Kong

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~"

The crimson streak Kong had spotted moved incredibly fast. When he first noticed it, it had still been over a kilometer away, but in the blink of an eye, it was already right before them.

"Defend the entire fleet!"

Kong immediately ordered the fleet into a defensive formation. He had originally intended to shoot it down with the warships' overwhelming firepower, but it moved far too quickly. The ships' cannons could not lock onto it at all, and they could only watch helplessly as it landed on the deck.

But Kong was no longer that worried, because as the streak drew closer, his Observation Haki had roughly gauged its strength.

It definitely was not Rocks, nor was it someone as powerful as Newgate or Shiki.

In that case, his strength as an Admiral was more than enough to handle it.

"Yo, isn't this Sister Tsuru?"

"We meet again! It's been so long, Sister Tsuru. Did you miss me? I think about you every day!"

The crimson streak that landed on the deck was Oak, his wings spread wide. The moment he touched down, his gaze immediately swept over Tsuru, and his eyes lit up.

Tsuru's outfit today was still simple. Her upper body was clad as usual in a light-blue standard Navy neckerchief and a sleeveless white uniform shirt stretched tightly across her body, making her chest look especially full.

Her long blue hair was simply tied behind her, with a few loose bangs hanging down and making her look particularly petite and adorable.

Her lower body was finally no longer covered by Sailor Pants, but by a pair of denim shorts that made her long legs appear especially slender.

Paired with a Navy justice coat, Tsuru looked both dashing and beautiful today. Oak could not help running his mouth, his gaze repeatedly sweeping over her most prominent features.

No matter when he looked, or from what angle, Oak felt that Tsuru was the most stunning woman he had ever seen. She was as breathtakingly curvaceous as could be.

"It's you!"

When Tsuru saw that he was the one who had caught up, she first gave the pair of wings behind him a surprised glance.

She was astonished that he had become a Devil Fruit user after such a short time apart!

But when she heard his shameless remarks and noticed where he was looking, she immediately forgot all about that.

Covering her chest with one hand, Tsuru glared furiously, feeling violated.

"Like hell I miss you, you bastard! If those dog eyes of yours wander again, believe me, I'll dig them out today!"

Every time they met, Oak managed to infuriate Tsuru half to death, making her hate him enough to grind her teeth.

"Is this the Oak you and Sengoku encountered last time?"

Standing nearby, Kong looked Oak up and down, especially the crimson wings behind him, before questioning Tsuru.

"That's him!"

Tsuru nodded through gritted teeth, still glaring angrily at Oak.

"Kid, what are you doing catching up alone?"

After hearing Tsuru's answer, Kong nodded. Then his imposing gaze pressed down on Oak.

Yet Oak did not care in the slightest. Instead, he looked utterly disdainful.

"Old man, when Rocks was here, I didn't see you having the guts to so much as twitch, so quit putting on some expert act in front of me.

"As for why I caught up, you know that even better than anyone!

"You provoked our Rocks Pirates and think you can just leave? What do you take the Rocks Pirates for?!"

Without the slightest politeness, Oak shot back at the current Admiral. His gaze sharpened, his aura burst forth, and a powerful kingly will surged out.

"Thud, thud, thud~"

At once, a large number of ordinary Navy soldiers collapsed unconscious across the deck.

"Arrogant!"

Kong was somewhat enraged by Oak's retort, and a trace of anger appeared on his face.

"Kid, do you think you're Rocks? Today, I'll show you what an Admiral is!"

With a bang, Kong stomped on the deck and shot forward.

Hmph!

I may not be able to deal with Rocks, but can't I handle you?

Kong drove a fist straight at Oak's face.

Oak neither dodged nor retreated from Kong's incoming punch. He threw out a punch of his own, wanting to see just how strong this current Admiral was—the same man who would nearly be solo-killed by Count Patrick Redfield in the future.

"Boom~"

Their fists collided, setting off a fierce shockwave that made the entire warship tremble.

"So hard!"

That was Oak's first impression after the clash. No wonder Kong was called Steel Bone—his fist was as hard as a steel plate.

Tap, tap, tap~

He took two steps back, but Tsuru's face was filled with shock when she saw it.

"How is that possible?"

Because Tsuru saw that Oak was not the only one who had stepped back. Admiral Kong had taken two steps back as well!!

To her, this was simply unimaginable. A fifteen-year-old boy had actually forced an Admiral to retreat!

What kind of monster was he?

Tsuru clearly remembered that Oak had not possessed this level of strength when they fought last time. How long had it even been since their last meeting? His improvement was far too fast!

Kong, who had also taken two steps back, wore an equally incredulous expression. He lowered his head to look at his fist, then looked at Oak across from him, who seemed completely unaffected after trading a punch with him.

No one understood the power of his punch better than Kong himself. Even without using Haki, a casual punch from him could pierce through a steel plate dozens of centimeters thick. If an ordinary Vice Admiral from Headquarters exchanged punches with him head-on, their entire arm could be shattered by the force. And that was without him coating his fist in Armament Haki—the power was even more terrifying when he did.

Yet a teenage boy had taken it so casually?

"Hehe~"

Facing their shocked stares, Oak grinned smugly. If it had been before, he naturally could not have possessed this kind of strength. Though he could have relied on his physique to withstand Kong's punch, he would never have done so this easily. He would have been knocked back dozens of steps, if not farther.

But things were different with the boost from his Vampire ability. While the Vampire Fruit was not a Mythical Zoan that focused on enhancing physical attributes like the Azure Dragon Fruit, a Mythical Zoan was still a Mythical Zoan. Even the slightest enhancement far surpassed an ordinary Zoan, multiplying both his physique and strength.

Moreover, he had not taken Newgate's beatings on Hachinosu every day for nothing. Every injury followed by recovery further strengthened his body. That was how he had achieved this evenly matched exchange of blows with Steel Bone Kong today.

"Again!"

That punch gave Oak confidence. His body vanished like a ghost, and in the next instant, he appeared before Kong and threw another punch.

"Boom~"

Kong reacted swiftly. Although Oak's speed was nearly akin to teleportation, Kong had predicted his movement with Observation Haki the instant he moved. Kong blocked Oak's attack with one fist, while his other fist slipped past Oak's defense and smashed directly into his face.

Although Oak did not lose to Admiral Kong in physique or strength, he still lagged far behind in areas such as combat skill and Haki. Thus, after taking the punch to the face, he was immediately sent flying.