Chapter 34: Three Against Two
Ace's seastone handcuffs suddenly opened on one side. Although Sengoku was shocked, he immediately stepped forward to pick up the seastone handcuffs, enduring the full-body weakness, and locked the 'heavy' cuffs back onto Ace's hands.
There were less than three hours until Ace's execution. Only Ace and Sengoku were on the execution platform. Sengoku knew that as a Devil Fruit user, touching seastone was dangerous, but he had to do it.
Sengoku breathed a sigh of relief and looked diagonally below the execution platform, where a Den Den Mushi was hidden. Although he wanted to cut out the previous segment and not broadcast it, unfortunately, this was a live broadcast.
On the Sabaody Archipelago, bubbles floated up. The reporters beneath several large screens exchanged glances and remained silent.
"Maybe... let's just pretend we didn't see it."
A more tactful reporter spoke. If that scene just now got out, it would definitely be an indelible scandal in Navy history. The seastone handcuffs restraining the heavy criminal Portgas D. Ace had suddenly opened due to poor quality, as if it were a joke.
"Pfft~"
A reporter couldn't hold it in and laughed out loud. The other reporters around were also shaking with laughter. If it weren't for the hundred-plus grim-faced Navy soldiers nearby, they would have burst out laughing.
On the execution platform, Sengoku crouched behind Ace, examining the seastone handcuffs. He was considering whether this was due to quality issues or human interference.
"Someone come."
As soon as Sengoku spoke, a messenger quickly ran up to the execution platform.
"Go fetch another pair of seastone cuffs."
"Yes."
Just as the messenger was about to leave, Sengoku spoke again: "Wait, after getting the cuffs, inspect them carefully."
"Yes, Fleet Admiral."
The messenger hurriedly ran down the execution platform. Just as Sengoku turned around—
Click~
The crisp sound was like a nightmare. Sengoku's cheek twitched as he looked at Ace's cuffed hands. The seastone shackle had opened again.
Ace: "..."
Sengoku: "..."
Bubu Wang: 'Surprised? Unexpected?'
"You, come up to the execution platform."
Sengoku pointed to a lieutenant commander below the platform. The officer was stunned for a moment, then quickly ran up.
"Fleet Admiral, I am..."
Just as the officer was about to introduce his name and affiliated branch, Sengoku patted his shoulder.
"I have an important task for you."
"I will do my utmost!"
The officer's heart was pounding with excitement. Standing before him was the Fleet Admiral of the Navy, a figure he might never have had the chance to speak to in his lifetime. Helping him would surely lead to a bright future.
"Lock Portgas D. Ace's cuffs properly. From now on, your duty is to watch them, no matter what happens."
"?"
The officer was a bit confused, but soon noticed the seastone handcuffs lying on the ground behind Ace. He quickly stepped forward, locked the cuffs, and then crouched behind Ace, staring unblinkingly.
Seeing this officer, Bubu Wang, blending into the environment, looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle. His master was walking further and further down the path of being an old schemer. Sengoku had already stepped into the trap, or rather, it was inevitable. Who told Sengoku to be a Devil Fruit user? Touching seastone would leave him completely weak.
On the battlefield, massive ice spikes rose dozens of meters high.
Clang, clang, clang...
The crisp sound of slashes rang out. Su Xiao shattered the large swaths of ice spreading toward him, like a small boat in a storm, but only Aokiji knew that Su Xiao's situation wasn't as dangerous as it seemed.
The ice stopped spreading. A mass of ice nearly a hundred meters in diameter, shaped like a sea urchin, appeared. Aokiji pressed his hand against the ice surface, exhaling cold air that froze into fine ice crystals in the air.
Crack!
The spiky ice mass shattered. Large chunks of ice fell. Amid the falling ice, Su Xiao suddenly vanished from his spot.
"Ice Age."
Aokiji extended both hands forward. Ultra-low-temperature ice spread from in front of him. This Ice Age wasn't as exaggerated in range as before, but it was more lethal. Anyone who touched this rapidly forming ice would suffer severe frostbite, even tissue necrosis.
Su Xiao appeared before the vast ice. He swung his longsword forward repeatedly. Each slash shattered large swaths of ice while sending out blade auras.
After shattering the last large chunk of ice, Su Xiao scanned the area ahead. Aokiji had vanished. Just a fraction of a second ago, Aokiji had been right in front of him.
'Below!'
The warning from his instinct came. Su Xiao leaped from his spot. He had barely risen half a meter when a massive hand made of ice emerged from the ice surface, reaching for him.
