Chapter 145: Life Is a Stage, Acting Is Everything
"This... this..."
The Marine soldiers stared blankly at the path carved by the Black Dragon Wave, a chilling sensation creeping up their spines.
If Admiral Aokiji hadn't ordered them to retreat earlier, many more would have been caught in that terrifying attack, wouldn't they?
The soldiers turned their heads with lingering fear, casting grateful glances at Aokiji standing nearby.
But at that moment, they saw Aokiji collapse to the ground, drenched in sweat and listing to one side.
"Admiral Aokiji!?"
Startled, the soldiers rushed over, only to realize that part of Aokiji's right calf was missing!
"What happened!?" the soldiers exclaimed in horror.
"I still didn't dodge it completely, huh?" Aokiji stared at his own leg, thinking to himself.
The Black Dragon Wave had moved incredibly fast. Just as it was about to strike, Aokiji used Soru to leap sideways. Though he avoided direct contact with the black fire dragon's body, he hadn't anticipated its wide area of effect. The intense heat still grazed his calf.
Even though his body was elementalized, the ice on the outer side of his calf had been instantly vaporized by the immense heat!
At first, Aokiji hadn't felt it, but when he came to his senses, the pain was excruciating—like someone had gouged a chunk of flesh from his leg.
That was why he had fallen.
Cold air emanated from Aokiji's right leg as he tried to re-elementalize and repair the missing part. But when he attempted it, he found that the missing portion couldn't be restored!
In that instant, Aokiji understood: his physical body had been damaged!
The surrounding Marines, witnessing this, also realized what it meant. Aokiji, the seemingly invincible Logia user and the Marine's strongest combatant, had been injured!?
For a moment, the soldiers felt as if their worldview had shattered...
Aokiji, however, wasn't surprised. As a Logia user, he knew that the notion of invincibility was just a fantasy people clung to. Logia users could indeed be hurt!
"What exactly is that black flame?" Aokiji lay on the ground, turning his head to watch Ian climbing the rope ladder back to the ship. "Such intense heat... it might even surpass Sakazuki's magma... Is that guy a Devil Fruit user?"
Ian had no idea that his Flame-Slaying Black Dragon Wave had inadvertently injured Aokiji, much like the battle between Sakazuki and Aokiji at Punk Hazard two years later...
It was a victory born of ability superiority.
Aokiji was wounded, but Ian was no better off. He was gritting his teeth, forcing himself to climb the rope ladder. The pain in his legs and left hand was excruciating, each pull leaving him drenched in sweat.
As Ian climbed, the Giants and Fish-Men pulling the ship dragged it forward step by step, nearing the downward channel.
Gritting his teeth, Aokiji struggled to his feet. His orders were to capture Ian, the mastermind. He could let the slaves go out of compassion, but he still had to carry out his mission.
His right leg was useless, so he pushed off with his left, leaping into the air. With a sharp flick, an ice javelin whistled toward Ian.
Ian had just been pulled aboard by the slaves and was sprawled on the deck. With his back turned, he didn't see Aokiji's attack, but the slaves did, letting out a cry of alarm.
With his legs injured, Ian couldn't react in time. But then, a burly slave rushed from the side, shoving Ian aside and taking his place. The ice javelin pierced through the slave's right chest.
Even Ian was stunned. He hadn't expected the slaves to sacrifice themselves to protect him.
Ian recognized the slave who had saved him—the first one he had freed from the Musgarud family's prison. Though Ian still didn't know his name, he never imagined the man would go this far for him.
The slave coughed up blood as he collapsed onto the deck. The other slaves quickly surrounded him, tearing off cloth to bandage his wound.
Ian forced himself to stand and walked over to the slave, asking, "How are you?"
"I... I won't die!" The man managed a weak smile at Ian, only to spit out another mouthful of blood.
"His lung is pierced!" a slave among the crowd said. "I'm a doctor. Let me take care of him!"
Ian nodded, stood up, and walked to the ship's railing. He shouted to Aokiji, "Even now, Admiral Aokiji, do you still want to fight!?"
