Chapter 122 – [122] : Ultimate Devil Fruit Fusion! Destruction of Thunder-Ice Island!

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Rowen’s eyes flashed with a crazed light.

The battle between them had now devolved into a pure war of attrition.

Though his Haōshoku Coating gave him the upper hand, and Rowen was confident he would ultimately win even if it came down to endurance—he knew that by the end of such a battle, he too would likely be severely injured.

Such close-quarters, life-or-death combat, especially against a peak powerhouse like Aokiji—even with Haōshoku Coating protecting his body, defensive lapses were inevitable.

Maintaining the full-power Haōshoku Coating cloud consumed an absolutely huge amount of energy. Even with the Born of the Sea Trait allowing him to recover Conqueror’s Haki using sea energy—Rowen could only delay its depletion.

In this situation, if he didn’t want to exhaust his Conqueror’s Haki, he would have to choose not to use the full-body Haōshoku Coating defense—

Instead, like Aokiji, he’d have to rely on Armament Haki for protection, using Haōshoku Coating solely for offense.

This would significantly reduce consumption.

But if he made that choice—given the scary power of Aokiji’s Ice Gloves—if Aokiji found an opportunity to strike any part of his body not covered by his Thunder Gloves, Aokiji could pierce his Armament Haki and inflict damage…

Aokiji, now fighting with desperate ferocity, his body already bearing numerous scorched marks—was clearly waiting for just such an opportunity.

Aokiji’s combat experience was immense, his Hand-to-Hand Combat honed to their absolute peak—even when temporarily at a disadvantage, he showed no signs of panic, quickly and calmly analyzing his path to victory.

In terms of raw physique, Aokiji clearly held the advantage over Rowen.

This was his only edge, his only chance of winning…

By fighting so desperately, he aimed to force Rowen to expend his Haōshoku Coating.

If the battle dragged on for days, Rowen’s Conqueror’s Haki would inevitably weaken, unable to maintain full power, unable to sustain the Haōshoku Coating defensive Cloud. At that point, Aokiji’s Ice Gloves would have a chance to land a decisive blow!

Such calm strategic thinking, such rich combat experience, and the combat instincts born from Martial arts, even Rowen had to admire it.

Fighting a true top-tier powerhouse of these seas truly was an exhilarating experience. Even when at a disadvantage in both Haki and Devil Fruit matchups (initially)—Aokiji could still coolly identify his only path to victory.

No wonder Sengoku, with his Buddha-like wisdom, favored the usually lazy Aokiji highly—intending to pass the mantle of Fleet Admiral to him…

But Rowen—possessed the awakened Human-Human Fruit, the enhanced intellect of an Ultimate Human!

Aokiji’s thoughts and intentions—Rowen had seen through them long ago! When Rowen aimed to defeat an opponent, he gave them absolutely zero chances.

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BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Rowen combined the power of his Haōshoku Coating with his Rumble-Rumble Fruit, unleashing a horrible shockwave!

Against this fusion of Haōshoku Coating and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit—even Aokiji could only temporarily evade.

His Ice Gloves might withstand such power, but the rest of his body, protected only by Armament Haki and Ice-Ice Fruit defenses, could not.

Facing this attack, dodging was the only sensible choice.

But the moment Aokiji instinctively dodged, a sense of dread washed over him.

Relying on combat instinct had its benefits, of course.

Even when his Observation Haki was shredded by Rowen’s Rumble-Rumble Fruit, rendering it unusable, combat instinct allowed him to engage in a close-quarters, life-or-death battle against Rowen, who possessed future sight—

—Aokiji’s instinct, forged through countless days and nights of training—created powerful muscle memory, allowing for instantaneous, correct decisions in battle.

For example… just now, when Rowen unleashed that full-power Haōshoku Coating and Rumble-Rumble Fruit energy shockwave—dodging it instantly was, in that split second, the correct decision.

But was the correct decision in that split second—necessarily the correct decision in the long run??

By retreating—he had given Rowen, with his Rumble-Rumble Fruit and Haōshoku Coating-enhanced speed—an incredibly wide space to maneuver!

That massively draining shockwave of Haōshoku Coating and Rumble-Rumble energy—clearly wasn’t just Rowen showing off because he had too much Haki to spare!

Rowen was deliberately creating this operational space…

With such space, Rowen, possessing future-seeing Observation Haki, would never give him another chance for close combat!

‘Does he intend to use long-range Rumble-Rumble Fruit attacks to wear down my Haki and stamina?’ Aokiji frowned.

But looking at Rowen in the distance, a deep sense of unease filled him…

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VMM.

Rowen’s Observation Haki focused to its absolute limit, ensuring every single one of Aokiji’s movements was foreseen.

