Chapter 392: Shanks Strikes—One Slash Shatters the Navy's Dream
Rubber · Lightning Hurricane Fist!
Holy flame fists blazed as a whirlwind surged around Luffy. With every punch, a massive suction force erupted, tossing everything nearby into the air.
His fists, infused with holy light, could not be dodged via elemental phase.
Aokiji frowned deeply and conjured frost armor to block the relentless blows.
Crack.
The armor began to fracture.
He slashed at Luffy's arms with an ice blade—only to leave shallow cuts.
Luffy's Lightborn Bloodline, when activated, drastically boosted both his offense and defense.
This is bad...
Aokiji's heart sank. The hurricane suction locked him in place. He could only brace for the next holy punch.
The last few strikes shattered the frost armor completely.
Aokiji took an uppercut squarely to the chest and was embedded into the cliff wall behind him, cracks spreading out like a spider web.
Three-Sword Style · Death Gravestone!
Zoro's swords danced. Ghost energy formed gravestones in the air, which came crashing down, burying Aokiji beneath them.
Chopper darted over and rescued Robin,
pulling out healing potions and blood-stopping bandages.
Nami clutched Robin tightly. "Were you moved by Luffy and Zoro, you idiot? Did you think we'd just sit by and let you die?"
"Everyone…"
Robin blinked, her expression complex.
Usopp gave a thumbs-up. "It's just a Marine Admiral, right? Even he got—"
He didn't finish.
The entire cliff trembled, then collapsed, crashing to the ground and sending dust into the sky.
The Straw Hats were stunned.
The tremors were so intense, even nearby towns felt it.
"What happened?"
"Did a dragon turn over underground?!"
Frightened civilians huddled in their homes, securing cellar doors to avoid being found by zombies.
Nearby players hunting monsters froze.
Top-tier players around Jiang Family Town looked toward the collapsing cliff.
"Is that… Aokiji's power?"
In a magma pool, Akainu narrowed his eyes. He watched the lava engulf a gold-tier zombie nest and muttered:
"Is that coming from Jiang Family Town?"
He turned to a nearby marine. "Signal all forces—reinforce Second Fleet immediately."
The Marine Alliance had five main divisions:
Akainu led the First, followed by Aokiji's Second, Kizaru's Third, Smoker's Fourth, and the Special Task Force led by Iron Fist Garp.
With so many forces,
even from dozens of miles away, Akainu could sense Aokiji's frost aura.
To force Aokiji to this level, the enemy had to be at least a dark gold-tier zombie.
"Understood!"
Lieutenant Sieg, dressed in a full marine uniform, looked at Akainu with admiration.
He was no longer the mountain bandit who once got one-shotted by Shanks—
now he was Akainu's trusted second-in-command, dedicated to realizing the dream of the Navy King.
In another town—
"This presence feels familiar. A Marine Admiral?"
A bloated, towering figure raised her massive hat, flashing a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.
"Mama, should we go take a look?"
Katakuri asked, impaling a commander-tier zombie with his trident.
Charlotte Linlin grinned viciously. "Of course. How else can we get our revenge?"
Back then,
Big Mom's crew had been crushed by a Marine conspiracy, and she herself imprisoned in the Monster-Sealing Tower.
If not for the Evil God's invasion leaving the Marines short-handed, and Katakuri bribing a high-ranking officer to free her, she'd have long since been erased.
She would never forget that hatred.
Given the chance, she would destroy the Marine Alliance.
…
To the east of Jiang Family Town, in the freshly collapsed ruins,
frost mist filled the air, blotting out the sky.
A mountain-sized Frost Dragon radiating blue light stood in the center of the devastation.
The entire cliffside had frozen over, resembling an arctic wasteland.
Tidal waves of icy air rippled outward like a frozen sea.
"It's huge!"
Chopper nearly lost his soul to fear.
The dragon's shadow stretched across kilometers.
Even just its coiled spine, covered in icy spikes, was as long as a mountain range.
The Straw Hats' Frost Driller vehicle was smaller than its claw.
