Marineford War: I Will Stand in the Sky

In normal blizzard weather, this situation would never occur, no matter how drastically the temperature drops.

Is anyone there?

When this guess popped into Marco's mind, he almost subconsciously locked onto the only man in the entire ocean who possessed this ability—Admiral Aokiji Kuzan!

Immediately, cold sweat broke out on Marco's forehead as he found himself in the blizzard.

The "Naval Hero" Vice Admiral Yann was always lurking far behind the "Whitebeard Pirates" fleet. If "Admiral Aokiji" Kuzan were to secretly appear here, he might pose a threat to the "Whitebeard Pirates".

not to mention……

Marco looked toward Whitebeard and was shocked to find that Whitebeard was practically steaming, panting heavily. Clearly, the attack had taken a heavy toll on Whitebeard's body.

'No, I must persuade Dad not to waste all his energy on such a gigantic creature as the pure gold lanternfish…'

Just as Marco, still in his phoenix form, was about to land next to Whitebeard, he suddenly felt the temperature dropping drastically!

The next moment, Marco suddenly turned his head to look in the direction of the pure gold lanternfish, and suddenly saw four ice dragons, comparable in size to giant sea kings, emerging from the four corners of the pure gold lanternfish. They had a lifelike appearance that was somewhat similar to Kaido's blue dragon form, but they exuded an incredibly cold aura and surrounded the pure gold lanternfish in the middle.

"What is that??"

This sudden change almost instantly alerted all the members of the Whitebeard Pirates. Whitebeard also gripped the Murakumogiri, which was stuck in the ice, with a serious expression. His gaze was fixed on a spot on the ice not far in front of him.

Immediately, the ice surface shattered, and a man wearing a mask whose appearance was obscured, with snowflake-colored hair, walked out step by step. The most eye-catching feature was the ice dragon that seemed to be wrapped around the man's body.

"Who?!"

The white-bearded man uttered a soft shout.

Faced with Whitebeard's questioning, Yann, who had deliberately changed his hair color, first glanced in the direction of the pure gold lanternfish, and then plunged his Zanpakuto into the ice.

Instantly, the giant ice dragons that emerged from the four directions surrounding the pure gold lanternfish spun in the air and then crashed into the pure gold lanternfish in the center.

"Click-clack..."

The sound of freezing echoed as if it were real. The four ice dragons that crashed into the pure gold lanternfish froze the pure gold lanternfish, while their bodies, still connected to the ice surface, remained like shackles on the ice. The small lake of blood was also instantly frozen, restricting the movement of the pure gold lanternfish.

For a moment, the pure gold lanternfish that had left the entire Whitebeard Pirates somewhat helpless seemed to have been completely frozen in place.

'Where...where did this monster come from?'

As the members of the Whitebeard Pirates stared at Arn with shocked eyes, they became even more vigilant, subtly surrounding him.

Only then did Yann slowly speak.

"Hueco Mundo, Hyōrinmaru."

Whitebeard first showed a hint of surprise, then glanced at Arn's clothes and mask, and asked, "Hmm? Is that your name?"

"Ah."

Yaen responded coldly, then looked up at the top of his head, where the last petal of the ice flower was gradually withering away.

"What is your purpose in coming here?" the white-bearded man demanded.

"Do not……"

"You've trespassed into my hunting grounds," Yaen replied coldly.

"Your hunting grounds?" the white-bearded man asked.

“That’s right, the golden lanternfish is my prey, and you’re the ones who barged in…”

After a pause, Yann continued, "However, thanks to you all for helping me restrain the pure gold lanternfish, I had ample time to unleash my true power."

As Yann finished speaking, the ice that had been freezing the pure gold lanternfish suddenly cracked, and the giant ice dragons that had been restraining the fish shattered one by one.

The last petal of ice above Yaen shattered completely, and the ice dragon that had been coiling around Yaen gradually dissipated.

When spiritual pressure is weak, it is a sign that the power of "Bankai: Daiguren Hyōrinmaru" is exhausted and it is about to be forced to release its "Bankai state".

However, when the spiritual pressure is sufficient to bear all the power of "Bankai: Daiguren Hyorinmaru", it signifies that the slow-to-warm-up Daiguren Hyorinmaru is about to fully unleash all its power.

However, the next moment, Arn, who now possessed a quantified spiritual pressure of approximately "thirty-three carts", felt an incredibly heavy burden.

No...not enough...

Having vaguely anticipated this, Aon did not hesitate to decompose the "Soul-Slaying Blade: Black Rope Heavenly Punishment King" into spiritual pressure, raising his own spiritual pressure to a new level.

Seven carts!

At this moment, Yann's total spiritual pressure increased to the level of forty carts!

at last……

"Whoo~"

Unintentionally, Yann exhaled a breath, which completely froze the mask on his face into solid ice, and some parts of his body turned into pure white ice blocks that were completely different from the previous bluish ice.

"Complete Liberation - Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"

Even though Arn had long tried to understand this power in the spiritual space, he was still incredibly amazed when he finally grasped it.

[Chapter 675. The Exploding Golden Lantern]

"From now on, please do not disturb my hunt, Whitebeard..."

As Yann spoke in a cold tone, he swiftly darted toward the pure gold lanternfish that was frantically destroying the ice below.

"Who does that bastard think he is? How dare he talk like that?"

"That damned guy..."

