Sōzai released a faint tiger's roar. The blade abruptly shattered Redfield's attack.
Finn felt tremendous pressure. Even with Geppo, he couldn't fully suppress the force transmitted through his blade. He flew backward, landing hard on the deck. The thick planking cracked where his feet struck.
But he'd blocked it.
Though strenuous, it hadn't been impossibly difficult.
However, he didn't dare become careless. After all, if nothing unexpected had occurred, that attack was merely Redfield testing them.
"Well done," Fleet Admiral Kong praised.
Simultaneously, on the small sampan, Redfield frowned. He hadn't used full strength in that strike, but not everyone could deflect it.
At the same time, he couldn't recognize the Marine who'd just taken his blade.
"He is a Fleet Admiral after all, with the Marines' full resources behind him. It's not surprising Kong travels with experts at his side," Redfield thought.
Still without fear, the Aloof Red was supremely confident in his own strength.
He stepped forward, slowly raising the cane-sword in his hand, preparing to attack again.
But at that moment, Finn, standing on the warship, also became furious.
Sōzai slashed through empty air as he roared, "Gravity Domain: Suppression Zone!!!"
As he shouted, the Press-Press Fruit's energy instantly poured from his body.
The sea area within several hundred meters of the warship's bow sank downward as if struck by an invisible weight.
A massive collapsed crater formed on the ocean's surface.
This technique naturally imitated Fujitora Issho's attack method, but Finn hadn't developed his fruit ability to Fujitora's level. It lacked precision. When using this move, he couldn't control it with much accuracy.
He could only rely on large-scale attacks to blanket Redfield's position.
Even so, it was impressive enough. Kuzan's eyes widened.
"Worthy of being one of the top-tier Paramecia Devil Fruits. Even the simplest, crudest ability release has such tremendous power. When Finn fully matures in the future, who knows how powerful he'll become!" Kuzan thought.
Fleet Admiral Kong was deeply moved as well. He looked at Finn and smacked his lips. "The Marines have worthy successors!"
The Marine seaman and field-grade officers on the warship were all stunned.
They'd rarely had contact with Finn. Though they'd heard he was the Sixth Officer Training Camp's Chief, this Commodore had rarely been on missions, let alone been seen in action.
All their previous respect had been based on his Commodore rank.
Now they knew this young Commodore was genuinely a monster. He could sink ships just by speaking across this vast sea!
Of course it made sense he could be friends with a "monster" like Rear Admiral Kuzan. He was also a monster!
The Marines were excited.
But Redfield was in a terrible situation. He hadn't taken Finn seriously. Even though Finn had deflected his sword strike, that exchange had revealed Finn's strength. Decent, but not worth his attention.
Simultaneously, he'd obtained no intelligence about Finn. After all, few people in the Marines knew about Finn's capabilities. How could he have known?
Therefore, he'd never expected someone on the Marine side had obtained the powerful Press-Press Fruit.
So just as he was about to draw his sword and attack, before he could fully unsheathe it, he heard the roar of "Gravity Domain: Suppression Zone."
Before he could process what technique that was, powerful invisible and intangible gravity instantly pressed down on him. If not for his considerable strength, he would have nearly fallen headfirst. However, the small sampan beneath his feet was directly crushed and disintegrated on the spot.
Therefore, Redfield didn't even have the chance to exchange words with Fleet Admiral Kong before being thrown directly into the sea. Pressed down by gravity, he sank dozens of meters. He choked on several mouthfuls of seawater and nearly drowned.
Fortunately, he wasn't a Devil Fruit user. Otherwise, he would have been instantly killed by the unknown Finn with just one technique!
Redfield was furious. How many years had it been?
Redfield traveled the world. Whoever encountered him had to show some respect, right?
He'd suffered a tremendous loss here today for no apparent reason. Once this got out, how could he maintain his reputation?
Therefore, Redfield despised the person who'd just used that technique. He decided he must kill these Marines here and silence them!
As Redfield fell into the sea, Fleet Admiral Kong nearly laughed aloud, but fortunately, he was a battle-hardened veteran. He ordered without hesitation, "Kuzan, move!"
He knew perfectly well that Redfield wasn't a Devil Fruit user. After all, they'd fought multiple times before. Simultaneously, most people like Redfield who dared to wander the New World alone in a small sampan weren't Devil Fruit users.
Otherwise, it would be either showing off or courting death. Human power had its limits. How could you fight against the weather?
The New World's climate was genuinely unreasonable. If any Devil Fruit user dared travel this way, except for those fearless like Kuzan, the rest would have died long ago.
Knowing Redfield wasn't a Devil Fruit user, Kong was certain the ocean couldn't finish him. So he ordered Kuzan to act quickly.
