"Leave it to me!"
Without further hesitation, Aokiji's chill suddenly surged. He disregarded keeping his distance from the poisonous creatures and lunged forward, his hand, covered in thick ice armor, plunging directly into the surging waves of poison.
The biting cold collided violently with the corrosive venom, producing a sizzling sound. A muffled groan escaped from Aokiji's nostrils, and large patches of blackened skin had already appeared on his palms and forearms beneath the ice armor.
But his movements did not stop at all.
The chilling aura emanated from the palm of his hand and spread wildly outwards, instantly freezing the surging waves of poison wherever it passed.
The deep purple venom was frozen in a layer of crystal-clear ice, reflecting the luster of the ice crystals, and extended all the way to Shura's feet, sealing him and the poisonous waves in the battlefield together in a huge ice sculpture!
Zoro's gaze suddenly sharpened. He glanced at Aokiji's blackened arm, and without the slightest hesitation, he pushed off the ground with both feet, leaping up like an arrow, soaring over the frozen poisonous waves, and rushing towards Shura in the center of the ice sculpture.
The Conqueror's Haki within his body erupted with a thunderous roar, and an invisible pressure swept out like a tsunami, causing even the air to tremble slightly.
Armament Haki, like a raging stream of light, wrapped layer upon layer around the twin swords, instantly covering the blades of the Sandai Kitetsu and Enma with a deep black and red light.
His aura surged, the air around him swirled wildly, and he was like a giant dragon about to pounce, carrying a world-destroying power!
" Two-Sword Style: Lion's Song!"
With a roar, Zoro's speed surged once more, and his figure vanished into thin air.
The next second, two sword lights wrapped in blood-red Inazuma, like shooting stars piercing the long night, accurately struck the ice sculpture!
Click--
The ice shattered instantly, and where the sword light passed, even space itself seemed to be torn apart, leaving a tiny crack.
On the ice sculpture where Shura stood, a scarlet X-shaped pattern suddenly lit up, as if molten lava was surging beneath the ice.
The next second, fine cracks spread out like a spider web, and with a piercing crack, the entire ice sculpture exploded. Shards of ice, carrying a chilling aura and pieces of corpse, flew everywhere, so sharp they seemed capable of cutting through skin.
From the moment Aokiji froze Venom and Shura, he had no time to look at what was happening afterward—his body had already sent out warning signals.
The poison of the Shura was far more domineering than he had imagined. Even though he had condensed a thick layer of ice armor to protect his body beforehand, the invisible poison still seeped into his body like a bone-deep infection, penetrating through the pores of the ice armor and his skin. The excruciating pain instantly swept over his entire right arm.
He gritted his teeth and poured all his Armament Haki into his severed arm, forcefully suppressing the poison beneath his skin!
But the excruciating pain, like countless ants gnawing at his bone marrow, still made the veins on his forehead bulge, and he almost roared out loud, so he could only deal with his own problem first.
He raised his hand and conjured a sharp ice blade, slicing open the skin of his arm without hesitation. A viscous liquid, dark with an eerie purple tinge, immediately gushed out. It was blood thoroughly tainted by poison, long since lost its original bright red, and emitting a nauseating stench.
If this substance were to flow back to the heart, he would turn into a pool of blood within a few breaths, leaving not even a trace of bone.
So Aokiji could only grit his teeth, channel his inner Haki to choke his blood vessels, and desperately suppress the backflow of the poisonous blood, letting the filthy blood drip from his fingertips, creating small craters on the ground that emitted black smoke.
"Wrong!"
Suddenly, a deep shout burst from Aokiji's throat. He shook his head violently, and his previously hazy eyes instantly cleared. The scene before him suddenly distorted and changed!
Where was the dripping blood? Where was the Shura exploded and died? The Shura that Zoro had already slain was standing leisurely in front of him!
A hand gripped his forearm like an iron clamp, and his entire right arm was already black and purple. The pain that went deep into his bones was just like the dream he had been in before. But this was no dream; it was clearly torture that was real to the extreme!
Aokiji's heart skipped a beat, and he was about to activate his freezing ability to freeze the guy in front of him into an icicle, but his poisoned arm was extremely sluggish, as if it were filled with lead and wouldn't obey his commands.
He finally managed to gather a wisp of cold air, but Shura seemed to have sensed it beforehand. He chuckled, released his grip, and took a step back, but he didn't go far.
Aokiji was puzzled, but a glance out of the corner of his eye made his heart sink – Zoro, just like him, had his forearm gripped by Shura's other hand.
The arm had turned a terrifying bluish-black, Zoro's eyes were glazed over, and he stood frozen in place, clearly lost in a vivid illusion, without even the will to resist!
Ice Age!
Seeing the bluish-black color spreading inch by inch up Zoro's arm, Aokiji acted decisively, letting out a furious roar.
The ground beneath their feet suddenly cracked open, and an overwhelming chill swept out like a tsunami, freezing the earth into an ice field in its wake, and even the air seemed to freeze solid.
The chill quickly crept up Zoro's ankles. Seeing the danger, Shura immediately released his grip and retreated, leaving Zoro completely frozen into an ice sculpture—and the bluish-black bruises on his arm finally stopped spreading the instant he was frozen.
"Wake up!"
Aokiji let out another sharp shout, sending a wisp of extremely cold energy into Zoro's mind. Inside the ice sculpture, Zoro trembled violently, and his unfocused gaze gradually sharpened.
Because his poisoned arm was frozen, Zoro, who was in the ice sculpture, did not feel any intense pain. He had already regained consciousness and only then belatedly realized that the exhilarating kill he had just suffered was nothing more than an illusion created by Shura.
He and Aokiji had long been tricked by each other; this poison could simultaneously erode both the physical body and consciousness, truly terrifyingly vicious.
If Aokiji hadn't broken free of the illusion first, he would probably have already turned into a pool of blood, leaving no trace of his body!
Ignoring the directionally challenged man who was still in a daze, Aokiji quickly cut open his skin and began to bleed him, just like in his dream.
"Hey! You're... out of the freeze... I'm... awake... now!"
Despite the icy coldness on his face, Zoro spoke with difficulty, his voice hoarse and icy.
Aokiji's freezing technique was well-controlled; apart from the poisoned arm which was completely frozen through, the rest of the body was only covered with a thin layer of ice!
With his abilities, such precise control would be a piece of cake for him. The reason he did this was to prevent Shura from taking the opportunity to poison other parts of Zoro's body.
Now that Zoro has regained consciousness and Shura is far away, there's no need to trap Zoro anymore. With a thought, the ice shell on Zoro's body shattered, except for the poisoned arm, and fell to the ground with a rustling sound.
"How should we treat this? Should we bleed it out directly?"
Zoro moved his still-feeling left arm, then looked down at his right arm, which was still blackened and encased in ice, his brows furrowed.
In the past, when poisoning occurred, Chopper would always be there to prepare medicine and cure it. But now, with the battle raging, where would he find the time to look for that little guy?
"I've frozen your arm to prevent the poisonous blood from flowing back to your heart. Make a cut on your arm first, then I'll help you!"
Aokiji didn't have any good ideas at the moment, so he could only think of stopping the blood circulation in the poisoned area first, and then using his freezing ability to completely remove the frozen poison blood.