He understood that if they fight then only he and Liam stood a chance against Aokiji. And, he was sure that they will fight.
Because he didn't want to become Shichibukai.
Zoro and Sanji clenched their fists and finally decided to return. They haven't even awakened their Armament Haki. Even if they wanted to fight, they couldn't help them at all.
So, they must retreat.
Zoro saw Robin still shaken in fear. She was so afraid that she couldn't even move especially after seeing the previous attack from Aokiji.
Zoro frowned and rushed toward her. He instantly lifted her in his arms and ran away.
"Zoro, you bastard!" Sanji couldn't help but roar. But the next second, he rushed toward Vivi and Nami.
"Vivi chan, Nami chan, give me a chance to lift you to up and escape!"
But Vivi and Nami directly ignored him and ran away with others.
"Damn it!" Usopp clenched his fist in frustration and ran away.
Chopper also quickly followed him but his eyes were full of unwillingness.
"Liam, it seems like I will get you involved in this trouble." Luffy eyes's were full of apologies as he spoke.
He knew that it was his decision to reject Shichibukai's invitation. Now, he got the entire crew involved.
Hearing his words, Liam shook his head with a smile.
"It was my words that infuriated him, captain! Besides, you are my captain. No matter what you choose, I will follow you without any hesitation."
"Alala! It seems like you two don't have any intention of accepting the position of Shichibukai." Aokiji sighed and the chill on his body grew stronger.
Smoker also saw their decision and sighed. He knew that he no longer had any reason to persuade Aokiji.
"Well, my captain will not accept it. And, if it was a real marine, I would've tried to convince him to accept it. But, for such a degraded marine, I don't want to waste my words."
Liam spoke in sarcasm despite the presence of the Admiral in front of him.
"It seems like you don't take me in your eyes. Then, I must kill you here and right now." Aokiji narrowed his eyes and spoke.
Hearing his words, Luffy spoke.
"I will not let my crew die here. I will stop you at any cost."
"Then, I would have to apologize to Mr. Garp in advance. Because I am going to kill you here as well."
Aokiji spoke with murderous intent in his eyes.
"Luffy, the trick that I am going to use next is something that I won't be able to use any time soon. So, you must absorb all of the experience that you get after this."
At this moment, several of the cards appeared in front of Liam. These cards started to glow and shuffle on its own.
"Oh! Is that your devil fruit ability?" Aokiji curiously looked at Liam.
On the other hand, Smoker clenched his fist and struggled to speak. He knew that Liam was about to use his ability to increase their combat strength.
If he tells Aokiji in time, he might be able to stop it. But, for some reason, those words didn't come out of his mouth.
After struggling for a few seconds, a decision emerged in his eyes.
"Admiral Aokiji, I will leave them to you. I will go and capture other straw hats."
Without any hesitation, he turned into smoke and moved to the battleship, and ordered it to chase Straw Hat Pirates.
Seeing this, Liam raised his eyebrows. A smile formed on his face and the next moment, his devli fruit ability started to show its effect as two teams showed two different sets of the card.
Heart of Two, Five, and Six in Aokiji side!
Spade of Ten, Joker, and Queen on Liam and Luffy's side!
[Extreme Luck- Explode]
[Teen Patti- Team Battle Mode]
Liam used all of his luck at once and released the powerful ability of his devil fruit.
When his cards showed such an overwhelming difference, Luffy and Liam felt the power simply surging in their bodies.
It was so massive that they have never felt it before.
The Armament Haki was overflowing. Observation Haki was reaching the point of seeing into the future for a few seconds.
More importantly, Luffy got an immense boost in his devil fruit while Liam surprisingly accessed Conqueror Coating.
When their powers grew, an extremely powerful aura burst out of them. The spirit of Conqueror was roaring out of them, pressing against Aokiji.
Suddenly, black lightning flashed between the three of them. Even Aokiji had the Conqueror's Haki. His Conqueror Haki was nothing to scoff at. But, at the same, it wasn't stronger than invidious Luffy or Liam's conqueror Haki.
