One Piece: A Warlord's Path

Chapter 822: The Man Who Appeared Out of Nowhere, Former Marine Admiral Aokiji, Kuzan

"Aokiji!"

"That’s the former Admiral, Aokiji!"

"Didn’t he vanish after losing to Akainu?"

"Why? Why is a former Marine Admiral appearing here?"

A wave of shock rippled through the crowd. Whether it was Jason and Caesar’s faction or the Straw Hat-G-5 alliance, everyone stared at the man who had arrived so abruptly.

Even as a resigned former officer, the title of "Marine Admiral" carried an inherent weight of dread, a psychological pressure perhaps even more stifling than the one exerted by Enel’s sheer scale.

"Arara... long time no see, everyone." Kuzan gave a lazy wave, looking entirely too relaxed for the situation.

The crowd bared their teeth in a collective, shark-like roar: "Hey! That’s way too casual!"

Enel halted his assault, his voice a deep, muffled rumble. "Kuzan! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well... just visiting a friend," Kuzan replied, scratching the back of his head as he looked up at the towering Thunder God. "Mind telling me where Smoker is?"

"Who knows?" Enel said coldly. "More importantly, how did you find out he was here?"

Kuzan remained silent.

Suddenly, Jason’s expression shifted. He asked suspiciously, "Kuzan-sama, you haven’t gone and associated yourself with the Underworld, have you?!"

Jason’s suspicion wasn’t baseless. When Caesar was conducting his Smiley experiment, he had invited numerous Underworld brokers to watch via live broadcast. An experiment featuring "White Chase" Smoker and the Straw Hat Pirates as live test subjects had naturally drawn a massive audience.

Only those who had watched that broadcast would know Smoker’s location. If Kuzan hadn’t been in contact with those dark elements, he shouldn’t be here.

At this, Tashigi’s face paled with disbelief. "The Admiral... and the Underworld?"

Ignoring Jason’s question, Kuzan spoke firmly: "Smoker is my friend. Will you let me take him?"

The Raijin leaned down slightly, his voice booming like rolling thunder. "Hey... Kuzan, don’t get ahead of yourself. Everyone here belongs to me—"

"No problem, Kuzan-sama!" Jason suddenly cut in, waving a hand dismissively.

"What?!" Enel turned, clearly displeased. "Jason, what are you playing at?"

"Kuzan-sama, as long as you can ensure their silence, I’ll agree to your terms," Jason continued, ignoring Enel’s protest. "Otherwise... I’m afraid my Captain might have to handle this personally!"

Jason had calculated this carefully. Faced with a former Admiral, Enel alone might not be enough to suppress him. If they could trade Smoker for the G-5 Marines’ silence, it was a fair deal. He believed Captain Aeridar would approve of the pragmatism.

"Arara~ Just keeping a secret? If I get the Straw Hats to keep their mouths shut too, could you let them off the hook as well?" Kuzan shrugged, scratching his head. "After all, Garp-san took very good care of me once upon a time!"

Jason’s face darkened instantly. "Are you joking, Kuzan?"

"I’m afraid not," Kuzan said, spreading his hands.

"You bastard!"

Enel’s fury boiled over. He thrust the Spear of Lightning downward toward Kuzan with savage speed. The sheer atmospheric pressure generated by the strike was so immense it physically crushed the air out of the onlookers’ lungs.

"I... I can’t breathe!"

"I can’t move!"

"Damn this... this pressure..."

The crowd was pinned down by the terrifying force. Even though they knew the Raijin was strong, experiencing this power firsthand proved it was far beyond their imagination.

"Arara..."

Kuzan shook his head helplessly and raised a hand.

SHING—!

A blast of frigid air erupted. Four massive ice pillars, each over two meters in diameter, shot up from the ground to meet the descending spear.

In the instant of contact, the lightning was flash-frozen. A layer of shimmering ice crystals coated the bolt, making it look as though the Thunder God were wielding a trio of jagged icicles.

"What?!"

The Raijin gasped as he realized his hand was frozen to the spear, which was in turn fused to the four pillars, pinning him in place.

"He even froze the lightning!" The crowd cried out in awe.

An Admiral was an Admiral, his opening move was nothing short of extraordinary!

"Damn you, Kuzan!"

Enel roared, drawing back his left fist and punching downward. The wind from the punch howled like a hurricane, carrying the weight of a falling mountain.

"Arara..."

Kuzan looked conflicted but thrust both hands upward regardless.

"Ice Ball!"

CRACKLE—!

Five streaks of frost shot out, colliding with the descending fist. Within seconds, the frost spread. The Raijin’s entire left arm was encased in ice, and the rime began to climb rapidly toward his main body.

WHOOSH—

As the cold wind subsided, a sixty-meter-tall ice sculpture stood before them.

"No way!"

"Enel-sama!"

"Is this... the power of an Admiral?"

"Even Enel-sama was frozen in an instant!"

Everyone clutched their heads, staring in disbelief at the spectacular sight.

It was a clash of Logia types: Rumble-Rumble Fruit vs. Ice-Ice Fruit. A high-ranking officer of the Chris Pirates against a former Marine Admiral, two of the strongest individuals in the world. Even in the New World, such a spectacle was a rare occurrence.

CRACK—

A sharp sound broke the silence. Fissures spiderwebbed across the ice sculpture. In an instant, the ice shattered into a million fragments, and the Raijin emerged unscathed.

WHOOSH—

The next moment, the Raijin kicked off the air. The sixty-meter-tall giant actually took flight, creating a gale that whipped the hair of everyone below.

"What?! He can fly like that?!"

Kuzan, Jason, and everyone else stared with eyes wide, as if witnessing the impossible.

To them, it was impossible. A sixty-meter giant made of "solidified" lightning was shocking enough, but seeing such a massive entity achieve flight was beyond comprehension.

"Kuzan! I’ll see you dead!"

Hovering in the sky, the Raijin bellowed in rage, pointing his spear downward.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Dozens of blinding lightning bolts rained down from the storm clouds, saturating a hundred-meter radius around Kuzan. The dense bombardment left scorched craters in the earth, and the G-5 Marines and Straw Hats caught in the crossfire suffered numerous casualties.

Fortunately, Franky’s General Franky acted as a lightning rod. The metallic mecha drew several bolts, turning it charred and black as its internal circuitry fried.

"The Rumble-Rumble Fruit is truly absurd... summoning the raw wrath of nature," Kuzan muttered. "But I can’t let you keep this up!"

He raised both hands. The air turned lethally cold as a massive iceberg surged out of the ground, lifting him toward the sky.

"Ice Block: Partisan!!!"

Massive spears of ice coalesced behind Kuzan, each nearly half the height of the Raijin itself.

The Raijin began to spin his Spear of Lightning, letting out a manic, booming laugh.

"Yahahaha! Let’s see which is stronger, your spears, or my spear!"