One piece : A Lotus

At this moment, Ezekiel discovered a notification on his mobile device:

[Memory - 100 GB

Advanced Armament Haki - 30 GB

Enhanced Observation Haki - 40 GB

Advanced Rokushiki - 20 GB]

Clearly, Kizaru, who is in his fifties, had learned more than Aokiji, who is in his forties.

[Download Light Fruit ability?]

Will did not hesitate. He didn't have much combat experience, and acquiring fruits was the fastest way to become stronger.

[Download starting - speed is 800 KB per second]

This means the download will take no more than 30 hours.

Fujitora dealt with Weeble in just one hour. How long can Zephyr hold out against Kizaru? But Zephyr was no longer the same as before, and he smiled as he considered this.

"Sword summoning clouds in the sky!" Kizaru smiled as he conjured a golden light sword from his palm.

Boom!

The light sword clashed with Zephyr's massive seawater stone fist.

Boom!

Boom!

Clang!

A flash of light illuminated their faces, and Zephyr looked at Kizaru with a smirk.

"Do you want to fight your teacher?"

Kizaru dodged the blow from the mechanized arm, accurately pinpointing its weakness as described by Dr. Vegapunk.

"Light Speed Strike!"

Boom!

Zephyr was struck hard on the shoulder, and then at the joints of the key parts, the entire mechanical arm hummed like it was malfunctioning.

"Damn it!" Zephyr angrily recalled the weakness of the robotic arm that Vegapunk had mentioned to him, and it seemed he had told Kizaru as well.

Boom!

One blow after another from the light sword followed, and Zephyr's mechanical arm was finally destroyed, turning into a heap of scattered parts across the deck.

"Mr. Zephyr, this is impressive," Kizaru's smiling face showed surprise as he looked at Zephyr, who continued to fight. Zephyr's Haki had improved significantly! It had been many years since the two sparred against each other.

Zephyr coldly smiled, then fiercely tore off the remnants of the broken mechanized arm and tossed it onto the deck.

"What, Teacher Zephyr, are you planning to give up?" Kizaru smirked.

Boom!

The next second, a jet-black fist struck him in the face, and Kizaru barely managed to raise his right hand to block the blow. This was Zephyr's only chance!

"Light Speed Strike!" Kizaru's right leg shot toward Zephyr but was blocked by Zephyr's own leg.

Their attacks clashed with a blinding light, and both were momentarily held at bay. At that moment, Kizaru slowly raised his left fist, which transformed into a blazing golden light.

"Oh, hoo-hoo-hoo, Teacher Zephyr, goodbye," Kizaru taunted him.

Just as his fist was about to descend, Kizaru was stunned, momentarily forgetting to counterattack.

The veins on Zephyr's forehead strained, the air was pierced with sharp cold, and from his mangled right arm grew an icy hand! Then it was covered in ink-black Armament Haki.

Boom!

The fist struck Kizaru hard in the face.

"Did Teacher Zephyr use the Freezing Fruit ability?! Could it be that Aokiji is dead?" Kizaru, flying through the air, was bewildered. "Is the Marine Admiral... dead? Otherwise, am I hallucinating?!"

Only Ezekiel knew the truth because he had copied Aokiji's fruit power into Zephyr!

Zephyr's memory limit is 280 GB!

He still had more than 100 GB of memory left, and as a true veteran who had survived countless life-and-death battles, applying Aokiji's top abilities combined with enhanced Armament Haki directly boosted Zephyr's capabilities. He had approached the level of the Four Emperors. If he weren't so old, he could compete with the Four Emperors!

[Zephyr – 280 GB / 280 GB

Freezing Fruit - 100 GB

Top-tier Armament Haki - 80 GB

Advanced Observation Haki - 50 GB

Advanced Rokushiki - 50 GB]

This time, Zephyr's stats were terrifying. They were now close to Ezekiel'sown stats, and this also made Ezekiel realize just how strong he could become with enough combat experience.

Kizaru straightened up with the marks of the blows on his face and looked at Zephyr in astonishment. He could no longer smile. Confusion and shock filled his heart. How did all this happen?

How did Zephyr acquire the Freezing Fruit ability?!

Aokiji couldn't have died!

Zephyr clenched his ice fist and felt stronger than ever. He had truly deflected Kizaru's attack head-on. He raised his hand high and looked at Kizaru.

"Come closer! My student!" Zephyr shouted.

Kizaru's expression changed. He quickly abandoned the idea of getting the truth out of Zephyr, after all, Zephyr was no longer with the Marines. But there were more important things right now than fighting with Zephyr; he needed to confirm whether Aokiji was alive or not.

Whoosh!

Kizaru turned into a flash of light and disappeared into the sky.

In two seconds, he appeared on a Marine warship fifty kilometers away. Ignoring the shocked faces around him, he immediately spoke seriously:

"Contact Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"

After listening to Kizaru's account, Sengoku was silent for a moment, then immediately dialed Aokiji's number. Only upon hearing Aokiji's voice did he sigh with relief. It was good that Aokiji wasn't dead...

"So, what Zephyr has is not the Freezing Fruit, but an ability similar to it."

As we all know, there are no two identical Devil Fruits.

"Then what should I do now? It's really terrifying—a Zephyr with the ability to freeze," Kizaru's drawling voice came over the phone, making Sengoku want to smack him.

"For now, follow his ship to find out the truth about his abilities," Sengoku eventually gave the cautious order after some thought.

Ezekiel watched Kizaru and the others hovering within a 50-kilometer radius, all the while keeping an eye on the progress of the download. It took just a day and a half to complete the download. During that time, even if Kizaru wanted to retreat, they couldn't afford to lag behind!

He had already acquired the power of two Devil Fruits, including the power of the Pika Pika no Mi. And if he simply wanted to escape, no one in this world could catch him.

For more advanced chapters follow me on patreon

30+ chapters. patron.com/Manofathousandskills