After finally finding the children and painstakingly coaxing and tricking them out, Jinbe had thought the mission was a success. Then, unexpectedly, the base exploded. Watching the blazing inferno surge into the sky, its sweeping speed filled Jinbe with despair.
Was the first mission Uchiha Hikaru had assigned him really going to end in failure?
Just as Jinbe despaired, a terrifying chill descended and blanketed everything. The base engulfed in towering flames abruptly froze. Every fire went out, every explosion vanished, and the entire base was sealed beneath a thick layer of ice and snow.
This sudden development saved Jinbe and the children... Jinbe himself would not have been hurt by the blast, but children probably could not withstand its shockwave. Given Jinbe's character, he would surely have shielded them at all costs.
"We're saved!" Jinbe breathed a sigh of relief. Among the stunned children, he looked at the ice-covered base, and his heart suddenly sank. "That ability... Aokiji?"
Jinbe was faintly worried. He was not afraid that Hikaru would be caught up in an explosion of this level, but he was concerned that the appearance of an Ice-Ice Fruit user might bring some unforeseeable obstacle to Hikaru.
But when he remembered how Hikaru had fought Momousagi and Chaton alone on Fish-Man Island without falling behind, then easily defeated Chaton, Jinbe felt much more at ease. He believed Hikaru could handle the problem. His most urgent task now was to take these children away.
Looking at the towering iceberg and feeling the cold air rushing toward him, Hikaru slowly turned around and calmly looked at the lazy man nearly three meters tall behind him. Wearing casual clothes, the former Marine Admiral Aokiji had appeared behind Hikaru without warning.
"Why is a Marine Admiral here?" Before Hikaru could speak, Caesar, lying