There was one fact that made Chief Commander Kong, who resided in the Holy Land, feel genuinely sorrowful: Redfield didn't care much about him, his long-time rival… Because Redfield had already surpassed him. To him, defeated enemies were already behind him, not worth a second thought.
All of his obsession… came from another man, Garp!
Garp was the one opponent he had never overcome. The one he hated to the bone.
But now, Garp was dead.
The newspapers said that Garp, in order to protect civilians, was forced to fall under Tesoro's control, and in the ensuing deadly battle against Rowen, chose to die after realizing Rowen's well-known immortality, thereby ending the fight himself.
But Redfield had personally investigated the aftermath, and he didn't believe the newspapers.
In his eyes, those two truly fought to the death at that location.
There was no holding back. No tricks. It was a real, all-out clash.
'Why two Marines would go to such lengths to kill each other,' Redfield didn't care. He only knew one thing: the one who lived was Rowen.
And that alone was enough. If he could kill him, then defeating him would be equivalent to defeating Garp!
Ka Cha... Ka Cha... Ka Cha...
With a grinding noise echoing through his muscles, Rowen's broken right leg slowly reset and healed. The bruises and blood clots disappeared in an instant. Such a terrifying regeneration ability was completely inhuman; even someone as experienced as Red held his breath in astonishment.
"What... exactly is your body made of? Are you even human?"
"No idea. But does it matter?" Rowen shrugged as if it were nothing. "Whatever I am, I'm still me. No point dwelling on it. Just now, you said you wanted to know how I managed to surpass that old bastard, right? Then get ready!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Redfield's expression darkened. He spun backward, his right leg sweeping out with powerful force.
Bang!
The sound was like glass shattering. The blue crayon-drawn lightning clone was kicked apart, dissolving into countless strands of electricity that slowly vanished into the air.
"A clone? Not bad."
Redfield murmured a word of praise, then sharply turned and thrust his umbrella forward.
"But using that to gain distance… is way too naive!"
BOOM!!
The air cannonball, the same one that had shattered half an island and nearly crippled Jinbe, ripped through the sky and closed in on Rowen in an instant.
Rowen had no choice but to abandon his blink movement to retreat. Instead, he slashed downward with his thunder halberd, redirecting the cannonball toward the sea.
Splash----!!
The sea exploded into a hundred-meter-wide wall of whitewater, the terrifying shockwave spreading in every direction.
Ssshh,
Suddenly, a pair of bat wings tore through the mist, and Red's speed became terrifyingly swift. In the blink of an eye, he closed the hundred-meter gap and was suddenly right in Rowen's face.
The black thunder halberd swung down with brutal force, but Redfield was ready. He slipped the umbrella shaft through the crescent-shaped gap in the halberd and yanked it outward.
Normally, that move would throw an opponent off balance. But this was Rowen.
Whoosh, BOOM!
A crackling, lightning-charged leg swept across. Rowen seized the moment while Red was pulling, delivering a fierce counterkick. Red saw the strike coming, but surprise robbed him of his reflexes. The kick landed hard against his jaw.
"Not bad with martial arts," Red muttered, grinning despite the sting. "Reminds me of my days fighting Marines… but still, not enough!"
The blow couldn't hold him back. Glancing sideways, Red flipped his umbrella from right hand to left and slashed diagonally with ruthless speed and precision.
Chii, la!
A searing pain ripped through Rowen's chest. He hadn't dodged because Red had read his intent, the direction, the angle, the escape path, it was all laid bare.
In close combat, reading an opponent's mind like that was a deadly advantage.
Rowen wavered but stood firm.
With barely a flicker of hesitation, he yanked back his Thunder Dragon Crescent Halberd. Thunderstorm energy howled around its blade, a strike with enough force to split mountains and seas.
THOOM!!
Red didn't meet it head-on. He gripped his umbrella with both hands, snapping it open like a shield. Sparks flew violently as the canopy and shaft crackled against the crashing halberd.
