Chapter 50: Do You Know Fish-Man Karate?
In the reflection of Hanafuda's narrowed, reptilian pupils, Roy's fist shot forward.
The next moment, the familiar fluctuation erupted again.
But Roy's fist wasn't aimed at Hanafuda's ship. It was aimed... at the sea below!
VMMM!
A surge of freezing cold exploded outward.
And then...
The cold began to spread.
Crack! CRACK! CRACK!
The surging ocean currents froze in an instant.
Fish swimming below were trapped in ice.
Even the wind seemed to carry shards of ice, and the moisture in the air turned to frost.
The sea parted just as before, but this time, the waves didn't crash back down. Instead, they solidified into massive walls of ice.
Yes.
With a single punch—the sea surrounding the 'Great Dinosaur Fleet' was completely frozen!
"Aokiji's ability? No... not exactly. What is that fluctuation..."
Seeing this, Hanafuda immediately thought of Admiral Aokiji.
But he quickly dismissed it. He had never heard of Aokiji using a move that combined such intense light and shockwaves.
But Hanafuda didn't have time to think.
BOOM!
His ship, the Tyrannosaurus, slammed into the ice and came to a jarring halt.
To be precise—it wasn't just his ship.
The entire 'Great Dinosaur Fleet' had been frozen in place by that single punch.
But here was the problem...
"That punch had enough power to destroy any of my ships... Why didn't he?"
Hanafuda muttered the question to himself.
If it were any other Marine, he could find a reason—maybe they didn't want to offend a Warlord, or maybe they feared his connection to Kaido of the Beasts.
But Hanafuda knew...
None of those reasons applied here.
Because he could see the Marine's eyes.
What kind of eyes were those?
Cold, calm, determined. Without a hint of hesitation or retreat... Those were not the eyes of someone planning to stop.
And he was right.
In the very next instant, Hanafuda saw Roy move again.
He raised his hand once more.
But this time... it was his right fist!
VMMM!
Golden fluctuations swirled again, but this time, crimson light mingled within them!
It was the color of extreme heat.
Inside Roy's arm, something scorching seemed to flow, turning his limb red.
"Flame Wave Fist: Boiling Sea!"
"ROAR!"
At that moment, Hanafuda's face changed drastically.
"ABANDON SHIP! ALL HANDS!"
He let out a roar like a beast.
As a top-tier Ancient Zoan user, his animal instincts were sharp.
And right now, every instinct was screaming... This attack is dangerous!
...
Meanwhile, on the distant sea.
Fwoosh!
The flames in the Spadille's exhaust ports slowly died down.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Drenched in sweat, Ace knelt on the deck, gasping for air. "Damn it... that injury earlier..."
As Hanafuda had said, powering the ship with his ability at such intensity was exhausting.
"Ace! Rest for a bit!"
"Captain Ace, are you okay?"
Deuce and the other mobile crew members struggled to their feet.
"I'm fine."
Ace waved them off, taking a bottle of water and chugging it. "Hah... Did they follow us?"
While focusing on the escape, he hadn't been able to check behind them.
"No... Actually, the situation back there is a little weird."
Deuce's expression was strange.
"Weird?"
Ace looked back.
They were too far to see clearly—only the tiny dots of Hanafuda's ships and...
"The sea is frozen?"
Seeing the frozen waves, Ace was stunned.
"That's not Hanafuda's ability..."
He had fought Hanafuda; he knew the Warlord couldn't do that.
So the only explanation was...
"That Marine named Roy?"
Ace whispered the name he had just learned.
"We think so too," Deuce analyzed seriously. "He must be fighting Hanafuda, and the ice is probably his ability..."
The other Spade Pirates nodded in agreement.
But a moment later, their discussion stopped.
Because everyone, including Ace, saw it.
In the distant sky, something crimson appeared.
It was something Ace knew well—flames born of intense heat!
"Is that... Captain's 'Fire Fist'?"
His crewmates instinctively asked.
"No!"
Ace denied it in his heart.
He watched the massive pillar of fire, wrapped in a powerful shockwave, hurtling toward Hanafuda's fleet!
He could clearly see the ash left in the wake of the roaring flames.
His instincts told him—that fire seemed even stronger than his own.
But Ace didn't have time to think.
He saw the torrent of fire sweep across the sea, piercing straight through Hanafuda's fleet.
BOOM!
A colossal explosion of fire and dust rose from the frozen sea, blotting out the sky. A massive shockwave rippled outward in all directions.
"Hanafuda's fleet is finished!"
Even from this distance, Deuce was certain. After that strike, not a single ship in that fleet would survive!
