Super Card System

What Aokiji suggested was to use his Ice Age to freeze the sea, turning the entire ocean surface into a land of solid ice where one could stand. However, this would also freeze all the ships in place.

“…” Sakazuki remained silent for a moment before speaking, “Let’s not rush. Whitebeard hasn’t shown up yet. Whether he’s seriously injured and unable to move or has other plans, no one can say for sure. We still have some of our fleet available. Let’s continue bombarding the islands! That’s our advantage!”

This was a strategic decision the Marines had planned from the start. With both Aokiji and Akainu present, they maintained the initiative in dictating the battlefield conditions. If they wanted a naval battle, they could have one. If they wanted a battle on land, they could have that too.

For the Whitebeard Pirates to break through, they would need to sail. Aokiji’s Ice Age would serve as their trump card. Once the sea was frozen, Whitebeard wouldn’t be able to leave even if he wanted to.

“Alright!” Aokiji nodded and said no more. He knew that Akainu was just executing the plan laid out by Sengoku.

Just then, the Den Den Mushi on the short table in front of the three suddenly rang.

“Hello? Fleet Admiral?” Kizaru quickly picked up the receiver and asked, “What are your orders?”

“…” On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, it seemed like Sengoku pondered for a moment before speaking, “One of you should take action and capture Portgas D. Ace!”

“Huh!?” The three were taken aback but quickly caught on. Kizaru responded into the receiver, “The bloodline of the Pirate King? Indeed…”

As Marine Admirals, the three had already learned from Sengoku about Portgas D. Ace’s identity. Besides wanting to eliminate Whitebeard in this war against the Whitebeard Pirates, they also had a secondary objective: capturing Portgas D. Ace.

“But, weren’t we planning to kill him?” Kizaru asked Sengoku, “Why has it changed to capturing him now?”

“I’m worried that Ian’s kid might interfere!” Sengoku replied, “He’s Ace’s sworn brother. Capturing Ace might force him to withdraw from this war. I don’t want to add any variables. I want this war to be a sure victory!”

“…Understood!” Kizaru hung up the phone and said to Aokiji and Akainu, “Rock-paper-scissors?”

“No need, let me go!” Aokiji stood up and said, “Since we’re capturing him, the sooner, the better!”

Kizaru and Akainu glanced at each other but didn’t speak. Aokiji didn’t wait for their response either. With a leap, he had already left the warship.

Aokiji’s ability was ice, while Ace’s ability was fire. Logically speaking, Ace’s ability would counter Aokiji’s. However, in reality, since Ace was also a Logia type, this counter was mutual. Just as Aokiji said, the sooner the capture, the better. There’s nothing faster than abilities countering each other to quickly determine a winner.

Meanwhile, after kicking Doflamingo into the sea, Marco flew to where Ace and Oars Jr. were. His arms transformed into two huge wings burning with blue flames as he floated in the air and asked Ace, “How are you guys?”

“I’m fine! But Oars needs treatment!” Ace, standing on Oars Jr.’s shoulder, checked his injuries and said anxiously, “He’s badly hurt!”

Doflamingo’s threads, imbued with Haki and his slicing ability, were exceptional. Oars Jr. was lucky not to have been cut open, but at the moment, the wound on his back stretched from his shoulder blade almost to his waist, looking terrifying.

Yet, Oars Jr. stubbornly persisted. His blood flowed into the sea, attracting a large group of saw-tooth sharks to bite his toes. Despite this, he even lifted his leg and stomped on them…

Seeing him like this, it seemed he still wanted to fight.

“The ship’s doctor is currently on the island taking care of Oyaji!” Marco said, “How about this? I’ll call Jozu to carry Oars back!”

“No!” Oars Jr. said firmly, “I’m not going back! I still need to clear the way for Oyaji!”

“Idiot!” Ace couldn’t help but shout, “At this rate, Oars, you’ll bleed to death!”

“As long as I can save Oyaji, even if I die, it’s worth it!” Oars Jr. insisted, “Ace, you’re a good guy, just help me by stopping the bleeding with your flames…”

“You…” Ace was at a loss for words, moved yet angry at Oars Jr.’s words.

