One Piece: From Picking Up Red Hair's Broken Arm

Chapter 365 Admiral? Dead!

New World, NEO Naval Headquarters.

Compared to Marineford, this place is naturally quite shabby.

Ultimately, this was nothing more than a war fortress temporarily pieced together from several large warships, designed to be dismantled and relocated at any time.

But at this moment, it seems there's not even time to disintegrate...

boom!
Huge lava flows rained down from the sky, turning the area into a sea of ​​fire.

"Cough, cough..."

Hearing the faint screams and wails coming from afar, Zefa, who was kneeling on the ground, struggled to raise his head, revealing a blank face with tears streaming down his face, filled with pain and despair.

His right arm armor was severely damaged, and his left shoulder was scorched by lava, leaving a charred hole. Blood kept spilling from the corner of his mouth.

But I don't care how badly I get injured.

What truly broke his heart were the fallen students.

The NEO Navy was established only a few months ago, and many of the students who were willing to follow him were not even twenty years old.

These students, though they all had the courage to follow Zefa to their deaths, were far from being able to bear it.

Therefore, in his original plan, once the explosive rocks were collected and the "Return to Marineford" plan was officially launched, he was to secretly send the students to the Enders without their knowledge.

result……

But today, one after another, they were mercilessly swallowed up by Akainu's magma in this sudden attack.

Has that desperate scene from years ago been repeated?
It's all his fault!
It's his fault for being old and frail, unable to protect his students, and for being reluctant to part with these children, insisting on waiting until the very end to say goodbye.

They should have said it sooner, they should have let them leave NEO and go to the Fallen Ones' territory sooner, then things wouldn't have come to this...

"Teacher Zefa!"

Ain, panting heavily, rushed out from the nearby ruins, trying to help Zephyr up. "Akainu is temporarily trapped by Binz's trap. I'll cover your retreat while we have this opportunity..."

"Retreat? Hmph, in this vast ocean, where else can you retreat to?"

A cold voice came from the sea of ​​fire.

Ai Yin froze, looking up in alarm in the direction of the sound.

A white cloak of justice fluttered in the wind as Akainu, his tall frame expressionless, approached step by step. He released one hand, and a tattered, thin body was tossed to the ground.

"We won't give you that chance. Traitors to the Navy don't deserve to live. Not one of you will escape."

"Binz!"

Ayn's face turned ashen, tears streaming down her face. She stumbled forward and bent down to check on Binz's condition.

He's not dead, and he still has a breath left; that's incredibly fortunate.

But if this rate of blood loss is not treated in a short period of time...

"brute!"

Zephyr gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot, and struggled to get up, but Akainu stepped on his shoulder and pressed him heavily back to the ground.

"Stop struggling in vain, Professor Zephyr."

Akainu looked down at him condescendingly and spoke indifferently:
"This is also the last time I will call you teacher. As a former admiral, you not only failed to take responsibility when the navy was in crisis, but also led the betrayal of the navy and colluded with the fallen."

"Even recently, you've been secretly collecting large amounts of explosive rocks, attempting to use them to destroy Marineford and the Holy Land... Your crimes are enough to warrant a death ten thousand times over!"

"Betrayal? Hahaha..."

Zephyr coughed up blood and laughed bitterly, "Sakazuki, don't you feel ashamed or embarrassed saying such things? Yes, I betrayed the Navy, but who is the real traitor? Who betrayed the people, who betrayed the heart of justice!"

"Shut up."

Akainu narrowed his eyes, a hint of impatience flashing in them:
“There’s no point in arguing with an old fogey like you. For the sake of the past, don’t worry, I’ll give you a dignified death.”

"stop!"

Ain suddenly sprang up and pounced on Akainu, pushing the power of the Rewind-Rewind Fruit to its limit with both hands and pressing them against Akainu's waist.

They actually succeeded...?

Ain was initially delighted, but her expression quickly froze. She stared blankly at Akainu, who remained motionless but whose body showed no change whatsoever.

Didn't turn into a baby?
why!
"It seems that Zefa is indeed getting old, and he is no longer qualified as an instructor."

Akainu glanced at her and said indifferently:
"Didn't he teach you that with enough powerful domineering aura, this level of ability can be rendered ineffective?"

He kicked out hard!
puff!
Ayn coughed up a mouthful of blood, her body arched like a shrimp, and she flew backward, crashing heavily into the ruins in the distance. Her fate was unknown, and she fell silent.

"Ain!!!"

Zephyr's eyes were bloodshot with rage, and he wanted to fight with all his might, but Akainu stomped on him even deeper. The sound of bones cracking came from the wound on his shoulder, and the pain made his face contort.

