Aokiji

"Did we win?" Li Ziming asked Robin as he carried Nami into the spectator stands.

"Not yet, but soon." Robin smiled at Li Ziming. "It looks like our bartender had a wonderful time aboard the ship with our navigator."

"Yes, though it was a shame our archaeologist wasn't there." Li Ziming grinned at Robin.

"Were you that unhappy being with me?" Nami gave Li Ziming a smile that never reached her eyes, then pinched the soft flesh at his waist.

"No, no!" Li Ziming hurriedly gave her an appeasing smile.

"So you were happy, then? What did you need me for?" Robin pinched his other side.

"I, I..." Li Ziming wanted to die.

"All right, I'll let you off." Robin smiled and released him.

"But your debt is going up." Nami pulled out a little notebook and waved it smugly in front of Li Ziming.

"Fine. Why do I keep feeling like I've been had?" Li Ziming smiled wryly, and thunderous cheers interrupted their conversation.

"Looks like our captain won." Li Ziming shrugged.

"That's quite something." Robin was taken aback by the cheers filling the air.

"He always manages to surprise people." Nami recalled the sight of Arlong Park being destroyed before her eyes. "That's why we boarded this ship, isn't it?"

"True enough." Li Ziming nodded. "Though now I'm really curious what our captain will choose."

"Ah, he'd better not pick anything weird!" Nami hurried over to Luffy, ready to stop him from doing anything bizarre.

But Nami was clearly too late. Luffy had already chosen what he wanted. To her relief, he hadn't picked anything strange. He had chosen the other crew's pirate flag.

"What an interesting design." Looking at the design on the Foxy Pirates' sail, Li Ziming felt as though he might suffer internal injuries.

"Our captain certainly has artistic creativity." Robin shook her head helplessly. "Being able to draw like that is a talent in itself."

"This is fine. I really was worried Luffy would choose something strange." Nami let out a long breath.

"Ugh, why didn't Luffy pick the beautiful, sexy Miss Porche?" Sanji lamented. "I wanted a beautiful lady!"

"This perverted cook is beyond saving." Zoro picked up a barrel of beer and drank.

"Cotton candy!" Chopper happily ate a puff of cotton candy almost as large as his head.

"Ha, great! The Going Merry is free again!" Usopp shouted excitedly.

"Free, huh." Li Ziming shook his head helplessly. Every day they failed to solve the Going Merry's problems brought her another step closer to death.

"Hey, Straw Hat!" Foxy drew everyone's attention. "Just you wait!"

"Hahaha, you guys really are fun!" Luffy laughed. "How about another round?"

"Run!" The Foxy Pirates swiftly vanished from sight.

"Oh, right! Let me show you something really interesting!" Holding the Foxy Pirates' flag, Luffy raced farther inland.

"Yeah, yeah! Come on, everyone!" Usopp and Chopper looked just as excited.

"What is it?" Zoro reluctantly put down his drink and trailed lazily behind.

"Let's follow them." Li Ziming shrugged and went after them with Robin and Nami.

"We won." Luffy handed the pirate flag to the old man with a grin.

He's covered in wounds, the old man thought.

"It's fine. I'm used to it." Luffy didn't seem to care.

"I really envy how tough Luffy's body is..." Li Ziming suddenly stopped. "Tch, someone troublesome is here."

"What? Someone troublesome? An enemy?" Luffy and the others immediately tensed. The others were all right, but Luffy was already badly wounded.

"It's nothing. Just a rather troublesome old guy." Li Ziming felt a headache coming on. "And as we are now, we're no match for him."

"Who are you talking about?" Robin asked in confusion.

"I never imagined that little girl from back then would grow into such a beauty." The familiar voice nearly made Robin collapse. Fortunately, Li Ziming caught her trembling body.

"Scaring people like that is a bad habit, you know." Li Ziming patted Robin's back. "Watch it, or I'll report you for ******!"

"Is that so? Then I'm sorry." Aokiji raised a hand, instantly putting everyone on edge.

"Relax, relax. If he really wanted to kill us, I reckon we'd all be ice sculptures already." Li Ziming reassured the others.

"Ming, who is this guy? Why is Robin so scared?" Luffy stared at Aokiji solemnly.

"Aokiji, a Marine Admiral. As for his connection to Robin, all you need to know is that he led the Buster Call that destroyed her homeland." Li Ziming watched Aokiji warily in case he suddenly attacked.

"You certainly know a lot." Aokiji gave Li Ziming and Robin an odd look, then simply sat down. "It seems Robin trusts you quite a bit, telling you even those things. But it looks like you two still don't fully trust the others."

"Damn you! Robin and Ming are our crewmates! You don't get to treat them like that!" Luffy lost his temper.

"Calm down." Rather than Aokiji, it was Li Ziming who blocked Luffy's attack. "Luffy, do you remember Enel?"

"The guy with the long earlobes?" Luffy looked at Li Ziming unhappily.

"This guy is a Logia, just like Enel, except his ice isn't vulnerable to your rubber. You can't beat him like this." Li Ziming explained Aokiji's ability.

"That's right. So just hand me over." Robin's face fell.

"What are you saying?" Li Ziming pressed a finger to Robin's lips. "I couldn't bear to hand over such a beautiful lady."

"He's right. So what if we can't beat him? We won't know until we try." Sanji was brimming with fighting spirit.

"Exactly. I want to see whether my swords can cut through a so-called Logia." Zoro stared at Aokiji without a trace of fear.

"Y-yeah!" Usopp trembled. "I'll never hand over a crewmate!"

"That's right!" Chopper also fought back his fear.

"Not bad. It seems the higher-ups underestimated you." Aokiji shook his head and stood, scattering a handful of grass clippings and turning them into an ice sword in one breath. "Then your adventure might as well end here."

"No way!" Luffy stretched his arm and swung at Aokiji.

"Idiot, you can't fight Aokiji like that." Li Ziming stopped Luffy again. "You do it like this!" He pulled out a bottle of liquor and hurled it at Aokiji.

"Useless." The bottle froze in front of Aokiji. "You..."

"Explosion!" The bottle exploded instantly, and a fireball engulfed Aokiji.

"It's useless. Your explosion can't hurt me." Aokiji transformed into his element, and the explosion did no damage at all. As for the flames, he froze them solid.

"Is that so?" Using the explosion to obscure Aokiji's vision, Li Ziming closed in and threw a Haki-coated punch.

"Haki? I can use it too." Aokiji coated half his face in Haki and blocked Li Ziming's attack. "And I also know the Six Powers."

Tekkai combined with Haki was only the simplest of techniques, but after countless battles, even Aokiji's simplest moves were beyond Li Ziming's ability to withstand.

"Now it's my turn to attack." Aokiji raised his ice sword.

"108 Pound Phoenix!" Zoro's slash burst forth, shattering Aokiji's ice sword in an instant.

"Diable Jambe!" Sanji kicked at Aokiji with his right foot wreathed in flames.

"Gum-Gum Bazooka!" Luffy's attack arrived at that moment as well.

"A little interesting." Aokiji yawned. "Ice Age!" A burst of cold erupted instantly. The entire island seemed to plunge into an ice age, and even the sea froze over. Everyone on the island except the old man and Shelly became an ice sculpture.

"Oh, right. This ice should last about a week. Use that time to reach the place where your people live." With that, Aokiji rode away on his bicycle.

Just as Aokiji left the island, cracks began spreading across the ice sculptures of Li Ziming and the others.