Caught in Boa Hancock's suddenly constricted vertical pupils.
Loy's fist surged forth.
The next moment, the familiar Wave Fist erupted once more.
But the direction Loy's fist was aimed was not Boa Hancock's ship, but the vast ocean below!
"Boom!"
Torrential cold air erupted, and icy cold began to spread.
"Crack!" "Crack!" "Crack!"
The ceaseless surging ocean currents, at this moment, quieted into stillness.
Fish and shrimp swimming freely in the water, at this moment, were frozen in the sea.
Even the wind that blew seemed to carry ice shards, and the moisture in the air condensed into frost.
The sea surface, as before, split apart, but this time the waves no longer fell, instead transforming into colossal ice walls.
Yes.
After this punch—the sea surface around the "Giant Terror Dragon Fleet" was already completely frozen!
"'Aokiji's' ability? No, not entirely the same. What is that wave?"
And Boa Hancock, seeing this scene, naturally thought of Admiral Aokiji the first time.
But then he shook his head—the radiance within Loy's fist and the shockwaves it carried, he had never heard of Aokiji having this kind of move.
But obviously, at this moment, Boa Hancock didn't have time to think too deeply.
"Boom!"
Because the "Tyrant Dragon" under his feet had clearly stopped its advance.
Or to be more precise—it wasn't just this one ship.
At this moment, the entire "Giant Terror Dragon Fleet" had been frozen on the sea surface by this one punch.
But the problem was right here—
"The power of this punch is enough to destroy any ship, why didn't he do that?"
Boa Hancock muttered this question in his heart.
If it were other Marines, he could naturally find suitable reasons—for example, the other party didn't want to offend him, a Seven Warlords of the Sea, or perhaps feared his influence and Kaido of the Beast Pirates behind him.
But now, Boa Hancock knew.
These reasons were all invalid.
Because he could see the gaze of the Marine in front of him.
What kind of gaze was that?
Cold, calm, resolute, and without a trace of concession or hesitation—that was not the gaze of someone preparing to stop!
And indeed, the facts were as such.
Just the next instant, Boa Hancock saw Loy move again.
He raised his hand once more.
The difference was—this time he raised his right fist!
"Boom!"
Golden Wave Fist flowed again, and this time, what appeared within the Wave Fist was a crimson color!
That was the color of high temperature.
And within Loy's arm, some kind of fiery red substance seemed to begin flowing, making his arm appear crimson.
"Flame Wave Fist: Boiling Sea!"
"Roar!"
At this moment, Boa Hancock's complexion suddenly changed.
"Everyone, abandon ship immediately!"
He let out a low growl, like a wild beast.
As a top Ability User of an ancient Zoan Devil Fruit, he naturally possessed keen beastly instincts.
And at this moment, his instincts were telling him that this attack was extremely dangerous!
At the same time,
On the distant sea surface.
"Whoosh!"
Inside the exhaust ports behind the Stardust, the flames gradually extinguished.
"Hah...hah..."
Ace, dripping with sweat, panted heavily, half-kneeling on the deck: "Damn it... that injury just now..."
Just like Boa Hancock had said earlier.
Using his Devil Fruit Ability at high intensity to propel the Stardust forward was also extremely exhausting for him.
"Ace, take a quick break!"
"Captain Ace, are you okay?"
Seeing this, Izo and some of the Ability Users among the crew also struggled to their feet.
"I'm fine."
Ace waved his hand, took a bottle of water, and drank it before saying, "Hah... they didn't chase us, right?"
During the process of using his Ability to escape just now, he naturally couldn't spare a glance.
"No... rather, the situation over there is a bit strange."
Speaking of this, Izo's expression was also somewhat peculiar.
"Strange?"
Hearing this, Ace also looked back at the sea surface in confusion.
At this moment, they were already too far away to clearly see the situation over there—they could only see Boa Hancock's ships, which had almost become tiny dots, as well as...
"The sea surface is frozen?"
Looking at that expanse of sea, frozen in a surging posture, Ace was stunned.
"It's not Boa Hancock's Ability..."
He had clashed with Boa Hancock before, so he naturally knew that the other party did not possess such an Ability.
Then the only explanation was...
"That Marine named Loy?"
Ace muttered this name, which he had only learned for the first time not long ago.
"I think so too."
Izo, standing beside him, also voiced his conjecture: "It should be the other party fighting Boa Hancock, and the frozen sea surface can only be the other party's Ability..."
He analyzed with a serious expression, and the other members of the Black Peach Pirates also nodded.
But a moment later, their discussions stopped.
Because at this moment, whether it was them or Ace, they all saw the phenomenon in the distance.
They only saw a crimson substance appear in the sky.
That was something Ace was very familiar with—flames produced by high temperatures!
"Captain's 'Fire Fist'?"
And his companions behind him instinctively blurted out such words.
"No!"
But at this moment, Ace's heart provided the answer.
He looked at the colossal pillar of fire, wrapped within intense shockwaves, heading straight for Boa Hancock's ships!
He could clearly see the flying ash carried by the surging flames.
He instinctively had a feeling—that kind of flame seemed even stronger than his own fire.
But Ace didn't have time to think too deeply.
He then saw the colossal torrent of flames sweep directly across, piercing through Boa Hancock's fleet.
"Boom!"
Above the frozen ocean, a colossal cloud of smoke and dust, obscuring the sky, and terrifying firelight instantly soared, and enormous shockwaves instantly spread in all directions.
"Boa Hancock's fleet is finished!"
And even at such a distance, Izo could still be a hundred percent certain—after this attack, not a single one of Boa Hancock's ships would remain!
But immediately after, an even greater confusion naturally arose.
That was...
"Who made that attack?"
One of the Black Peach Pirates' crew members asked this question.
