"As expected of Fleet Admiral Sengoku, always full of surprises. Ice Age!"
Aokiji looked at the area, now flooded with seawater, and couldn't help but reveal a smile.
A beam of freezing power shot out, and the entire sea surface was instantly frozen solid!
At this point, there was no longer a need to fight. A Devil Fruit user would lose all their strength in the seawater.
Akainu spat on the ground. Although he was unwilling to accept a victory like this, the opponent was simply too difficult.
So what if it's a victory without honor? The Navy cannot be defeated.
"Next, as long as we take care of the Whitebeard Pirates, the battle will be a complete victory. That was so tiring. I never thought we'd encounter such a monster." Kizaru flashed in front of Aokiji, his tone lazy as he complained. This battle had almost worked him to death. He had never seen someone with such strong defensive power.
"Don't let your guard down. He claimed to be a monster who has lived for thousands of years," Aokiji reminded him. After all, the battle they had just encountered was beyond all common sense. And they still hadn't dealt with Whitebeard. They couldn't be careless.
Kizaru nodded, and just as he was about to say something, he felt the ground begin to shake.
"Don't tell me…"
He quickly looked at the ice surface behind him, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Could it be that in the middle of the ocean, he can still use his fruit ability? This has to be a nightmare!
Soon, Kizaru's guess was confirmed. The ice surface, spanning a thousand meters, instantly shattered.
Zhongli, leading the two brothers, slowly walked out of the seawater, his clothes not even stained with dust.
The seawater had no effect on him whatsoever.
Sengoku's lips trembled. "Th-that's impossible! Isn't he a Devil Fruit user? Why isn't he afraid of the sea?!"
"This must be hell!"
"A Devil Fruit user who isn't afraid of seawater!"
"Why is this happening?!"
The marines cried out in anguish. Their last hope had been extinguished.
Even Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Garp couldn't take him down. Who else could possibly stop him?
Looking at the shocked expressions of Sengoku and the others, Zhongli said calmly, "I apologize for disappointing you. I am not a Devil Fruit user. I had originally thought I would be able to witness some more interesting martial arts, but it seems that is no longer possible. Let us go."
Luffy and Ace felt a force envelop them and were then carried away from the scene.
Kizaru watched them fly away but did not make a move to stop them. It would all be in vain. Even if he did attack, what could he change? His Yasakani Sacred Jewel probably couldn't even tickle the man.
Unafraid of seawater. Able to resist even an attack infused with Conqueror's Haki. This man was already invincible.
Whitebeard watched Ace leave and couldn't help but laugh heartily. "My sons, retreat! The war is over!"
As he spoke, he gave a pointed look to Sengoku and the others in the distance.
You, who call yourselves the world's justice, are nothing more than this.
The bait had escaped. Now the fish was going to run, too.
Aokiji looked at Sengoku and asked, "What should we do? Do we attack?"
"We absolutely cannot let Whitebeard leave this place! We have already been utterly disgraced! This is our last shred of dignity!" Sengoku roared, grinding his teeth.
No matter the cost, they had to keep Whitebeard here. Otherwise, what face would the Navy have left to live in this world, having been played like monkeys? The son of the Pirate King had been announced, but what was the result? Were they just going to let Whitebeard walk all over them?
The battle once again entered a fever pitch.
After Zhongli left Marineford with the two of them, he flew over the sea for about two hours before finding an island. This should be far enough, he thought.
After putting the two of them down, Zhongli said, "From now on, you're on your own. This place is very far from the last island. It's very safe."
The moment he landed, the system's notification sound was heard.
[Ding! Congratulations on completing the promotion mission. You have been awarded 200,000 points.]
[Hint: You may choose to return immediately or remain for a short while.]
[Note: The maximum time you can remain is ten minutes.]
"Sir, thank you for saving us!" Ace quickly bowed in gratitude, pulling his brother Luffy down to bow as well. This was a life-saving grace.
Zhongli shook his head. "There is no need for that. I was merely completing a mission. Now, I will take my leave."
"Wait, sir! Is there anything we can do to help you? Or how can we contact you?" Ace quickly stopped him, wanting a way to get in touch. Having received such a great favor, he naturally wanted to repay it.
Zhongli stopped and thought for a moment. "I am very interested in the strange and wondrous things of this world. If we meet again, I hope you will have prepared some Devil Fruits for me."
