Everyone's eyes were fixed on the Kuja warship that had intruded upon the battlefield.
Just who exactly were these people?
During this brief standoff, a visible icy mist silently began to spread from the battlefield below.
Aokiji Kuzan finally made his move once more.
His movements were no longer as sluggish as before; instead, they had become incredibly swift.
Following his actions, an extreme chill that felt as though it could freeze one's very soul expanded outward from him, rushing straight toward the Kuja pirate ship.
*Crack... cr-crack...*
The condensed moisture in the air transformed into a sky full of ice crystals.
A layer of ghastly white frost blanketed the hard, icy surface of the battlefield.
Countless unconscious Marines and pirates lying on the ground began to shiver involuntarily, their exhaled breaths instantly forming ice crystals around their noses and mouths.
Aokiji's gaze locked directly onto the Kuja warship where Yang Yi stood.
His figure blurred, turning into a humanoid block of ice that glided across the frozen surface at astonishing speed, charging straight for the ship.
The terrifying chill, capable of freezing the ocean itself, was so overwhelming that a thick layer of frost had already formed on the ship's wooden hull before he even drew near.
Just as Aokiji was about to touch the hull, a figure blocked his path at the bow.
It was the boy in the baseball jacket who had been following behind Yang Yi—Constantine.
Now, with his older brother Old Tang by his side, he was no longer the quiet, reticent Dragon King of the past. Instead, Old Tang's influence had turned him into a full-blown *chuunibyou* Dragon King.
"Hey, you stinky popsicle."
Constantine's voice wasn't loud, but his tone was filled with undisguised contempt.
"Remember this! Your opponent is the King of Bronze and Fire!"
Before his words even faded.
*BOOM—!!!*
Flames so scorching they distorted the air erupted violently from Constantine's body like a volcanic eruption.
The color of the flames was unprecedentedly bright, its golden-red radiance outshining even the sun in the sky.
*Is that the Flame-Flame Fruit?!*
A towering pillar of fire shot up from the ground, violently clashing with Aokiji's Pheasant Beak!
*Ssssssss—!*
Ice and fire—two extreme forces—reacted violently the instant they made contact.
Massive amounts of white steam rocketed into the sky, forming a colossal wall of vapor that divided the battlefield.
The sky, too, was split into two entirely different scenes.
One half was the endless frost brought by Aokiji, filled with ice crystals that froze all creation.
The other half was the boundless inferno created by Constantine, where the flames burned so fiercely that even the seawater ignited in their wake.
On the execution platform, Ace completely forgot about his captivity. He stared fixedly at the boy suspended in midair, who had transformed into roaring flames and was actively suppressing Marine Admiral Aokiji.
*What kind of flames are those? Is that really the Flame-Flame Fruit?*
*Why is he so much stronger than me when we both have the Flame-Flame Fruit? Did I eat a fake one?*
He felt that Constantine wasn't even using his full strength. With just a casual wave of his hand, a ferocious dragon made entirely of fire roared out on its own, engaging in a brutal dogfight with the ice bird controlled by Aokiji.
He then watched as Constantine slightly spread his fingers, causing the sky full of flames to condense into exquisite weapons of various forms—swords, spears, halberds—effortlessly parrying Aokiji's close-range attacks.
His masterful manipulation of the flames and their apocalyptic, terrifying power far exceeded Ace's own level.
Ace looked down at his hands, which were bound by Seastone cuffs.
He had always believed that the Flame-Flame Fruit was what limited him, that the fruit itself simply wasn't strong enough.
But today, he saw with his own eyes that the exact same fruit, the exact same flames, could unleash such terrifying power in the hands of another.
His fists clenched tightly.
The pride that belonged to "Fire Fist Ace, Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' 2nd Division," was utterly shattered in this moment.
In agony, he slowly lowered his proud head.
"So... it wasn't that the Flame-Flame Fruit was too weak."
"It was me who was too weak..."
Elsewhere, the World's Strongest Swordsman, "Hawk-Eye" Mihawk, kept his sharp eyes fixed on the powerhouses across the battlefield. As more and more strong fighters appeared, the excitement on his face grew.
However, his primary target had always been *that* man.
