One Piece: Scourge of the Seas

Faced with Aokiji, Maude could only rely on his mastery of Haki techniques.

However, while his technique was sufficient, his stamina was severely lacking.

Uncertain whether Aokiji was still monitoring him, Maude refrained from shattering the ice immediately after the Admiral left.

He waited patiently. Only when his Haki began to wane did he reluctantly choose to break free, knowing that sustained Haki output would drain his energy further.

With a series of crisp cracking sounds, cracks spread rapidly across the ice that encased his legs.

In the next instant, the ice shattered.

Chunks of ice, both large and small, clattered to the ground.

Maude withdrew his Armament Haki, shook his legs, and dislodged the remaining shards.

He then glanced in the direction Aokiji had left, silently observing for a few seconds before finally relaxing slightly.

Sunny watched Maude in amazement and whispered, "How did you do that?"

"Armament Haki," Maude answered curtly.

Although he had only used Haki to counter Aokiji's freezing abilities, evading the Admiral's notice required skillful use of highly fluid Haki techniques.

As the cold advanced from his feet toward his knees, the rate of freezing gradually increased.

Maude's response was to synchronize his Haki control with the speed of the freezing process.

The entire process resembled painting a wall.

Maude skillfully concealed his Haki beneath the "paintbrush" and "paint."

Once the brush coated the wall, the protective layer of Haki remained hidden beneath the paint, successfully evading Aokiji's keen observation.

This technique of making energy flow like liquid was a crucial combat skill in the Hunter x Hunter world*.

But in the One Piece world, where Haki was often used more directly and explosively, this fluid control was less commonly applied.

Nevertheless, Maude had put it to good use here, achieving a favorable outcome.

As the saying goes, skills may not always be immediately useful, but they eventually find their moment.

Explaining this nuanced method to Sunny, however, would take more than a few sentences.

Given the pressing situation, Maude brushed off the question and crouched in front of Sunny, frowning as he examined the ice encasing her legs.

The challenge was to free her without causing harm—a tricky dilemma.

Maude's first thought was to replicate the Straw Hat Pirates' method of unfreezing Robin using hot water.

But where would he find hot water now?

"Should I try breaking it with Haki?"

The thought flashed through his mind, followed immediately by a vivid image of accidentally shattering Sunny's legs along with the ice. He paused, reconsidering.

Sunny lowered her gaze to Maude's furrowed expression.

She didn't rush him and endured the pain of frostbite in silence.

"Maude… really is amazing," Sunny thought to herself.

Although she hadn't yet mastered Armament Haki, she'd learned its basic principles from Sol.

So even though Maude's explanation was casual, she could deduce that the technique he had used to resist Aokiji's freezing was far from beginner-level.

Watching Maude grow stronger in such a short period, Sunny was keenly aware of the extraordinary talent he possessed.

As Maude pondered, he glanced at the massive, heavy ice chunk beneath Sunny's feet, which was fused tightly to the ground.

Moving the whole block wasn't feasible, and delaying any longer would worsen Sunny's frostbite.

There was no time to hesitate.

Making up his mind, Maude declared, "Sunny, the only option now is to directly break the ice on your legs, but this method risks shattering them as well."

He didn't mince words, laying out the risk plainly.

"I trust you," Sunny replied calmly.

"Alright."

Maude's eyes sharpened. He placed his hand on the icy surface, the chill seeping into his palm.

Activating the bare minimum of Armament Haki, his hand turned pitch-black.

Carefully, he applied a small amount of pressure to the ice with his fingertips.

"Slow and steady…"

Maude gradually increased the force.

Crack—

Crack, crack—

As Maude pressed harder, fine cracks slowly spread across the ice encasing Sunny's legs.

Despite the urgency, Maude maintained a steady pace, ensuring the cracks expanded methodically.

"It's working!"

A flicker of relief crossed Maude's eyes.

After roughly twenty seconds, with a final crisp sound, the ice shattered into fragments and fell away from Sunny's legs.

The freezing grip finally broken, Sunny let out a muffled groan as her legs buckled. She began to collapse onto the icy ground.

Maude caught her in time, supporting her weight.

Though the ice had been removed, there was no time for celebration.

After stabilizing Sunny, Maude examined her legs, now swollen and discolored from frostbite.

"That damn Aokiji…" he muttered under his breath, his expression darkening. He turned back to Sunny.

"Can you walk?"

"I'll try."

Sunny released his hand and attempted a step, only to falter.

Without hesitation, Maude lifted her onto his back and ran toward Wall Mountain.

Fortunately, Aokiji hadn't followed up on this side. Otherwise, no strategy would've worked.

As Maude carried Sunny, he felt the toll of his earlier use of Armament Haki, which had drained much of his stamina.

Had it not been for securing Scott's head at the slaughterhouse earlier that night, he likely would've collapsed from exhaustion by now, let alone managed to carry Sunny.

Meanwhile, Mad Hat Town was in complete chaos.

The combined presence of Garp and Aokiji had utterly crushed the pirates' will to resist.

Their sole focus was escaping Mad Hat Island.

The ships docked in the front harbor had all been destroyed by the Marines, and with Gion and Robbie cutting through the pirates within the town like blades, the only escape route was through Wall Mountain to the slaughterhouse on the far side of the island.

As Maude reached the area near Wall Mountain, he saw frantic pirates rushing toward the three tunnels at its base.

Beyond those tunnels lay the burning slaughterhouse, its flames growing fiercer by the minute.

This meant that even if the pirates reached the slaughterhouse, finding materials to escape by sea would be nearly impossible.

Observing the panicked crowd, Maude's eyes glimmered.

"Good. The more people, the more the Marines' attention will be scattered."

Adjusting Sunny on his back, Maude sprinted toward one of the tunnels.

Just then, a commotion erupted behind him.

Turning to look, he saw a group of terrified pirates fleeing toward Wall Mountain.

Chasing them from the air was a figure stepping on the air itself, launching blue flying slashes with each kick.

In an instant, seven or eight pirates were struck down by the devastating attack.

"That's… Rokushiki."

Recognizing the distinctive Tempest Kick technique, Maude quickly turned his focus back to running.

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