Kuzan! Norton's Crisis!

"Thanks a lot!" Iceburg thanked.

"My name is Iceburg, and I'm the mayor of Water 7."

"My name is Swain, and I'm from South Blue," Swain replied in kind.

Iceburg thought carefully about the name, but he had never heard of it.

That made Swain's sudden appearance all the more surprising to him.

First, he found a phone booth and called in some security guards from elsewhere to guard the municipal building.

Only then did he continue his conversation with Swain.

"Does the young man know what they are?" he probed.

"Naturally I do. They attacked my companions, too."

"It's a pity they let them get away, though!" Thinking of this, Swain still felt it was a bit of a shame.

Iceburg was momentarily stunned, figuring that given the strength Swain had just displayed, defeating CP9 was only natural.

"Aren't you curious why I suddenly appeared to save you?" Swain stood in place and asked.

Iceburg also stopped in his tracks and nodded.

He was indeed a little curious.

"Pluton." Swain simply spat out the two words.

In an instant, Iceburg's expression changed drastically.

If the young man before him had the same objective and was plotting for the blueprints, I'm afraid he wouldn't have such good luck this time.

However, after a brief, chilly silence, he saw that Swain showed no sign of making a move.

Then, Swain walked and talked with him at the same time.

"I knew that when we discovered they were attacking us, our numbers simply weren't enough."

"Therefore, I deduced that a portion of them must have headed straight for you."

Swain's explanation was perfectly reasonable, and coupled with the fact that he hadn't asked for the "Pluton" blueprints after saving him, it also made Iceburg breathe a sigh of relief.

Then, Iceburg looked at Swain somewhat strangely; as an espionage organization, it was understandable that CP9 knew he had the blueprints.

But for Swain to know he had them made him a bit puzzled.

Could it be that the fact I have the Pluton blueprints has become common knowledge? He thought about it carefully, and aside from his junior apprentice Franky, it seemed no one else had ever mentioned it at all.

Of course Swain wouldn't explain this to him! Was he supposed to tell him that he had time-traveled? He'd definitely be taken for a lunatic!

Just at that moment, a loud boom rang out, sounding like an explosion.

Immediately following that were two attacks soaring into the sky—one was a massive pillar of ice, and the other was a colossal fire dragon.

The moment the two met, they began to wear each other down.

"Something's happened over at the exit port!" Iceburg cried out.

He had lost his usual composure, and these one-after-another developments really had his nerves a bit frayed.

As for Swain, upon hearing that that direction was the exit port, he fell into deep thought. The one over there right now was Norton.

This fire dragon was naturally unleashed by him, but as for this pillar of ice...

I'm afraid the only one who could possibly be here is Marine Admiral Kuzan!

The Admiral is here?!

Swain felt a bit worried inside; after all, an Admiral showing up at a time like this was hardly good news.

And the only one who could bring Kuzan here was probably Spandam, who enjoyed his favor.

After all, Kuzan really was terribly idle, and whenever he had nothing to do, he loved to ride his bicycle around everywhere.

Listening to the sounds of combat coming from over there, Swain prepared to head over as well, seeing as Norton didn't have the strength to rival an Admiral right now.

"Then we'll part ways here!" With a brief farewell to Iceburg, he hurried and flew toward the direction of the exit port.

Iceburg's eyes widened in shock: Why can this guy fly???

The exit port.

At that moment, Norton was engaged in combat with Admiral Kuzan.

"Ara-la-la-la, I've really run into an extraordinary fellow today!" Kuzan said to Norton.

"Who are you?" Norton looked at the enemy before him with vigilance.

He was strong! Since the Captain, this was the first time he had ever met a man who gave him such a sense of oppression.

"Me?" Kuzan pointed at himself with his finger, shrugging lazily.

"A nobody."

He wore a pair of sunglasses, his hand tucked into his pocket as he spoke.

Looking very cool!

Yet seeing the other's attitude, Norton was also irritated. Clearly, ever since the fight began, the man had been extremely slack.

This made Norton feel like he was being mocked.

If Kuzan could hear Norton's inner thoughts, he would probably say: Where was I being slack? I've been like this for all these years, alright?

Then Norton also prepared a new counterattack.

He took a step back and rose halfway into Kong's midst.

His twin wings beat in Kong, stirring up whistling sounds of breaking wind.

He thrust his hands forward into empty space, and concentric rings of fire appeared, gradually growing from small to large between his hands.

He understood that this enemy before him was very likely as strong as the Captain, or perhaps... even stronger!

Right off the bat, he unleashed his ultimate killer move!

When the flames had gradually gathered into a huge blazing cloud,

he let out a roar: "Flame Emperor!"

As his voice fell, that mass of fire gradually morphed into a monarch wielding a sharp sword.

"Ice Block: Partisan!" Kuzan grew serious as well.

Frigid, biting cold air billowed from his body, and then a giant ice bird appeared.

The moment the two clashed, the flames were rapidly melted.

In barely a moment, it had already lost the shape of a bird.

Norton's Flame Emperor came out on top!

Yet an Admiral's strength went far beyond just this!

"Ice Age!" Kuzan also unleashed a move.

The cold qi on his body spread directly from the ground to the surroundings, and the seawater within a radius of three to four hundred meters instantly turned into blocks of ice.

Then he reached his right hand forward, and a slender, one-meter ice pillar hung suspended in Kong, after which freezing rapidly began outward from the stop point, gradually forming a surrounding perimeter.

Under the influence of Kuzan's "Ice Age" technique, Norton's Flame Emperor was also driven back step by step, ultimately vanishing completely.

Norton already felt fatigued; he had consumed too much.

Yet Kuzan showed no signs of exhaustion at the moment, looking rather more spirited than before.

"Your strength is quite good!" Kuzan said.

Upon hearing this, Norton suffered a heavy blow to his pride as well. He had grown a bit arrogant, thinking that with his own talent, he could be invincible.

Only when truly facing a powerhouse did he realize his own weakness.

"It's over!"

"Ice Block: Spines!" Several hundred ice spears appeared behind Kuzan.

They charged toward Norton all at once.

Norton moved with extreme speed, dodging the first few ice spears that arrived.

Yet he still couldn't withstand the sheer volume; his arm was pierced by one, sustaining a minor flesh wound.

"Ara-la-la, is your defense really that strong?" Kuzan looked on in surprise.

After all, he had coated those ice spears with Haki!

"The defensive capability of that tribe really is as powerful as the legends say!"

As a few more spears struck home, the flames behind Norton suddenly dimmed by a fraction.

Consequently, a deep wound was abruptly gouged into his leg.

As an Admiral, Kuzan's Observation Haki was naturally formidable, and he instantly caught this minor detail.

"Is that how it is?" As an Admiral, he knew more. He also understood some of the traits of the Lunarian Tribe, but alas, he had never encountered a powerhouse of that race.

He condensed several more spears and thrust them out while Norton's flames were dimmed.

Sure enough, Norton suffered even heavier injuries from the hits than when his flames had been blazing strong just moments before.

"That makes things a lot simpler." His voice sounded somewhat lazy.

"End this!"

"Ice Arrow!" This time it wasn't ice spears, but hundreds upon thousands of arrows.

Norton had just slashed through the ice spears, only to see this many arrows materialize right after.

His mood grew even worse! If he survived this wave of attacks, he would probably still be heavily wounded.

And if he were to be tied up with Seastone.

Norton didn't dare to keep thinking about it.

Just as he was about to fight with his life on the line, the sound of a voice reignited his hope.

"Hey, hey, hey! Aokiji! You can't go beating my new crewmate up like this."

"That would make me lose all my face."