One Piece: The Salted Fish Fruit

With a crisp sound, Mabi immediately felt the temperature around her plummet to freezing point. She saw an ice curtain instantly form above the area where the island's inhabitants used to live, isolating the giant rocks falling from the sky and forming black stones.

"You really did make a move!" Mabi smiled slightly as she looked at the ice curtain below, then vanished in an instant.

Once the first eruption is over, the remaining lava will be enough to flow into the sea through the opened passage on the other side.

···

The sea train rose and fell gently with the waves. Luffy, bored, leaned against the door frame, gazing at the seascape. In the distance, the ice crystal barriers of the islands shimmered brightly under the night sky.

"Phew! That old man said he's determined to blow up the New World to avenge his men."

"What? Didn't you tell him that Ain is still alive?" Maggie asked suspiciously. Ain had tried to blow everyone up but failed, so it was understandable that he didn't recognize her, but it was impossible that he didn't recognize Luffy, such a famous person.

They'll inevitably ask about Aion's existence. How can he take revenge if he has prisoners in his hands? He should just kidnap them.

"Aion? Who is that?! Why should we tell him?" Luffy asked, confused.

"That giant panda!" Mabi instantly covered her forehead, it seemed she really hadn't said anything, no wonder Zephyr talked about revenge after escaping.

It seems that Zephyr believes Ain has been killed. After all, no one would let someone who wants to destroy another's ship go unpunished, let alone a ruthless pirate. It is only natural that he would die.

It seems we can only wait for Aokiji to come and discuss with him what Zephyr has done, so that we can go together to find a third island to stop him.

After all, how can we explore the New World if it's destroyed?

···

Half a day later!

The Sunny was filled with smoke and the aroma of delicious food.

The dock owners and their family also boarded the Sun to participate in the banquet, where they served their specialties to everyone.

"Oh my! You guys are really making a scene." A cheerful voice rang out from the ship's side, and Aokiji's tall, smiling figure gradually emerged from the ship's side onto the landing deck.

"Aokiji!"

Although I had been warned, seeing him again still sent a shiver down my spine. After all, a person is like a shadow, a tree like the wind; even after retirement, no one can truly ignore him.

"Come, sit down and have a meal with us. Try our chef's cooking." Seeing everyone's expressions, Mabi broke the ice and stepped forward to greet them, inviting them to the banquet.

"Don't you beautiful ladies welcome me?" Seeing everyone's expressions, Aokiji greeted them gently, completely lacking the superior aura he had two years ago on the Water Seven route. Now, he had shed all that and become a friendly, approachable neighbor.

"Welcome, welcome! Please have a seat!"

Mia quickly placed a bowl and chopsticks next to Luffy. Robin, who was not far away, stiffened slightly, then looked at Aokiji with a gentle expression.

"Wow! Robin has become more and more womanly in just two days, and this navigator lady has also become quite voluptuous."

Princess Mia, how have you been? I heard your brother is attending the World Conference this year!

Miss Angelia, thank you for saving the soldiers on the battlefield. Perhaps I will need your help later?

Is this the legendary Sea Queen, Miss Apis? When you disappeared in the East China Sea, the incident in that area remains a mystery to this day. Could you tell me what happened back then?

After sitting down, Aokiji greeted the five women familiarly, as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time, without any awkwardness.

With just a short greeting, Aokiji broke down the barriers between everyone, causing the girls to cast curious glances at him. Even the dock owner, who was preparing dishes in the distance, looked over with curiosity.

This uncle really is popular with all ages!

Seeing what Aokiji was doing and the girls' reactions, Mabi grabbed two bottles of liquor, put her arm around his shoulder, and started shouting.

"Senior Aokiji, you're such a flirt! You've already charmed every girl in our team since we just met."

Come on, stop flirting with girls.

Once you get to know someone, you can't do without some food and drink.

Come on, come on, let's drink!

"Oh my! Want a drink? That sounds good." He took the drink from Maggie's hand, touched it to his lips, and started chugging.

"Haha! Cheers!" Mabi laughed heartily. Only at such a joyful and happy banquet could everyone let down their guard and eliminate barriers.