“Haha, Ace, just do as he says!” Marco chuckled and said, “This guy is really stubborn!”

“Fine, just bear with it!” Ace reluctantly ignited his palm, controlling the temperature, and pressed it against the wound on Oars Jr.’s back before leaping down.

As his palm passed over Oars Jr.’s wound, it immediately scorched and coagulated the wound. However, this caused Oars Jr. an unbearable amount of pain. Even he couldn’t help but scream in agony.

Oars Jr. had a total of four wounds on his back, including the one pierced by Moria’s Shadow spear. After Ace used his flames to stop the bleeding, he was covered in sweat, looking completely exhausted.

Only then did both Ace and Marco let out a sigh of relief. But before they could fully relax, they suddenly saw a figure standing on the sea surface to their right.

Kuzan, draped in a Marine coat, had created a patch of floating ice beneath his feet, standing on the sea. He had actually arrived earlier but didn’t disturb Ace while he was treating Oars Jr. It wasn’t until now, when the three noticed him, that he lazily spoke up, “How is it? Is he alright?”

“It’s Kuzan!” Marco’s heart sank, “It seems an Admiral was ordered to come out!”

Without much thought, Marco took the initiative, charging towards Kuzan and delivering a kick towards him.

However, Kuzan extended his hand, summoning a thick, solid ice shield in front of him. After Marco’s kick shattered the shield, Kuzan tilted his head back, evading Marco’s strike.

“Quite powerful indeed!” Kuzan praised, then suddenly reached out, attempting to grab Marco’s ankle!

“Not good!” Marco reacted in surprise, quickly twisting his body and pressing his foot down, evading Kuzan’s grasp.

Unlike Ace’s flames, Marco’s flames appeared to burn intensely but lacked actual heat. It was a unique kind of flame. Additionally, his Phoenix Devil Fruit was essentially a Zoan-type Devil Fruit. It had a physical form. If Kuzan managed to grab him, he could immediately be encased in ice, and his flames wouldn’t be able to melt Kuzan’s ice!

Missing his grab, Marco took the opportunity to flap his wings and retreat. Kuzan didn’t continue to pursue but scratched his head, saying to Marco, “Marco the Phoenix… You better step aside. I’m here for Fire Fist Ace!”

“In that case, I won’t step aside!” Marco smiled, standing in front of Ace.

“Is that really wise?” Kuzan frowned, pointing towards the left flank of the battlefield.

As he spoke, a deafening barrage of cannon fire erupted once more. Marco and Ace turned their heads to see that the Marine fleet was bombarding the islands again!

With the onslaught from the Whitebeard Pirates, the Marine formation was roughly divided into three parts. One part was on the left flank, where the Marine ships were engaged with the pirates that had initially appeared.

The second part was where Ace and the others were located. Marine ships, ambushed by the pirates from the sea floor, were currently entangled in battle.

The last part was caught in the middle, the core of the Marine formation, where Admiral Sengoku and the three Marine Admirals were. They were directing and coordinating the battle.

As previously mentioned, the Marines still had ships at their disposal, so they resumed their bombardment of the island group. With Whitebeard not showing up, he must be hiding on one of the islands. If the Marine artillery continuously fired, sweeping across all the islands, they could surely force him out.

Sure enough, seeing the Marines resume their bombardment, Ace and Marco became anxious. Oars Jr. angrily raised his palm and slapped towards Kuzan.

However, with a loud crash, Oars Jr.’s palm struck Kuzan, shattering his entire body.

Kuzan turned into ice. Even if shattered, it didn’t matter. However, Oars Jr. didn’t know this. Seeing Kuzan’s body break apart, he hesitated.

At that moment, Kuzan’s body suddenly condensed from beneath Oars Jr.’s feet, reaching out and pressing onto Oars Jr.’s leg.

Crackle, crackle! The sound of bursting beans rang out. Starting from his legs, Oars Jr. rapidly froze over. The terrifying cold emanating from Kuzan enveloped him completely, freezing Oars Jr.’s massive body solid in an instant!

