Chapter 568: Vivre Card
What Aokiji was referring to was using his Ice Age to freeze the sea, turning the entire surface into a solid ice landmass. However, this would also freeze all the ships in place.
"..." Sakazuki was silent for a moment before speaking, "Not yet. Whitebeard hasn't appeared yet. Whether he's truly too injured to move or has other plans, no one can say for sure. Right now, we still have some warships that can be mobilized, so let's continue bombarding the islands! That's our advantage!"
This was part of the Marines' original strategic plan. With both Aokiji and Akainu present, they held the initiative over the battlefield environment. They could fight at sea if they wanted, or on land if they preferred.
If the Whitebeard Pirates wanted to break out, they would have to rely on their ships to set sail. Aokiji's Ice Age would be their trump card. Once the sea was frozen, Whitebeard wouldn't be able to escape even if he wanted to.
"Fine!" Aokiji nodded and said nothing more. He knew that Akainu was merely executing Sengoku's plan.
But just then, the dedicated Den Den Mushi on the low table in front of them suddenly started ringing with a *pururu pururu* sound.
"Hello? Fleet Admiral?" Kizaru was quick to pick up the receiver and asked, "Any orders?"
"..." Sengoku on the other end seemed to think for a moment before speaking, "One of you, make a move. Capture Fire Fist Ace!"
"Huh!?" The three of them were startled, but quickly recovered. Kizaru said into the receiver, "The Pirate King's bloodline, huh? Indeed..."
As Marine Admirals, the three had already learned from Sengoku about Fire Fist Ace's identity. This war against the Whitebeard Pirates, besides aiming to eliminate Whitebeard, had a secondary target: Fire Fist Ace.
"But weren't we planning to kill him before?" Kizaru asked Sengoku. "Why capture him now?"
"I'm worried that Ian kid might show up and cause trouble!" Sengoku said. "He and Ace are brothers. Capturing Ace might force him to withdraw from this war. I don't want any variables. I want this war to be a sure victory!"
"...Understood!" Kizaru hung up and said to Aokiji and Akainu, "Want to play rock-paper-scissors?"
"No need. Let me go!" Aokiji stood up and said, "If we're going to capture him, the sooner the better!"
Kizaru and Akainu exchanged glances but said nothing. Aokiji didn't wait for their response; he kicked off and left the warship.
Aokiji's ability was ice, while Ace's was fire. In theory, Ace's ability countered Aokiji's, but in reality, since both were Logia users, this counter was mutual. As Aokiji had said, if they were going to capture him, the sooner the better. Nothing could settle things faster than mutually countering abilities.
At that moment, after kicking Doflamingo into the sea, Marco flew over to Ace and Little Oars Jr. His arms had transformed into two massive wings burning with blue flames as he hovered in the air, asking Ace, "How are you two?"
"I'm fine! But Oars needs treatment!" Ace, standing on Little Oars Jr.'s shoulder and examining the wounds on his back, said anxiously, "He's badly hurt!"
Doflamingo's Haki-infused strings had extraordinary cutting power. It was lucky that Little Oars Jr. hadn't been sliced in half. The wound on his back stretched from his shoulder blades down to his waist, looking terrifying.
And yet, Little Oars Jr. was stubbornly persisting. His blood flowed into the sea, attracting a large group of horn sharks that bit at his toes. He simply lifted his leg and stomped them flat...
He looked like he still wanted to fight.
"The ship doctors are all on the island taking care of Old Man!" Marco said. "How about this: I'll go get Jozu to carry Oars back!"
"No!" Little Oars Jr. rumbled, "I'm not going back! I still need to clear a path for Old Man!"
"You idiot!" Ace couldn't help but shout, "If this keeps up, Oars, you'll bleed to death!"
"As long as I can save Old Man, dying is worth it!" Little Oars Jr. insisted. "Ace, you're a good guy. Help me stop the bleeding with your flames..."
"You..." Ace was at a loss for words. Little Oars Jr.'s words moved him and angered him at the same time.
"Haha, Ace, just do as he says!" Marco laughed. "This idiot is very stubborn!"
"Fine, then bear with it!" Ace had no choice but to ignite flames on his palm, controlling the temperature, and press it against the wounds on Oars's back before leaping down.
His hand swept over Oars's wounds, instantly cauterizing them black and sealing them shut. But the pain this caused Little Oars Jr. was beyond ordinary; even he couldn't help but roar in agony.
Little Oars Jr. had four wounds on his back, plus the one pierced by Moria's Shadow Spear. By the time Ace used his flames to stop the bleeding, Oars was drenched in sweat, looking completely drained.
Only then did Ace and Marco breathe a sigh of relief. But before they could relax, they suddenly spotted a figure standing on the sea surface to their right.
Aokiji, wearing his Marine coat, had formed a patch of ice beneath his feet and stood on the water. He had actually arrived earlier but hadn't interrupted while Ace was treating Little Oars Jr. Now that the three had noticed him, he spoke lazily, "So? Are you done?"
"It's Aokiji!" Marco's heart sank. "Looks like the Marine Admirals are making their move too!"
Without a second thought, Marco struck first, charging at Aokiji and kicking toward him.
However, Aokiji raised his hand, forming a thick ice shield in front of him. Marco's kick shattered the shield, but Aokiji behind it leaned back, dodging the kick.
"Impressive power!" Aokiji praised, then suddenly reached out to grab Marco's ankle.
"Not good!" Marco was startled and twisted his body, forcing his foot downward to avoid Aokiji's grasp.
Unlike Ace's flames, Marco's flames, though they burned fiercely, had no heat. They were a very special kind of flame. Moreover, his Phoenix Fruit was essentially a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, so he had a physical body. If Aokiji caught him, he would be frozen instantly—his flames couldn't melt Aokiji's ice!
