When the ship was still a short distance from the ground, Diarmuid casually leaped off the ship, landing on the island.
His chosen position seemed to perfectly resolve the current situation where Newgate, Charlotte Linlin, and Kaido were encircling Gion and Smoker.
"I thought I could find a cooler way to show up, or maybe wait until all of you were severely wounded before jumping out. I didn't expect you to be so clever..." Diarmuid said with some regret, stroking the beard on his chin.
"So you were the one calculating all this behind the scenes? Well, that's typical. You've always been so despicable!" Kaido glowered fiercely at Diarmuid.
"When dealing with you pirates, there's no such thing as despicable. A dead pirate is a good pirate," Diarmuid stated earnestly.
Newgate looked at Gion, then at Kuzan standing on the ship, and finally fixed his gaze on Diarmuid, speaking softly: "Do you have this much confidence and conviction?"
Although only Admiral Diarmuid had arrived on the surface, anyone could tell that while Gion and Kuzan lacked the title, they possessed the power of an Admiral.
Diarmuid touched Kokorowatari hanging at his waist, nodding seriously: "That's right, I'm very confident. I heard you Awakened the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit? I have my doubts about that, Newgate... would you care to enlighten me?"
"Well, at this point, there's nothing to hide. While it's not an Awakening, you can test it out later." Newgate said with great composure and honesty.
"I knew it couldn't be an Awakening," Diarmuid chuckled.
Just then, Kaido looked at Newgate and said: "Old man, leave that guy to me!"
However, the moment Kaido finished speaking, a flash of lightning instantly burned into his vision. Kaido reacted with lightning speed, immediately blocking the attack in front of him with his kanabo.
The next second, Gion's lightning-flashing Konpira had already struck his kanabo.
"How about letting me be your opponent?" Gion asked, a smile on her face.
As her words fell, a massive burst of lightning covered her body, instantly engulfing Kaido.
But in the next moment, Kaido's figure withdrew from the lightning. Although black smoke was rising from his body, he did not look overly harmed.
"Your resistance to electricity is certainly strong..." Gion murmured.
Kaido roared in response: "What are you!?"
Action followed his words. His massive figure dashed toward Gion with incredible speed. The kanabo in his hand, carrying immense force and momentum, smashed down toward Gion.
"Thunder Bagua!!!" Kaido yelled.
"So fast!" Smoker exclaimed in surprise in the distance. He felt he might not be able to dodge this attack from Kaido!
But Gion's speed seemed even faster. She showed no intention of facing Kaido head-on. Just as the spikes on the kanabo were about to pierce her eye, the electric light on her body flashed, and the kanabo suddenly missed.
Kaido momentarily paused his movement. He forcefully pushed off the ground, causing the earth to crack, and used that force to twist his waist, swinging the kanabo backward.
With a clang, Gion, still crackling with electricity, had appeared behind him. The sharp, lightning-infused Konpira was striking Kaido's kanabo!
"You're faster than before!" Gion said with a hint of surprise.
She had fought Kaido before, back on Sky Island, but it seemed Kaido was faster and stronger than he had been then!?
Just then, Gion's heart seized up. She sensed a threat and, out of the corner of her eye, saw Charlotte Linlin's Cognac lunging toward her.
"Ice Time Capsule..." A slightly lazy voice entered everyone's ears.
A blue light flashed past, so fast that many people didn't even notice it.
Indeed, Kuzan's ability was fast. Many people actually overlooked this fact; his power could instantly freeze islands and seas...
Looking again, Charlotte Linlin's massive body was already encased in ice, looking like an ice sculpture.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Gion's mouth. Electric light flashed around her feet. She shimmered through the air, appearing directly next to Kaido's head, sweeping out with a kick.
"Lightning Kick!" Gion shouted.
Kaido's reaction speed was truly fast. Before Gion's kick landed, he raised his other arm, blocking the side of his head. The next moment, Gion's kick slammed into his arm.
Kaido's stance was incredibly stable, and Gion's kick failed to send him flying. Gion didn't linger in the fight, however. Another flash of electricity shot out, creating some distance between herself and Kaido.
Then, Charlotte Linlin broke free from the ice. The Cognac in her hand unleashed a powerful slash that swept through the spot where Gion had just been, its momentum unchecked, heading straight for Kuzan on the ship.
"Arara..." Kuzan looked surprised.
The slash from the Cognac instantly struck him. His entire body was cleaved in half, turning into icy debris that dropped down.
Smoker's face changed, and he wailed: "My ship!!!"
The ship had been cleanly sliced in two by Charlotte Linlin's attack, splitting into two halves with perfectly smooth cuts...
Just as Smoker's voice fell, a hand reached out from the ice shards that had fallen when Charlotte Linlin broke free, grabbing her ankle.
It was none other than Kuzan.
"Ice Time..." Kuzan's characteristically lazy voice spoke.
Before Charlotte Linlin could even turn her head, her entire body was encased in ice again.
"I was just sliced into pieces, and you're worried about your ship?" Kuzan looked at Smoker, slightly displeased.
