trees appeared as though a primeval forest had descended from the sky, spreading over more than a hundred meters with Babel at its center.

The sudden change startled Babel. Just as he was about to assess the situation, a frost vine at his feet silently crept up from his calf.

With a hard jerk, he shattered the frost vine. Immediately afterward, several ice trees formed from frost beside him toppled down toward him.

After leaping aside to avoid them, Babel saw all kinds of strange ice flowers and ice trees formed from frost continuously spreading and freezing toward him. They also released imperceptible ice-crystal dust into the air. In the blink of an eye, the icy forest seemed shrouded in mist, with ice-crystal dust drifting everywhere!

What was worse, every time he smashed an ice tree or ice flower, it only intensified the situation.

Meanwhile, Vikengam's breathing had become much heavier as well. Clearly, in order to suppress Babel in the shortest possible time, he was struggling greatly. Even as a Mythical Zoan user, his stamina had been drained considerably.

At that moment, Nozdon, who had originally been ready to help, stared at the scene in a daze and said, "Wait, Rayleigh told him to take down Babel, and he can actually do it?"

"He can't take him down." Eye Dragon frowned slightly. "But he is indeed impressive. At the very least, he can hold Babel in check for a while. To reach this level at only eighteen... I don't know whether to say his talent is extraordinary or that Mythical Zoans are simply too terrifying."

"Frost-type abilities naturally possess a tremendous advantage in control... Vikengam has clearly put special effort into that aspect," Nozdon mused.

In fact, just as Nozdon had said, Vikengam had initially developed his ability toward speed and defense. But after the battle at God Valley, when he successfully joined the Roger Pirates, he shifted the direction of his development once again.

He knew very well that he was currently a scholar within the Roger Pirates. Compared to the other combatants, his strength was not bad. After all, he was at the level of a "reserve member of God's Knights." But compared with the three giants—Rayleigh, Roger, and Gaban—there was no need to say more.

With that level of strength, he would surely be inadequate if he wanted to take part in their stage. But if he could make good use of his ability's control, perhaps it could produce unexpected effects. As long as he could restrain some enemies for them, even a little, he might be able to tip the scales of victory!

Thus, during this period, he had focused on developing his control. Judging by Babel's current state, the results were fairly good.

On the other side, Babel, trapped within this so-called "Ice World: Birth," grew increasingly furious. After smashing an incoming ice tree into powder with one punch, he no longer cared whether ice-crystal dust entered his lungs. His face hardened as he drew in a deep breath, and his already tall, muscular body seemed to swell another size.

Then he grabbed the beads around his neck with one hand. As he muttered something under his breath, his other hand clenched into a fist, powerful Haki wrapping around it. After a brief pause to gather strength, his eyes flashed with ferocity as he drove his fist violently into the ice!

"Fish-Man Karate: Secret Art—Giant Catfish Piercer!"

The thick ice layer could not withstand that terrifying force at all and instantly shattered. The powerful force of his punch pressed downward and spread outward in rings, crushing layer after layer of ice. It became a raging current of air that swept out in a circular shockwave, carrying ice-crystal dust and shattered ice blocks with it.

The towering icy slope beneath Vikengam's feet was also shattered by the aftershock. He tapped through the air several times, stepping on flying ice chunks to adjust his posture as he rapidly pulled away and descended toward the ruined harbor.

Massive amounts of seawater began pouring back into the shattered ice layer, forming a whirlpool-like sea eye. Before Vikengam could land in the harbor, Babel's muscular figure burst out from the sea eye. Grasping a stream of ocean current in one hand, he roared murderously at Vikengam, "Die! Ocean Current Shoulder Throw!!!"

Vikengam gathered the little frost energy he had left, intending to freeze the ocean current, but before he could act—

Rayleigh's voice came from behind him. "Flowers of the Other Shore!"

A slash arrived after yet struck first, cleaving the ocean current in two. Then Rayleigh's figure passed Vikengam from behind. Smiling at Babel in the sea eye, he said, "Getting this angry at a young man is hardly gentlemanly, Babel."