The scene fell silent.
The answer was actually not hard to guess.
Because the kind of Wave Fist contained within that colossal flame shockwave... they had just witnessed it firsthand not long ago.
Immediately afterward, only Ace's murmur could be heard on the entire ship.
"Loy Aros..."
"Hey, hey! No mistake, right—the Captain is simply terrifyingly strong now!"
And obviously.
Those who had a similar view to the Black Peach Pirates were also the members of the Escort Unit at this moment.
At this moment, Hans and Far were waiting on the deck.
They had already followed Loy's instructions, arranging for people to search the cabins for traces of the two wounded and to repair the ship.
But at the same time, they didn't completely follow his orders.
For example, at this moment, they did not follow Loy's command to take cover; instead, each of them held their own weapons.
They had all made up their minds—if the Captain was defeated, they would step up.
But the development of events far exceeded their imagination.
At this moment, even through the dense smoke, they could see the miserable state on the frozen sea surface not far away.
The entire "Giant Terror Dragon Fleet" was indeed almost completely destroyed at this moment.
Its six escort ships had all disappeared within the explosion's epicenter, with only burning fragments remaining to prove their former existence.
And the only one that still retained its complete appearance was the main ship, the "Tyrant Dragon"—but even so, its hull was torn apart from the middle, and the entire ship was melted and penetrated.
"Just two strikes, and he actually dealt with that legendary Seven Warlords of the Sea..."
So at this moment, the Marine Soldiers of the Escort Unit felt their brains were buzzing.
"That... you guys, is that still the Captain? He couldn't be Admiral Zephyr in disguise..."
Hans's thought process was as unusually peculiar as ever.
"What are you talking about? That's definitely the Captain!"
Far immediately punched him: "But freezing or igniting the sea... would Admiral Zephyr give the Captain a Devil Fruit to eat?"
"Oh, you're right!"
Hearing this, Hans finally understood: "That's right—Admiral Zephyr isn't an Ability User, so it wasn't him pretending to be the Captain."
"Are you even listening to me, you jerk?!"
And it was just as the two were bickering.
They saw Loy descend from the sky, stepping on the moonwalk, and returning to the Marine ship.
His expression was still very calm, even seeming to carry a kind of inexplicable "comfort."
"First, everyone knows I'm not an Ability User, nor have I eaten a Devil Fruit. As for what you just saw, it was still 'Wave Fist'."
He looked with a serious expression at Far and Hans, whose faces were filled with disbelief.
"Not long ago, my teacher told me that the Fish-Man Karate martial art of the Fish-Man race can manipulate the moisture in the surrounding air."
"This gave me some enlightenment, so I created a new school of Wave Fist—its name is 'Ice Wave Fist'."
As he spoke, blue ripples appeared on his hand.
"Besides that, my teacher also told me that in Wano Country, there is a sword technique called 'Foxfire Style' that can release and cut flames."
"Moreover, there are not a few people who can use friction to generate flames; for example, I know a Pirate and his cook who can use similar moves."
"I made some developments based on this, and then created this second school of Wave Fist—its name is 'Flame Wave Fist'."
The words he casually spoke were, of course, complete fabrications.
The two so-called Wave Fist techniques he displayed at this moment were essentially the high-temperature and extreme cold effects of the Mag-Mag Fruit and Ice-Ice Fruit, respectively, combined with the Human-Human Fruit, Great Buddha form.
By using the impact waves to amplify these two effects, such powerful attacks naturally developed.
However, due to both Logia Devil Fruit Abilities and the Great Buddha Devil Fruit Ability being extremely stamina-consuming, although he had this idea before, he had never used it in actual combat.
But now, after his recent physical strengthening, he could initially grasp it!
As for what he said about new schools of Wave Fist at this moment, it naturally had no scientific basis whatsoever.
But, that was obviously not important.
Because—
"So that's how it is!"
"It's actually like that!"
"As expected of Admiral Zephyr's disciple!"
"Shouldn't it be 'as expected of the Captain'?"
At this moment, after hearing his words, the Marine Soldiers chose to believe him almost without any hesitation.
And Loy was not surprised by such a situation in the slightest.
That's right.
This was the most crucial point.
If it were the former ordinary Lieutenant Commander Loy Aros of the Escort Unit, such a significant increase in strength in a short period would certainly be illogical, and would inevitably arouse suspicion to some extent.
But now the situation was different.
He was now a legendary Marine Admiral, the universally recognized strongest instructor, the disciple of 'Black Arm' Zephyr.
And virtually every Marine had grown up listening to Zephyr's legends!
So... what's so surprising about former Admiral Zephyr's disciple getting stronger a bit faster?
"In Teacher Zephyr's eyes, I am 'a monstrous talent'."
"In the eyes of other Marines, I am 'a legendary Marine's disciple'."
Loy's mouth, curved into a smile.
"So now, I can be more unrestrained in demonstrating my power."
And after a brief sigh, Hans and Far reacted.
"Captain, you said we made two mistakes... what was the other one?"
Far asked curiously.
And after hearing his question, Loy also smiled.
"The second mistake was that you said I dealt with the Seven Warlords of the Sea in one strike."
"Although I've become much stronger now, it's still a bit difficult to deal with a guy like that in one strike."
Just as Loy's words fell.
"Marine!"
Hans and Far heard the roaring sound that echoed across the entire sea surface.
Then,
"Thump!" "Thump!" "Thump!"
On the ice surface, a tremendous vibration rumbled, piercing the ears.
That was some kind of monster's heavy footsteps.
Then, everyone saw simultaneously.
From the front of the 'Tyrant Dragon', where dense smoke billowed,
An enormous, monstrous silhouette walked out from the dense smoke!
(end of chapter)