Chapter 142: Battle with Aokiji (Part 1)
Ian turned to look and saw that during this delay, most of the slaves had boarded the ship. The mooring lines had already been untied, and they were now calling for him.
However… Ian turned again to look at the endless stream of Marine soldiers rushing toward them, watching as they continuously fired guns and set up mortars. He knew that if he left these men unchecked, the ship would likely suffer heavy damage.
"You all board the ship first, stay away from me!" Ian instructed the slaves who were still fighting alongside him.
"Alright, benefactor!" Everyone was now very obedient to Ian's words and didn't think twice before heading straight for the dock.
Now, it was time to clear the area!
Watching the crowd leave, Ian's gaze sharpened. His immense psychic power transformed into Conqueror's Haki, surging outward in all directions!
Whether they were Marines firing guns or soldiers setting up mortars, the moment they were hit by the shockwave of Conqueror's Haki, their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth.
Ian's current Conqueror's Haki blast couldn't distinguish between friend and foe; it was indiscriminate. That's why he had everyone move away from him. Based on his estimation, he would need a higher level of Nen training skill to freely control this power.
Thud, thud—one Marine after another fell to the ground. Although some stronger Marine officers remained standing, unaffected, the number of soldiers was drastically reduced after Ian's Haki swept through them.
Ordinary soldiers were the main force operating firearms and mortars. With them knocked out, the mortars that threatened the ship naturally couldn't fire.
Seeing this, both the Marines and the slaves on the ship were stunned, not understanding what had happened.
"Quick, seize this opportunity!" Ian called out to his people and swiftly jumped onto the ship.
Hearing his shout, the slaves on the ship snapped back to reality and hurriedly began rowing and adjusting the sails to move the vessel away from the dock.
Among the more than five hundred slaves Ian had rescued, there were all kinds of talents. Many were experienced old sailors, and though the ship was massive, it was no problem for them.
The remaining Marine officers couldn't just stand by and watch Ian and his group escape. They desperately rushed over, trying to leap onto Ian's ship.
However, they were knocked down one by one by the slaves who were still on guard, and thrown into the water.
The waterway carved out by the great waterfall was essentially a large canal, quite wide! The distance between the two banks was at least a hundred meters, and the current was gentle. As the ship slowly moved toward the middle of the channel, the Marine officers could no longer jump across.
"We did it!!!"
Seeing this, all the slaves on the ship couldn't help but let out a thunderous cheer. They knew that once they passed this calm stretch of the channel and reached the downward slope, they could speed away from Mary Geoise and rush toward the seas of the New World.
"Steady the helm!"
"Row harder!"
With everyone chanting in unison, the ship advanced. Just as it was about to reach the downward waterway, a figure appeared by the riverbank.
Ian had never let his guard down, constantly watching the riverbank, so he spotted the figure the moment it appeared.
Under the illumination of the Marines' various lights and torches, Ian made out the general shape of the figure, and his pupils contracted.
Aokiji!? Had he finally come!?
Aokiji arrived at the riverbank, crouched down his tall frame, and placed his hand in the water.
"Glacier Age!"
In an instant, the once-cheerfully flowing water came to a halt. The frost spread so quickly, without any warning, that the clear river surface turned into a thick layer of ice in that very moment!
If someone could have seen this from above, they would have noticed that it wasn't just this section of the river that was frozen—the entire canal had been frozen solid!
The great waterfall at the other end, cascading down from high above, had turned into a massive mirror of ice.
Under the moonlight, the frozen river surface looked like a silver-white ribbon, embedded across the top of the entire Red Line!
Ian's ship, which had been advancing, was now stuck, unable to move an inch.
"W-What's going on!?"
"Why did the river suddenly freeze!?"
The people on the ship panicked, shouting loudly, and turned to look at Ian.
"It's Marine Admiral Aokiji!" Ian said in a deep voice.
"Ah!?" Hearing this, everyone was terrified.
A young female slave covered her face with her hands, knelt on the ground, and wept bitterly, saying, "Why? Why, even after all this, won't they let us go?"
The other slaves fell silent, knowing that this was likely the question on everyone's mind.
Ian sighed. He knew that during the escape, many of the freed slaves had gotten separated and had probably been captured again. Those still here had risked everything to flee, facing near-certain death. They had finally boarded the ship and were about to make their dash downward, only to have their hopes shattered at the last moment by Aokiji's appearance.
At this moment, their despair was probably stronger than ever before…
Silence. The ship fell into an eerie stillness. Then, a soft sigh broke through.
The one who spoke was naturally Ian.
He slowly walked to the ship's railing and said, "I'll find a way to hold off Aokiji for a while. Use this time to get the ship out of the ice. We still have hope—don't give up!"
After saying this, Ian jumped off the ship, landed on the ice, and walked toward Aokiji, who was approaching slowly.
To be honest, if it were possible, Ian really didn't want to face Aokiji head-on. As a Marine Admiral, a peak combatant, Ian knew he couldn't defeat him in his current state.
But whether it was to save others or himself, Ian had to cross this threshold called Aokiji.
As Ian walked step by step toward Aokiji, the slaves on the ship were silent for a moment. Then, suddenly, the Giant Tribe warrior roared, "The benefactor is right! We can't give up!"