However, before he could finish his sentence, Charlotte Linlin's ice shell burst apart. A massive fist descended from above, slamming down on Kuzan's head. It was a Haki-infused punch.
Kuzan's head instantly exploded into pieces. Charlotte Linlin's punch then crushed his entire body, crushing him from head to toe, and slammed into the ground, creating a massive crater.
"Aokiji!!!" Charlotte Linlin roared.
Smoker was stunned. Did he just get one-shotted?
Before Smoker could recover his expression, Kuzan's arm was draped over his shoulder, saying: "Did you think I was dead?"
Smoker was startled, asking in confusion: "How did you get here?"
"Ability," Kuzan replied casually, not elaborating.
"That was a Haki-infused attack, you..." Smoker started to say something, but then shook his head and didn't continue.
Clearly, Kuzan's active Logia elementalization seemed extremely proficient!
Even though Kuzan appeared to have toyed with Charlotte Linlin, looking completely at ease, anyone who understood him would now see the serious look in his eyes.
Both Ice Time Capsule and Ice Time were extremely powerful control techniques. Normally, it would be impossible for someone to break free on their own. However, Kuzan had experimented twice in a row, and Charlotte Linlin rapidly broke free from the frozen state each time, immediately launching a counterattack.
This, to some extent, forced Kuzan to be serious and genuinely feel the pressure.
Before Kuzan could think further, Kaido's dominating figure swung his kanabo, unleashing an incredibly powerful shockwave that swept through the space between Kuzan, Smoker, and Charlotte Linlin, ripping up patches of the ground.
It was at this moment that Kuzan's pupils slightly contracted, and frost suddenly exploded from his feet.
The ground quickly froze. In the blink of an eye, Charlotte Linlin's two legs were frozen to the ground in the distance.
Charlotte Linlin also seemed to sense something. She made a grabbing motion with her hand, as if catching something, and roared, slamming three punches into the ground.
"Heavenly Feuer!!!" Charlotte Linlin roared.
Prometheus had somehow attached itself to Charlotte Linlin's arm. When the punch struck the ground, intense flames immediately exploded outward, engulfing Charlotte Linlin entirely.
The scorching heat instantly melted Kuzan's freezing power. Then, a figure flashed out from the flames—it was Gion!
The reason Kuzan had moved at that moment was that he sensed Gion's presence. Gion seemed to be using Kaido's attack as cover, intending to surprise Charlotte Linlin.
So Kuzan immediately froze Charlotte Linlin's legs, creating an opening and cover.
However, Charlotte Linlin was no pushover. She instantly used Heavenly Feuer, a large-scale attack, and enveloped herself in fierce flames. This not only broke Kuzan's ice but also forced Gion to halt her attack.
"Bolo Breath!!!" Kaido opened his mouth and unleashed a torrent of heat.
Gion somersaulted in the air, landing on the ground. She didn't dodge, instead extending her arm toward the source of the Bolo Breath. Then, her hair stood up, guided by electric light.
Just a single finger, slender and pale.
Just as the immensely destructive Boro Breath was about to engulf Gion, she whispered: "Raimei Hoho (Thunder Roar Cannon)."
Expanding from a point, the streak of lightning was inconspicuous when it first emerged from Gion's fingertip. Compared to the Bolo Breath, it was a tiny, insignificant spark.
But in just an instant, dazzling electric light completely engulfed the Bolo Breath. The radiating column of light rapidly converged, like a sack, directly swallowing the Bolo Breath.
The next second, the powerful lightning force rebounded and struck Kaido's chest at extreme speed.
It didn't pierce him, but Kaido's expression stiffened. He was instantly blasted away by the electric light.
"Solar Fire!!!" Charlotte Linlin shouted.
Prometheus, truly like the sun, sprayed massive amounts of fire toward the direction of Kuzan, Gion, and the others. In a short time, the ground was charred.
However, Gion, Kuzan, and Smoker stood together within the flames, a massive wall of ice blocking the stream of fire.
Kuzan rubbed his chin: "Fire is the thing I dislike the most..."
"Surely a flame of this level can't actually hurt you, right?" Gion grumbled to Kuzan.
He wasn't an anomaly like Sakazuki. The Prometheus Charlotte Linlin casually created might be impressive, but it posed no direct threat to Kuzan. However, it did affect his ability to some extent.
"It's somewhat troublesome. It's truly a headache..." Kuzan said helplessly.
"Want to switch opponents?" Gion smiled.
Just then, Smoker spoke: "If it's fire, I should be able to handle it."
"Ah, right! I almost forgot you're a Smoke-Smoke Fruit user!" Kuzan's eyes lit up.
At that moment, the continuous stream of fire finally melted the ice wall Kuzan had casually erected, and the scorching flames surged toward them.
"White Out!" Smoker shouted.
A massive amount of white smoke rapidly burst from his body. In a short while, the dense smoke had enveloped the flames, seemingly managing to control them.
"Looks like we don't need to switch opponents after all, hahaha..." Gion laughed heartily.