One Piece: Rayquaza of the Beasts Pirates

Sakazuki turned his head away and remained silent, but he underestimated Bonnie's energy at her age.

Five years old, an age that people hate and despise.

"Tell me quickly!"

"Tell me quickly!"

……

Bonnie bombarded him with questions, as if she could keep asking as long as Sakazuki didn't answer.

Sakazuki's cheek twitched.

Bonnie's every question forced him to recall that humiliating past.

Finally, he felt a sweet taste in his throat and couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

Chapter 159 Kuzan, defeated!

Icefield Battlefield.

The war was raging, with shouts of battle, the clash of weapons, and the wails of the dying echoing across the frigid ice plains.

"Ice Block - Two-Spiked Spear!"

Kuzan waved his arm, and a surge of icy energy erupted from his body, instantly condensing into several sharp ice spears that shot towards Yamato like arrows, carrying a chilling aura!

"Drink!"

Yamato's eyes narrowed, and he swung his spiked club with a powerful gust of wind, smashing the incoming ice spears into countless ice crystals!

Immediately afterwards, she pushed off with both feet, and the ice beneath her feet shattered with a crash.

Using this recoil, she shot straight toward Kuzan like a cannonball.

"Roaring Thunder Eight Trigrams!"

Black and red aura instantly enveloped the iron rod, and Yamato's arm muscles bulged violently. The iron rod tore through the air and slammed down towards Kuzan with lightning speed!

"A Conqueror's Haki entanglement? How terrifying~~"

Kuzan grumbled slowly, but there was no trace of distress in his eyes.

While Conqueror's Haki is undoubtedly a top-tier technique, its power ultimately depends on the strength of the user's Conqueror's Haki.

The Yamato before him was clearly not yet at a point where he could find it troublesome.

The ice blade he conjured in his hand was instantly covered in Armament Haki. Without dodging or avoiding, he met the blow head-on!

boom--!

A heavy impact rang out, and the domineering aura of black and red clashed violently. The resulting shockwave instantly shattered a large area of ​​ice beneath their feet and around them, sending ice chunks flying everywhere!

"She's still so strong. No wonder she's Kaido's daughter."

Feeling the astonishing power transmitted from the ice blades, Kuzan frowned slightly.

With his racial talents and Mythical Zoan abilities, even though Yamato hasn't reached his peak yet, in terms of strength alone, he's already not much weaker than him.

Sure enough, we still need to change our tactics.

The next second, Yamato felt a lightness in his hand as the spiked club pierced through Kuzan's body without any resistance!

She hit the enemy, but there was no joy on her face.

The same scene had already played out several times in the previous exchange.

Not far away, the intact Kuzan slowly rose from the ice, his posture still calm.

"Damn it, it's happening again!"

Looking at Kuzan, who showed no regard for warrior honor whatsoever, Yamato cursed, "Can't you just fight me head-on?!"

Kuzan replied leisurely, "Battles... require strategy."

It would be foolish not to use the convenient elementalization available.

Navy personnel don't use their brains; they're just soldiers their whole lives.

As soon as he finished speaking, a giant ice bird took shape, its wings flapping, carrying a chilling aura that could freeze everything, and it shrieked as it flew straight toward Yamato.

"Um?!"

Just as Yamato was about to make a move, drawn by Kuzan's remarks, she was shocked to find that the cold air had frozen her feet firmly to the ice.

"not good!"

Startled, she forcefully shattered the ice around her ankle, but this delay caused her to miss the best opportunity to dodge.

Left with no other choice, she had to swing her spiked club again with all her might, smashing it down on the giant ice bird that was now right in front of her!

Bang-!

The ice bird was violently shattered, exploding into a large, thick cloud of cold white mist that obscured visibility.

The cold air erupted instantly!

"Click...click..."

A faint freezing sound rang out. Yamato was still in the swinging stance, but his entire body, from his feet to his hair, was completely frozen into a lifelike ice sculpture, with a look of astonishment still on his face.

Only then did Kuzan leisurely retract his right arm, which was radiating a chilling aura, and slowly utter the belated name of his move: "Ice Block - Tyrannosaurus Beak!"

That's why I say, battles... require strategy.

Knowing he couldn't hold Yamato for long, Kuzan quickly conjured two enormous ice spears.

"Whoosh-!"

