Deep inside the research institute, a broad corridor originally used to transport large equipment had become a battlefield.
Aokiji moved like a phantom, leaving spreading trails of ice with every step.
He abandoned long-range attacks, instead compressing and concentrating his terrifying cold, wrapping it around his arms and fists.
Ice crystals formed over his knuckles, elbows, and knees, coated in thick Armament Haki.
Every strike combined the freezing force of Freezing Gas with the ferocity of the iron fists Garp had personally taught him.
He threw a punch. Before the force of it arrived, the air ahead cracked as it froze, a straight path of frost extending toward Bondrewd.
"Oh my, splendid~ Mr. Kuzan, your hand-to-hand skills surpass those of your 'flashing colleague.'"
The Dragon Wings on Bondrewd's back beat once, whipping up a hurricane as he drifted backward. At the same time, he clapped his hands, releasing blue electrical arcs.
In an instant, the air underwent a violent change invisible to the naked eye.
Boom!
The air in the path of Aokiji's punch suddenly exploded.
A mass of searing white plasma tinged with spectral blue collided with the trail of frost. A piercing hiss rang out as white vapor billowed, the two annihilating each other.
"Then thank you very much for the compliment!"
Aokiji's eyes narrowed. He stamped down and instantly appeared beside Bondrewd, his ice-covered right leg chopping down like a battle-axe.
The black coat on Bondrewd's back suddenly bulged. A long Dragon Tail covered in obsidian-like scales lashed out like lightning, its pointed tip also wrapped in dense Armament Haki.
Bam!
Leg and tail collided, blasting out shards of ice and invisible shock waves.
Aokiji felt considerable force through his leg, and the hardness of that Dragon Tail made him question whether it was biological at all.