Ice-Ice Fruit vs. Ice-Ice Fruit

"Go!"

As smoke spread through the air, Jiang Lin grabbed Luffy's hand and ran.

Jiang Lin was already at the end of his strength. The battles had drained him badly. Even though he had copied Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit, that did not mean he was strong enough to challenge him.

"Ice Path!"

Aokiji had clearly noticed them. A narrow path of ice shot out from the other side of the smoke, carrying him straight toward Jiang Lin and Luffy.

"You go on. I'll hold him here!"

Jiang Lin took out the Devil Fruit Fusion Card and loaded the Ice-Ice Fruit card he had just obtained.

Ice-Ice Fruit loaded successfully. Duration: ten minutes. Cooldown: thirty seconds.

As the system message sounded, a violent tearing pain ripped through Jiang Lin's body and drove him to one knee.

"Jiang Lin!"

Seeing Jiang Lin's pained expression, Luffy rushed forward to stop Aokiji.

"Go! Ace is waiting for you on Level 5. Leave this to me!"

Jiang Lin bit down hard on his lower lip. Swaying, he braced a hand on his knee and struggled to his feet.

Jiang Lin's strength had long since run out. Sheer willpower carried him through every movement and every step.

"Jiang Lin! I'll wait for you on Level 5!"

Luffy saw the iron resolve in Jiang Lin's eyes and finally stopped arguing. Holding back tears, he ran past Jiang Lin toward the entrance to Level 5.

Aokiji moved to stop Luffy, but Jiang Lin cut him off with an Ice Spear.

"Aokiji, this fight is between us!"

Sweat poured off Jiang Lin, but his gaze remained steady. He met Aokiji's eyes without a trace of fear.

"Ice Time Capsule!"

Knowing he could no longer stop Luffy, Aokiji attacked Jiang Lin instead. A blast of freezing air raced toward him, seeking to seal him in ice.

"Icebound Moment!"

Jiang Lin answered with a surge of cold air that spread toward Aokiji.

The two Ice-Ice Fruit users clashed head-on for the first time on Level 4 of Impel Down.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Freezing air met between Jiang Lin and Aokiji, mingling overhead. In an instant, the ice on the already snow-covered ground thickened by nearly fifty centimeters.

"Ice Saber!"

"Ice Saber!"

Jiang Lin and Aokiji changed tactics at the same instant. Four spears from each side collided in midair, adding nearly another meter of ice to the ground at the center.

After two clashes, a wall of ice roughly two meters high stood between them.

"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"

His attacks blocked one after another, Aokiji stared at the ice wall, his expression darkening. He thrust out his right arm, and an enormous ice bird soared up, shrieking as it hurtled toward Jiang Lin.

"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"

With the Ice-Ice Fruit's power, Jiang Lin no longer had to scramble away from the giant bird as he had before. He raised his right hand, and a giant ice bird swiftly formed along his arm.

It spread its wings and flew straight at the other bird.

Boom!

The two giant ice birds smashed together above the wall. The deafening impact and violent shock made all of Impel Down seem ready to fall apart.

"What happened? Surveillance room, report at once."

Magellan was receiving treatment in the warden's office. At the crash, he ignored his injuries, rose, and seized the Den Den Mushi on the desk. He called the surveillance room and demanded an answer.

"Th-this is bad, Warden! The corridor, ceiling, and floor on Level 4 have all broken apart! And... and... the mysterious man and Admiral Aokiji have both fallen into Level 5!"

In the surveillance room, a guard stared at the scene before him, too stunned to recover.

When the giant ice birds collided, the cold they unleashed instantly froze Level 4's ceiling and floor.

Then countless shards of ice burst outward, striking every corner of the level.

The shards flew like a barrage of cannonballs, hammering walls, corridors, and floors. Even the ceiling and the blood pool below froze, then broke apart under the onslaught.

In an instant, Level 4 became a ruin. Many guards and prisoners who had not evacuated were torn to pieces by the ice before they could even resist.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

Amid the swirling snow, Jiang Lin got to his feet. One look at his surroundings told him where he was.

Level 5 of Impel Down: the Frozen Floor. Ice and snow covered the entire level. Its prisoners faced not only a shortage of clothing and food, but the constant danger of freezing to death.

"Where's Aokiji?"

Jiang Lin searched the howling snow. Around him, he saw only falling snow and heaps of debris from Level 4. Nothing living was in sight.

Did Aokiji stay up there?

Jiang Lin looked up. Above him, the once-scorching Level 4 had become another Frozen Hell, little different from Level 5.

Ice and snow covered the entire level, and bitter winds swept through every corner.

"No. No. Nowhere!"

Jiang Lin searched everywhere but found no sign of Aokiji.

"Howl! Howl! Howl!"

As Jiang Lin searched in vain, a pack of white-furred, red-eyed wolves closed in hungrily.

"Ice Time!"

Facing the pack of Army Wolves, Jiang Lin shouted, and streams of cold air burst from his body, spreading out to coil around them.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sharp sounds of freezing rang out around Jiang Lin. As they faded, every ferocious Army Wolf stood trapped inside a block of clear ice.

"Hah... hah... hah..."

The unrelenting battles had pushed Jiang Lin far past his limit. He removed the Devil Fruit card and, enduring the biting wind, trudged step by step out of the woods.

"Heh. Come to think of it, there's an interesting paradise around here."

Jiang Lin looked at the empty landscape and gave a helpless, bitter smile. In his current condition, forcing his way to Level 6 would be suicide. He needed rest and time to recover. Since Aokiji had not fallen to Level 5 with him, he could only have gone to Level 6.

On Level 6, Jiang Lin would face not just Aokiji and Magellan, but Blackbeard and the prisoners already held there. If he went in without recovering first, he would likely die before he could save Ace.