"You are stronger than I expected, it seems like you were still holding back in your fight against Doflamingo" Aokiji said seriously feeling slightly shocked by the strength of Yuki's attack, but the one who was even more shocked was actually Yuki…

The second effect of his despair ability works as such

[Effect 2: Absorb the despair around the host and accumulate it in a concentrated attack ( deals up to 1000% of the user's Magic)]

Thanks to the despair he accumulated from Robin, the increase in damage reached 500%, and coupled with his desperation strike and Haki, it was truly unimaginable that Aokiji could block it head-on ith his body and Armament Haki alone…

'His strength, will, and Haki are all off the chart… this is what the peak of the marines is capable of.. then just how strong are those Emperors… I really need to grow stronger…' Yuki thought calmly before he smirked confidently at Aokiji and said "You are overestimating me, I'm not that strong"

However, Aokiji didn't buy this lie at all as he recalled what Garp told him when they met before he came here…

Flashback Starts

"Garp-san, I heard your grandson is causing trouble recently and even accepted a troublesome individual in his crew" Aokiji spoke lazily to Garp and the latter simply shrugged and started cleaning his ears before he said "Oh really, I didn't know…"

'Tsk, At least try harder at playing dumb' Aokiji thought helplessly, they were currently in marine ford, and Aokiji has just received the order to go hunt Robin but he wanted to consult Garp first…

"Garp-san, I received an order from high above to go capture her and eliminate Straw hat Luffy"

The moment Aokiji said this, the air in the room grew still and Garp stood up angrily "Those damned rotten lizards want to get the hell beaten out of them don't they?… Fine! I will show them what happens if they dare mess with my grandson!"

Aokiji stopped Garp from leaving and causing a disaster before he said "Well, it's his fault for choosing to become a pirate"

"You think I didn't try my best to make him a marine, That little brat is simply too stubborn… Both he and his brother tsk"

"Brother?" Aokiji was slightly surprised since he didn't know that Garp had another grandson but Garp quickly shrugged it off and said "Nevermind that, what do you plan to do now, Kuzan?"

"I don't know, that's why I am here… I don't want to harm that girl more than I already did…" Aokiji replied lazily, but Garp can still see the guilt eating at his heart so he patted him slightly and said "What happened in Ohara wasn't your fault… Anyways, just pretend like you are doing your mission… I'm sure someone will come to save them from your hands, he might help you find a solution..."

"Hmm? Is one of the emperors in the move around here?" Aokiji asked curiously since he knew that none of the other pirates were enough to stop him, however, he was shocked when Garp shook his head and said "No, it's the new Warlord Yuki… He's a friend with that idiot grandson of mine"

"Arara, You think a warlord can stop me? You should know that other than Hawkeye Mihawk, the rest aren't that much of a threat to us admirals" Aokiji spoke lazily but his words oozed with confidence…

The Admirals were recognized as the strongest force of the marines for a reason, they have been trained in all aspects of combat, whether it be Haki, body, or techniques such as the Rokushiki to earn the position of Admiral!

After that, they were granted some of the strongest devil fruits, and their mastery of them is unimaginable as well! So Aokiji wasn't wrong to feel this confident, and Garp too agreed with his words as he said "I agree, he can't beat you, but you won't be able to beat him either"

"What do you mean?" Aokiji was confused but Garp simply stared into the distance with confusion in his eyes before he said "His defense… It's probably stronger than Kaido's!"

"Is that even possible?" Aokiji felt his heart shivering slightly at such a thought but Garp simply returned to his nonchalant attitude and said "You will find out yourself"

Flashback Ends.

'Let's see if what Garp-san said is the truth or not' Aokiji thought calmly before he exchanged more attacks with Yuki and noticed that they weren't as strong as his first one so he dodged a slash quickly and landed a solid punch on Yuki's stomach that was clearly unprotected…

However, at that same instant, he felt a chill going down his spine… He felt like he hit his hand on an unbreakable metal… but even more than that, he felt an unprecedented sense of danger as Yuki's eerie muttering reached his ears "Dark Strike"

Aokiji instantly used his observation Haki to its limit and noticed the abnormality behind Yuki's next slash… He slashed only once, but it was coming from two other directions!

'This is bad…' Seeing that he might get seriously injured if he doesn't act quickly, Aokiji quickly raised his free hand and said "Ice Shield!" And right after, Three ice shields surrounded him and blocked the attack for him.

"Tsk" Yuki snorted slightly, but Aokiji wasn't finished as his right hand was still making contact with his stomach so he said coldly "Your body is truly hard, but now it's over… Ice Time"

"CAREFUL" Sanji yelled when he noticed Aokiji's hand changing color, but Yuki didn't have the time to dodge before he was turned into an ice sculpture…

"I guess I indeed overestimated you…" Aokiji said calmly before he turned his sight to the Strawhats who started panicking again.