The ice spear tore through the air, carrying a terrifying force capable of piercing mountains, and bombarded Yamato like a missile.

At the critical moment, a dark figure appeared in front of Yamato like a ghost.

boom!boom!

The ice spear was easily shattered by two simple, unadorned punches, exploding into countless ice crystals that fell down in a flurry.

Kuzan's pupils contracted slightly, two beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, and his expression was more solemn than ever before: "The Scourge... Kane!"

Kane's presence here meant all too well what it meant.

As for Sakazuki, things are probably looking grim.

Almost at the same time Kane appeared, the ice covering Yamato's body also made a "crack" sound as it could no longer bear the weight, and cracks spread rapidly.

Whoosh—!

Yamato struggled violently, and the ice clinging to her body shattered with a crash, sending ice shards flying everywhere.

"Hoo!" Yamato exhaled a long breath of cold air.

Even though she is a Mythical Zoan type user with the Great Mouth God form and can control freezing air, Kuzan's freezing still made her feel a slight chill.

This is the difference between professionals and amateurs.

Seeing the tall, straight back in front of him, Yamato's eyes flashed with surprise: "Kane, what brings you here?"

Then, she felt a little disappointed: "Kuzan is so strong and agile, I can't hit him at all."

Kane reached out and gently ruffled her slightly disheveled hair, comforting her, "You've done very well, managing to hold your own against him for so long."

It's perfectly normal that Yamato can't beat Kuzan right now.

Kuzan was able to "trick" Yamato because of his decades of accumulated combat experience, which far surpassed hers, as well as his deeper and more refined mastery of the Overlord's aura.

Once the Yamato Fruit awakens and Haki advances further, catching up with and even defeating Kuzan will be a natural outcome.

At that time, Yamato will be at least a weak emperor-level powerhouse.

Kuzan—lacking Conqueror's Haki—was a major weakness in the Ocean Summit Tournament.

After calming Yamato down, Kane turned his gaze to Kuzan, who looked as if facing a formidable enemy, with a relaxed smile on his face, as if inviting an old friend for tea: "Surrender, Kuzan. It'll save us from fighting to the death and damaging our harmony."

Kuzan's hand swirled with cold air as he reconstituted an ice blade, and he said in a cold voice, "I don't think there's any harmony between us."

"Who can say for sure?"

Kane chuckled, his tone casual yet meaningful: "What if one day you can't stand being in the Navy and want to try your luck as a pirate?"

Me? A pirate? What a joke!

Kuzan scoffed inwardly.

He admitted that he was currently somewhat dissatisfied with the Navy and somewhat confused about the sense of justice in his heart, but he would never go so far as to leave the Navy.

Even if Kuzan starved to death, died outside Marineford, or jumped off the Red Line, he would never eat a single thing from the pirates!

Seeing Kuzan remain silent, Kane seemed oblivious to his resistance and continued in a seductive tone, "I truly admire you, Admiral Kuzan. How about considering joining our Beasts Pirates? I'll reserve a 'Frostbite' position for you and grant you a Winter Island as your fiefdom. What do you say? I don't usually offer such terms to just anyone."

His appearance was exactly like that of a pimp trying to lure innocent girls into prostitution.

"Oh my... that sounds so tempting, I almost fell for it."

Kuzan lazily pinched his thumb and forefinger together, making a tiny gap, and said with exaggerated regret, "What a pity. I've been paying into the Navy's pension fund for twenty years. Wouldn't it be such a waste to give it up now?"

"The retirement benefits for a naval admiral are quite generous."

"is it?"

Kane nodded understandingly, his tone quite considerate: "That's something we can't easily give up on!"

Before the words were even finished, the instant the word "abandon" was uttered, the two seemed to be of one mind, and their figures vanished from the spot at the same time!

boom!

In the next instant, the two collided, and the shockwave generated by the collision of Armament Haki plowed through the ice beneath their feet once again!

They exchanged a glance, a knowing look of "I knew it" flashing in their eyes.

After a simple, tentative collision, the two used the force to separate again, landing steadily on the broken ice.

"What a formidable opponent." The two of them gave the same assessment in their hearts.

Without turning his head, Kane shouted to those behind him, "Yamato, go help the others finish the fight quickly, leave this to me."

"Huh?" Yamato's face fell instantly, his lips pouting so much they could hang an oil bottle.