"What nonsense! Do you really think you can take down that colossal creature?"

……

Just as many members of the "Whitebeard Pirates" were expressing their dissatisfaction with Yone's contemptuous attitude, Yone, who was rapidly approaching the pure gold lanternfish, raised his left hand and a crystal-clear ice spear formed...

"I've been wanting to try out Kuzan's moves like this for a long time..."

As Yann muttered something to himself, he suddenly hurled the ice spear in his hand at the pure gold lanternfish.

"Whoosh!"

A chill pierced the sky!

When the ice spear struck the golden lanternfish, it didn't penetrate it. Instead, it rapidly froze everything around the point of contact, instantly creating a huge ice flower on the fish's body.

"Europe!!!"

Suddenly, the pure gold lanternfish let out a strange scream that seemed to contain pain. As its huge body struggled and twisted, the ice flower that bloomed on the pure gold lanternfish fell off, taking away a large piece of the frozen flesh with it.

This scene suddenly made the members of the "Whitebeard Pirates," who were still dissatisfied with Yann's attitude, pause in their tracks.

The attack... actually worked?!

Even though that guy had frozen the Golden Lanternfish's entire body, when the Golden Lanternfish broke free again, it was almost completely unharmed. There was no way to truly freeze the Golden Lanternfish's body completely.

However, this was just the beginning for Yann, and for the pure gold lanternfish, it was merely a minor injury.

"boom!"

Noticing Yann's approach, the pure gold lanternfish flicked its tail, sending a slap that resembled several mountain ranges crashing down, whipping up countless gusts of wind and snow.

As Yann swiftly dodged the attack, his figure rapidly descended towards the ice surface from mid-air, plunging his Zanpakuto into the ice.

"Revised Thousand-Year Ice Prison!"

In an instant, pure white ice rapidly spread from the center of the Soul-Slaying Blade to the body of the Pure Golden Lanternfish. Then, giant white ice pillars, comparable to glaciers, suddenly blasted out, actually knocking the enormous body of the Pure Golden Lanternfish slightly off the ground.

The next instant, before the pure gold lanternfish's body could fall again, hundreds and thousands of giant white ice pillars erupted one after another, frantically bombarding the area below the pure gold lanternfish's body.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!"

A series of chilling, teeth-grinding explosions rang out, and the pure gold lanternfish, whose body was almost as large as a giant island, was blasted into the air.

This scene was simply...unbelievable, even Whitebeard's eyes showed a look of shock.

At that very moment, several streaks of pure white light suddenly appeared at the spot where the ice dragon had broken on the ice surface. Then, countless white ice floes suddenly erupted, engulfing the pure golden lanternfish in mid-air with a force comparable to a raging storm.

"Six-Clothes Ice Purification Formation!"

As Yann softly uttered the command, the pure gold lanternfish in mid-air was completely frozen, and the terrifying cold air attached to the white ice frantically penetrated into the massive body of the pure gold lanternfish.

In particular, the numerous wounds that the Whitebeard Pirates had inflicted on the Pure Gold Lanternfish allowed the terrifying cold air to penetrate them almost without hindrance, freezing the Pure Gold Lanternfish's flesh, bones, internal organs, and so on in a very short time.

Yaen... kept his eyes tightly closed, constantly controlling the seeping cold air!

In the end, except for the stomach where Sora and Hikari were located, the massive body of the pure gold lanternfish was completely assimilated by the white ice.

……

And in the first stomach of the pure gold lanternfish.

As the pure gold lanternfish were repeatedly blasted into the air, the group, who had been feeling a violent earthquake in their stomachs, came to their senses and suddenly discovered that the sky above, which had been as red as a mirror, was now a vast expanse of white.

Olga, the blonde girl who had spent over a hundred years inside the stomach of a pure gold lanternfish, stared in disbelief at the scene before her. "What...what is this?!"

As the user of the "Flame-Flame Fruit," Ace was the first to notice the change in temperature, which was dropping rapidly, and exclaimed in shock.

"Aren't those ice cubes? But isn't this the stomach of a pure gold lanternfish? Why has the upper stomach wall turned into ice?"

As for Kong and Ying, they also showed some confusion and bewilderment.

Sabo, however, let out a long sigh of relief and then spoke.

"It seems the pure gold lanternfish has been successfully dealt with. If there are no unforeseen circumstances, the pure gold lanternfish should be frozen at this time."

After pausing and looking around, Sabo glanced at the stomach entrance above and, realizing that he couldn't escape for the time being without the ability to fly, spoke up.

"Kong, Ying, and this little girl named Olga, you can stay here without worry. Someone should be here to pick you up soon, so don't worry."

Immediately, Sabo turned and walked toward what appeared to be the direction connecting to the next stomach.

Seeing this, Ying asked with some wariness, "Wait, where are you going?"

Sabo hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"Legend has it that the island swallowed by the pure gold lanternfish was because it had developed pure gold, which is why it was devoured by the pure gold lanternfish. The island under my feet does not match the characteristics of that island that once had pure gold, so I plan to explore the other stomachs to find the whereabouts of the pure gold."

"Pure gold?"

Compared to Ying's somewhat puzzled expression, Kong seemed to have remembered something and showed a thoughtful look. The little girl named Olga even awkwardly hid her hands behind her back.

"and many more……"

Just then, Ace called out to Sabo and spoke.