A Fair Fight

"Four hundred years ago, the king wrote an apology before he died. It was kept in the confidential archives, and I took it out," Miming said. "With this, you can prove your ancestor wasn't a liar."

"This!" Mont Blanc's hands trembled with excitement. To him, this was the real treasure!

A freezing wind struck without warning. Miming scooped up Robin and leaped to the top of the ruins.

The ground turned white in an instant, covered in hard ice. Mont Blanc, Masira, and Shoujou were frozen in place. They stared in shock at Marine Admiral Aokiji, who had appeared before them. Ice covered half his body, and the ground beneath his feet had become a frozen river. The entire Sacred Tree Forest was encased in ice. The Guide Birds and insects had all been frozen solid.

"The Marines?" Mont Blanc shouted. "What are you doing? Stop!"

Aokiji seized the apology from Mont Blanc's hand. Ice formed over the document's surface, and it shattered.

Shoujou and Masira cursed at him. "You bastard! Let us go and fight us fair and square!"

"Don't destroy it, you animal!"

But with half their bodies frozen to the ground, they had no power to resist. Shoujou and Masira were so furious they began to cry. Mont Blanc's vision went dark with rage, and he threw back his head with an anguished howl.

"The government would have a hard time defending its position if something like that existed, wouldn't it?" After destroying the apology, Aokiji turned to Robin and Miming. "Saint Sanming, do you understand where you stand?"

"Yes," Miming said without hesitation. "Where I stand, when we're wrong, we admit it. Hey, Mont Blanc, it doesn't matter if that document's gone. I, Saint Sanming, will tell the newspapers the truth about Noland."

"You may be