One Piece: With Sign-in System

South Blue.

After recruiting Jewelry Bonney, who possessed the ability to manipulate age—making people, including herself, older or younger with a touch—Ron and his crew spent about half a month traveling aimlessly through the South Blue. They explored one island after another, taking in the sights.

Ron's vitality had now approached an astonishing 2,000 points. When activating Essence of Strength Lv2, his strength reached a truly terrifying level.

Enzo, who was now carrying a weight of 70 kilograms, had finally begun to grasp the basics of Armament Haki.

Conis, on the other hand, had increased her range of control over Iron to a hundred meters, manipulating up to fifteen blades at supersonic speed.

On this day, the crew arrived at a deserted island, planning to rest for a while.

Ron, wearing only black swim trunks and sunglasses, reclined leisurely on a beach chair.

Meanwhile, Robin and Conis, dressed in swimsuits, were playing beach volleyball, while Enzo frolicked happily in the shallow waters along the shore.

Bonney, clad in a red swimsuit that accentuated her striking figure, held a coconut in one hand as she approached Ron.

"Want a drink?" she asked.

Ron extended his hand to take it.

Bonney reluctantly handed over the coconut, clearly hesitant to part with it.

"How does it taste?" Ron asked casually, sipping through the straw.

Bonney sat down on the sandy ground beside him, gazing out at the vast, azure sea. The breeze gently tousled her pink hair as she spoke.

"To be honest, it's a bit dull... and boring. It's nothing like the thrilling life on the Grand Line," she said, hugging her knees as she stared at the ocean before her.

"This kind of peaceful life is fine for a while, but if it goes on too long... I don't think I could stand it," she admitted, turning to Ron with a look of confusion. "For someone as strong as you, don't you ever feel the urge to challenge the powerful figures of the sea? To dominate and become the ruler of these waters?"

"What's wrong with this kind of peaceful, free life?" Ron said with a smile, enjoying the sweet coconut juice. "Becoming the ruler of these seas would only bring endless trouble. And for what?"

"Well..." Bonney began, but before she could continue, Ron's expression suddenly sharpened, his eyes narrowing beneath his sunglasses as an overwhelming aura emanated from him.

"What is it?"

Both Robin and Conis turned toward him, their expressions serious. Even Enzo paused his play and looked back.

"Just as we were talking about trouble, it seems to have found us," Ron said, sitting up and looking out at the vast expanse of ocean before him. A faint smile played on his lips.

Bonney followed his gaze but saw nothing. The sea stretched out endlessly, serene and empty.

"What trouble? There's nothing there," she said, glancing at Ron in confusion.

Ron gave her a sidelong look.

"You'll see soon enough. The excitement you were craving is on its way. Don't get too scared," he replied, his voice calm but laced with a hint of warning.

His gaze shifted to Robin and Conis. "Get to the ship immediately and prepare to set sail."

Noticing the rare seriousness in his tone, both women nodded and ran toward the ship without hesitation.

Ron then turned to Bonney.

"You too," he said.

Though puzzled, Bonney followed Robin and Conis toward the Voyager.

As the three women and Enzo boarded the ship and began preparations, a wave of blue frost rapidly spread across the distant ocean, radiating outward with astonishing speed.

In an instant, the waters surrounding the deserted island froze solid.

The ship was trapped in the frozen sea, completely immobilized.

On the deck, Conis, Bonney, and Enzo stared wide-eyed in shock.

"What... what is this?"

"The sea... it's frozen solid?"

Robin's gaze locked on the icy expanse before them. Her eyes widened as if recalling something dreadful. Her face turned deathly pale.

"This... could it be...?"

"Don't panic," Ron's voice rang out from the shore, calm and steady. "Conis, activate the alternate mode of the ship I told you about earlier."

His reassuring tone brought an immediate sense of calm to the group.

"Understood," Conis replied, hurrying below deck with Enzo.

Only Bonney and Robin remained on the deck.

Half a minute later, the source of the disturbance finally appeared.

"They're here," Ron said, his gaze fixed on the distant sea, his eyes narrowing once more.

Robin and Bonney turned their eyes to the horizon, where a figure could now be seen approaching slowly, riding a bicycle across the frozen sea.

"That person is...?"

Bonney, unfamiliar with the figure, tilted her head in confusion.

Beside her, Robin's face went pale, and a bead of cold sweat trickled down her forehead. Her voice trembled as she spoke.

"That's... Admiral Kuzan, also known as Aokiji of the Marines."

"An Admiral of the Marines?!"

Bonney's jaw dropped as she stared at the man closing in on them.

"Wha—?! Why would a Marine Admiral show up here?!"

She whipped around to face Robin.

"You're not pirates, right? He's not here to capture you, is he?!"

Robin's lips pressed into a tight line, her hands gripping the railing so hard that her knuckles turned white.

The only possible reason for Aokiji's appearance... was her—the infamous Demon of Ohara, with a bounty of 79 million berries.