"..."

Seeing Zephyr's appearance, Akainu silently closed his eyes, but opened them again just a second later, the slight emotional fluctuation that had just arisen within them completely gone.

"That's it for now."

Akainu's left arm, now completely molten, was aimed at Zephyr's head, his voice icy:

"Farewell, traitor Zephyr."

At this critical moment, a furious voice suddenly rang out:
"Frozen time capsule!"

Click, click, click!
In an instant, a bone-chilling cold swept across the entire battlefield, and the ground beneath Akainu's feet quickly froze into ice, encasing him completely within it.

The lava fist that was about to fall was frozen in mid-air, maintaining its attack posture.

This is……

Zefa, who had been watching the carousel play in front of him, suddenly froze. The voice he'd just heard... could it be...?

"Kuzan!!!"

Akainu's roar came from the ice layer the next second, and in an instant, the entire block of ice trembled violently, and countless cracks appeared on its surface.

boom!
Lava erupted, ice shards flew everywhere, Akainu stared ahead with a gloomy expression, and Aokiji, his face as cold as frost, slowly withdrew his right hand, exuding an aura of icy chill.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, Professor Zephyr."

Aokiji supported Zephyr, temporarily freezing the bleeding wounds on his body. He then looked around at the sea of ​​fire, at the unconscious Ain and Binz, and clenched his fists.

"Sakaski."

He turned abruptly, his eyes filled with an unprecedented anger, and said through gritted teeth:

"I initially thought we were just on different paths, that you at least had some principles, but you've turned on your former mentor and fellow disciples with such cruelty. Has your so-called 'absolute justice' become so distorted? Sakazuki!!!"

"You are a traitor even worse than Zefa, so don't try to spout these high-sounding words at me!"

Akainu casually flicked away the ice shards from his arm, and lava reformed on his fist. "Even though this operation was so secretive, you still managed to find out? But it seems that this time, only you, Kuzan, came from the Fallen Ones."

"I alone am enough to kill you!"

Aokiji said coldly.

"Oh? That's quite a coincidence."

Akainu sneered, then suddenly sprang into action, his giant lava fist slamming towards Aokiji's chest: "That's what I thought too!!!"

boom!
The lava and ice collided violently, and a terrifying shockwave swept across the entire deck. The flames within a radius of tens of meters first surged wildly, but were instantly extinguished.

Both of them were forced back dozens of meters.

"..." Aokiji looked up with some surprise and doubt, frowning.

If he wasn't mistaken, Akainu's power seemed to have increased since their last encounter.

"Oh?"

Akainu sneered, "Judging from your expression, you've noticed? Not bad! I've become stronger. Having discarded those last unnecessary distractions and entanglements, my conviction is stronger than ever before! And my strength, naturally, is also stronger than ever before!!!"

"What you've abandoned is clearly the last shred of your conscience!"

Aokiji laughed in extreme anger:

“I am different from you. My conscience is still intact, and I can become stronger like you without giving it up, because compared to that confused navy, I have also reaffirmed my beliefs!”

"Enough with the nonsense!"

A cold glint flashed in Akainu's eyes, and his molten left fist suddenly expanded several times its original size, the terrifying heat distorting the surrounding air.

"Meteor Volcano!!!"

boom! boom! boom!
Countless giant fists of lava shot into the sky, turning the entire sky crimson, and then rained down on the location of Aokiji and Zephyr.

"A giant ice wall!"

Aokiji slammed his hands on the ground, and a huge ice wall rose up, blocking their way.

The lava collided with the ice, unleashing a deafening roar, and white steam instantly enveloped the entire battlefield.

"Professor Zephyr, are you still able to move?"

Using the steam as cover, Aokiji quickly helped Zephyr up. "That guy's ability is too likely to affect the people around him. I'll cover your retreat first, leave this to me..."

"No, Kuzan."

Zefa shook his head weakly, "Don't worry about me... Go save those children. They are young and talented. They are the last batch of promising talents I have offered to you, the fallen..."

"Don't even think about leaving!"

Akainu's roar came from the steam, and a giant lava fist suddenly pierced through the mist, heading straight for the two of them.

"That's not something you can decide!"

Aokiji snorted coldly and threw a powerful punch back, blocking the punch without being at a disadvantage.

But the next moment, he was struck hard by another fist that came from the white steam, crashing through several decks and flying away.

fist?

Aokiji wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and stood up in astonishment. The punch itself wasn't enough to cause him much harm, but the problem was...

Where did that fist come from?!

