The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

The faint luster of the earth and rocks that once flowed was now completely covered by thick, pale blue ice. The huge skull stared blankly at the sky, and there was no longer any fluctuation of "island consciousness".

The "giant warship" San Juan Wolf, which had been guarding the door, didn't even make a sound.

Remaining in a stunned, bewildered pose, it transformed into a lifelike yet lifeless giant ice sculpture, casting a massive shadow on the icy plain outside the door.

From Blackbeard's maniacal laughter to the door bursting open and a cold wave sweeping in, the two executives were instantly frozen solid.

The whole process was faster than you could react, taking only two or three breaths!

Chapter 585 Kuzan: "I've come to discuss something."

“'Ice Age'…” Samuel Kronos was the first person to fully awaken from this upheaval.

His usually calm voice showed a rare emotional fluctuation, and his deep green eyes instantly locked onto the tall figure that slowly appeared at the doorway.

"Former Admiral... 'Aokiji', Kuzan."

At the entrance, the icy mist slowly dissipated.

A tall man dressed like a homeless person was casually leaning against the door frame, carrying a small bag.

One hand was in his pocket, and the other was holding a glass... uh, a glass of juice that was also frozen solid?

A small umbrella was stuck in the rim of the cup.

Kuzan tilted his head slightly, and beneath the curled black hair and small round sunglasses on his forehead was a slightly sleepy face, as if he hadn't woken up yet.

"Yo." Kuzan greeted lazily, his gaze sweeping over the tense crowd in the hall before finally settling on Blackbeard, who sat at the head of the table.

"It's quite a lively scene, Marshall D. Teach."

I hope my uninvited arrival hasn't disturbed your banquet.

His tone was as relaxed as if he were visiting a neighbor, but an invisible chill emanated from him.

However, this caused the temperature in the hall to drop sharply, and fine frost even began to condense on the walls and floor.

"You bastard..." Blackbeard's maniacal laughter froze, replaced by shock and rage.

Stare intently at Kuzan!

How could he be here?! He silently froze the entire outer perimeter of Beehive Island?

Even Pizarro and the wolf were instantly affected?

How terrifyingly fast and wide must that freezing speed be?!

What alarmed Blackbeard even more was that the other party actually appeared directly in the heart of his lair!

What about the perimeter security, traps, and patrols?

Could it all have happened in that one instant...?

"Quick reflexes, 'Cursed Doctor'." Kuzan seemed oblivious to Blackbeard's murderous glare, turning his gaze to Samuel Kronos.

His tone still carried that infuriating laziness, "I heard you're good at playing tricks with... well, tiny fungi?"

The instant Kuzan finished speaking, Samuel's left index finger, which was resting on the armrest, twitched upwards very slightly.

Silent and invisible, the tiny mycelia are almost the same color as the air.

It had already been quietly spreading from under his feet, the back of his chair, and even the cold moisture permeating the air, and now it suddenly started!

The target wasn't Kuzan himself, but the thin layer of ice that had just formed beneath his feet and the iced juice glass in his hand.

This is Samuel's instinctive reaction in a state of extreme crisis, and also a manifestation of his bizarre abilities.

Instead of confronting it with brute force, it seeks out gaps and erodes and transforms them.

It's just a pity...

"too slow."

Kuzana's slightly regretful voice rang in Samuel's ears almost at the same moment his finger moved.

"when?!"

Samuel's pupils, hidden beneath his mask, suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints!

His Observation Haki couldn't even detect any of Kuzan's movements!

The other person's figure disappeared from the doorway like a ghost, and then appeared less than half a meter away from him as if he had always been standing there!

A large hand wearing a black glove casually patted Samuel Kronos on the left shoulder.

"Besides, it's not very polite to put mold in other people's things."

"Glā...glā lā..."

A sickeningly fine freezing sound instantly spread from the point of contact between Kuzan's palm and the ground!

It wasn't an external covering, but rather from within Samuel Kronos's body, from every single cell and every drop of water.

Even the active fungal abilities themselves, from the inside out, were rapidly frozen without any hindrance!

Samuel didn't even make a second move, didn't have time to utter a sound, just kept his mouth slightly open, as if he wanted to say something.

His entire being, including his magnificent robes, eerie mask, the mycelium swirling around his fingertips, and the look of horror deep in his eyes, froze instantly.

A new, lifelike ice sculpture appeared beside Blackbeard.

Samuel inside the ice sculpture still maintained that slightly tilted head posture, ready to ask Blackbeard for help, but the eternal cold replaced all life.

Another one! Solved instantly!

The Blackbeard Pirates' core strategist, the "Cursed Doctor" with unpredictable and mysterious abilities, was utterly powerless against Kuzan!

"Samuel!!" Blackbeard roared, his eyes wide with rage.

Fury and fear intertwined, and a terrifying aura erupted from Blackbeard's body!

A dark, inky vortex of gravity from the Dark-Dark Fruit appeared in his left palm, devouring the light.

His right fist clenched tightly, the white dome flashed, and the air hummed under the strain!

He's going to smash this frozen bastard to pieces along with the whole hall!

"Oh?" Kuzan seemed completely unconcerned about the terrifying power that was about to erupt, enough to trigger tsunamis and earthquakes.