But immediately, a bigger question arose.
"Who launched that attack?"
A crew member asked.
Silence fell over the ship.
The answer wasn't hard to guess.
The fluctuation within that massive flame shockwave... they had just seen it firsthand.
Only Ace's whisper could be heard on the ship.
"Roy Amos..."
...
"Hey, hey! Are you kidding me!? The Captain is terrifyingly strong now!"
Clearly, the Spade Pirates weren't the only ones thinking this. The Detention Unit Marines were equally shocked.
Hans and Fal were waiting on the deck.
They had followed Roy's orders to send men to search for the injured crew and repair the ship.
But they hadn't fully obeyed. Instead of hiding, they stood armed on the deck, ready to fight if Roy fell.
But reality far exceeded their imagination.
Even through the thick smoke, they could see the devastation on the frozen sea nearby.
The 'Great Dinosaur Fleet' was indeed almost annihilated.
The six escort ships had vanished into the center of the explosion, leaving only burning debris.
The only ship still somewhat intact was the flagship, Tyrannosaurus—but even it had snapped in half, its entire hull melted and pierced.
"Two hits, and he took out a legendary Warlord's fleet..."
The Marines felt dizzy.
"Um... do you think that's really the Captain? Maybe it's Admiral Zephyr in disguise..."
Hans's logic was, as always, unique.
"What are you talking about? Of course it's the Captain!"
Fal punched him. "But freezing the sea and setting it on fire... Did Admiral Zephyr give the Captain a Devil Fruit?"
"Oh, you're right!"
Hans realized. "That's it—Admiral Zephyr isn't an ability user, so he can't be the one pretending to be the Captain..."
"Are you even listening to me!?"
While the two argued...
"You two made two mistakes."
They saw Roy descend from the sky using Geppo, landing back on the warship.
His expression was calm, even carrying a hint of satisfaction.
"First, everyone knows I'm not an ability user and haven't eaten a Devil Fruit... As for what you just saw, that was still the 'Wave Fist'."
He looked at the skeptical Fal and Hans with a straight face.
"Recently, Teacher Zephyr told me that the Fish-Man martial art, 'Fish-Man Karate', can manipulate moisture in the air."
"That gave me some inspiration, so I created a new style of Wave Fist—'Ice Wave Fist'."
As he spoke, blue ripples appeared on his hand.
"Besides that, Teacher also told me about a sword style in Wano called 'Foxfire Style' that can generate and cut fire. He said many people can use friction to manipulate flames—I even know a pirate and his cook who use similar moves."
"I developed that idea a bit, and created a second style—'Flame Wave Fist'."
His explanation was, of course, complete nonsense.
The two 'new styles' were essentially the Daibutsu Fruit combined with the heat and cold effects of the Magma-Magma and Ice-Ice Fruits.
Using shockwaves to diffuse these effects created the powerful attacks they witnessed.
Previously, the stamina drain of using two Logias and a Mythical Zoan simultaneously was too high for practical combat.
But now, thanks to his physical training... he could handle it!
As for the lack of scientific basis for his 'new Wave Fist styles'... that didn't matter.
Because...
"I see!"
"So that's how it is!"
"As expected of Admiral Zephyr's disciple!"
"As expected of the Captain!"
Hearing his words, the Marines believed him without hesitation.
Roy wasn't surprised.
This was the key.
If the old, ordinary Major Roy Amos had suddenly shown such power, it would be suspicious.
But now, things were different.
He was the official disciple of the legendary Marine Admiral, the greatest instructor, 'Black Arm' Zephyr.
And almost every Marine grew up hearing legends about Zephyr!
So... Zephyr's disciple getting stronger quickly? What's so strange about that?
"In Teacher Zephyr's eyes, I am a 'monster-level genius'."
"In other Marines' eyes, I am the 'disciple of a legend'."
Roy grinned.
"So now... I can be a little more reckless with my power."
After a brief moment of awe, Hans and Fal came back to their senses.
"Captain, you said we made two mistakes... what was the other one?"
Fal asked curiously.
Hearing this, Roy laughed again.
"The second mistake is thinking I took out a Warlord in one hit."
"I've gotten stronger, sure, but taking out a guy like that in one shot... is still a bit difficult."
As Roy's words fell...
"MARINE!"
Hans and Fal heard a roar that echoed across the sea.
And then...
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Heavy, booming footsteps shook the ice.
It sounded like a monster walking.
Then, everyone saw it.
From the smoke billowing around the ruined Tyrannosaurus...
A massive, monstrous figure walked out of the fire.
☆☆☆
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