Wasn't Sakazuki's right arm severed by his own captain during that war in the North Sea?
Aokiji stared intently ahead, just as Akainu emerged step by step from the thick fog.

Upon seeing the scene before him, Aokiji's pupils immediately contracted!
"I didn't want to expose this to you, but the new world is now the territory of the Fallen Ones. Things could get complicated if we wait too long. If we want to deal with you as soon as possible, we have to go all out."

Akainu spoke coldly, and his right sleeve, which should have been empty, now had a perfectly intact arm!

On the exposed skin of his left arm, a pentagram mark could be faintly seen...

"That pattern is... the Abyss Contract?"

Aokiji's expression changed drastically. "Sakazuki, you actually accepted that kind of power!!"

"You've mistaken me for someone else. It's just a shallow sea contract. After all, I don't want to become a complete slave. Being able to master some immortal regeneration power, allowing me to return to my peak state and even surpass my past self, is enough for me."

Akainu glanced at his exposed contract tattoo and said indifferently:
"This was Kong Na's suggestion. I have always been very dismissive of it, but in order to completely wipe you out and restore order to this turbulent world, I have staked everything on achieving this in one battle. This sacrifice is nothing."

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
A crisp clapping sound suddenly came from the other side.

The two men turned to look at the same time, and saw Green Bull, wearing a justice cloak and with a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, lazily strolling out of the firelight:

"Brilliant, truly brilliant! As expected of Sakazuki, his enlightenment is indeed beyond the reach of us newcomers."

"Arammu."

Aokiji's expression hardened.

Green Bull didn't even glance at Aokiji, but looked only at Akainu, grinning as he said:
"Although appearing suddenly at this time might seem a bit unromantic, I've already obtained all the explosive rocks. The mission is complete, and it's about time to leave. Senior, how about I take over and finish this quickly?"

Akainu glanced coldly at Aokiji, then looked around at the burning sea of ​​fire, and after a brief silence, nodded slightly.

"Let's work together and resolve this as soon as possible."

He really wanted to defeat Aokiji completely by himself, to crush Aokiji, and to make the other party open his eyes and see who was right and who was wrong.

However, as a soldier, one must prioritize the overall situation!

To ensure the success rate of the mission, this kind of argument can be temporarily put aside.

"Understood~"

Green Bull grinned and slammed his left hand into the ground: "The Descent of the Forest Realm!"

Rumble!
Countless thick vines, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, burst forth from the ground, instantly turning this land into a green hell.

Most of the vines coiled around Aokiji like giant pythons, while another part split into sharp thorns that pierced the heavily injured Zefa.

"mean!"

Aokiji roared, and his right arm instantly transformed into an elemental form, extending an ice blade that severed the attacking vines.

With his other hand, he swiftly flung out several ice spikes, precisely intercepting all the wooden spikes aimed at Zefa and pinning them firmly to the deck.

"Quick reaction, huh? As expected of you, Kuzan. But... despicable? Hahaha, hearing such words from a self-degrading pirate is absolutely laughable!"

Green Bull burst into laughter, his eyes filled with mockery. "Hey, you only need to know one thing: today, this day, is the day you traitors die..."

Swish!
Before he could even utter the word "expectation," a sudden explosion rang out from the sky, and a blinding golden light descended from the heavens at an unimaginable speed, carrying the force of a thunderbolt, and slammed heavily onto his head.

puff!
Accompanied by a sound like a watermelon bursting.

The Green Bull's face remained arrogant and domineering one second, but the next second, its entire head was instantly dented and deformed, as if it had been forcibly stomped into its chest cavity.

Blood mixed with brain matter gushed out of his neck like a fountain!

"Uh...uh?"

The green bull's mutilated body swayed twice, and its headless torso stretched out its left hand, aimlessly reaching for its head, but it couldn't find anything.

next moment.

Boom!
Amidst the stunned and bewildered gazes of everyone around, the headless corpse of Admiral Green Bull from the Marine Headquarters collapsed to the ground with a thud, utterly lifeless.

Dead silence.

The battlefield fell into utter silence.

Even Aokiji and Zephyr were speechless, their mouths agape.

Akainu's eyes twitched as he stared intently at the figure that had suddenly descended from the sky.

This scene is so familiar...

That familiar black cloak, that black hair fluttering in the wind, and—that indifferent, calm gaze, as if looking down on trash!

“Xia… Nuo…”

Akainu practically spat out those two words through clenched teeth, roaring with a mixture of shock and rage, his face contorted in a grimace:

"It's you! It's you again... How could you get here so fast?!"

(End of this chapter)