Nami even tried to rush to Yuki's side but Kayle stopped her

"Let me go! Can't you see that Yuki's frozen, we need to help him" Nami said with tears in her eyes and the other Strawhats were also angry and tried to move toward Yuki but they were stopped by Kayle who calmly turned around and said "Shizue-san, please come here and help these guys"

Hearing this, Shizue who was watching from the ship jumped out and quickly arrived in front of the Strawhats before she wielded her fire and helped them melt the ice on them, including Luffy, but she didn't help Yuki.

"You can control fire? How surprising… It seems like his crew isn't weak" Aokiji spoke calmly while staring at this scene and accumulating as much information as possible on the crew of this new warlord, and Kayle slightly bowed to him and said "Thank you for the compliment, you are not that weak either"

Aokiji froze slightly as he could see no fear in Kayle's eyes when he stared at him… In fact, he felt a chill for some reason as if he was staring at death itself… 'Am I imagining things?' Aokiji wondered before he shook his head and said "Why aren't you helping your captain?"

The Strawhats also turned to Shizue and this time Usopp spoke "Please help Yuki, he might break into pieces if he falls!"

Shizue starred at Usopp for a split second before she covered her mouth slightly and let out a laugh, and Kayle couldn't help but smile as well

"WHAT'S FUNNY ABOUT THIS? YOUR CAPTAIN MIGHT DIE!" Zoro whose hand was free now, couldn't help but yell at them after seeing that kind of reaction and he clenched his sword ready to fight them, but Shizue simply shook her head at him and said "You must be misunderstanding something…"

"hmm?" Aokiji was confused, and so were the Strawhats, but they were shocked when they heard Shizue say "Yuki doesn't need help"

"What are you…" Sanji was about to question her as well, but they suddenly heard the sound of something cracking behind them before they witnessed an unbelievable scene, the ice covering Yuki's body was disappearing at a visible rate and in just two seconds, it completely disappeared…

'The ice didn't melt… It was actually absorbed into his body…' Robin and Aokiji instantly noticed this abnormality, but the others simply felt happy after seeing this and didn't think much about it…

Meanwhile, Yuki stared at Shizue who was helping the Strawhats, and glared at Kayle before he turned to Aokiji and said "Let's have a talk, I'm sure you will be interested in what I have to say"

"What if I say no?" Aokiji asked lazily but this time Yuki exploded with his conqueror Haki directly causing the ground around him to crack and the weaker of the Strawhats such as Nami to faint directly while Usopp played dead again…

Aokiji's pupils contracted 'This is the color of the supreme king... This guy is dangerous…' However, he couldn't think more as Yuki smiled devilishly and said "The alternative is that I will be the biggest enemy of the marines"

"Are you threatening me?" A bone-chilling aura started revolving around Aokiji as he asked this and the combination of the two almost made the hearts of the Strawhats leap out of their chests, including Luffy who was just released from his frozen state…

'Yuki is this strong…' Was the thought on their minds…

At this moment, Kayle elegantly walked through the storm and said "Yuki-sama, I'm sure fighting here isn't a solution… You too mister admiral, I'm sure talking it out would be more beneficial for you"

'This old man is definitely a monster in disguise… Tsk what a weird crew' Aokiji thought before he snorted and said "You better satisfy me with what you have to say…"

"I'm sure I will" Yuki smiled slightly and stopped his conqueror's Haki and finally allowed everyone to take a breather before he walked some distance away alone with Aokiji and left the Strawhats with Kayle and Shizue…

…

"What was that just now?" Sanji asked curiously, he was still slightly shaken by Yuki's Conqueror's Haki while Luffy found it familiar… He felt like he saw his brother Ace using it before when they were young but he couldn't make sure if it was the same thing...

"You shouldn't worry about it… But I hope this will be a good lesson for you all… This world is filled with strong monsters that can take you out at any moment, if you want to live freely and protect yourselves, you will have to grow stronger" Kayle advised kindly and the Strawhats nodded silently…

Not long after, Aokiji returned with Yuki and said "You can go… Although I'm not sure if it's me that wishes you harm or this crazy guy…"

Aokiji said this cryptic message before he started waking the people that Yuki knocked unconscious on the island… These were people trapped here because of the foxy pirates, and he planned to help them go back to their home island…

…

Meanwhile, Luffy couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked directly "Yuki, What did he mean by that?"

Hearing this, Yuki simply smirked and said "It means I prepared a great adventure for you up ahead… Don't think too much about it"

"Shishishi this sounds great" Luffy replied while the rest of the Strawhats grew pale as they could feel something bad was waiting for them… and they weren't wrong!