A colossal ice sculpture appeared on the surface of the sea.

“I heard your ancestor, Oars the Continent-Puller, was also frozen to death! This really does feel like déjà vu!” Kuzan looked at the frozen Oars Jr. with a smile on his face.

“Oars!!!”

Marco and Ace shouted in unison, charging towards Kuzan. Kuzan’s actions had been too swift; no one had expected him to freeze Oars Jr. so quickly. Both were at a loss upon seeing this.

However, as they angrily approached, Kuzan waved his finger, “Be careful! If you hit him, you might not be able to save him!”

This immediately caused Marco and Ace to slam on the brakes, halting in their tracks. Kuzan was right below Oars Jr.’s feet; no one dared to guarantee that Kuzan wouldn’t suddenly strike and shatter Oars Jr.’s ice sculpture.

“Aren’t you going to fight me?” Ace realized and calmed down a bit, saying, “Then come on, I’ll be your opponent!”

“Ace!?” Marco turned his head, looking at him in surprise.

“Marco, find a way to get Oars back!” Ace whispered, “My fire can’t unfreeze him; we need to find a way to thaw him with warm water, or he’ll die! I’ll hold off Kuzan; you take care of Oars… go!”

“Alright…!” Marco also realized the situation. Gritting his teeth, he quickly made a decision, “Be careful!”

Ace didn’t reply but instead said to Kuzan, “Let’s fight; we shall go over there!”

With that, he leaped ahead, landing on the wreckage of a nearby ship.

Kuzan didn’t say anything either, calmly walking across the surface of the sea.

Once Kuzan was gone, Marco quickly approached Oars Jr. and found, to his relief, that the part of Oars Jr. submerged in water wasn’t frozen by Kuzan. This meant he could safely take him away.

Given Marco’s strength, it was a bit challenging to carry Oars Jr. on his own. He needed to find Jozu’s help. So, he instructed nearby pirates to guard Oars Jr. and prevent the Marines from attacking him, then hastily flew away.

Meanwhile, Ace stood face-to-face with Kuzan for a while without speaking.

In the end, Kuzan scratched his head, saying, “uuhh, what a hassle… Ace, considering Vice-Admiral Garp’s past kindness to me, I won’t fight you. Surrender yourself! I must capture you!”

Upon hearing his grandfather’s name, Ace was taken aback and asked, “Grandpa… he’s here too?”

Kuzan nodded, “In this war, one side will inevitably fall. Don’t make it hard for him.”

“I can only apologize to him,” Ace shook his head, wryly smiling, “I’ve never been an obedient child. He might understand me… Even if it costs my life, I will rescue my father!”

“…Then it seems there’s nothing more to discuss,” Kuzan sighed, “One last question, where is Ian?”

“How would I know…” Before Ace could finish, his expression suddenly froze. He then took off his hat, rummaged inside it for a moment, and pulled out a small piece of paper.

The paper, held in his palm, immediately began to twitch and move slightly.

“Vivre Card!?” Kuzan instantly recognized it and suddenly realized that this could very well be Ian’s life paper.

The Vivre Card in Ace’s hand was moving, slowly drifting towards a direction, indicating Ian’s location. Ace observed it for a while but found the movement of the Vivre Card to be peculiar.

It seemed to be pointing… upwards!?

Confused, Ace looked up and saw that over the Edd War Island group, a massive cloud had silently drifted in at some point.

Moreover, this cloud was slowly moving towards the center of the island group at a constant speed.

Upon noticing the cloud, Ace’s eyes lit up, realizing something.

Similarly, Kuzan noticed the direction the life paper was pointing to. His heart raced as he followed Ace’s gaze towards the sky.

Unfortunately, Kuzan was unaware of Ian’s floating island base. Although he saw the cloud, he couldn’t comprehend its significance.

However, this didn’t prevent Kuzan from understanding that Ian had arrived. He wouldn’t misinterpret the look in Ace’s eyes.

“This is bad…”