"I told you, my mission is to capture you, the mastermind!" Aokiji had landed on the ground but stumbled, nearly falling again due to his injured leg. He shook his head and said to Ian, "If you truly care about them, you'd better surrender!"
"And what about you!?" Ian pointed angrily at the Marines on the shore. "Do you care about those soldiers!?"
"What do you mean?" Aokiji frowned.
"Nothing much!" Ian shook his head. "You saw the power of that attack just now. What if I used it on them again? How many would survive!?"
As he spoke, Ian raised his wrist, which began to radiate intense heat.
In truth, Ian was completely spent. The last remnants of his stamina had barely restored a bit of Psychic Power, which he was now slowly channeling into his right hand. This amount wasn't nearly enough to unleash another Flame-Slaying Black Dragon Wave.
But... Aokiji didn't know that!
Turning to look at the Marines behind him, Aokiji hesitated. He hadn't expected Ian to turn the tables and threaten him with the soldiers.
The black fire dragon had been devastating—even he had been injured. The weaker ordinary soldiers would fare far worse if caught in its blast.
Though Marines were expected to have the resolve to die in battle, Aokiji wasn't as ruthless as Sakazuki. He couldn't disregard the lives of these soldiers. If forcing Ian's capture led to their deaths, Aokiji wouldn't allow it.
The two sides fell into a stalemate. Aokiji stared intently at Ian, and Ian stared back just as fiercely.
Then, suddenly, the intense heat radiating from Ian's hand vanished without a trace.
Aokiji was taken aback, unsure of what had happened.
Ian looked a bit embarrassed and said, "Ah, sorry, I can't actually fire a second Black Dragon Wave!"
Hearing this, Aokiji almost felt like spitting blood...
But it was too late to react. The ship Ian was on had already begun to tilt!
That meant the Giants and Fish-Men had pulled the vessel to the curved section of the channel.
"Quick, jump onto the bow!" one of the Giants called out. After watching everyone leap aboard, he was the last to jump, landing on the bow.
His immense weight became the final straw. The bow dipped, and the ship accelerated downward.
"Everyone, hold on tight!" Ian shouted to the slaves, then waved at Aokiji. "Goodbye, Admiral Aokiji! Thanks for the ice slide!"
With those words, Ian's ship vanished from Aokiji's sight.
This downward channel, similar to Reverse Mountain, would normally have water flowing through it, making the ship's descent moderately fast. But with Aokiji's Ice Age freezing all the water, it became something entirely different.
It was basically an ice slide!
The larger the ship, the wider its keel needed to be—that was common sense. Ian's ship had a keel nearly two meters wide, enough to support the entire vessel as it slid across the ice.
And it was moving at a terrifying speed!
As the ship disappeared, some Marine officers ran up to Aokiji and asked, "Admiral Aokiji, what now? Should we pursue?"
Aokiji shook his head. "How?"
The officers fell silent. How indeed? Would they have to get another ship and ride the ice slide after them?
"Report back first," Aokiji said, sitting cross-legged on the ice. "And find me a stretcher. I can't walk now..."
"Ah! Yes, sir!" The officers snapped to attention and quickly called for medics to carry Aokiji away.
Left behind, they exchanged glances and couldn't help but shiver. Even Admiral Aokiji had been wounded in this battle. Even if they managed to get a ship and give chase, how would they fight?
On the stretcher, Aokiji pulled down his eye patch, folded his arms behind his head, and began to think.
In truth, the slaves' escape was largely his doing. Freezing the water with Ice Age had created the slide. The Ice-Ice Fruit's ability lowered temperatures but couldn't raise them, so Aokiji had no way to revert the frozen river.
It was a small act of mercy on Aokiji's part—he genuinely wanted to let the slaves go. But he had also truly intended to capture Ian. The outcome, however, had exceeded his expectations.
In the end, he had been bluffed by Ian! Bluffed by that Black Dragon Wave that couldn't even be fired!
And so, Ian, the mastermind, had escaped along with the slaves...