Dragon-Slashing Flash flipped in Su Xiao's hand. With a clink, it stabbed into the palm of the ice hand. Mid-air, Su Xiao stepped on the end of Dragon-Slashing Flash to perform a second jump.
Su Xiao landed on the ice a dozen meters away. Dragon-Slashing Flash was frozen inside that massive ice hand.
Bang! Ice shards exploded beside Su Xiao. He raised his left arm to shield his face, searching for something amid the ice fragments.
A leg wreathed in cold air kicked toward him. Su Xiao crouched low while crossing his right arm in front of him. A crystal layer climbed up his arm.
Boom!
A shockwave spread, blowing away the ice fragments in the air. Aokiji had appeared right in front of Su Xiao, his leg kicking against Su Xiao's arm.
"Ah la la, where's your sword?"
Aokiji spoke while exerting force with his leg. Ice spread, quickly freezing Su Xiao inside.
With a crack, a hole opened in Aokiji's forehead. It was Banishment, but Aokiji had been guarding against this move. The hole in his head wasn't from Banishment piercing through; he had deliberately broken his elementalized body.
A dozen meters away, the massive ice hand slowly retracted into the ice surface, seemingly intending to drag Dragon-Slashing Flash into the sea, ultimately sinking it to the bottom.
With a splash, Banishment, which had flown to Su Xiao's hand, shattered and reformed into the shape of Dragon-Slashing Flash, but the blade was made of fragmented pieces, not fully assembled.
Su Xiao gripped the hilt, and his aura immediately changed. The ice on his body shattered in large pieces.
Clang!
The longsword slashed toward Aokiji. Aokiji raised his left arm. An arm shield formed of ice appeared on his forearm, perfectly blocking the incoming blade. While blocking Su Xiao's attack, Aokiji thrust a nearly two-meter-long ice spike in his right hand toward Su Xiao. This thin-tipped ice spike clearly had strong penetrating power, aimed straight at Su Xiao's throat.
With a crack, the longsword that had struck the ice shield shattered. But Aokiji felt his hair stand on end.
With a splash, the fragmented blade bypassed the ice shield and reformed into a blade tip.
The longsword slashed through. Drops of blood splattered. A wound opened on Aokiji's chin. His pupils contracted. Cold air instantly froze the wound on his jaw.
Aokiji stepped back half a step, reaching for his chin. With a crack, he forcibly tore off a piece of frozen skin from his jaw and threw it to the ground.
The frozen skin shattered as soon as it hit the ground. Two tiny fragments flew out, converging on the longsword in Su Xiao's hand.
The longsword changed shape, forming a hiltless rapier. Under Su Xiao's control, it stabbed toward that massive ice hand, which now only had a fingertip exposed.
Bang, bang, bang...
Banishment pierced the ice hand within the ice layer to pieces. Su Xiao raised his hand, and Dragon-Slashing Flash flew out of the ice pit.
With a slap, Su Xiao caught the hilt of Dragon-Slashing Flash. The hilt was a bit cold.
"My sword is right here."
Su Xiao exerted force in his hand, shattering the ice on the blade. This battle, lasting less than a minute, was extremely dangerous. Whether it was Su Xiao or Aokiji, one slip would mean death.
Boom!
The entire ice surface shook. Several Navy soldiers flew near Su Xiao and Aokiji, their faces covered in blood, wounds on their bodies like cracked earth. This was damage from the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
"Kura la la la, Aokiji brat."
Whitebeard charged forward with a naginata. The pressure made Aokiji instinctively clench his fist.
"Great Eruption."
Fists of magma flew toward Whitebeard. Whitebeard didn't stop his charge. He swung his naginata with fierce momentum, shattering the magma fists in a few strikes.
Whoosh! A golden beam shot toward Whitebeard's chest. Whitebeard held his naginata horizontally in front of him. A white glow appeared at the tip of the weapon.
Boom!
An explosion occurred. Whitebeard waved his arm.
Akainu and Kizaru had both arrived. As for Marco, who had been stalling Kizaru earlier, he was now locked in combat with a man so muscular he seemed inhuman. A little boy was cheering him on. Despite the boy's cute appearance, he was spewing vulgarities.
Gurgle...
Magma churned. Akainu, his face dark and wearing a dark red suit, spoke:
"Whitebeard, your era is over."
While staring at Whitebeard, Akainu glanced at the Moby Dick out of the corner of his eye. His previously arranged plan had failed. The pirate he had 'turned' had yet to show up, failing to ambush Whitebeard.