In an instant, Ace conjured a massive fireball and hurled it at the ice dome.
"Boom!"
The moment the fireball collided with the ice, it erupted with a tremendous explosion followed by the sizzling sound of ice melting.
As the noise subsided, the three of them felt a brief sense of relief. The fireball had used up a significant amount of oxygen, and the ice dome still held.
Ace's eyes nearly popped out as he saw the gap in the ice dome—it was several hundred meters deep.
He turned to Aokiji, his face grim, and asked, "How thick is this ice dome?"
"It's not that thick, only about two thousand meters," Aokiji replied nonchalantly.
"Two thousand meters?" Ace's face fell. "Is that really necessary?"
Kai's mouth twitched at Aokiji's response. He was worried they'd be trapped forever!
"If you keep us here, you'll face oxygen issues too. Why not come out and fight?" Ace suggested suddenly.
He was having trouble dealing with the situation inside. Every technique consumed too much oxygen, which was absurd!
"You're right about that. But compared to you, I'll have less trouble."
"Life Return!"
As Aokiji spoke, his body began to change, swelling slightly. He looked at Kai and Ace and said coolly:
"I possess the Life Return ability, which allows me to control various parts of my body and reduce my oxygen needs to an extremely low level."
"So, do you still think I'm like you?"
Hearing this, Ace's face darkened again. He turned to Kai and said, "The situation is dire. The oxygen problem is…"
Before Ace could finish, he saw Kai's body also changing, expanding similarly to Aokiji.
(#°Д°)!
"What… what is this?"
"Life Return," Kai replied calmly.
Ace: ….
Why do both of you know this ability? Am I the only one being left out?
Ace felt incredibly frustrated, realizing he was the only one left at a disadvantage among the three.
Aokiji, looking at Kai in shock, couldn't help but ask, "I saw you using Marine's Six Powers and now you master Life Return? How do you know both?"
"Didn't you know? I'm exceptionally talented. Mastering six styles is normal for me."
Aokiji's eyes turned icy. "In that case, I'll have to capture you and ask these questions in Impel Down!"
"Yo yo yo, General Aokiji, don't jump to conclusions. It's not up to you whether you can catch me or not."
Kai turned to Ace and said, "Hang tight. I'll break through this ice block, then you run. I'll hold him off!"
"Can you really do that? What about your escape?"
"Don't worry about my escape. In any battle, the stronger one stays behind to support. Isn't that right?"
"You…" Ace was about to retort but couldn't find the words. During the fight, he realized Kai was indeed stronger and had more diverse abilities. Unlike him, who could only create fire.
Ace felt a pang of dissatisfaction with his Mera Mera no Mi for the first time, and an old saying popped into his head.
"No dog will eat the Mera Mera fruit!"
————
After a moment's thought, Ace agreed to the plan.
Kai summoned a clone to stand beside him.
Aokiji's eyes narrowed at the sight, sensing that Kai was about to unleash something significant.
Kai smiled slightly, looked at Aokiji, and said, "Don't die too quickly from this next move!"
The two Kai clones stood on either side, each holding a staff aloft as they gathered their power.
"Not good!"
Feeling the power of Kai's move, Aokiji quickly used Shave to dodge.
When the attack reached its peak, Kai pinpointed Aokiji's location and struck.
"Hakai!"
The incredibly powerful combined attack shot toward Aokiji, moving faster than he could dodge with Shave. With its immense coverage, it was impossible to evade using elemental transformation.
"Boom!"
The attack hit the ice, causing it to shatter under the immense force, sending countless ice shards flying.
A hole was blasted through the two-kilometer-thick ice dome.
"Run!"
Kai narrowed his eyes and shouted urgently.
Just as he was about to escape, a voice echoed in his ears.
"Didn't I warn you that you'd be in trouble if you tried to leave?"
Kai's pupils contracted as he felt a sharp pain in his stomach, and his body was sent flying through the air.
Kai managed to use Moonwalk to stabilize himself before hitting the ground.
Before he could recover, an ice blade appeared and slashed toward him. Kai quickly raised his staff to block and was knocked backward again.
Seeing this, Ace wanted to help, but Kai shouted, "Go! I'll handle this!"
With that, Kai's clone grabbed Ace and used a cloud to escape.
In a critical moment, the best option was to give Ace an advantage and let him escape on the clouds.
Aokiji didn't interfere. To him, Kai was the biggest threat.
For someone so young, Kai possessed extraordinary fighting power. The recent attack had even injured Aokiji, who had barely managed to block it with an ice wall.
Reflecting on the attack, Aokiji felt a twinge of fear. If he'd been hit head-on, even he might have been seriously hurt!
Therefore, in his view, Kai was the greatest threat.
Ace would have to be dealt with later.
Of course, Aokiji was unaware that Ace was the son of Gol D. Roger. If he knew, the situation would be different.
With this in mind, Aokiji's attacks became fiercer, relentlessly bombarding Kai.
At one moment, Aokiji seized an opportunity and launched two ice spears at Kai.
Kai couldn't react in time and could only cover himself with Haki in a desperate attempt to block the attack.
Unfortunately, Kai's Haki wasn't as strong as it had been at the start of the battle.
The ice spears pierced through the Haki and struck Kai, causing blood to spurt out.
Kai was hurled more than ten meters by the force of the spears before crashing heavily to the ground.
"Ahem!"
As he landed, Kai coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Looking up at Aokiji approaching slowly, Kai managed to smile despite his dire situation.
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Power Stones would be appreciated if you liked the story.