A stick suddenly appeared above Aokiji's head, causing his pupils to contract sharply.
At this point, it was too late for him to transform into his elemental form again; he could only wrap his arms in Armament Haki and cross them above his head.
"Bang!"
A dull thud was heard, and the ground where Aokiji stood began to crack inch by inch, like a spider web, centered on him.
The ground was dented by more than a meter from the impact.
"Cough..."
Aokiji couldn't help but cough, a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. He looked at Xia Chen above him with a puzzled expression.
Weren't you frozen?
"Who told you I'm frozen? Use your Observation Haki to sense what's inside the ice again!"
"Hmm?" Upon hearing this, Aokiji was slightly taken aback and couldn't help but release his Observation Haki to sense the frozen Xia Chen.
A few breaths later, a look of astonishment appeared on his face.
"You're... Clone?"
Upon careful perception, Xia Chen within the ice block exuded a strange aura; if he had to describe it, it would be that he lacked the aura of life.
However, this detail is not noticeable unless you pay close attention, which is why he didn't notice it earlier.
"Bingo, you got it right!"
Xia Chen snapped his fingers, and then Xia Chen inside the ice block began to disappear, instantly reappearing beside him.
Xia Chen can directly recall and summon his Clone. Even if Clone suffers a fatal injury, it can be recalled and released again to be at full strength.
That's why Xia Chen thought it was a divine skill when he first saw it.
The only problem is that summoning Clone consumes a certain amount of stamina each time, and the Clone is summoned based on his current state.
"Is this the power of your Devil Fruit? What kind of fruit is it?"
"It's definitely Devil Fruit ability, but I can't reveal which Devil Fruit!" Xia Chen replied calmly.
He would explain all the abilities that appeared on him as the power of Devil Fruit, otherwise it would be impossible to explain them.
"Is Portgas D. Ace also Clone?"
"Oh, no, he's really frozen!"
As he spoke, Xia Chen walked to the ice sculpture of Ace, and with a powerful punch imbued with the Ryuo Haki, slammed it into the ice sculpture in front of him.
There's no way around it, the ice is quite hard, I have to use some force!
Xia Chen threw several punches in succession, but the ice sculpture didn't change at all when the first few punches landed; not even a single ice shard was knocked off.
When Xia Chen delivered his final punch, the entire ice sculpture instantly crumbled, revealing Ace inside.
Seeing this, Xia Chen couldn't help but feel a little fortunate. Luckily, he had managed to Armament Haki this time, achieving the Ryuo; otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to deal with this ice.
After coming out, Ace stretched his arms and legs. Although he hadn't been frozen for very long, the biting cold still made him feel a little uncomfortable.
Ace leaned close to Xia Chen's ear and whispered, " Luffy and the others have mostly escaped by now. I think we should also consider making our escape; we can't win against them!"
Ace had a clear understanding of his own strength; if he were to hold off Admiral for a short period of time, he certainly could.
But that's definitely not going to last long, so Ace is already thinking about running away. Otherwise, if he runs out of energy, he won't have a chance to escape.
"Hey, hey, hey, is it really okay for you to discuss this so openly in front of me?" Aokiji said, displeased.
"Huh?" Ace was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, then subconsciously said, "Didn't I whisper it in his ear?"
Aokiji said, somewhat speechless, "We're less than ten meters apart. Even if you speak softly, I can hear you with my Observation Haki..."
"(⊙o⊙)..."
"I forgot, I lost it!" Ace yelled, clutching his head.
Seeing this, Xia Chen didn't want to say anything more. You keep mocking Luffy for being an idiot, but aren't you an idiot yourself sometimes?
But he's definitely much better than Luffy!
Just then, Aokiji said, "What you've said has really enlightened me. If you want to leave, I might not be able to stop you. In that case..."
Ice Age!
Upon hearing that familiar voice, the two instinctively flew towards the sky, but this time Aokiji's goal was not to freeze them.
As the ice spread for over a thousand meters, it began to rise from the ground, forming a massive dome that enveloped them all.
This huge commotion instantly attracted everyone's attention, including Luffy and the others who had escaped.
"What... what is that?" Sanji asked in shock.
A massive ice dome appeared before them, and from their perspective, it seemed to envelop the entire city.
Seeing this, Luffy anxiously called out, " Xia Chen, Ace!"
He immediately turned back, but after only a few steps, Sanji kicked him away.
Sanji glared at him and asked, "What do you want?"
"I need to go back and save Xia Chen and the others!"
"Do you think you can save them if you go back? They went through so much trouble to let us escape, and if you go back now, all their efforts will be wasted!"
"Do you know what a Admiral- in-chief means? Even Xia Chen told us to run away first when facing an opponent like this. You know the difference in strength between Xia Chen and us. Going back would be suicide!"
Sanji said everything he wanted to say and gave Luffy a good scolding.
If they could, would they abandon Xia Chen and run away first?
It was precisely because they knew they were a burden to Xia Chen Xia Chen they decisively left so as not to add to his burden.
After listening to Sanji's words, Luffy sat there in silence for a long time before finally standing up and saying, "Let's go, let's get on the ship and run!"
Meanwhile, on Xia Chen's side...
Xia Chen and Ace both looked puzzled.
From their perspective at this moment, the outside world looks completely pixelated.
Even the sun in the sky looked like a light bulb to them at that moment.
Seeing this scene, Xia Chen's face darkened, and he glared at Ace with hostility.
It's all his fault for speaking so loudly just now; otherwise, Aokiji wouldn't have needed to build such a huge ice shield to prevent them from escaping.
Feeling Xia Chen's gaze, Ace turned his head away shyly.
This was definitely his fault!
But it's no use talking about that now; the real question is how to escape.
And now they face another problem: because they are inside this huge ice enclosure, air cannot get in at all.
This means that every bit of oxygen used is a bit less available.
Speaking of this, Xia Chen felt like he had forgotten something.
What is it...?
Xia Chen pondered deeply until he felt the warmth emanating from his side, at which point he suddenly realized what was happening.
He hurriedly shouted, "No!"
" Great Flame Commandment - Flame Emperor!"