"Senior Aokiji!" Just after Aokiji finished chugging the wine, a chubby black and white figure pounced into Aokiji's arms and let out a painful howl.

"Miss Ain, what are you doing here?" Aokiji looked at the figure wearing a panda headgear who rushed into his arms, reached out and pulled down the animal headgear to reveal a woman with tear-streaked face but full of joy, and asked.

With tears streaming down her face, Ain looked up at the senior who was many years her senior and began to pour out her heart.

"Waaah! I failed to blow up this ship, so they've been holding me captive on it ever since."

But that pervert isn't human. He fed me seastone, rendering me powerless, and even made me wear this panda costume.

"Hey! Who told you to keep biting people? I just happened to see this outfit and bought it for you, thinking you could become a cute girl and calm your temper down." Mabi sat down again, hugging a barrel of wine, and said disdainfully.

"I'll bite you to death! Who told you to feed a woman stones and high-calorie meat every day? I feel like I've gained weight these past few days." Seeing the main character sit down, the weak Ain pounced on Mabi's arm again and started biting.

“Go ask Luffy for the meat; he’s worried you’ll go hungry. Just tell Sanji what you want to eat; I’ve already told you, he won’t refuse. We didn’t tie you up; we just don’t want you to leave the ship,” Maggie explained, looking at Aokiji with a helpless expression.

"This is the favor I asked you to do. If you know each other, take this biting panda with you."

"We're pirates, it's inconvenient for us to bring a marine along. She knows where our ships are docked. If we let her leave, she might come back with explosives and blow up our ships again. That's why we don't let her leave the ship and act freely elsewhere."

Chapter 236 Treatment! Interception!

As Mabi and Aokiji drank together, the previously boisterous Ain seemed to find her anchor and stopped biting Mabi. She picked up her chopsticks and quietly ate her food while listening to the Straw Hat crew's discussion.

She would occasionally make a few noises, but Maggie would raise her hand and press her back down to shut her up.

"Alright! That's how it is. Whether you go or not is up to you." Aokiji picked up his wine glass, drank the wine in it, and took out a permanent pointer from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"Angelia, please help treat Aokiji's wounds." After Aokiji finished speaking, while his companions were pondering, Maggie stood up and gestured for Angelia to sit on her side.

“No problem, scars can heal themselves and their existence can be resolved. Using the power of the Angel Fruit can accelerate the recovery, but severed limbs…” Angelia stood up and looked at Aokiji’s icy calf, hesitating to speak.

"Oh, no problem! It's just that the skin repair is already the best result I can achieve."

"Miss Angelia, please treat me." After saying that, Aokiji removed the gloves that covered the scars on his hands, and took off his green trench coat and shirt. This revealed the hideous and terrifying scars covering half of his body, especially the horizontal knife scar on his waist. It was likely that if his opponent had moved any closer, it would have broken his spine and split him in two.

Seeing everyone staring at the scars all over his body, Aokiji didn't care at all as he received treatment from Angelia's golden light shield. He reached out and touched the knife scar on his waist, looking in Mabi's direction and couldn't help but tease her.

"Oh my! Little Red Knife, I don't know why I don't remember your real appearance or age, but the famous sword at your waist will never change. The wounds you inflicted are still aching even after two years! My body has been struggling to heal."

"I'm sorry, Aokiji-senpai. We were on opposing sides back then. Holding back would have meant death." Maggie apologized slightly as she listened to his complaint, but she could tell he was just venting. In that kind of battle, one wrong step meant death, and surviving was the greatest luck. Mere scars and permanent damage were nothing to worry about.

As for himself, he was nothing more than a loser in that battle. If his teacher hadn't given him a second life, he would probably have died by then, so there was no need to mention it to his companions.

"Clap!"

Witnessing all this, Ain was so shocked that she slammed her chopsticks down on the table. She had heard her teacher talk about that battle, but he was too far away to participate in the battle at the very center. At that time, whether it was the current general, marshal, hero, or commander, they all possessed combat power surpassing her teacher's. In the end, only Marshal Sengoku was unharmed, while the others were all seriously injured and taken for emergency treatment.

Looking in Mabi's direction again, a hint of fear flashed in his eyes, no longer thinking of his previous lawlessness.