Failing to grab him, Marco flapped his wings and retreated. Aokiji didn't pursue but scratched his head and said to Marco, "Phoenix Marco... you'd better step aside. I'm here for Fire Fist Ace!"
"Then I definitely can't step aside!" Marco smiled, blocking in front of Ace.
"Is that really a good idea?" Aokiji frowned, pointing to the battlefield on the left.
As he spoke, a deafening barrage of cannon fire erupted again. Marco and Ace turned to see that from the Marine headquarters, a large number of Marine warships were once again shelling the reef islands!
Under the Whitebeard Pirates' assault, the Marine formation was roughly divided into three parts. One part was on the left, where Marine warships were engaged with the pirates who had first appeared.
Another part was where Ace and the others were. The Marine warships there had been ambushed from underwater by the pirates and were now locked in close combat.
The remaining part was the central area, where the Marine headquarters was located. Fleet Admiral Sengoku and the three Marine Admirals were there, directing the battle.
As mentioned before, the Marines still had warships to mobilize, so they resumed bombarding the reef islands. Whitebeard hadn't appeared, so he must be hiding on one of the islands. By blanketing all the islands with cannon fire, they could force him out.
Sure enough, seeing the Marines start shelling again, Ace and Marco grew anxious. Little Oars Jr. angrily raised his hand and slapped it toward Aokiji.
But with a *splash*, Little Oars Jr.'s hand struck Aokiji, shattering his entire body.
Aokiji turned into ice, so even if shattered, it didn't matter. But Little Oars Jr. didn't know that and was stunned for a moment when he saw Aokiji's body break apart.
Just then, Aokiji's body suddenly reformed at Little Oars Jr.'s feet, and he placed his hand on Oars's leg.
*Crackle, crackle, crackle!* With a sound like popping beans, ice began to spread rapidly from Little Oars Jr.'s leg upward. Aokiji's terrifying cold permeated the air, and in the blink of an eye, he froze Little Oars Jr.'s entire massive body solid!
A huge ice sculpture appeared on the sea surface.
"I heard your ancestor, Oars the Continent Puller, was also frozen to death back then. There's a certain sense of fate to this, isn't there?" Aokiji looked at the frozen Little Oars Jr. with a smile.
"Oars!!!"
Marco and Ace both shouted, charging at Aokiji. His movements had been too fast; neither had expected him to freeze Little Oars Jr. so quickly, leaving them helpless.
But seeing them rush over angrily, Aokiji wagged his finger and said, "Careful! If you hit him, he won't be saved!"
This made Marco and Ace slam on the brakes, stopping in their tracks. Since Aokiji was right at Oars's feet, no one could guarantee he wouldn't suddenly shatter Oars's ice sculpture.
"Weren't you going to fight me?" Ace calmed down a bit and spoke up. "Come on, I'll be your opponent!"
"Ace!?" Marco turned to him in surprise.
"Marco, find a way to get Oars back!" Ace said in a low voice. "My fire can't thaw him out. We need to use warm water to defrost him, or he'll die! I'll hold off Aokiji. You take Oars and go!"
"Alright... alright!" Marco snapped back to reality, gritted his teeth, and quickly made a decision. "Be careful!"
Ace didn't reply. He said to Aokiji, "Let's go over there!"
With that, he leaped first, landing on a nearby shipwreck.
Aokiji said nothing, tucking his hands into his pockets and walking across the sea surface step by step.
Once Aokiji had moved away, Marco quickly went to Little Oars Jr.'s side and checked on him. To his surprise, he found that the part of Oars's body submerged in water hadn't been frozen by Aokiji. That meant moving him wouldn't be a problem.
Marco's strength wasn't enough to carry Little Oars Jr., so he had to find Jozu for help. He told the nearby pirates to keep an eye on Oars and not let the Marines attack his body, then flew off in a hurry.
Meanwhile, Ace stood face-to-face with Aokiji, neither speaking for a long time.
Finally, Aokiji scratched his head and said, "Sigh, what a hassle... Ace, out of respect for Vice Admiral Garp's past kindness to me, I won't fight you. Surrender yourself! I have to take you back."
Ace was startled to hear his grandfather's name and asked, "The old man... he's here too?"
Aokiji nodded. "In this war, one side will fall. Don't make things hard for him..."
"I can only apologize to the old man," Ace shook his head with a bitter smile. "I've never been an obedient kid anyway. He probably understands... Even if I die, I have to save Old Man!"
"...Then it seems there's nothing to discuss," Aokiji said regretfully. "One last question: Where is Ian!?"
"How would I know—" Ace started, but then his expression froze. He took off his hat, fumbled inside it, and pulled out a small piece of paper.
The paper in his palm began to twitch and move slightly.
"A Vivre Card!?" Aokiji recognized it immediately and suddenly realized that this was likely Ian's Vivre Card.
The Vivre Card in Ace's hand moved, slowly pointing in a certain direction—toward Ian's location. Ace observed it for a moment and noticed something strange about its movement.
It seemed to be pointing... upward!?
Ace looked up suspiciously toward the sky and saw that, above the Edd War reef islands, a large cloud had silently drifted in.
And this cloud was moving at a steady pace, slowly heading toward the center of the reef islands.
Seeing this cloud, Ace's eyes lit up. He already understood what it meant.
Similarly, Aokiji noticed the direction the Vivre Card was pointing and, startled, followed Ace's gaze to the sky.
But unfortunately, Aokiji didn't know about Ian's Sky Island base, so although he saw the cloud, he couldn't figure out what was going on.
Still, that didn't stop him from realizing that Ian had already arrived. He couldn't mistake the look in Ace's eyes.
"This is bad..."