He used his massive hand to grab the ship's anchor, jumped off the ship, and began chipping away at the ice beneath the hull.
Inspired by his actions, the other slaves let out a roar of anger, grabbed whatever tools they could find, jumped off the ship, and started chipping away at the frozen part of the hull.
Driven by despair, reluctance, and hatred for the Marines, the slaves began to save themselves.
Ian sensed this and couldn't help but feel relieved. As he kept his eyes fixed on Aokiji and walked toward him, he asked the system in his mind, "Are there enough Flying Shadow fragments?"
"The refresh is complete!" the system said. "Obtained 960 Flying Shadow card fragments, consuming 3,840,000 diamonds. Refreshed 4,128 times, consuming 8,256,000 diamonds!"
Hearing this, Ian breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad he had left the refreshing to the system; otherwise, those four thousand-plus refreshes would have taken an enormous amount of time. Although it had cost over twelve million diamonds, it was worth it for Ian in his current situation.
"To upgrade the Flying Shadow card to five stars, how many breakthrough stones are needed?" Ian asked again.
"A total of 36,000 breakthrough stones!" the system replied.
"Good! Now start automatic ten-draws!" Ian instructed. "Stop automatically when enough breakthrough stones are gathered, and then alert me!"
After assigning the task to the system, Ian arrived in front of Aokiji.
Aokiji stood alone by the riverbank, dressed in a white vest and blue shirt, with his mesh eye mask resting on his forehead. Behind him, a large number of Marines were lined up, their guns aimed at Ian.
When he saw Ian approaching, Aokiji scratched his head, carefully examined Ian's attire, and said, "So you're the mastermind behind this incident, huh?"
"Mastermind? Not really!" Ian shook his head. "I just did it on a whim—helping them is also helping myself."
"Why are you wearing a mask?" Aokiji asked. "Take it off and let me see, won't you?"
"I'm not stupid!" Ian chuckled. "I killed a Celestial Dragon, you know! If you saw my face, the entire Marine force would probably come after me, right?"
Aokiji was taken aback: "You killed a Celestial Dragon? Strange, that wasn't mentioned in the intelligence!"
When the intelligence officer had contacted Aokiji, he might have been too excited and forgotten to mention it. So when Aokiji heard this now, he was also very shocked.
"That's an unforgivable crime!" Aokiji scratched his head in frustration. "Ah, forget it, I can't be bothered. Hand over the identity chip first!"
This time, it was Ian's turn to be stunned: "Identity chip?"
Then he suddenly realized—could it be the thing inside the glass bubble that he had taken from the secret room?
His mind racing, Ian said to Aokiji, "Sorry, I don't have it on me. I hid it somewhere!"
"I don't believe such childish lies!" Aokiji frowned. "Since you won't hand it over willingly, I'll have to knock you down and search you."
If he could, Ian would have loved to keep chatting with Aokiji like this to buy time. But as soon as Aokiji finished speaking, he charged at Ian.
Left with no choice, Ian had to engage in battle!
Clang!!! A deafening sound rang out as the instantly drawn Enma sword clashed with an ice blade that suddenly appeared before him!
This ice blade was a weapon Aokiji had conjured with his ability. Yet, despite being made of ice, its hardness was on par with Enma. With Enma's sharpness, it couldn't even cut through the ice blade!
Because the ice beneath their feet was formed by Aokiji instantly freezing the river surface, it wasn't smooth like a mirror. Although it was slippery, Ian's soles could still grip it somewhat. However, after the clash, the situation changed a bit.
Aokiji's strength was greater than Ian had imagined. After the collision between Enma and the ice blade, Ian was pushed back, sliding a short distance across the ice.
Before he could steady himself, Aokiji was already on him. Ice was his ability, so he moved across it as if on solid ground, seemingly unaffected.
Arriving in front of Ian, Aokiji swung his ice blade with both hands, striking down with a series of clanging blows.
Ian parried with Enma, but he felt unsteady on his feet.
No good—the environment was disadvantageous. He needed to change things up!
Ian suddenly swung his sword, thrusting it at Aokiji. As Aokiji dodged, Ian twisted his wrist and stabbed Enma into the ice beneath him.
The blade easily pierced the ice, but the expected cracking of the ice layer didn't happen.
"It's useless!" Aokiji charged again, swinging his ice blade down at Ian. "The entire river is frozen solid. Trying to break the ice to make me fall into the water is impossible!"
Clang! Ian raised Enma to block Aokiji's attack. But this time, when Aokiji's ice blade struck Enma, it shattered on impact.
By now, Enma had turned into a black blade. Ian's solidified psychic power was wrapped around it, easily breaking Aokiji's ice blade.
Taking advantage of Aokiji's momentary surprise when the blade broke, Ian twisted his wrist and slashed upward.
Swish—a soft sound, and a cut appeared on Aokiji's chest. A splash of blood scattered in the air.
Aokiji looked down at the wound on his chest, then touched it with his finger. The wound was instantly frozen.
"So you can use Haki. I underestimated you!" Aokiji frowned. "Alright then, no more playing around…"