Kuzan wasn't pretentious. When dealing with pirates, he'd never challenge them to honorable one-on-one combat just because the opponent was alone.
Therefore, there was no need for the Fleet Admiral to speak. He'd already prepared. As soon as Kong finished speaking, cold air beneath Kuzan's feet created an ice trail along the deck, spreading into the sea suppressed by Finn.
"Ice Age!" Kuzan growled.
A Logia powerhouse was a Logia powerhouse. His technique made no sound, but its performance was earth-shattering.
In truth, Kuzan hadn't yet reached his peak condition at this time, but his attack remained extraordinarily domineering. In the blink of an eye, the entire sea area within visible range was frozen solid.
Compared to his area-of-effect attack, Finn's Gravity Domain covering several hundred meters seemed less impressive.
The sea surface froze relatively flat, but even the crater Finn had created was frozen solid, preserving its shape.
Seeing this, Finn sheathed Sōzai and removed his power.
"Is it finished?" Finn asked.
However, even as he asked, he already knew the answer.
"It's not that simple. Though the Red Earl is a loner, his strength isn't exaggerated. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare wait for me here!" Kong said in a deep voice.
As he spoke, his aura continuously surged. As the Fleet Admiral, he was no pushover.
Powerful presence rapidly rose from his body, forcing Finn to take two steps back to relieve the pressure.
But ultimately, a stubborn look flashed in Finn's eyes. He resisted the momentum of this powerful man and stopped retreating.
Pitch-black Armament Haki covered Kong's fists. He seemed to be waiting for something.
Sure enough, the next moment, the collapsed ice shattered directly. Redfield emerged from nowhere, cane-sword in hand.
Though he looked aggressive, he appeared somewhat disheveled, ice chips covering his body.
If he'd simply fallen into the sea and been frozen by Kuzan, it wouldn't have been embarrassing. But being frozen with his clothes soaking wet was genuinely humiliating.
At this point, Redfield was furious. As soon as he emerged, he roared, "Kong!!!"
As the words fell, he swung the cane-sword in his hand, bringing with it a powerful air-breaking strike.
Unlike his previous attack, which had been merely testing, this slash had reached the pinnacle of skill. Finn only needed one look to know that if he engaged, it would be a death sentence. There was no way he could block it!
Fleet Admiral Kong had no intention of letting Finn step forward to show off. While Redfield was slashing, Kong also exerted force with his feet, pouncing out like a tiger descending from a mountain.
"Army's Origin: Fist of Victory!" Kong roared.
He met the slash with a punch.
For a moment, Finn's vision seemed to waver, as if he saw an endless army of Marines charging from behind Kong.
"This is..." Finn murmured in shock.
"I was also very surprised when I first saw it..." Kuzan said suddenly.
"It seems I'm not seeing things..." Finn said, slowly suppressing his surprised expression.
After a brief pause, he asked again, "Is it a Devil Fruit ability?"
While he asked, Kong had already thrown his punch with the force of thousands of troops, directly shattering Redfield's attack.
Simultaneously, he rushed directly toward Redfield with overwhelming might.
Kong knew perfectly well that Finn's current strength hadn't fully matured. He might rival Redfield in the future, but now he'd just be a cannon fodder.
As for Kuzan, though strong, he hadn't yet reached the top tier. He might exchange several moves with Redfield, but couldn't defeat him.
Therefore, Kong was the only one here who could match Redfield as the main force. Kuzan and Finn could only support him and provide assistance!
"It's not a Devil Fruit. To be precise, it's a kind of fighting spirit...." Kuzan said, staring at the battlefield.
"Fighting spirit.?" Finn murmured, not quite understanding.
It seemed he needed to ask Zephyr more questions after returning. He should know something about this.
"Well, you should know that after Haki becomes more advanced, it develops extensions. If I'm not mistaken, this should be the Fleet Admiral's development of his own Conqueror's Haki combined with fighting spirit.... It's like bringing thousands of Marines with him.'" Kuzan nodded.
Finn was completely stunned. What? Conqueror's Haki had this application? Wasn't it originally just used to bully weaker enemies, only coming into proper play when the Straw Hats fought Kaido?
This world really was full of surprises!
What shocked him even more was that Fleet Admiral Kong possessed Conqueror's Haki...
But it was only momentary surprise. Thinking carefully, there weren't many people in the Marines who could use Conqueror's Haki, but that didn't explicitly mean they didn't have it.
On the contrary, he knew Admiral Sengoku possessed it. His was called the "King's Disposition."
Both the previous Fleet Admiral and current Fleet Admiral had it, so there didn't seem to be anything particularly surprising about it.