Then, CLANG!!
The crescent blade smashed down, but the umbrella didn't budge.
After blocking, Red smoothly snapped the umbrella shut, gripping it like a sword. In one fluid motion, he slammed down with the weight and force of a heavy blade.
Rowen's halberd was still extended, leaving him wide open.
He didn't dare test himself against the legendary Red Count's strike, so he shifted his weight and dodged sideways without hesitation.
"Naive," Red sneered.
Rowen's evasion was impressive. As a Thunder-Lightning Human, he pushed his powers to their peak; anticipating a slash even half a beat early let him slip away. But Red had already seen through Rowen's retreat.
The umbrella twisted mid-air, curving like a blade of pure lightning, slashing straight into Rowen's abdomen.
Then,
"Damn!"
Red's expression snapped into alarm. He abandoned the strike instantly, though the tip had already cut a centimeter into Rowen's muscle. With a powerful flap of his bat wings, he retreated swiftly, like a feather caught in a gust.
Where he had stood moments before, Rowen now held a pitch-black lightning orb in his left hand. Sweeping it through the air, he tore at the fading afterimage Red had left behind.
Calm and confident, Rowen's gaze belied the crazy and deadly action in his hands.
Two opposing auras clashed on Rowen's body, forcing Red to frown inwardly.
"Impressive…"
"You used your dodge as bait. But the real kill shot was the lightning in your left hand... If your Devil Fruit ability didn't need to go through your brain and form a 'thought' first, you might've actually gotten me."
Red nodded with quiet respect, now piecing it together.
Rowen had emptied his mind, letting two reactive thoughts surface in order, dodge, then counterattack.
Red read only the first thought and almost walked right into Rowen's deadly trap.
"But no matter how you struggle, it's useless," Red declared. "My ability is invincible."
As long as Rowen had a 'thought,' Red's special Kenbunshoku Haki, Observation Haki, could detect it easily. For him, disguises and tricks were meaningless; it was always his enemies who had to worry about when the tables would turn against them.
What made this even more terrifying wasn't just Red's ability to predict, it was his insight. He didn't just see what you were about to do; he understood why you were doing it, and what outcome you hoped to achieve. It was absolutely broken.
"Invincible?" Rowen sneered, wiping the blood from his abdomen. As he glanced at the freshly regenerated flesh, a cold smile curved his lips.
"So what?"
"Just because your ability is special, you expect me to surrender? If that's what you thought, you're in for a rude awakening."
Red hesitated, a flicker of respect in his eyes. "You're right, I---"
But before he could finish, Rowen cut him off with a harsh laugh. "Then what the hell are you blabbering about, old man?!"
Red's face twisted with shock, anger, and disbelief, while Rowen's grin deepened, icy and merciless.
"Since you threw down the gauntlet and started this war, there's only one way this ends, either I kill you, or you kill me. There are no other options. Is rambling what comes with age? Or do you really think that because we shared some words in Impel Down, I owe you any respect? Don't kid yourself, pirate trash."
"To me, you're nothing but an enemy. Your grudge with Garp the old bastard? What does that have to do with me?!"
"You have no comrades left. And now, not a single enemy respects you."
"In this sea, you'll always be alone, that's the sad, pathetic truth of your life, Patrick Redfield."
BOOM!
An overwhelming burst of Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) erupted from Redfield's body. His skin paled further, his canine teeth extending unnaturally past his chin.
His crimson eyes flared with bloodlust, his mouth stretching wide to reveal rows of dagger-like fangs, no longer human.
"You... are impressive," He growled.
The killing intent radiating off him made the very air grow heavy. As the evening sun slipped below the horizon, a silver moon rose to dominate the sky, casting the world into a surreal, white-tinged gloom.
Dark, unnatural shadows coalesced around Red. His eerie red eyes locked onto Rowen with deadly focus.
Then, with a bone-chilling smile, Redfield hissed, "I'll make you regret those words, brat."
(End of Chapter)
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