When Kuzan finally stopped his bike on the ice just off the beach, he raised a hand in greeting to Ron.

"Yo, long time no see."

"Congrats on the promotion to Admiral," Ron replied with a smile.

Over the past year, in an effort to counter the growing threat of pirates in the Grand Line and New World, the Marines had promoted Akainu, Kizaru, and Kuzan to Admirals.

"Not much to celebrate," Kuzan said, scratching his head. "More responsibilities just mean less freedom. Garp was right—higher ranks are a hassle."

"I suppose you're here as part of your Lazy Justice philosophy?" Ron teased.

"Something like that," Kuzan replied, before turning his attention to the ship's deck. His gaze settled on Robin.

"It's you... Nico Robin."

Robin's body trembled under his piercing gaze, her grip tightening further.

Bonney stared at Robin in shock.

"She's Nico Robin?!"

"Hey, Kuzan," Ron interjected, stepping onto the ice in his swim trunks and bare feet. "Could you not terrify my crew?"

Kuzan shifted his focus back to Ron, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"I've read the reports about what you've been up to over the past year," he said. "Nothing too alarming, but why is Nico Robin aboard your ship? Don't tell me you don't know her identity."

Ron met his gaze calmly.

"I don't answer to the Marines anymore. Even if you're an Admiral, you have no right to interfere with my decisions."

"Harboring a criminal with a bounty of 79 million berries is enough to get you labeled a criminal yourself," Kuzan said coldly.

Ron smirked.

"Ah, yes. The same 'justice' that placed such a bounty on an eight-year-old girl, simply because of her existence. Is that the Marine way?"

Kuzan's expression darkened as his Admiral's aura surged, chilling the air around them.

"Robin is my crewmate," Ron declared, drawing his crackling blade, Raikiri, from the void. "If protecting her makes me a criminal, so be it."

As the sword fully emerged, Ron's powerful sword aura spiraled skyward, colliding fiercely with Kuzan's overwhelming presence.

The once-clear sky darkened ominously as a storm began to brew.

Bonney, watching from the deck, broke into a cold sweat.

"That's a Marine Admiral! And he's drawing his sword against him?!"

Her voice trembled as she muttered, "Is he insane?! No matter how strong he is, there's no way he could be a match for a Marine Admiral!"

"You've grown significantly stronger since leaving Marineford." Wearing his signature sunglasses, Aokiji stared at Ron, who stood 100 meters away with his sword in hand. "Among the Shichibukai, perhaps only the top few could surpass you. However… you're still not a match for me."

"If you insist on protecting Nico Robin, I'll have no choice but to consider you an enemy of justice and eliminate you."

Hearing this, Robin's pupils contracted sharply.

Suddenly, a flash of golden lightning streaked across the sea, accompanied by the deafening roar of thunder as it pierced through the air, traversing the 100-meter gap in an instant!

A ferocious slash imbued with golden lightning erupted violently—this was Ron's response to the Marine Admiral!

Bonney instinctively closed her eyes, temporarily blinded by the dazzling golden lightning. When she reopened them, Ron, gripping his sword with one hand, had already appeared behind Aokiji.

Between them, the ice-covered sea split open with a sharp, straight crack.

"!!"

Bonney's gaze was locked on Aokiji, whose body now bore a massive diagonal gash, as if it were split in two. Yet, no blood spilled from his wound. His expression remained eerily calm.

Ron noticed a layer of white frost accumulating on his sword, Raikiri, and frowned slightly.

Behind him, Aokiji's body began to fragment into ice, his calm voice breaking the tension.

"Even though you defeated Crocodile, who's also a Logia user, I'm not the same as him. Right now… you can't beat me."

As his words faded, jagged ice spikes erupted from the frozen surface, shooting straight toward Ron.

Ron stomped heavily on the ground, his foot encased in Armament Haki. The spikes instantly shattered, and the ice beneath him collapsed into a massive crater.

In response, enormous ice formations rose around him, transforming into towering, feral beasts of frost that lunged at Ron, radiating an overwhelming chill.

Ron's Raikiri, coated in the deep purple-black hue of Armament Haki, shimmered ominously.

"Sun Breathing, Variant: Flame Breathing!

Total Concentration!"

Raikiri, now bathed in crimson flames, slashed ferociously in a sweeping motion.

"Flame Breathing – Fourth Form: Blazing Whirlwind!"

A massive vortex of fiery slashes erupted, spiraling skyward in a dragon-like blaze of fire.

Waves of searing heat rippled outward, forcing Bonney and Robin on the deck to shield themselves from the scorching air.

"Even just the aftershock of this… what terrifying power…" Bonney muttered, trembling with shock.

She had initially believed the slash that had severed a pirate ship earlier to be the peak of Ron's strength. Now, she realized it was far from his full potential.

The enigmatic, unfathomably powerful Ron and Aokiji, a Marine Admiral representing the pinnacle of Marine combat strength…

What kind of battle would this turn out to be?!

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