When it moved its head,
falling shards of ice resembled a hailstorm.
"So that's a Marine Admiral's true power?!"
Players who had come hoping to scavenge loot from the battle began to sweat.
Most of them recognized the icy figure within the dragon's brow crystal—Aokiji.
Alone, he wasn't terrifying.
But the Marine Alliance had four like him.
It was now obvious why they ruled the Reincarnation Game.
Boom!
The frost dragon beat its wings.
Tornados of ice obliterated the Straw Hats' magical constructs and their Frost Driller.
Wind howled as the dragon spiraled into the sky, then dove.
"Danger!"
Luffy's eyes went wide.
He awakened his rubber powers, turning the ground into a springboard.
To protect his friends,
he radiated golden light. His muscles and bones swelled—he became a glowing sphere and launched himself skyward.
Then—
a massive figure tens of meters tall appeared.
He caught the falling frost dragon in midair with a suplex grip.
This was Luffy's ultimate form:
Rubber Superman, born from the fusion of his Lightborn Bloodline and Blue-Fist Saint Envoy.
Boom!
The dragon's trajectory was deflected.
It crashed beside him, blasting a shockwave that cratered the earth and sent the Straw Hats flying.
Luffy staggered to his feet.
Snowflake-like light sparkled in his eyes.
He was spent.
Rubber Superman—normally flexible—had been stretched to its limit and sagged, unable to bounce back.
"Straw Hat Pirates, apprehended."
Aokiji's eyes gleamed.
He admired Luffy's resolve—no wonder he was Garp's grandson.
He had once considered going easy,
but now their battle had drawn too much attention.
If a Marine Admiral let pirates escape here, it would tarnish the Alliance's name.
The frost dragon took to the sky once more.
Luffy opened his arms wide.
He would block it—even if it killed him.
"Get out of there, Luffy!"
The Straw Hats screamed.
Zoro's ghostly aura formed a phantom barrier—but it shattered on impact.
Sanji's devil horns of flame were smashed apart.
Nami's magical devices screeched and exploded into scrap.
Usopp, bleeding from nose and mouth, kept firing—
but his bullets froze midair, turning into duds.
"Heh, Rubber Superman… Straw Hat Pirates, huh?"
Charlotte Linlin sneered from atop her storm cloud Zeus.
"Perfect. You can all die in place of my dear Kaido."
To her, the Straw Hats were as good as dead.
"The Straw Hats?"
Akainu also spotted them through the rubble, puzzled by Aokiji's intent.
Given his friendship with Garp,
Aokiji attacking them was unexpected.
Was he finally giving in?
"Didn't I always say? Your indecisive justice is a burden. One day, you'd wake up."
Akainu's grin widened.
He had expected their ideological clash to explode during a Fleet Admiral election—not now.
But Aokiji changing now? That worked in his favor.
Akainu laughed hard. "Then let your deaths mark the birth of Aokiji's new justice!"
Then—
a massive pressure erupted nearby.
In half a second, the world darkened—dragged into a void.
No light. No shadow.
Five massive, purple orbs like suns appeared.
Chains extended, binding the frost dragon in place.
"Shanks!"
Akainu's eyes went wide.
He remembered the time their base had nearly fallen—this had to be the same man.
Infernal Flame King!
A twisted crimson gate erupted.
A being of pure hellfire stepped through—the Flame King.
It lunged at the one who had disrupted Aokiji's assault.
"Stop, Akainu!"
A green slash tore through the sky,
severing the Flame King in half.
Hellfire spilled everywhere.
The Flame King fell, its molten body trying to reform.
Shing!
Another slash like a jade crescent descended.
Countless blade threads cut the Flame King into pieces, delaying its regeneration.
Akainu's face darkened.
He instantly summoned five flame demons for defense.
As a lava summoner,
he feared nothing more than being approached by sword-wielders.
Now in a defensive stance, he growled:
"Dracule Mihawk.
The ex-Warlord who betrayed the Marine Alliance…
Are you ready to be arrested by the navy right now?"
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