The man who could make the world tremble just by standing at the bow of the *Moby Dick* doing absolutely nothing—Whitebeard.
Hawkeye slowly drew the Black Blade Yoru from his back.
He decided to use this opportunity to personally measure the true distance between himself and the "Strongest Man in the World."
*Vwoom—!*
A green slash of sword aura tore across the ice, howling through the air as it flew straight toward Whitebeard on the *Moby Dick*.
However, that terrifying slash—capable of cleaving an iceberg in two—was intercepted in midair by a figure.
Boa Hancock had appeared in front of the sword aura at some unknown point.
Her right leg, coated in black-and-red Conqueror's Haki, viciously kicked out at the slash.
*BANG!!!*
Hawkeye's flying slash was forcibly kicked apart in midair!
Violent shockwaves rippled outward, blowing her long black hair wildly in the wind.
Watching his shattered sword aura, a deep sense of interest sparked in Hawkeye's eyes.
"Heh..."
He chuckled lightly, his voice carrying a hint of admiration.
"To think you can use Conqueror's Haki Infusion! I truly underestimated you before!"
"You are now qualified to be my opponent, Boa Hancock."
He gripped the hilt of his black blade with both hands. This time, he truly viewed the woman before him as a worthy adversary.
In a corner of the battlefield, Doflamingo and Moria—who had just been kicked flying by Lu Mingfei and Old Tang—were currently struggling to pull themselves out of a wall.
Thinking about how they had been punted away in front of the entire world, dark lines instantly formed on both of their foreheads. They knew they had to win back some face later, or else how could they ever show themselves in the underworld again?
"Damn it! Those two monsters are way too strong!"
Doflamingo shifted his gaze, locking onto the two sisters who had followed Hancock onto the battlefield.
"They're from that ship too, and they don't look all that tough."
"Exactly. Judging by their clothes, they should be female pirates from Amazon Lily. As far as I know, Amazon Lily doesn't have any other powerhouses besides Hancock."
"So, should we start with those two women who look the weakest?"
Doflamingo and Moria exchanged a glance. Reaching a tacit understanding, they both let out sinister sneers before blurring into two afterimages and charging over.
Faced with the pincer attack of two Warlords of the Sea, Sandersonia and Marigold merely smiled at each other. Their smiles even carried a trace of pity.
The next second.
Under the horrified gazes of Doflamingo and Moria, their bodies began to transform!
*ROAR—!*
One of them transformed into a massive serpent so colossal it dwarfed even Marine Headquarters itself—the World Serpent, Jörmungandr! Reflected in its gigantic eyes were the figures of the two tiny bugs below!
The other transformed into an eternal serpent biting its own tail. It was Ouroboros! Its body exuded an ancient aura of infinity, cycles, and unity!
The two mythical giant serpents coiled upon the ice, casting massive shadows that completely engulfed the insignificant Doflamingo and Moria.
Doflamingo and Moria looked at each other, their eyes full of bitterness. It seemed they had picked the wrong opponents.
Just as all of the Marines' top-tier combatants were pinned down and locked in unprecedentedly fierce duels...
An energetic burst of laughter echoed across the entire battlefield.
"Heeheehee hahahaha! Ace—!"
"I'm here to save you!"
On the Kuja warship, that completely pure-white figure wore a smile as radiant as the sun.
The moment Nika Luffy appeared, a rhythmic heartbeat resembling the beating of drums—*thump, thump, thump-thump*—began to reverberate across the battlefield.
The sound of these "Drums of Liberation" seemed to carry a magical charm, causing anyone who heard it to involuntarily feel a surge of heartfelt joy.
Red-Haired Shanks, who was currently hurrying toward Marine Headquarters, jolted in shock upon hearing it. He quickly strained his ears to listen, and a look of sheer disbelief washed over his face.
"This drumbeat... is it 'Joy Boy'? How can this be? The timing is all wrong!"
At the same time, Zunesha, who was wandering through the ocean, slowly came to a halt, a trace of joy surfacing in its massive eyes.
Luffy bounced happily on the ice, and the hard frozen surface beneath his feet actually began to warp and spring like rubber.
The entire battlefield seemed to transform into a giant trampoline, with countless fallen Marines and pirates bouncing up and down in tandem with Luffy's movements.