” [ Ice Time Capsule ] .
”
On the deserted street, a bone-chilling cold burst forth, surging and spreading along the ground.
Lucas’s body remained in a punching stance, but a thin layer of ice crystals had already crawled over his entire body, sealing him inside a crystal-clear ice sculpture.
” Ara ara, young man.
”
” You are under arrest.
Go to prison and calm down for a few days.
”
Kuzan reached out his hand, grabbing towards the ice sculpture.
This ” Ice Time Capsule ” move was different from his other moves aimed at killing; it was specifically developed to stop a target’s movement.
The cold air did not enter the body, so it would not damage internal organs, let alone cause death.
It was surprisingly useful when capturing petty thieves whose crimes didn’t warrant death, or when stopping civilians who had gone red-eyed from drinking a bit too much and refused to listen to reason.
Crack, crack.
Countless fine cracks spread across the surface of the ice sculpture, and wisps of crimson blood energy shot out from the fissures.
Just as Kuzan’s hand was about to touch the sculpture, it exploded from the inside out.
Countless ice shards scattered in the shockwave, refracting seven-colored light under the sun.
Amidst this resplendent rain of ice crystals, a spear formed from condensed blood came piercing through the air.
” [ Bloody Hunt ] ”
The blood spear rapidly elongated in the narrow space between the two, a layer of flowing blood-red Armament Haki wrapping around its surface.
A red gleam flashed in Kuzan’s pupils.
He stomped on the ground, creating a series of booms, and as he retreated, he deftly plucked a few blades of wild grass from the ground.
White freezing air surged from between his fingers, freezing the fragile grass blades into a sharp ice blade.
Armament Haki flowed out from his body like water, covering the surface of the ice blade.
” [ Ice Saber ] ”
The ice saber traced a cold arc in mid-air, accurately striking the side of the blood spear.
The blood-red Armament Haki was broken through, and the ice saber took the opportunity to cut in, slicing the blood spear right down the middle.
The severed blood lost its cohesive form, turning into clumps of dark red liquid that scattered onto the ground like falling flower petals.
That blood did not seep into the ice layer or freeze like normal liquid.
Under Lucas’s will, the blood scattered on the ground squirmed like a living creature, forming a pool of blood spanning tens of meters.
” Trying to catch me, it’s not that easy.
”
A large amount of blood churned violently, as if a red-hot iron had been thrown into it.
The surface roiled, bubbles surged from the depths and burst, and a massive vortex formed in front of him.
The blood shot into the sky like a fountain, transforming into a ferocious blood dragon in the air.
” [ Blood Dragon Bullet ] ”
The blood dragon, wreathed in flowing Armament Haki, raised its head, opened its maw wide enough to swallow a person, and lunged towards Kuzan.
” Ara ara.
Young man, this level of morphological change…
Are you perhaps a Logia user?
Does blood count as a natural element?
”
A low-temperature cold current swept through the entire street.
Everywhere it passed, everything was encased in a thick layer of ice.
The blood dragon stopped just a few meters away from Kuzan.
” I am a Paramecia-type Blood-Blood Fruit user; I can control blood.
”
Lucas calmly made up the name of a Devil Fruit that he didn’t even know existed.
Lying to enemies was a good habit he had cultivated over so many years.
” Is that so?
Truly a strange ability.
”
Kuzan’s eyes flickered slightly; it was unclear whether he believed it or not.
He executed Moonwalk, bursts of air exploding under his feet as his tall figure hovered in mid-air.
With a wave of his hands, two ice spears formed from freezing air took shape in his palms, with Armament Haki winding around them like snakes.
” [ Ice Time: Twin Thorn Spears ] ”
The pool of blood on the ground surged again under Lucas’s control.
Blood bats, infused with emitted Armament Haki, flew out from the liquid surface, swarming densely towards the incoming ice spears.
The blood bats collided with the ice spears, emitting a series of dense impact sounds, like hail hitting a tin roof.
The ice spears pierced through wave after wave of blood bats, but also disintegrated amidst the countless collisions.
Shattered ice fragments and dissipated blood mixed together, raining down from mid-air like a red and white shower.
The blood pool rose and fell on the ground, condensing into all sorts of blood creations—blood wolves, blood snakes, blood birds, and even a few blood-colored humanoid figures with blurred faces.
The bone-chilling freezing air also thickened the ice layer on the ground again and again, freezing those blood creations, pressing them back into the blood pool, and freezing them again.
This battle lasted from the sun at its peak until dusk, and from the starry sky until the east turned white—it lasted for a full day and night.
On the sea surface outside the dock, a steamship rocked gently with the waves.
Baccarat leaned against the railing, her Red Hair tousled by the sea breeze.
She gazed far off towards the direction of the battle on the island, her brows tightly knitted, her eyes filled with unconcealable worry.
Lucas had told her to return to the ship early to wait, so she waited obediently right here.
Several times she had wanted to rush back to take a look, but was afraid of being a burden.
The Lucky Lucky Fruit was fine for dealing with small fry, but against a Marine of Kuzan’s level, that bit of bad luck was simply not enough.
On the street, most of the buildings on both sides had collapsed, the ground was covered in a thick layer of ice, and solidified black-red blood seeped through the ice cracks.
Lucas stood amidst a field of ice shards, holding a long sword formed from fresh blood, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground.
” I see that you can’t do anything to me either.
”
” How about we both take a step back?
You pretend you never saw me, and I won’t touch anything at the South Blue Marine base in the future.
How about that?
”
If Kuzan had gone all out, he would have had the thought of continuing to fight the opponent; battling such an opponent could improve himself.
But he was truly not interested in a Kuzan who was holding back.
While he himself hadn’t gone all out in order to hide his true abilities, wasn’t the Kuzan opposite him doing the same?
Not to mention the Fist Bone technique that hadn’t been used from start to finish, just look at the Ice-Ice Fruit’s ability—the terrifying move “Ice Age” that could freeze the sea level between several islands, yet he could only freeze a hundred or so meters of ground?
Who are you trying to fool?
This guy was clearly afraid of affecting civilians, holding back his strength from start to finish.
As Garp’s disciple, what he learned was not just the Iron Fist, but also the conscience and kindness engraved in the bones of the Monkey family.
Upon hearing this, Kuzan distressfully scratched his messy hair.
He really didn’t want to fight anymore.
Sacrificing the civilians of an island just to catch a criminal who broke into the base—he couldn’t do such a thing.
If he really fought with all his might, the battle might have already ended, but doing so would certainly result in a significant portion of the civilians on this island being frozen to death by the low temperature.
” Can I trust you, young man?
If you commit a crime again, it will be very difficult for me.
”
” Rest assured.
” Lucas retracted the blood sword, the blood energy around his body slowly receding back into his body.
” I was planning to leave the South Blue anyway.
”
After speaking, he turned and left without a hint of hesitation.
Kuzan watched his tall, straight back disappear at the end of the street and gently shook his head.
” Truly an interesting man.
Brother Tokikake…
With a love rival like this, you probably don’t stand a chance in this lifetime.
”
(Note: The blood control technique is simple and crude, and it seems to fit perfectly with the Water Release from next door; blood is water, after all.
Developed to the later stages, it’s just unleashing blood tsunamis on flat ground, definitely a natural disaster-level combat power, it could even count as a pseudo-Logia.
In fact, electromagnetic force could also enhance vampire-type abilities; I wonder if any readers have thought of that.)