"What do you think, Admiral Aokiji!"
The Hero-King grinned. Beneath his smile, however, hid an endless danger.
A dense barrage of treasures poured down like a torrential rain.
Seeing this, Aokiji had no choice but to get serious.
Facing the heaven-shaking rain of treasures, Aokiji's expression was calm. He instantly raised his right hand, and the next moment, his entire arm turned to ice and was suddenly unleashed.
"Pheasant Beak!"
Following Aokiji's cold snort, a giant ice bird instantly flew out from his right arm, meeting the Hero-King's cluster of treasures with an overwhelmingly fierce aura.
Boom! Boom! Boom—
The moment the two sides collided, the sound of the sky shattering rang out.
The vision of both the Hero-King and Aokiji was completely obscured by the shattered ice.
Watching this scene, the Hero-King's face couldn't help but show a look of contempt.
"Why... does everyone think that they can defeat this king just by closing the distance? When did they get such a delusion?"
The Hero-King scoffed at this.
Be it Magellan or Aokiji.
After seeing the Hero-King's excellent long-range attacks, their first method of breaking through was to close the distance.
But...
Don't they know that Archers are actually best at close combat?
In an instant, the Hero-King saw through Aokiji's actions, because... it was too easy to understand.
Using the shattered ice as cover to close the distance with the Hero-King, followed by a fatal blow.
"Magellan already fell for that once before. To think that an Admiral would still walk the same old path!!! It truly makes this king regretful. I thought this battle would be a fine tale, but my enjoyment has been ruined like this."
The moment his voice fell, the Hero-King was now fully focused, not daring to be distracted in the slightest.
The next moment, his expression hardened, and behind him, a dense array of golden ripples instantly burst forth.
"Chains of Heaven!!"
The golden chains swept out, instantly binding a figure within the shattered ice.
This figure was less than five meters from the Hero-King. In another second, he could have completely frozen the Hero-King, but he was intercepted by a hair's breadth.
Aokiji's figure was revealed from within the ice. Looking at the Hero-King before him, he couldn't help but praise him.
"Impressive... can you tell me your Devil Fruit ability?"
"It is not a Devil Fruit ability, but merely this king's treasury. Including these Chains of Heaven, they are all part of this king's collection!"
A look of pleasure appeared on the Hero-King's face, like a strong person showing off their treasury without reservation.
"Is that so? That's fine... but, do you think chains can bind ice?"
In an instant, cold air spread over Aokiji's entire body. Crack, crack. The ice followed the path of the Chains of Heaven, freezing all the golden chains, and even spreading towards the treasury itself.
He thought the chains would shatter in an instant, but they remained as solid as a rock.
Seeing this, the Hero-King laughed heartily without concealment.
"What a pity. The Chains of Heaven are no ordinary collector's item. Even the legendary Bull of Heaven could not easily break free. Do you think mere ice can shatter them?"
The next moment, sensing something was wrong, Aokiji instantly locked his target on the Hero-King himself.
"Ice Time Capsule!!"
"Too slow! You should have made that choice sooner!"
The Hero-King grinned. At this moment, the rain of treasures was already aimed at Aokiji and instantly poured down.
A hail of bullets like a machine gun directly shattered Aokiji's ice, and then pierced through his chest.
The next moment, Aokiji's body was blasted towards the sea like a cannonball!!
"Admiral Kuzan!!"
Seeing this, the Marines below couldn't help but show looks of worry.
As he fell towards the sea, Aokiji's entire body shattered into pieces of ice. The moment he touched the sea's surface, crack, crack—
The sea began to freeze with Aokiji at the center, instantly extending for over a hundred meters.
"Arara... it seems my one-hit kill failed!! This is a bit tricky!"
In just an instant, Aokiji reformed his human shape, standing in the center of the frozen sea.
"This ability is rather strange. I'll have to report it to my superiors."
At the same time, Aokiji was a bit puzzled.
"It's like all my moves were seen through... as if he knew what techniques I had. Is it my imagination?"
...Is he just that experienced in battle?
Saying this, Aokiji shook his head and didn't think much more about it.
"Well, although he's the culprit... letting him leave isn't a huge deal. At worst, I'll get an earful from Sengoku... The trickiest ones should be those guys from the sixth level. They should be getting out soon, right!?"
Aokiji stopped bothering with the Hero-King.
In terms of priority, suppressing the Impel Down riot was the primary choice.
Above, the Hero-King's ruby eyes watched Aokiji below. Seeing that he didn't seem to intend to pursue, the Hero-King felt a little bored.
"Has he given up?"
The Hero-King smiled, not finding it surprising.
Aokiji knew that against the Hero-King, who possessed aerial mobility, pursuit was useless. Moon Walk offered flexibility, but in terms of mobility, it was far inferior to the Hero-King's Vimana.