Rowen would not give Aokiji another chance to get close—

Combat instinct—while allowing for instantaneous correct decisions, could not predict the future! An instant of ‘Correctness’ sometimes represented shortsightedness—and could lead to utter ruin!

Pros and cons—didn’t just apply to Devil Fruits. All powers had them, Including Aokiji’s combat instinct.

A glint of wisdom shone in Rowen’s eyes—Human-Human Fruit, Intellect Enhancement.

“Aokiji! Savor this attack—THE ULTIMATE DEVIL FRUIT ABILITY!” Rowen declared, looking at Aokiji in the distance, his laughter thundering across the sky.

The rolling thunder of his voice made Aokiji wince, instinctively reinforcing the Armament Haki around his ears to block out the sound!

“Ultimate Devil Fruit Ability?” Aokiji frowned deeper upon hearing Rowen’s words.

Even Rowen’s close-range Thunder Gloves couldn’t fatally wound him in a short time—what use would long-range Rumble-Rumble Fruit attacks be?

But now, unable to close the distance with Rowen, Aokiji could only steel himself to receive whatever attack came next.

With his Observation Haki at an absolute disadvantage, facing a man who also possessed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and Haōshoku Coating to boost speed—Aokiji knew he was at a complete tactical disadvantage.

He could attack and retreat at will.

Aokiji sighed inwardly.

Capturing Rowen—he likely couldn’t do it alone. It would probably require another Admiral to corner Sky Sovereign Rowen.

‘To require two Admirals to capture… this man really has the power of an Emperor,’ The Navy—had lost its best chance to capture this man.

At this moment, Aokiji couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret. If he had known earlier—during the Alabasta incident—he should have directly gone to apprehend this scary man!

But alas… regret was meaningless now.

Aokiji channeled his Ice-Ice Fruit power and his full Armament Haki, preparing for the impending ranged assault.

VMM!

But what surprised Aokiji was—Sky Sovereign Rowen, crossed his arms, not using his Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability.

“GREAT FLAME COMMANDMENT——!!!”

Rowen roared, unleashing his Flare-Flare Fruit power!

Extreme, horrifying flames erupted, centered on Rowen, burning ferociously! Rowen’s physique had reached such a high level that his control over the Flare-Flare Fruit far surpassed Ace’s.

Though its raw attack power was inferior to Rumble-Rumble, it was still on par with the Ice-Ice Fruit.

Once Awakened, the Flare-Flare Fruit, unleashing its full potential, could grant combat power at the minimum Admiral threshold.

Among all Devil Fruits, Flare-Flare was T1.

Fruits like Rumble-Rumble, Magma-Magma, Glint-Glint, which granted power far exceeding the Admiral threshold based on fruit ability alone, were T0!

Rowen’s use of the Flare-Flare Fruit now was only one step away from Awakening—he just needed to meet the ‘Desire to Become Fire’ requirement.

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Rings of searing flame began to converge towards Rowen’s hands!

Then—Rowen lifted them!

“FLAME EMPEROR——!!!” Rowen roared, appearing as if he were holding aloft a miniature sun, his eyes fixed on Aokiji in the distance—

This colossal fireball of pure sun-like energy was incomparably vast—far exceeding Ace’s ‘Great Flame Commandment – Flame Emperor‘ in both volume and destructive power.

At this moment, high above Thunder-Ice Island, it was as if a new sun had truly appeared!

“FLARE-FLARE FRUIT?” Aokiji’s frown deepened further. He didn’t understand.

Sky Sovereign Rowen’s current action—besides pointlessly consuming stamina—what other purpose could it serve???

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit’s attack power was superior to Flare-Flare’s—and his opponent’s use of Flare-Flare clearly wasn’t as masterful as his Rumble-Rumble.

But the next moment, Aokiji’s pupils constricted violently!

BOOOOOOM!!!

Incomparably terrifying lightning! The full power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit—was unleashed by Rowen!

“RAIGO——!!!” As the user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Rowen’s roar was thunder itself!

In the next instant, accompanied by the convergence of countless lightning bolts—a colossal sphere of pure, condensed lightning slowly materialized from the innumerable thunderclouds above.

The destructive energy radiating from that giant sphere of lightning made even Aokiji’s scalp tingle…

The concentration of lightning was so frightening.

This power was enough to completely obliterate the entire Thunder-Ice Island, erasing it from the sea—

‘Does this man intend to destroy this island?!’ But… he possessed the Ice-Ice Fruit; even if the island was destroyed, he could freeze the sea, preventing himself from falling in!

And the next moment—

“Fuse.” Rowen’s smile turned somewhat strange.

