For a moment, Zephyr felt a little dazed, as memories of fighting alongside Garp, Sengoku, and others flashed through his mind.
By the time he came to his senses, he had already been sent flying by Aokiji, his body crashing heavily onto the ice in the distance, creating a large crater.
"Cough cough!"
Zephyr coughed, climbed out of the pit, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and a smile crept onto his lips as he watched Aokiji slowly walk towards him.
" Kuzan, it seems you've taken my words to heart to some extent, and haven't overly relied on your Devil Fruit ability, unlike that Borsalino guy!"
"And you've learned quite a bit of Garp's Iron Fist, haven't you? That punch even made my blood boil!"
"I have never forgotten your teachings, but your health is indeed not as robust as before. You don't even have the strength to punch anymore!" Aokiji said calmly.
"Ha!" Zephyr sneered, then charged directly at Aokiji, shouting, "Don't take advantage of me just because I'm being kind, Kuzan!"
Seeing this, Aokiji was not afraid at all and charged towards Zephyr as well. The two started fighting again, and powerful aftershocks were generated between their attacks.
At this moment, several hundred meters above the ice surface, Xia Chen stood on his Flying Nimbus, quietly watching the battle below.
"Hey, Aokiji, when did you switch to hand-to-hand combat?"
At this moment, although Aokiji was using his Devil Fruit ability, he was mainly fighting Zephyr using physical skills.
In terms of pure physical prowess, Aokiji may not be as good as Zephyr, but the problem is that the current Zephyr is no longer the Zephyr Marine Admiral once was.
Due to age and hidden injuries, Zephyr's strength has declined significantly, while Aokiji is currently at his peak.
Therefore, even though Aokiji's physical skills are not as good as Zephyr's, his superior physical attributes allow him to steadily Zephyr Aokiji.
Even if Aokiji hadn't come to stop Zephyr today, Xia Chen would have stopped Zephyr from destroying Secon Island.
Of course, it wasn't because destroying the Endpoint would cause a lot of deaths; if that were the case, he wouldn't have let Zephyr go back when Zephyr was on his ship that day.
At the time, he didn't care whether Zephyr destroyed Secon Island or not, but now he does care quite a bit!
The main reason for Xia Chen's change is that Secon Island now holds sentimental value for him!
Robin's First Blood Island—he couldn't bear to see it destroyed by Zephyr. Besides, the hot springs there were truly wonderful, and he could come back another time. It would be such a waste to just let it be ruined!
As time went on, Zephyr found himself increasingly struggling in his battle against Aokiji!
As he aged, his physical strength declined, and with that decline came more mistakes. Zephyr began to be hit by Aokiji frequently, spitting out mouthfuls of blood as if it were free.
After Aokiji threw another punch that struck Zephyr in the chest, Zephyr coughed up a mouthful of blood and flew backward, falling to the ground and unable to get up for a long time.
"Teacher Z!"
Ain and Binz, aboard the Zephyr not far away, couldn't help but shout when they saw Zephyr collapse. They then turned to the others behind them and said:
"Let's hurry and save Teacher Z!"
After saying that, Ain and Binz rushed out first, and seeing them rush out, all of Zephyr's men followed behind them and rushed towards Zephyr's side.
At this point, Ain and Binz no longer cared about what Zephyr had just told them—that they shouldn't interfere and that he should handle it.
Right now, saving Zephyr is the most important thing for them.
Meanwhile, Aokiji narrowed his eyes as he saw Zephyr charging towards him, and began to release a chilling aura from his body.
Ice Age!
Countless ice blocks spread outwards from Aokiji, freezing everyone rushing towards him into ice blocks.
He was using hand-to-hand combat with Zephyr because he wanted to have one last physical duel with Zephyr. Wouldn't it be stupid to not use his abilities against these people?
"Sizzle!"
After a while, the sound of ice cracking came. Aokiji looked up and saw that a piece of ice in a pit not far away was covered with cracks.
The next second, Zephyr broke through the ice and rushed out, only to be greeted by countless ice sculptures.
Upon seeing this, Zephyr's pupils constricted slightly. He then immediately looked at Aokiji and said, " Kuzan, quickly unfreeze Ain and Binz!"
Aokiji shook his head and said, " Zephyr- sensei, you know that's impossible!"
Upon hearing this, a flash of anger crossed Zephyr's eyes. Without hesitation, he shot out.
"Then I'll keep hitting you until you deactivate!"
Sigh~
Aokiji sighed almost imperceptibly. He looked at Zephyr, but this time his eyes were filled with determination, without the hesitation they had shown before.
"Professor Zephyr! I'm truly grateful for your help in the past, but for the sake of world peace, I can't let you continue your reckless behavior!"
"From now on... I won't hold back anymore!"
As soon as he finished speaking, countless ice blocks spread out from Aokiji's feet and swiftly attacked Zephyr.
Seeing Zephyr jumped up and used Geppo to continue attacking Aokiji.
"Ice Cube • Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"
Aokiji's right hand was shaped like a knife, and countless ice blocks solidified to form a giant ice bird.
"Come on, Mr. Zephyr!"
"Kid, stop yelling at me! You're not worthy!" Zephyr roared, his fist slamming out.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"..."
Fifteen minutes later~
"Cough... cough..."
"Huff... huff..."
Zephyr lay on the ground, his hands and feet frozen in ice, while an ice pillar pierced through his body from behind.
Zephyr coughed up a mouthful of blood, his chest was completely covered in blood, and he was breathing very weakly.
Zephyr looked at Aokiji with a relieved smile and said, "Looks like I really am getting old. I can't even beat the kid I used to be!"
"What are you saying, Zephyr- sensei? Even if you were at your peak, you couldn't beat me now, okay?" Aokiji also smiled slightly.
At that moment, they seemed to have returned to their time in the Navy decades ago. The two continued to chat and laugh about their past anecdotes, but it was clear that Zephyr's voice was growing weaker and weaker.
"By the way, don't kill Ain and the others. This is the last thing I, as their teacher, want from you. Everything they've done lately has been under my orders and has nothing to do with them!"
Zephyr looked at Aokiji and said, his tone pleading.
"We won't kill them! But whether they're assigned to Impel Down or somewhere else after we capture them depends on the situation!" Aokiji replied.
"That's good! As long as you're alive, nothing else matters!" Hearing this, Zephyr's face showed a hint of relief, and his voice became even weaker.
Zephyr looked at Aokiji's warship and asked, "That bastard Garp, won't he even come to see me one last time?"
" Vice Admiral Garp went back to his cabin a long time ago, perhaps because he didn't want to see you die in front of him," Aokiji sighed and said softly.
"Hmph! That guy, he's so old, is it really necessary for him to act like this? If it were him who died today, I'd at least set off fireworks to celebrate, hahaha... cough cough..."
As he spoke, Zephyr's eyes became slightly moist, and his gaze became unfocused. He recalled all his experiences from joining the Navy to where he was now.
Finally, the image was frozen at a certain moment in childhood...
"I am Z, a champion of justice!!!"