The Strength of a Present-Day Admiral

Oak took a punch to the face from Kong, the Admiral of this era, and aside from being sent flying, he was completely unharmed. His physique was more than enough to withstand that punch.

"Whoosh~"

But Kong did not let him off. Taking advantage of the moment, he used Soru from the Navy's Six Powers to catch up to him, intending to throw another punch. At the critical moment, however, Oak twisted his body and forcibly halted his backward flight, then activated his Vampire ability to shift positions.

"It's only Observation Haki. You're not the only one who can use it!"

Having anticipated Kong's move, Oak dodged and gave a defiant grin. His figure flickered, and with lightning speed, he drew the Seven Star Sword and slashed at Kong.

"Demon Fire Slash!"

Green Demon Fire wrapped around the Seven Star Sword, condensing into a fireball that struck Kong in the form of a shockwave.

"Boom~"

Surging airwaves engulfed Kong, but he did not care in the slightest.

"Brat!"

His figure flashed, and he instantly passed through the airwaves and punched Oak.

Kong had already foreseen Oak's previous attack. It was not that he could not dodge it; there was simply no need. An attack of that level could not hurt him anyway. Rather than waste time evading, he might as well attack directly. That was the combat experience of a top-tier powerhouse.

"Crack crack crack crack crack~"

After that punch landed on Oak, every bone in his body began to crack explosively.

Kong was called Steel Bone Kong not only because his iron-like bones rivaled steel, but also because he possessed a unique physical technique that could transmit the force of his fists through the surface and directly into every inch of his opponent's bones.

Many times, when he punched an opponent, their exterior appeared perfectly normal, while every bone inside their body had already shattered.

If Oak's defenses had merely been strong on the outside, Kong's punch would have killed him long ago. But Oak had tempered both his exterior and interior, making him practically steel-boned and iron-bodied. Thus, apart from his bones cracking from the immense force, he suffered no injury at all.

"Whoosh~"

Ignoring the cracking of his bones, Oak seized the chance to swing his sword. This time, he did not unleash a Demon Fire shockwave, but green sword energy from the Seven Star Sword. The slash, powerful enough to flatten a small mountain, struck Kong and pushed him back more than ten meters.

"You're pretty tough!"

Oak looked at Kong across from him. The man had taken that slash without any harm, though his clothes had been cut apart, exposing an exaggerated mass of muscles. Oak had expected as much. If he could injure an Admiral so easily, Navy Headquarters of this era would have been flattened countless times already.

The reason he had swung that slash was only to create distance. After all, he had not forgotten that he had not come chasing after them to fight an Admiral head-on, but to delay this fleet.

So in the next instant, he spread his wings and teleported, appearing directly above a warship. He swung his sword down at it, and the sharp sword energy immediately split the warship in two down the middle.

During the time he had been fighting Steel Bone Kong, the Navy fleet had not stopped. Instead, it had continued sailing at full speed.

That woman Tsuru was clever. It did not take her long to realize his goal, so she decisively abandoned the flagship, which had lost power because every soldier aboard had been knocked unconscious by his Conqueror's Haki and no one remained to control it. After transferring everyone onto the other warships, she commanded the fleet to keep moving forward.

"Stop!"

After splitting one warship apart, Oak moved to attack another, but Tsuru intercepted him in time.

Using Geppo, Tsuru came up from behind and struck toward him with her palm. Oak dared to take a punch from Admiral Steel Bone Kong head-on, but he did not dare let Tsuru's seemingly soft, powerless palm strike him. He instantly flapped his wings and shifted away.

"Smack~"

Tsuru's palm missed. Carried forward by inertia, she could not stop in time and continued forward, slapping the mast. In an instant, a mast dozens of meters tall became a strip of washed gray cloth.

"That woman..."

Even though this was not the first time Oak had seen Tsuru's ability, the sight still made the corner of his mouth twitch.

These rule-based Paramecia ability users were troublesome. Tsuru's Wash-Wash Fruit ability appeared harmless, but it was actually extremely dangerous. Once touched, the battle was essentially over. Oak's Haki was not yet strong enough to prevent the effects of such abilities from taking hold on him.

"Whoosh~"

He activated his ability and appeared behind Tsuru at nearly teleportation-like speed, intending to deal with such a threat first. But Tsuru's Observation Haki was exceptionally sharp. She noticed him immediately, predicted his move, and evaded.

"Soru~"

Her figure flashed, and Tsuru used Soru from the Six Powers to retreat onto the deck below. Oak's punch missed her and smashed into the cabin beneath him instead.

"Crack!"

In an instant, the cabin of that warship, capable of holding nearly a thousand people, shattered into pieces beneath that punch. Cold sweat broke out on Tsuru's back at the sight. She did not dare imagine what would have happened if she had taken such a punch.

Although she was from the same generation as Garp and Sengoku, and was the strongest new talent in that class aside from Garp and Sengoku, her physique was nowhere near as monstrous as theirs. Her Armament Haki was not especially powerful either. She absolutely could not withstand a punch of that strength.

Fortunately, she no longer needed to face Oak head-on. Kong had already turned back to defend.

"Boom~"

Seeing the fist wind carrying immense force hurtling toward him, Oak did not choose to continue clashing head-on. Instead, he dodged ahead of time and appeared on another warship.

With his speed, Kong could not catch him. Even if Kong could predict his movements, the distance was too great for him to respond effectively.

Thus, Oak continued darting among the warships and wreaking havoc. As long as he could destroy the power of every warship here, Kong and these Navy men would be trapped like turtles in a jar today. Once Rocks arrived with the main force, not a single one of them would escape.

But his actions did not go entirely smoothly. From time to time, Kong still found openings and landed several vicious punches on him.

However, Oak had thick skin and tough flesh. Compared to these top-tier powerhouses, he might not necessarily be as good at fighting, but he was definitely better at taking hits. Kong's few punches could not kill him at all; they could barely even break through his defenses.

At this rate, Kong and this fleet would definitely be left here today.

But the one thing to fear was the unexpected. In the distance, directly ahead of the fleet, another warship suddenly appeared beyond the horizon, racing toward them at top speed.

Oak turned his gaze toward it and saw that the warship was unlike all the others. Ordinary Navy standard warships all looked alike, with little difference in appearance. Only the ship rushing toward them had a prow shaped like a dog's head biting a bone.

"Whoosh~"

Just as Oak looked toward that warship, an enormous force suddenly erupted behind it. It shot skyward as if fitted with jet engines, traced an arc through the air, and flew straight toward them.