Chapter 119: Ice

He had indeed been frozen solid at the time.

However...

Even now, Aokiji still could not fathom how Morley had broken free. Though bewildered, such matters were now of no consequence. With the Revolutionary Army involved, the nature of the situation had clearly shifted.

"I’m still on leave, but since I’ve stumbled into this..."

Aokiji stood with his hands in his pockets, a wisp of chilling mist emanating from his body, giving the impression that the very air was on the verge of freezing. He strode toward the group in the distance. Wherever he stepped, the ground instantly turned to ice, spreading outward in tandem with the frigid vapor. The aura of an Admiral was on full display.

Aokiji’s arrival was like a biting wind blowing straight from the heart of winter; his mere appearance turned the tide of the battle completely. Gion and Wolf-Rat, who had been on the defensive, instantly swapped positions with their adversaries. Conversely, Morley and the others felt a surge of alarm.

Watching Aokiji’s entrance, Tatamu, who had been ruthlessly suppressing Wolf-Rat, decisively ceased his attack and retreated, quickly closing the distance to where Morley and Sabo were standing. On the other side, Morley, who had been dominating Gion, also assessed the situation and adjusted accordingly.

"Get lost!"

With a shrill cry from Morley, a massive trident stabbed directly at the blade of the long sword in Gion's hand. A tremendous force followed, and Gion’s body went flying backward like a cannonball. Whether by coincidence or design, the direction in which Gion flew was exactly where Aokiji stood. After "pushing" Gion away, Morley took a few dainty, slightly bashful steps to rendezvous with Morley and Sabo.

"Run!"

The four men exchanged a glance and spoke in unison. Following this, with Morley leading the way, they did not head for the tunnels previously dug but charged straight toward the Wall Mountain.

Wolf-Rat watched them flee but did not blindly pursue. He was not foolish; with Gion sent flying, what difference would it make if he, with his smaller stature, recklessly gave chase? Besides, with Admiral Aokiji present, it was no longer his place to exert himself.

Aokiji watched Gion flying toward him, and without dodging or flinching, he raised his hands to catch her steadily. With Aokiji's assistance, Gion dissipated the momentum and remained uninjured.

"Aokiji." Gion landed and looked at him.

"I seem to have arrived at quite the right time." Aokiji scratched his cheek, cold mist seeping from his fingers. Before he had even finished speaking, he had already taken to the air, pursuing the fleeing group.

The aerial pursuit quickly closed the gap. While in mid-air, Aokiji’s body was covered in patches of frost, and amidst the swirling cold, his previously languid demeanor had vanished entirely.

"Ice Age."

Looking down at his targets, Aokiji did not hesitate to unleash his ultimate technique. The cold air radiating from his body suddenly condensed into his palms, transforming into two visible waves of frigid energy that roared toward the fleeing men.

The cold waves were ferocious. Morley acted decisively, leaping out of the attack's path. Sabo and the others followed suit. Only Morley, being a giant, did not jump and continued to run toward the Wall Mountain. The cold waves missed their mark and slammed into the ground. However, they did not vanish upon impact; instead, they surged across the ground like a tidal wave, rolling toward the mountain. Wherever they passed, the ground froze instantly.

Morley and the others were still suspended in the air and remained untouched, but Morley was still running on the ground. As the cold wave swept over his feet, it took less than two seconds to freeze his massive frame into an ice sculpture.

"Morley!" Sabo, mid-air, saw his expression change.

After freezing Morley, the cold wave did not stop, continuing to spread forward. The ground, and even the corpses of the pirates previously slain by Gion, were frozen solid in an instant. It did not end there; the cold wave continued until it reached the Wall Mountain. Under the gaze of the group, the mountain that divided Mad Hatter Island in two was forcibly frozen into an iceberg. At the same time, the hole in the wall that served as their escape route was ruthlessly sealed, with the cold air seeping inside and filling the passage with solid ice.

The terrifying power of a Logia-type Devil Fruit was laid bare in that moment. Standing on the ice, Morley and the others felt a sense of dread as they gathered around the frozen statue of Morley. Wisps of chill radiated from the massive sculpture; even standing near it, they could feel the biting cold.

"Morley!" Sabo looked up at him with concern. Morley looked at the completely frozen mountain, his heart heavy. This was Aokiji at full power...

With their escape route sealed, it meant they would have to face an Aokiji who was no longer holding back. Most importantly, Morley, the strongest fighter in their squad, had been taken out in a single stroke. Just as Morley was thinking this, a faint sound came from the giant ice sculpture. Morley, Sabo, and Tatamu could not help but step back a few paces.

As the sound grew louder, the cold, hard ice on Morley’s body began to be scraped off from top to bottom by an invisible force, as if it were soft taffy.

In this manner, Morley broke free from the ice in just a few moments. Seeing him emerge, Sabo and the others let out a sigh of relief.

"Annoying Aokiji!" After breaking free, Morley puffed out his cheeks and glared viciously at Aokiji, who was descending from the sky onto the ice.

"My, my, you just 'pushed' the ice off, didn't you?" Aokiji looked calmly at the scantily clad Morley, ignoring the indignant glare. Giants were uncommon, and a giant who had consumed a Devil Fruit was rarer still. In Aokiji's eyes, Morley, one of the four commanders of the Revolutionary Army, was not someone who could be easily dealt with. To prevent Morley from using his abilities to "push" a path of escape for the others, Aokiji took the initiative.

"You guys go first!" Seeing Aokiji charging, Morley gripped his large trident and braced himself. Among everyone present, only he had the strength to withstand Aokiji's assault. The others understood this well; after a brief exchange of glances, they turned and fled. Although the tunnels were frozen, they could still pass around the side of the Wall Mountain; even if the terrain did not allow for climbing, it would simply be a matter of jumping into the sea.

Aokiji looked at the direction they were fleeing and instantly grasped their intentions. Just as he was about to freeze them solid, Morley swung his massive trident toward his head.

*Whoosh!*

Aokiji’s upper body was instantly shattered into ice fragments by the trident. But the scattered shards, as if time were reversing, gathered again and attached themselves directly to the weapon.

"Ice Time."

The cold spread instantly along the trident and onto Morley, freezing him into an ice sculpture once more in the blink of an eye. Having frozen Morley again in a single encounter, Aokiji turned to pursue the others. With a flick of his hand, another wave of cold energy was unleashed.

"Watch out!" Tatamu’s expression shifted. Relying on the physical advantages granted by his beast-transformation, he reached out to grab the collars of Morley and Sabo, then hurled them forward with all his might.

The cold wave crashed down. In an instant, everything within a radius of fifty or sixty meters, including Tatamu, was frozen solid by the frigid air.

"Tatamu!"

A wave of despair washed over them.