In fact, it was fairly the same.
So, Luffy and Liam instantly overwhelmed his Conqueror Haki. And upon breaking his Conqueror, Aokiji noticed the immense growth in their strength.
"Hey, hey, are you kidding me?"
His tone was full of disbelief.
"Kuzan, I had to spend all of my luck for this battle. We are not going to let you go that easily."
Liam spoke as his foot pressed against the ground and rushed toward Aokiji.
His speed was ten times faster than the times he normally uses Shave. He clenched his fist and overwhelming Armament Haki and Conqueror Haki burst out.
By coating the Conqueror Haki over his Armament Haki, he made a strange pose that felt strangely familiar to Kuzan as he shot a powerful punch toward him.
[Galaxy Impact]
[Ice Block: Pheasant Beak]
Boom!
The massive ice pheasant surged toward the powerful impact that was coming toward him and collided. The collision spread out the ice and froze the ground beneath them while the impact destroyed it into pieces.
After destroying that attack, Aokiji narrowed his eyes and asked.
"Where did you learn that attack?"
He was certain that it was his mentor's primary attack. So, he couldn't help but release his murderous intent toward Liam.
"This move isn't something special. It's just a move with Conqueror Haki coating over Armament Haki. But, one does need a massive physical strength and Haki to perform it."
"I have barely reached that requirement."
Liam didn't think too much and calmly explained.
But, Aokiji's eyes suddenly narrowed. He was quietly listening to Liam's explanation so he completely forgot about another person.
If it wasn't for his future sight, he wouldn't even be able to see another attack coming toward him.
[Gomu Gomu No- Kong Gun]
A powerful fist coated in extremely powerful Haki dashed toward Aokiji at an extremely fast speed. It was so fast that Aokiji barely reacted by turning himself into ice.
Bang!
Luffy's fist pierced through Aokiji he turned into ice and fell to the ground. After that, he moved away from his ice form and changed back to human.
When he changed back, there was a trace of blood coming out of his mouth.
"External Release and Internal Destruction! I can't believe there is such an absurd power."
Aokiji narrowed his eyes with a dangerous glint and spoke. He used Shave and instantly appears next to Luffy who was behind Liam.
He raised his hand and moves it toward Luffy. But Luffy had already seen it coming so he instantly backs away.
[Ice Block- Partisan]
A massive group of ice tridents appeared and launched toward Luffy. Seeing this, Luffy pulls his arms back and charges his fists like a gattling.
[Gomu Gomu No- Kong Organ]
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
His fists constantly collided against those ice tridents and break them into pieces. When the ice fell on the ground, it surged toward Luffy once more but in the form of a massive
[Ice Block: Ice Age]
The massive amount of chill burst out of him and covered the entire island in an instant.
Fortunately while leaving, Straw Hats also took Noland otherwise he would've been frozen too.
The ice started spreading toward Luffy. Despite seeing this move with his future sight, Luffy could do nothing about this attack.
He could only rely on his Armament Haki to break out of it.
But, at this moment, Liam appeared above Aokiji. His hands were coated in Armament Haki and Conqueror Haki.
He moved his fingers together and thrusts his hand forward.
[Dark Tiger]
A massive roar came out of his hands in the form of a massive black tiger. It was a tiger made out of compressed it that had merged with Armament Haki and Conqueror.
Bang!
When it fell over Aokiji, it instantly bursts into a massive air impact that not only destroyed Aokiji but also the ice beneath him. Even the island was almost on the verge of breaking apart.
"Thanks, Liam!" After the ice broke, Luffy easily broke out of the remaining ice on his body and grinned at Liam.
A red glint appeared in his eyes as he thrust his right arm forward. It moved at an extreme speed, moving toward a certain ice figure that was standing from the ground.
"Alala! I didn't expect this to be so hard."
[Ice Block:.......]