FWOOSH!

The giant sphere of lightning descending from the sky—and the colossal fireball held aloft by Rowen below. One radiating innumerable bolts of lightning, the other burning with terrifying searing flames!

At this moment. Lightning and Fire intertwined!

Under Aokiji’s constricting pupils, they slowly merged—into a colossal sphere of THUNDER-FLAME!

More than half of it was lightning, the rest, Flame.

This shouldn’t be possible on these seas! The Rumble-Rumble Fruit and the Flare-Flare Fruit—represented lightning and fire in the natural world—arguably the most violent energy manifestations in nature…

Combining their powers should have resulted in nothing but a catastrophic explosion!

But… Rowen—was simultaneously a user of both the Flare-Flare Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Half his body was flame, the other half lightning!

The flame was Rowen; the lightning was also Rowen!

Under these conditions—the powers of the Flare-Flare Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit—achieved fusion!

Flame Emperor and Raigo—merged into one—Thunder-Flame Bomb!

“Being a Flare-Flare user and a Rumble-Rumble user simultaneously… Only you could achieve such a thing. A fusion of flame and lightning… truly astonishing. But, what is its purpose?”

Aokiji questioned, activating his Ice-Ice Fruit power, forming a colossal phoenix of pure ice, looking coldly at Rowen, who now appeared half-flame, half-lightning.

The energies of fire and lightning were, after all, completely different…

Even if Rowen was a user of both fruits, allowing their energies to merge into a Thunder-Flame Bomb—upon detonation, the fire and lightning energies would still act separately—

—Though the combined devastation of fire and lightning would be more violent, the combat power level wouldn’t undergo a qualitative change.

“Did you… forget something? I’m not just a user of the Flare-Flare and Rumble-Rumble Fruits,” Rowen’s smile grew even more eerie.

“Huh?!” Aokiji’s pupils constricted sharply again!

Within that Thunder-Flame Bomb—an aura of absolute annihilation was forming! Both the flames and the lightning within it began to rage unnaturally!

“This is—!” A look of horrified realization dawned in Aokiji’s eyes!

“That’s right! I am also a user of the Bomb-Bomb Fruit! Whether it’s fire or lightning—both are part of my body. And as a user of the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, I can make them—COMPLETELY EXPLODE! Fire and lightning—I don’t need to fuse them! I just need to make them—continuously Explode! The power of fire and lightning, intertwined and detonating—SAVOR IT WELL! AOKIJI!”

Rowen roared with laughter, then hurled the Thunder-Flame Bomb—now wreathed in his full Haōshoku Coating power—towards Aokiji!

CRACKLE! BOOM!

Haōshoku Coating—could also accelerate the Thunder-Flame Bomb. Though the consumption was immense—this was meant to be the decisive blow!

“RUN—!”

Aokiji screamed, feeling the annihilating aura from the approaching Thunder-Flame Bomb, every hair on his body standing on end!

This attack… he absolutely could not take it head-on!

But—

CRACKLE! BOOM!

A distant arc of crimson-black Haki lightning suddenly exploded, striking the left side of Aokiji’s body!

“URGH!” Aokiji grunted in pain, his retreat instantly disrupted!

“Why—How did you know my hidden weak spot?!” Aokiji roared in disbelief!

“BECAUSE I AM ALSO—A USER OF THE HUMAN-HUMAN FRUIT! AOKIJI!” Rowen thundered with laughter, the signature flame cloud appearing behind him.

Why else would he engage Aokiji in such intense close-quarters combat with his Thunder Gloves, knowing Aokiji’s proficiency???

It was precisely for this—to use that life-or-death close combat, combined with his Human-Human Fruit’s analytical ability—to pinpoint Aokiji’s hidden injuries!

All for—THIS MOMENT!

“HUMAN-HUMAN FRUIT!” Aokiji’s eyes widened in horror.

He was certainly familiar with that fruit—

Fleet Admiral Sengoku’s Buddha-like wisdom—was obtained from the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Daibutsu!

And users of the Human-Human Fruit also gained terrifying intelligence enhancement—becoming an ‘Ultimate Human’!

‘Rowen’s Human-Human Fruit—is already Awakened! That flame cloud behind him is the most iconic symbol!’

“SHIT!” Aokiji only had time to form a massive ice phoenix from his Ice-Ice Fruit ability, wrapping it around himself defensively, his Ice Gloves crossed before him!

Then—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The Thunder-Flame Bomb—Exploded!

Fire and Lightning from within detonated directly!

The resulting annihilating energy threw up a colossal mushroom cloud…

Under this frightening energy explosion—Thunder-Ice Island—couldn’t withstand it…

It completely SHATTERED!

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