"Yes, sir! If I see you again, I will definitely repay you!" Ace bowed once more.
When he looked up, Zhongli had already vanished.
Only then did Luffy pull the cloth from his mouth and laugh. "Wow, Ace, that man is so strong! I'm going to become as strong as him!" At this moment, his eyes were filled with stars. He had clearly become Zhongli's little fanboy.
"You should learn Haki before you say things like that. I never knew the old man's power was so strong," Ace said. Recalling Garp's Conqueror's Haki, Ace finally understood what top-tier power was. Before, he had always thought that training Haki was too tiring and that fruit abilities were more fun. But Zhongli's assessment of Garp made him understand that mastering Haki was the path to becoming a true expert. He still had a long way to go. But for now, he had to think about his old man and the crew. He had escaped, but what would they do?
In the Multiverse Mission Group chat, having witnessed the top-tier experts of the pirate world being utterly dominated by Zhongli, everyone was deeply moved.
Especially Ningguang. Right now, all she wanted to do was more missions and strengthen the group's power. Her resistance to Yae Miko joining had completely vanished. The other woman was the familiar of an Archon. Her strength would definitely not be weak. If such an existence were to join the group, they would not have faced such a predicament.
The others felt that their current strength was not enough and that they needed to train more, especially Kaedehara Kazuha and Beidou.
Keqing:When Mr. Zhongli returns, can we ask him to give us some guidance in martial arts? Although he didn't attack just now, as someone who has been through the Archon War, he must be incredibly skilled.
Ningguang:I think so too. It's a waste for him to be at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. I'm just afraid he won't be willing to teach us.
Hu Tao:Don't worry, I'll persuade him. That guy probably wouldn't be willing to teach every day, but how about once every three days? If you have any questions, you can just call him in the group.
Xiangling:That was such a shocking battle. Now I realize how far we are from true strength. If we want to protect Liyue, we have to work much harder. No wonder my master always said I wasn't working hard enough. The gap is too big.
Su Han:Don't be discouraged. An adeptus is naturally powerful. We have time to cultivate. Don't lose heart.
Trying to compare themselves to Rex Lapis? These girls are really overthinking it. He thought. Forget Garp not being able to break his defense; even the Raiden Shogun herself has admitted she couldn't.
At that moment, Zhongli returned to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, and the group's system notifications followed.
[Ding! Congratulations to member Zhongli for completing the promotion mission. The Multiverse Mission Group has now been promoted to Level 2.]
[Ding! More functions of the Multiverse Mission Group have been unlocked. Please check the group information for details.]
[Ding! More permissions of the Multiverse Mission Group have been unlocked. Please check the group information for details.]
[Ding! The member limit of the Multiverse Mission Group has been unlocked. Current members: 10/20.]
[Ding! Congratulations on the Multiverse Mission Group's promotion to Level 2. The Special Discount Area has been opened.]
A large number of notifications directly spammed the screen.
Su Han looked at the group information.
First, the member capacity had been expanded from the original ten to twenty.
Secondly, an administrator function had been added. Administrators could mute people, @everyone, and even invite new members! This meant that Su Han didn't have to personally invite people anymore; an admin could do it. But for now, there were only two admin positions.
The group also added a team-up function. If they encountered a high-difficulty mission, they could team up to go, with the number of people fluctuating between two and five, depending on the mission's difficulty. However, if they teamed up, the point reward would be slightly reduced.
The upper limit of the mission difficulty level also began to increase, from the original three-star to five-star. This meant that there was now a chance for five-star missions to appear. One could imagine how difficult they would be. However, everyone guessed that four-star missions would probably appear more frequently, and the chance of a five-star mission would be very low.
Finally, there was the Special Discount Area, which appeared in the Points Shop, similar to a special offer. Every week, a discounted item would appear in the Points Shop, and there was even a chance for a mysterious item to appear with an unknown price. The items that appeared were also random. You might lose out, but you might also profit. But the discounted items would definitely be cheap, with the discount fluctuating between ten and ninety percent. If you didn't buy it, after a week, the item would disappear completely, and it was uncertain when it would appear again.
After browsing all the new functions of the upgraded group, all Su Han could say was that a Level 2 group was just too much stronger than a Level 1.
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