Those who knew about Mabi's participation in the battle also looked incredulous. They only knew that Mabi had participated in the battle but had never heard him say anything about it. Now, they were astonished by this real achievement.

"Relax, relax! It's all in the past, no need to mention it anymore."

"Luffy, decide for yourself, to go or not to go?" Maggie interrupted, "There's no point in saying more; the answer will be revealed later."

"Uncle Aokiji said he was planning to blow up the entire New World, right? Shanks and the others' New World, and ONE PIECE, are also here. We can't let him destroy it."

He also wanted to blow us up!

"Then let's go stop him!" Luffy picked up the Eternal Pose, stared at it, and shook it in front of his eyes as he replied, tossing the Eternal Pose to Nami.

"Nami, find a course, let's go." Maggie immediately gave the order upon hearing Luffy's reply.

"Are you going to fight Z? I can give you the strongest equipment left behind by other pirates," the chubby dockyard owner said, looking at the busy crew.

"The strongest equipment?"

···

"Franky, drop anchor!" Luffy, wearing a red trench coat, stood on the lion's head of the Sunny and drew his long sword to give the order.

"Roger that!"

Splash!

The iron chains swayed, and the giant metal claws hanging on both sides of the ship's side extended their sharp claws, which were thrown into the sea by gravity and firmly gripped the seabed reefs.

"Zoro, Sanji, you two take everyone to help Luffy. There's another bird on the other side of the mountain, I'll go deal with it," Maggie reminded him, looking at the countless Marines and Vice Admirals on the other side of the mountain.

“Alright, you go ahead, you pervert. We’ll come help you after we’ve finished dealing with things here. We can’t let that pervert be on the front lines for everything.” Sanji nodded, and a coal slab extended from his feet, connecting to the shore to form a bridge for people to walk on.

"You pervert, watch out! Don't beat them all up so we can't even stretch our legs," Zoro said with a laugh, deliberately bumping into Maggie as he walked over.

"Don't worry! It will happen," Maggie said with a smile.

"Mabi, be careful!" Her companions in red uniforms greeted her as they passed by.

Mabi smiled and nodded, then looked at Aokiji Ain standing at the back and said, "Senior Aokiji, as we discussed before, you should take Ain and Zephyr to see him. Let him have hope for the future, after all, Ain is one of his last two relatives and he will always have something to worry about."

Now that the navy has landed, they can't let him leave. Once he returns to his original form, he might be tempted to die again after realizing what he's done.

You saw our base before; we can freeze him, freezing all his life-sustaining functions and storing him there. Perhaps in the future, a country that aligns with his worldview will emerge, allowing him to live peacefully there.

"Mm." Aokiji nodded slightly, without saying anything.

He also knew that whether Zephyr was on the list of those killed by the Navy or was overwhelmed with guilt and grief after returning to normal because he had killed too many innocent Marines, either path was a dead end for him.

Seeing Aokiji nod, Mabi sighed and teleported away. For Zephyr, persisting for too long would be a dead end no matter which path he took. Only by freezing him forever at this moment and giving him a world where he could reunite with the generals and not kill them would he be able to retire in peace.

His figure vanished, then reappeared atop the dark red island, overlooking the entire island. Countless brown-clad and white-clad Marines were entangled in a chaotic battle. Pacifistas in white uniforms gradually climbed up the steep mountainside. On the distant coast, Kizaru and a dozen or so Marine Vice Admirals remained standing firm, awaiting the final battle.

However, apart from Binz, who possesses combat strength at the level of a Navy Vice Admiral, Zephyr's side has no other experts.

Only former Admiral 'Zeff' remains as the last remaining top-tier fighter.

The battle below continues fiercely as companions clashing in red capes make their appearance.

All the naval forces present were within their comrades' combat range. Their guns roared fiercely, and no one could withstand them in their wake. They swept across the battlefield, creating a zone of shockwaves.

Standing at the highest point of the mountain, Mabi swiftly drew her long sword and slashed it towards the sky.

"Sever the Void!"

The air blade shattered, and a golden figure appeared in the sky.

"How terrifying! Your Overbearing Slash almost sliced ​​me in two again, you little red-blade brat!"