He didn't even adopt a clear defensive stance; he simply stood there, calmly looking at Blackbeard.

“Use Whitebeard’s power…” Kuzan spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but clearly drowning out the buzzing of the air that was beginning to tremble. “Not a bad idea.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping meaningfully over the other officers in the hall, whose faces were deathly pale, yet who were still trying to draw their swords or activate their abilities, all terrified by the chilling aura.

Shiryu of the Rain's hand was already on the hilt of "Thunderstorm," and foxfire flickered at Catherine Demi's fingertips.

Burgess's muscles bulged, Van Augur's gun barrel was slightly raised, and Doc Q's sick horse "Strong" pawed restlessly beneath him...

“However,” Kuzan’s tone remained calm, “if we use the Tremor-Tremor Fruit at full power here…”

He raised his finger and gently tapped around his subordinates who had become ice sculptures or were about to be corroded by the cold.

“Your ‘partners’…”

"But it will make a 'snap' sound..."

Kuzan smiled slightly, a smile that appeared particularly sinister against the frozen backdrop and biting cold.

"It's so broken that it can't be put back together."

Blackbeard's right fist, which was about to be thrown, froze in mid-air.

The white, vibrating sphere flickered intermittently before slowly dissipating.

His face, covered in thick, fleshy muscles, was contorted with extreme emotion, a mixture of anger, resentment, fear, and scheming churning wildly.

He stared intently at Kuzan, then glanced at the ice sculpture of Samuel beside him, the wolves outside the door, and the devastation of the entire frozen town.

Kuzan is right.

The Tremor-Tremor Fruit is not a natural earthquake; once activated, it cannot be stopped, so its destructive power is indiscriminate.

In this relatively enclosed hall, once the full force is activated, the first to be affected will be his subordinates, who have not yet been completely frozen but have already been severely affected by the cold.

They might be able to withstand some of the shock, but they absolutely cannot withstand the subsequent secondary crushing of the shattered ice and building structures!

And having lost Samuel, Pizarro, and the Wolf, and then losing key members like Shiryu and Demi...

Even if Blackbeard himself manages to escape, the Blackbeard Pirates will be effectively destroyed!

"You..." Blackbeard forced out the words through gritted teeth, "What exactly do you want, Kuzan?!"

He forced himself to calm down. Aokiji didn't immediately go for the kill (at least not against the people in the hall yet).

The fact that it appears in such a way, almost like a game or control, must have a purpose.

Kuzan did not answer immediately.

He walked to the huge wooden table in the center of the hall, pulled over a chair, and sat down casually, even placing the frozen juice on the table.

"Nothing special." Kuzan crossed his arms and looked up at Blackbeard, who was still standing in front of the main seat with a tense expression as if facing a formidable enemy, and the officers around him who were on edge but dared not make a move.

"only……"

"Let's have a talk."

“After all,” Kuzan said, his gaze sweeping across the desolate, frozen world outside the window, his tone calm and matter-of-fact.

"Talking about things in this quiet environment..."

"It's less likely to be disturbed, right?"

Chapter 586 'Collaborators'

"talk?"

Blackbeard repeated the word, his rugged face twitching with suspicion.

He looked at the lazy yet unfathomable former general before him, his mind racing through all the information he had about Kuzan.

One of the Navy's top combat forces, upholding "burning justice," but failed to win the position of Fleet Admiral against Akainu after the Marineford War.

He ultimately chose to leave the Navy, and his whereabouts remain a mystery...

Until now, it has appeared in its own territory in such an absolutely dominant and hostile (at least on the surface) manner.

"Kuzan!" Blackbeard's voice rose eight octaves, laced with accusation and probing, "What is your stance now?!"

As he spoke, he took a step forward, and an invisible sense of oppression, mixed with the gravitational field of the Dark-Dark Fruit, spread out, attempting to regain the upper hand in terms of momentum.

"Former Marine Admiral, 'Aokiji'! Tianzhen Guen has led the Navy to complete independence and has broken ties with the World Government!"

If it's for the 'justice' in your heart, for the future of the navy...

What you should be doing right now is returning to New Malindo immediately, isn't it?

"Reinstate him to his original position and help that Guern consolidate his 'new justice,' isn't that it?!"

Blackbeard's logic is straightforward and sharp, which is also the biggest mystery many people have about Aokiji's whereabouts.

Given his personality and beliefs, there seems to be no reason for him to remain detached from this epoch-making, transformative change.

Upon hearing Blackbeard's question, Kuzan's eyes, hidden behind his small round sunglasses, dimmed for a fleeting moment, but the darkness vanished in an instant.

Immediately afterwards...

"Hey, hey!" Kuzan let out a low laugh, his shoulders shrugging as if he had heard something extremely funny.

"What nonsense are you spouting, you pirate whose mind is filled with nothing but plunder and betrayal?"

The laughter stopped abruptly, and the previously languid expression instantly turned somewhat cold and hard.

"Justice? The Navy?"

Kuzan leaned forward slightly, staring at Blackbeard, and said, word by word:

“Look closely, Marshall D. Teach.”

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly raised his right leg.

A dull, loud bang!

Kuzan slammed his right calf heavily onto the thick wooden table in front of him!