"Ice Slaughter: Mahapadma!!"
However, just as the entire cage was about to close and completely imprison Esdeath within it, the entire sky was frozen by the extreme cold.
All water molecules in the air were frozen, and all the surrounding trees, including the tree giant that Aramaki transformed into, were instantly frozen and unable to move.
Not only that, but even Aramaki's own soul willpower showed signs of being frozen. The most obvious sign was that Aramaki felt his thoughts slow down considerably. He watched Esdeath rush through the gaps of the cage he had carefully crafted. He wanted to stop her, but he was powerless to do so!
Esdeath instantly rushed to the side of the tree giant, and the shura sword, carrying her full power, slashed down.
The moment the sword body struck the tree giant, the ice crystals covering the tree giant instantly shattered, followed by the entire tree giant being completely destroyed by the sword energy that enveloped it.
"Ah!!!!"
Aramaki's entire body flew out hundreds of meters like a broken kite, spitting out blood wildly from his mouth, forming a trail of blood in the air. There were countless large and small sword wounds all over his body, and his entire body was covered in blood, looking extremely miserable.
If he hadn't transformed into a tree giant, preventing Esdeath from reaching his true body and forcing her to turn her strongest attack into area damage, Aramaki would have been injured even more severely.
"Flying Wood Transformation!"
While flying backward, something like a helicopter propeller suddenly appeared on Aramaki's body and began to spin rapidly. Using the force of his backward flight, he flew directly into the sky and escaped.
All thoughts of the Gorosei's orders and the Ope-Ope no Mi were thrown out of Aramaki's mind after witnessing Esdeath's terrifying strength.
The most important thing now was to leave this cursed place. If he stayed any longer, he felt like he would be crippled.
That extreme freezing power and that powerful swordsmanship completely countered him. If he didn't run now, he felt like he wouldn't be able to run at all.
"Are all the World Government people so decisive?"
Esdeath, who had originally wanted to continue fighting, was momentarily stunned as she watched Aramaki fly away. She hadn't seriously injured that guy just now, so why did he suddenly run?
She knew how proud Aramaki was before, and now he was turning around and admitting defeat by escaping, which she hadn't expected!
"Never mind, it's good that he ran. Anyway, the goal this time is the Ope-Ope no Mi."
Seeing Aramaki run away, Esdeath had no intention of chasing him. After all, she didn't have the ability to fly. Something like Moonwalk simply couldn't keep up with the other party.
Esdeath immediately turned and ran towards the center of the island, as she hadn't gotten the Ope-Ope no Mi yet.
On the other side:
Doflamingo, who had been scared away by Esdeath earlier, sensed the battle between Esdeath and Aramaki and had a sudden inspiration. He quickly circled around, avoided Esdeath's location, and rushed to the center of the island at the fastest speed.
"Fufufufufufu, as long as I hurry, the Ope-Ope no Mi is still mine!"
Doflamingo saw an opportunity at this moment. As long as he was fast enough and no one knew that he got the Ope-Ope no Mi, he would have a chance to keep the Ope-Ope no Mi for himself.
To take a step back, if the Limitless Pirates did discover it, he would just contribute the Ope-Ope no Mi. As long as he had a chance to get the Ope-Ope no Mi, he wouldn't give up.
"Damn it, who killed them? Where is the Ope-Ope no Mi!"
However, when Doflamingo arrived at the center of the island, all he saw was Barelus's corpse.
He knew Barelus, the lucky person who found the Ope-Ope no Mi. Since he was dead, it meant that the Ope-Ope no Mi had been snatched by someone else.
"Doflamingo, where is the Ope-Ope no Mi?"
However, just as Doflamingo was wondering, Esdeath arrived, staring at him with a cold expression and killing intent. If she hadn't found the Ope-Ope no Mi on Doflamingo, Esdeath would have already drawn her sword.
"."
Upon hearing Esdeath's voice, Doflamingo's soul instantly shivered. He turned his head with difficulty to look at Esdeath, who had appeared not far from him.
"Damn it, how could she appear here so quickly!"
"That guy looked very strong, how could he be defeated so quickly!"
"I should have known not to come. Which damned guy dared to steal something under the noses of the World Government and the Limitless Pirates?"
"."
At this moment, Doflamingo was cursing in his heart. He had impulsively risked coming here, only to be beaten to it and caught red-handed by Esdeath.
Looking at Esdeath's tone, it clearly didn't seem like someone from the Limitless Pirates had gotten the Ope-Ope no Mi!
"Princess Esdeath, I just arrived here as well. I was planning to give you the Ope-Ope no Mi after I got it, but I didn't expect that when I arrived here, the Ope-Ope no Mi was already gone, and Barelus, the person who originally held the Ope-Ope no Mi, is also dead. I assume someone took the Ope-Ope no Mi before me, and he should not have escaped far yet. We can split up and search, maybe there is still a chance to find the other party."
Doflamingo said cautiously, afraid that Esdeath would draw her sword and cut him down if he said something wrong.
"What did you say?"
Upon hearing Doflamingo's words, Esdeath's aura instantly turned cold, and the biting cold aura instantly made Doflamingo shiver.
"Buruburu!!!"
However, just as Esdeath was about to make a move, her den den mushi rang.
Under Doflamingo's gaze, who wanted to escape, Esdeath picked up the den den mushi and put it to her ear.
"We got the item, we can go!"
Kyle's voice came from the den den mushi, which instantly made Esdeath breathe a sigh of relief.
Although she knew that Kyle would eventually make a move, Esdeath was still very suspicious of Doflamingo before seeing the Ope-Ope no Mi, so she planned to capture him first before doing anything else. Now it seemed it was unnecessary.
"Doflamingo, I hope you'll be smarter next time. Some things are not for you to touch. If the Ope-Ope no Mi were really gone, the person you would have seen wouldn't be me, but my Father!"
Esdeath snorted coldly, hung up the phone, warned Doflamingo, and then left directly.
"Fufufufufufu, is that the World's strongest man, Nox? He must know the secret of the Ope-Ope no Mi, otherwise it's impossible for him to personally send Esdeath to get this Devil Fruit!"
"Fufufufufufu, you high and mighty old guys, I will watch you fall from the sky!"
Hearing Esdeath's words before she left, Doflamingo immediately burst into maniacal laughter. His greatest ambition was to destroy the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
And the person in this World who had the best chance of achieving this goal was Nox, the Limitless Pirates!
As a result, he placed his ideals on the Limitless Pirates, hoping that the Limitless Pirates could fulfill his ambition for him.
Although Esdeath's warning just now made him very dissatisfied and angry, when he thought about Nox getting the immortality surgery and being able to overthrow the rule of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons, all his inner dissatisfaction and anger vanished!