Without the slightest delay, Babel—still clutching Nozdon, Valthior, and Ganryu in his crushing grip—accelerated. Like a bulldozer, he rampaged across the harbor, smashing Doringo aside when he tried to block him. Then, with a powerful step, the massive figure leapt over a hundred meters, diving straight toward the sea outside the port.
There was no doubt—being a Fish-Man powerhouse, his strength on land and in the sea were two entirely different things.
Right now, he intended to fight in the water!
But just before he could crash into the sea, Valthior—blood trickling from the corner of his mouth—acted at the last moment from within the crushing hold, releasing a thread of freezing energy from his fingertips.
The next second, Babel slammed headfirst onto a frozen sea surface, his massive body tumbling forward in an ungraceful roll.
Taking advantage of this moment, Valthior and Nozdon exerted force at the same time, breaking free from the crushing hold. The three of them separated.
After rolling twice, Valthior—unbothered by the slippery surface—was the first to get up. He clapped his hands together in front of him and cursed:
"You think this is your home turf? Trash—this is mine!"
As his words fell, a surge of frost energy erupted skyward from his body. Then he growled:
"Endless Winter!"
The thick ice surface rapidly transformed. Jagged ice spikes burst forth, thrusting toward Babel.
Babel had just gotten to his feet when he saw countless ice spikes rising around him. Without hesitation, he coated both arms in Armament Haki and swept them outward, smashing the incoming spikes to pieces.
It wasn't just the ice beneath him—the moisture in the air condensed into two- to three-meter-long ice spears, falling from above and stabbing straight down at him.
Though Babel continuously shattered them with Haki, the terrifying nature of a Mythical Zoan was fully displayed here. Despite Valthior being completely outmatched in raw strength, he could still contend with Babel through his ability alone.
No matter how many ice spikes Babel destroyed, more followed endlessly. Just as Valthior had said—the frozen sea had become his domain!
In no time, shattered ice fragments piled up, burying Babel's legs. At the same time, the rapid destruction of ice spikes kicked up large amounts of fine ice crystal dust, gradually obscuring his figure.
With every breath he took, those tiny ice particles silently entered his lungs. At first, it didn't feel like much—but as the accumulation grew, Babel immediately sensed something was wrong.
His breathing became labored. Worse, each breath brought a sharp pain in his chest.
A veteran of countless battles, Babel instantly realized the truth—these endless ice spikes were just a cover. The real killing move was hidden in the nearly undetectable ice crystal dust!
Not daring to delay, Babel roared. His entire body was instantly coated in hardened Armament Haki. Instead of bothering with the ice spikes, he let them strike his body as he charged straight toward Valthior.
At this moment, he had already realized something—the other fighters of the Roger Pirates weren't much of a threat. The real danger came from this young man he had never seen before, who seemed to have just joined them.
Especially since he had already recognized it—
This kid was a rare Mythical Zoan user!
Seeing the damn fish-man charging at Valthior, Nozdon and Ganryu both moved to intercept.
But before they could act, the frost energy radiating from Valthior gathered beneath his feet. The ice surface beneath him began to rise rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, a smooth, gleaming frozen slope—reflecting cold light—rose between him and Babel.
The friction was so low that after just a couple of steps, not only did Babel fail to close the distance, he nearly slipped.
"You bastard—I'm turning you into frozen fish today!" Valthior cursed. The biting cold wind whipped his flowing silver-white hair, making him look imposing and majestic.
On the other side, Babel smashed the ground in front of him with a punch, breaking the smooth surface to gain traction while kicking up a large amount of ice.
His face was dark, his eyes seemingly spitting fire. He slammed his massive palms through the air with a howling sound, sending ice chunks flying as he roared: "Fishman Karate: Continuous Spear Waves!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blasted ice chunks shot forward like cannonballs, hurtling toward Valthior above.
But Valthior didn't budge.
With a mere thought, frost energy surged again beneath his feet. In an instant, a thick, curved ice wall rose in front of him.
The incoming ice chunks slammed into the wall, sliding off to the sides. Only a few caused cracks—nothing serious.
