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Beneath the sea.
On the warship, Sengoku and the others stood in silence. From the deck, Garp, who had never eaten a Devil Fruit, suddenly leapt forth. With a single stride, his body shot out like a sharp arrow, piercing straight toward the enormous water sphere.
"That brat… did he condense the seawater together and use its inherent gravity to bind the water molecules, sealing Aokiji inside?"
Narrowing his eyes, Garp plunged headfirst into the massive water sphere.
The instant he entered, a heavy dragging force surrounded him, tugging his body and involuntarily pulling him along with the rotation of the water sphere.
"This kind of technique… It's a natural nemesis against Devil Fruit ability users!" Garp's brows furrowed deeply as he threw out a punch.
The overwhelming force blasted open a hollow inside the sphere, making the outer surface bulge outward. Then, shaking his body, he surged again toward where Aokiji was trapped.
Garp's swimming speed was extraordinary, no different from running on land. In barely a dozen breaths, he reached the frozen mass that encased Aokiji.
"That kid Aokiji is clever enough. By sealing himself inside the ice, he avoided the sphere's restraint and managed to preserve a trace of life."
Seeing Aokiji's eyes closed within the ice, Garp secretly nodded.
Then he turned his head and noticed the pitch-black chains deeply embedded in the frozen block.
"These chains… there's a strange power on them. It seems to suppress both spirit and body. Some kind of bizarre Devil Fruit ability?"
Frowning slightly, Garp clenched his right hand, Armament Haki swirling around it, and tugged.
Clatter!
The black chains were slowly pulled out.
Even without testing further, Garp knew: with these chains present, rescuing Aokiji would be even more difficult. His hands blurred into motion, and one by one, he yanked every last chain out.
His cheeks puffed slightly as streams of bubbles escaped his mouth, his chest caving inward from the pressure.
"We need to hurry… the deep-sea pressure isn't easy to bear!"
Fixing his gaze, Garp looked at the massive block of ice before him. His right fist clenched again and smashed down violently.
Boom!
Within the water sphere, an explosion of brute force erupted, torrents of seawater surging outward like writhing serpents.
Crack-crack!
Immediately, fractures began crawling across the ice's hard surface. Garp's other fist tightened and crashed down once more.
Boom!
The seawater surged even more violently, churning furiously. The giant block of ice shattered completely.
Gurgle, gurgle!
Aokiji, who had been sealed in the center, instantly awoke. The flood of seawater drowned him, leaving his body weak, his eyes flickering with surprise.
"Vice Admiral Garp!" Upon seeing the square-jawed man before him, Aokiji felt his heart ease at last.
Overwhelmed by weakness and the suffocating sea, he closed his eyes and fell unconscious. Garp grabbed hold of Aokiji, kicked his legs, and shot upward like a flying fish, racing toward the warship.
Barely a dozen breaths later, both Garp and Aokiji landed back on the deck.
"Check his condition immediately," Sengoku commanded in a deep voice.
At once, a high-ranking officer skilled in medicine stepped forward, his face grave as he examined Aokiji's body.
"Helmsman, turn the ship. We're heading back!" Sengoku ordered. The warship swiftly turned around, sailing back the way it had come.
Hidden beneath the sea, with Devil Fruit ability users masking their presence and aura, Sengoku felt more confident about their withdrawal. So long as the enemy remained unaware, this mission could already be deemed a success.
Very soon, the warship had left the waters near Cauliflower Harbor and was heading toward its next destination.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!" At this moment, Aokiji suddenly sat up, hacking out mouthfuls of seawater.
"This time… I was really lucky to survive." Slowly getting to his feet, Aokiji's voice was heavy and grim.
"Aokiji, you may not fully understand the situation right now," Sengoku said in a low, solemn tone. "But this is not the time for explanations. We must return to Marine Headquarters as quickly as possible."
"Before that, you need to adjust your condition. Be ready for battle at any moment!"
As long as they hadn't completely escaped from the enemy's area of military deployment, there could be no real safety. Aokiji nodded, flexing his wrists. But when he saw the lineup aboard this warship, his expression darkened further.
The very presence of these people spoke volumes about how seriously, and how warily, the Marines regarded the enemy he had faced.
As the warship sailed onward, another four or five minutes passed.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku! Someone's on our tail, we've been discovered!" The Marine observer's urgent cry rang out.
Everyone whipped their heads around, faces instantly hardening.
In the dim light beneath the waves, trails in the water suddenly appeared. And in front of those trails, they could clearly see streamlined projectiles: pointed triangular tips, cylindrical bodies, and moving at terrifying speed.
"These are Qin's Nation's underwater torpedoes! They'll explode, be careful!" Sengoku, who had thoroughly studied Qin's Nation, immediately shouted the warning.
At once, a Vice Admiral strode forward, drew the long blade from his waist, and slashed violently.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A rapid string of detonations burst out, the seawater below turning viscous as countless bubbles churned upward.
"Full speed! We're surfacing!"
Sengoku's eyes flashed as he glanced behind them. More and more underwater weapons were closing in, forcing him to bellow the command.
"Yes, sir!"
The equipment pursuing them from behind wasn't especially massive, like miniature submarines, but there were so many of them that everyone's scalps went numb. Sengoku knew all too well: with Devil Fruit ability users on board, fighting beneath the sea would severely cripple their combat strength.
The warship turned and surged upward. Minutes later, it broke through the surface of the sea.
"We're out!" With a sharp pop, the protective coating burst. The warship rocked several times on the waves before gradually steadying.
The Vice Admirals quickly turned back to see if the enemy had followed. But what entered their sight made their pupils shrink.
The swarm of submarine equipment that had been pursuing them had now stopped, several hundred meters away. In their place, three colossal warships loomed, arranged in a triangular formation, enclosing them.
And on the deck of the vessel directly facing them stood figures they knew all too well.
"Qin's Nation King, Ying Zheng!"
"Uchiha Madara!"
"The Three Admirals of Qin's Nation!"
"And those six others!"
There weren't many surrounding them, but without a doubt, every single one was peak-level combat power. Especially those standing on the warship directly before them, Sengoku and the others' expressions grew heavier than stone in an instant.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku," A voice rang out, "You've come to my Qin's Nation as a guest."
"Why didn't you think to inform me?"
(End of Chapter)