"Barrett, get out of my way!"
Upon seeing Barrett blocking his path, Garp immediately became furious and charged forward again, swinging his fists.
It's worth noting that Garp was even older than Li Yuan, while Barrett was younger than Li Yuan. It was one thing for Li Yuan to defeat him, but now even Barrett could keep up with him, which made Garp feel a sense of aging within himself! "Hahahahaha, Garp, our Captain is not someone you can challenge as a loser. If you want to challenge our Captain, you'll have to defeat me first!"
Barrett laughed heartily, gathering the strength and weight of his fists, channeling all his power towards Garp.
Currently, aside from his own Captain, Barrett was not afraid of anyone and dared to fight anyone. A mere Garp, Barrett was confident he could defeat!
He would even dare to fight Whitebeard in his Tremor-Tremor Fruit awakened form! As Garp and Barrett engaged in battle, Aokiji took a detour, intending to deal with those Steel Battleships. After all, the firepower of those Steel Battleships was too fierce; if they continued firing, the Navy ships would suffer heavy losses.
"Ah, I see, it's the princess of the Infinite Pirates. It seems my plan has failed!"
However, just as Aokiji took a detour, he found a cold, stunning woman in a white outfit blocking his path.
The woman exuded a chilling aura similar to his own; merely standing on the sea, she instantly froze the surrounding waters within a five-hundred-meter radius.
Upon seeing Aokiji, Esdeath said nothing, and the supreme blade, Shura Sword, was instantly drawn from her waist.
"Ice Kill: Instant Slash!"
In the moment she transformed into her Human-Beast Form, the ice beneath Esdeath's feet shattered, and a white light flashed by, the extreme slash directly cleaving Aokiji in half.
However, the Aokiji that was split in two turned into shattered ice blocks, which then autonomously rushed towards Esdeath.
"Ice Shield!"
As the ice blocks charged towards Esdeath, they were blocked by multiple ice shields, and soon those ice blocks emitted an extreme cold aura, freezing the shields once again, forming another layer of ice crystals atop them.
At the same time, a humanoid ice sculpture suddenly appeared from Esdeath's side, its Armament Haki-covered fist smashing down.
"Clang!!!"
At the critical moment, Esdeath's Shura Sword blocked Aokiji's fist.
In that instant, both Aokiji's fist and Esdeath's Shura Sword unleashed a massive amount of freezing power towards each other.
"Crack crack!!"
The moment the two different freezing powers collided, countless ice crystals swept across a radius of hundreds of meters, yet neither Esdeath nor Aokiji was affected by the freezing power.
"So cold!"
After the fist and sword separated, Aokiji couldn't help but exhale a breath of cold air onto his fist, but then he froze in shock. He was a user of the Ice-Ice Fruit, yet he felt cold—this was simply the first time in over twenty years! "This woman's freezing power is developed differently from mine; she can even affect my mental state, or perhaps my soul!"
When Aokiji looked at Esdeath again, his expression became extremely serious.
While her physical freezing power might not be as strong as his, in other aspects, she far surpassed him, especially with the terrifying freezing power that could influence his soul. If she continued to develop it, she might be able to freeze an enemy's soul directly! Esdeath paid no mind to Aokiji's seriousness; she charged forward again, but this time not directly at Aokiji, but to his side.
As Esdeath landed, massive solid ice suddenly erupted from the ground, and she used it to propel herself, bursting forth with even greater speed. After several quick maneuvers, she rapidly circled around Aokiji.
Even with Aokiji's Observation Haki, he could only catch a glimpse of Esdeath's figure; her speed was simply too fast!
"Two-Pronged Spear!!"
Aokiji knew he couldn't let Esdeath build up power any longer. He immediately locked onto her figure and two massive ice crystal spears shot up from the ground towards her.
However, Esdeath seemed to have anticipated Aokiji's attack, and with a slight movement of her body, she dodged it.
"Ice Kill: Four Directions to Defeat!"
In that instant, Esdeath did not hesitate to draw her sword and slash at Aokiji. The extreme cold and sharp aura made Aokiji feel grave concern.
He saw Esdeath attacking from four directions, completely surrounding him, and he didn't even know which one was the real Esdeath! At the critical moment, Aokiji managed to dodge the slashes from the front and sides, but he was simultaneously struck by the slashes from the front and back.
Aokiji's body once again transformed into an ice sculpture, disappearing onto the icy ground, but the ice sculpture was stained with hot blood.
When Aokiji reappeared, he was a hundred meters away, with a fresh red sword wound on his shoulder.
"Fighting this woman, I really can't let my guard down at all!"
Aokiji glanced at the sword wound on his shoulder and couldn't help but grimace.
His abilities were effectively countered by Esdeath; his freezing power had no advantage against her, and the usual tactics he employed were useless, as she wielded the same powers as him.
So now, it would come down to a contest of Haki, swordsmanship, and physical strength beyond freezing powers.
"Fortunately, I was clever and didn't act immediately; otherwise, if I had to deal with that woman, I would really be a bit scared!"
As Aokiji battled Esdeath, Aramaki, wearing a bamboo helicopter like Doraemon, flew down from a height of a thousand meters, directly above the Infinite Pirates' Steel Battleships.
"Tree Man Seeds, go destroy those iron lumps!"
Aramaki did not dive down to personally destroy the Steel Battleships; instead, he waved his hand, scattering many plant seeds down.
Once these plant seeds landed on the Steel Battleships, Aramaki could make them sprout and grow, then remotely control the plants to destroy the Steel Battleships.
This method was ineffective against opponents of the same level, but it was somewhat useful for dealing with weaker foes. More importantly, Aramaki was afraid to go down personally, fearing that if Li Yuan noticed him, he would be cut down in one strike.
Ever since he was defeated by Esdeath last time, he had developed a psychological shadow. With Esdeath being so strong, he was now being targeted by her father, the world's strongest man; just thinking about it terrified him.
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