The bicycle rolled to a quiet stop.
The faint ticking of its wheel echoed across the ruined training ground.
A tall man balanced on one leg, one hand in the pocket of his white suit jacket, the other adjusting the green sleep mask resting on his forehead.
"Ara ara…"
The languid voice broke the frozen silence.
Only then did the stunned Marines, mouths still open from the spectacle, snap back to reality.
The air temperature dropped.
Rapidly.
Sharply.
A bone-deep chill spread outward.
Several recruits near the perimeter shivered uncontrollably, teeth clattering.
No introduction was necessary.
The slightly rumpled white suit and the signature sleep mask spoke for themselves.
Admiral Kuzan — Aokiji.
One of Marine Headquarters' ultimate military powers.
Garp's laughter subsided. He dug in his nose, flicked away an unidentified object, and grinned.
"Kuzan! Thought you'd be asleep. Did my little warm-up wake you?"
"Well… hard not to hear that," Kuzan replied lazily.
He stepped off his bicycle.
His relaxed posture contrasted sharply with the battlefield devastation.
He did not look at Garp immediately.
His gaze traveled past the Marine hero…
across the massive trench splitting the training ground…
…until it reached the starting point.
There sat a man.
Blond.
Scarred.
KING.
KING's mind was blank.
The instant of near death replayed endlessly.
Garp's fist had stopped millimeters from his face. The shockwave had scraped his skin raw.
His current posture was deeply undignified:
legs splayed, hands braced behind him, body leaning backward.
He wanted to stand.
To twitch.
To blink.
But terror had severed communication between brain and body.
He could not move.
He could not even close his eyes.
To observers, however—
it looked deliberate.
Kuzan walked forward slowly.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Pebbles beneath his shoes frosted over with each step.
"This newcomer…"
Behind his sunglasses, his sleepy eyes narrowed slightly.
Ordinary soldiers had not perceived what happened.
But his Observation Haki had captured everything.
Garp's punch had been devastating — and fast.
At the critical instant before impact…
the man had moved.
No wasted motion.
No excess energy.
Only a slight backward lean.
A movement so efficient it escaped the killing centerline.
But what intrigued Kuzan most was the man's present state.
Facing Garp.
Facing an Admiral.
He neither rose nor saluted.
He did not speak.
He did not even adjust posture.
The eyes beneath the three claw-like scars stared into nothingness.
No relief.
No awe.
No fear.
Only absolute stillness.
"Hey, Mr. Garp," Kuzan said, stopping five meters away. "Where did you dig him up?"
"Hahahaha! Surprised, huh?"
Garp walked over and slapped Kuzan's shoulder.
"This kid's KING! From East Blue! You saw it, right? He dodged my punch! Never seen someone that slippery!"
Kuzan adjusted his sunglasses.
Normally, he would dismiss Garp's enthusiasm as exaggeration.
But now…
interest stirred.
"The East Blue…"
He looked at KING again.
The temperature continued to fall.
Frost spread across the ground.
Moisture in the air crystallized into tiny ice motes drifting downward.
This was not an attack.
It was the natural cold aura of a Logia user.
Even experienced officers would feel breath tighten under such pressure.
Yet the man on the ground remained motionless.
Even his breathing rhythm did not change.
(KING's inner monologue: Help… someone help… my leg is cramping… why is it so cold… Admiral Aokiji?! Am I going to freeze to death?! Move! MOVE!)
Extreme fear flooded his bloodstream.
But his body reacted in its own way.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
A dull sound began to echo.
Soft at first.
Like distant war drums.
Within seconds, it grew clear — carrying a strange vibration across the silent training ground.
All eyes turned.
The sound came from his chest.
A heartbeat.
Yet more than a heartbeat.
Each beat struck like a hammer on the eardrum.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
The rhythm intensified.
Even frost crystals on the ground trembled.
Koby clutched his chest, shocked.
"Is this… the Emperor Engine?"
"Just hearing it makes breathing difficult… how powerful is Mr. King's vitality?!"
Helmeppo stumbled backward, pale.
Kuzan raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
He sensed it.
Beneath the still exterior, something surged.
This was not panic.
It resembled the heightened bodily output of a fighter pushing his limits before battle.
Was he raising internal heat to counter the cold?
Using biological intensity to resist freezing?
"…Interesting."
Kuzan withdrew his hand from his pocket.
"Since he's staying at Headquarters, I should at least test him."
Without warning, Kuzan touched the ground lightly with his toe.
"Hyōga…"
CRACK—CRACK CRACK CRACK
Freezing air erupted outward, racing across the ground like a white serpent.
Faster than the earlier artillery shells.
Where it passed, frost exploded outward and the earth froze solid.
This was not symbolic pressure.
This was a real attack.
If he failed to evade, his legs would freeze instantly.
"KING! Watch out!" Koby and Helmeppo cried.
(KING's inner monologue: I'M DEAD! I CAN'T DODGE! I CAN'T EVEN SEE IT! MY LEGS ARE GONE!)
The white frost surged closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Despair flooded him.
Just as the ice spike reached the tip of his shoe—
CRACK
The freezing surge stopped.
A razor ice spear hovered before his foot.
Less than one centimeter away.
A gulf between life and death.
Frost crept across his boot leather.
He remained unharmed.
The training ground fell silent.
Only the thunderous rhythm of his heartbeat continued.
Kuzan held his toe against the ground.
Behind his sunglasses, his gaze sharpened.
Even with ice poised at his feet…
Even with cold seeping into his bones…
This man remained motionless.
He hadn't even blinked.