As the curved wall formed, Valthior took a deep breath, drawing out the frost power within him and unleashing it once more. A glint of cold light flashed in his eyes as he locked onto Babel.
"Take this! Deep Freeze Forest: Advent of the Ice Realm!!!"
In that instant, it was as if all the frost energy within Valthior was drained and unleashed onto the frozen surface in one explosive burst.
Countless ice flowers and ice trees erupted out of nowhere, like a primordial forest descending from the sky, covering a radius of over a hundred meters—with Babel at the center.
The sudden change startled Babel. Just as he was about to assess the situation, a vine of frost silently crept up from the ground, winding around his leg.
With a forceful shake, he shattered it. But immediately after, several towering ice trees toppled toward him.
He leapt aside to evade, only to find more bizarre ice formations—flowers, trees, and structures—spreading and freezing toward him from all directions. At the same time, they released fine, nearly invisible ice crystal dust into the air.
In mere moments, the frozen forest was shrouded in a mist-like haze of drifting ice particles.
Worse still, every time he shattered one of these ice constructs, it only intensified the spread of the dust.
Meanwhile, Valthior's breathing had grown noticeably heavier. Clearly, suppressing Babel in such a short time was extremely taxing. Even as a Mythical Zoan user, his stamina was being rapidly drained.
Not far away, Nozdon—who had originally planned to help—watched the scene in a daze.
"Wait, Rayleigh told him to take out Babel, and he actually... can really do it?"
"He can't finish him," Ganryu said, frowning slightly. "But this is impressive. At the very least, he can control Babel for a while. At just eighteen… I don't even know if it's his talent or the Mythical Zoan that's terrifying."
"Ice-type abilities are naturally strong in control…" Nozdon muttered. "And Valthior clearly focused on developing that aspect."
And indeed, that was the case.
Valthior had initially focused his ability development on speed and defense. But after the God Valley incident, once he joined the Roger Pirates, he shifted his focus again.
He knew his place—he was a scholar aboard the crew. Compared to the other fighters, his strength wasn't bad. After all, he was at least at the level of a "reserve Holy Knight."
But compared to the trio of Roger, Rayleigh, and Gaban, there was no need to even mention it.
With that level of strength, he couldn't truly stand on their battlefield. But if he maximized his control abilities, he might be able to create decisive opportunities.
Even briefly restraining an opponent could tip the scales of battle.
And judging from Babel's current situation, his efforts were paying off.
Meanwhile, trapped within the so-called "Advent of the Ice Realm," Babel's anger grew more intense.
After smashing an incoming ice tree into powder, he stopped caring about the ice dust entering his lungs. His expression hardened as he took a deep breath—his already massive body swelling even larger.
Then, grabbing the bead necklace around his neck, he muttered something under his breath. His other hand clenched into a fist, powerful Haki surging over it.
After a brief moment of charging—
His eyes flared with killing intent as he drove his fist straight into the ice beneath him!
"Fishman Karate: Secret Technique: Giant Catfish Pierce!"
The thick ice layer couldn't withstand the terrifying force—it shattered instantly.
The overwhelming power drove downward, spreading outward in waves, crushing the ice layer by layer. The resulting shockwave surged outward in a circular blast, carrying ice fragments and crystal dust with it.
The towering icy slope beneath Valthior's feet shattered under the aftershock. He kicked off flying chunks of ice midair, adjusting his position as he rapidly retreated toward the collapsing harbor.
Seawater began flooding into the shattered ice, forming a massive whirlpool.
Before Valthior could land, Babel's massive figure burst out from within the vortex, gripping a stream of seawater in his hand. With a savage expression, he roared:
"Die! Sea Current Over-the-Shoulder Throw!!!"
Midair, Valthior tried to gather the remaining frost energy in his body to freeze the incoming water—
But before he could act—
A voice rang out from behind him.
"Higanbana (Spider Lily Steel)!"
A slash shot forward, arriving first and splitting the seawater attack in two.
Then Rayleigh's figure passed by Valthior, stepping forward as he smiled at Babel within the whirlpool.
"Getting this worked up over a youngster… that's not very graceful, Babel."
..
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