"Whoa! It's getting windy and stormy—someone collect the laundry!"
"Skull, if you keep spouting jokes, I'm letting go!" Deuce shouted over the howling wind.
"No! Boss Deuce, please don't!"
The violent storm struck without warning, causing the Black Nova to tilt dramatically to one side. Skull, who had been dancing around excitedly beside the ship's railing, was caught completely off guard and found himself blown into the air like a leaf.
Fortunately, Deuce's reflexes were quick enough to grab Skull with one hand while maintaining a death grip on the railing with the other.
"I want to fly too! Is this what they mean by 'hanging by a thread'? Yohohoho!" Brook called out cheerfully, gripping the ship's side with both hands as his entire skeletal frame floated almost parallel to the deck in the fierce wind.
Carina and Carrot, who had been standing nearby, benefited from their earlier positioning close to the ship's secured seating area. They were now pressed against the edges of their chairs alongside Kotatsu and Farul, thus avoiding the fate of being blown overboard entirely.
After several intense minutes, the hurricane-force winds finally died down, allowing everyone aboard the Black Star to gather together and straighten their thoroughly disheveled clothing.
Deuce casually glanced toward the Red Force on the opposite side, which appeared to be in similar disarray from the unexpected weather.
However, he noticed that an extremely large crew member named Lucky Roux was standing rock-steady on their deck, completely unmoved by the chaos, providing a solid anchor point for his struggling friends to grab onto.
Deuce shook his head with grudging respect and surveyed the multiple ongoing battlefields. He observed that although the conflicts at the other two locations weren't generating quite the same scale of destruction as Jerry and Shanks' duel, they were still creating earth-shattering impacts that fractured the ice fields within their respective combat zones.
After their fierce initial confrontation, Cavendish could no longer dominate the pace of battle as freely as he had at the beginning. Once Mihawk had increased his tempo and begun wielding the black blade Yoru with serious intent, both swordsmen had entered an entirely different phase of their duel.
Faced with this rapidly evolving young opponent, even Mihawk could no longer maintain his characteristically relaxed and casual demeanor.
When Mihawk realized that Cavendish could sustain continuous attacks at speeds that nearly exceeded his ability to track—with no signs of slowing down—he decisively shifted his strategy from defensive counterattacking to aggressive offense.
Each of his sword strikes was now accompanied by devastatingly sharp flying slashes. Fortunately, their battlefield was positioned far enough from the others, and most of Cavendish's combat was taking place in midair, so their fierce exchange didn't interfere with the other two duels or endanger either ship. The majority of their destructive power was being absorbed by the ice field in the immediate vicinity.
Under the two combatants' aerial assault, Brook's thick frozen surface seemed surprisingly fragile, with the surrounding area quickly transforming into open water dotted with thousands of floating ice chunks.
After Mihawk began exerting his full effort, Cavendish suddenly felt the pressure increase exponentially. Even with his excellent speed and reaction time, he couldn't escape the former world champion's penetrating hawk-like gaze.
Mihawk managed to balance offense and defense with every single movement, predicting and blocking Cavendish's next attack in advance, making the younger swordsman feel constrained at every turn.
Faced with such overwhelming tactical superiority, Cavendish demonstrated a completely different approach than in their previous encounters—he showed no anxiety or recklessness whatsoever. Instead, he maintained extraordinary patience even while executing lightning-fast attacks.
Perhaps it was due to his earlier defeat that Cavendish had achieved complete mental clarity when facing Mihawk this second time.
What this demonstrated was that Cavendish was utilizing his superhuman reaction advantage to its absolute maximum potential.
In the split-second timeframe where most people could only react and execute a single action, he was fully capable of temporarily changing his tactical approach two or even three times.
Therefore, although Cavendish's Observation Haki didn't display future-sight capabilities, he compensated through the swift movements and reflexes granted by his lightning-enhanced physiology.
The flashing of blades continued relentlessly, with Cavendish's figure seeming to be everywhere at once. While it appeared he was constantly in danger from Mihawk's attacks, he was actually forcing the legendary swordsman to keep moving and repositioning himself across various ice floes.
Judging that their battle would require considerable time to reach a conclusion, Deuce shifted his attention to the battlefield where Ace and Beckman were engaged.
Compared to the floating ice sea on Cavendish's side, this area presented a completely different environment due to Ace's elemental presence.
Blazing flames rampaged freely, burning the ice field into a landscape of craters and holes. In several areas, seawater was actively surging as the original frozen surface had already melted back into liquid.
Over the past several years, following Jerry's intentional suggestions and indirect guidance, Ace's training regimen had evolved into a perfect combination of Haki mastery and fire manipulation.
After all, Devil Fruits represented the idealistic power of this world. As long as people maintained proper expectations, corresponding abilities could develop as desired, with the fruits' power growing stronger through imagination and dedicated development.
Jerry understood this fundamental truth, which was why he had never believed the ridiculous assertion that magma somehow represented a superior form of fire.
He firmly believed that the Flame-Flame Fruit shouldn't just develop its range and quantity, but should also focus on increasing temperature as its core quality—along with experimenting with flame density and shape manipulation whenever time and ability permitted.
It was due to Ace's stubborn dedication to certain principles that he had decided fire should be developed exactly as Jerry suggested, combining it with his Haki training and application to create his current "Fire God" form.
When Ace unleashed his Pure White Flames and Beckman gained a preliminary understanding of their extreme temperature and persistent, almost parasitic nature, the vice-captain's expression immediately became far more serious.
Beckman possessed Haki that potentially surpassed even Marine Admiral levels, and he understood perfectly well that as long as one's domineering power was sufficiently strong, all Devil Fruit abilities were ultimately just paper tigers.
However, Beckman also recognized that discussing results without considering dosage was pure academic nonsense.
Through Ace's unrelenting efforts, the scorching temperature of his pure white flames had long since exceeded that of magma and even surpassed the original theoretical limits of the Flame-Flame Fruit itself.
The white flames seemed capable of burning through anything and were extremely adhesive, so even Beckman with his formidable Haki couldn't extinguish them instantly.
As a result, he would inevitably suffer varying degrees of burning pain during physical exchanges, though this minor discomfort didn't affect his composure or tactical clarity in the slightest.
At this moment, Beckman was wielding his flintlock rifle like an improvised club, swinging and striking with it to display his masterful gun-fighting techniques.
Although Beckman hadn't pulled the trigger yet, Ace's mind remained highly focused. He could sense instinctively that whatever ammunition waited in that barrel posed a serious threat to his safety.
Despite feeling somewhat apprehensive, Ace refused to fight defensively.
As always, he maintained a continuous and powerful offensive approach, deciding to leave the handling of potential danger to his Observation Haki and his extraordinary combat instincts.
Looking across the various battlefields from their distant vantage point, Deuce raised his hand to rub his temple and asked Brook, "Can you tell which side has the advantage in any of these fights?"
Brook shook his head with characteristic humor. "I can't help it—I've been staring so intently that I don't know where my eyes went! So I can only trust in our friends' abilities. Yohohoho!"
After a thoughtful pause, he added more seriously, "However, judging by everyone's fighting posture, I don't think these battles will last much longer."
Glancing at the multiple battlefields that appeared extremely dangerous, with everyone seemingly fighting with desperate intensity, Deuce and the others found themselves agreeing with Brook's assessment and nodding silently.