Kong Tai retracted his spatial blade and then stored Shuishui into his spatial bag.
He then held Zhankong, sheathed his sword, and turned to look at the ongoing battle between Kuina and Kizaru in the distance.
The reason for ending the fight so quickly also had to do with Kuina.
Kuina was only 16 years old. As a woman, her stamina could not possibly match that of a man. Even though she had been using electricity to train her body after obtaining the Goro Goro no Mi, this ability, while powerful, was not enough to transform her physique into that of a monster in a short period.
After fighting for a day and a night, he could already sense Kuina's fatigue.
Enough time had passed for tempering, and further fighting would be meaningless.
Sensing the disappearance of the spatial domain, the golden light and the blue light separated after one last collision.
The golden light landed beside Garp, while the blue light landed beside Kong Tai.
Looking at Kuina emerging from the lightning, Kong Tai reached out to tuck away a strand of her hair that had stuck to her forehead. He wiped the sweat from her brow and face with his sleeve, and gently said, "Tired?"
"I'm alright."
Kuina took a few breaths, calming her rapidly beating heart and cooling her flushed body.
She looked up, meeting Kong Tai's azure eyes, and said excitedly, "Although I'm a bit tired this time, the gains are also substantial, whether it's Armament Haki, Observation Haki, or my proficiency with the fruit."
"I feel that next time I fight an Admiral, I'll be able to truly reach that level and fight for longer."
"Mhm!" Kong Tai nodded, a hint of affection flashing in his eyes, and smiled, "That's amazing."
"Hehe!!" Kuina tilted her head slightly, "Of course."
"Haha!!" Seeing Kuina's adorable demeanor, Kong Tai couldn't help but laugh out loud. He reached out and ruffled her hair, activating his spatial domain, instantly making Kuina feel lighter.
Her sweat-drenched clothes instantly felt fresh, causing her to squint her eyes in comfort.
"Alright, let's go too!"
Releasing her hand, Kong Tai stood up, holding Kuina's right hand, and walked towards the auction house.
As the ground was in ruins, they flew forward.
The dappled sunlight streamed down from above, falling upon them and casting a halo around them.
Not far behind them, carrying them on his back and heading towards the outside of Island No. 1, were the bare-chested hero Garp and Admiral Kizaru.
The ground was littered with rubble and ruins, and there were even two massive craters formed as if by meteorite impacts.
They walked through the air, the man handsome and heroic, the woman stunningly beautiful and cold. To the onlookers at the auction house in the distance, they appeared like gods descending from a broken world.
For a moment, everyone was stunned.
*Click, click, click!*
Huo Niao, after a moment of daze, instantly snapped back to reality.
After all, he was a popular reporter and a master photographer. Such a scene would undoubtedly be a world-shaking headline. How could he miss it?
With a jolt, a blush spread across Huo Niao's face. He quickly raised his camera and captured this breathtaking moment.
His back was facing Kong Tai.
After meeting up with Kizaru, Garp had been walking silently towards the outside of Island No. 1.
As they neared the edge of the crater formed by the battle, Kizaru finally couldn't resist asking the question that had been on his mind.
"Vice Admiral Garp, how did your fight go inside that peculiar spatial barrier?"
Garp didn't turn around and replied plainly, "I lost."
"Lost?"
Kizaru repeated the word in his mind, his body pausing slightly.
Although Garp's silent demeanor since his appearance had led him to believe the situation was dire, hearing Garp actually say "I lost" still shocked him.
While he was one of the Navy's three great powers, an Admiral, he knew in his heart that if there was one person in the Navy who was the strongest, it was this old man before him.
He was not only the hero of the Navy but also the true idol of many Marines and a banner figure of the Navy's enduring strength.
Until a new generation emerged to bear Garp's mantle of honor, Garp could not afford to lose.
If he lost, it meant the Navy had lost.
Kizaru gazed at Garp's sturdy back, a hint of heaviness flashing in his eyes.
However, that was a matter for the future. What he wanted to know now was the true strength of that silver-haired brat.
He had clearly seen the previous fight, where Garp had been dominating the silver-haired youth.
But after the silver-haired brat used that strange spatial barrier, Garp had actually lost not long after.
He figured there must have been something inside that spatial barrier that forced Garp to concede.
Shaking his head, he quickly caught up with Garp and asked, "Vice Admiral Garp, can you tell me what happened in that space?"
"That space?"
Garp glanced at Kizaru, then looked away, continuing to walk forward.
As he walked, he said, "That space was completely controlled by the silver-haired brat. He could do many things within it, even control the pressure, making those trapped inside feel as if they were fighting at the bottom of the ocean."
"From what I felt, the pressure in that space was enough to make a normal Vice Admiral immobile."
"Immobile."
Shock appeared on Kizaru's face.
"So, you're saying that when facing that guy, even a Vice Admiral wouldn't be able to even make a move?"
"Mhm!" Garp nodded and continued, "To move in that space, you would need to be at least an elite Vice Admiral, and one with an exceptionally strong physique, or a Logia user like yourself who is unaffected by gravity."
"But even if you, as a Logia user, are unaffected by gravity, you would still be affected by the pressure within, though not as much as your physical body would be."
As Garp spoke, he leaped up and landed on a wall, continuing, "To escape that space, you would need at least our level of strength, and..."
"I don't know if that brat was telling the truth."
"What?"
Kizaru asked.
"According to him, his spatial domain can be infinite. That is, even if you manage to escape, he can create another layer of space with a single thought."
"And with that brat's teleportation abilities, unless you truly defeat him, no one can escape his spatial domain."
"That's terrifying."
Kizaru's face was filled with shock.
If it were truly as Garp described, then numbers would be a joke against the silver-haired youth, and even strong individuals would be helpless against him.
If that were the case, then there was truly no one in this world who could defeat him.
However, even so, it shouldn't have caused Garp to be defeated so quickly!
Thinking of this, he asked with confusion, "Vice Admiral Garp, these abilities are powerful, but they shouldn't be able to instantly kill Carthew. Did you see anything like that this time?"
Garp's steps faltered. Remembering the bone-chilling cold that had permeated his soul, his eyes were filled with solemnity.
He nodded and said in a deep voice, "I did. It was a black energy I had never seen before, as if it could devour even sunlight. Although I didn't touch it, just looking at it filled me with a sense of dread."
"I don't know if that thing could have killed me, but at the very least, it could have severely wounded me and rendered me instantly incapacitated."
"That is also why I surrendered so quickly."
"The brat didn't want to fight me anymore, and I didn't want to test the power of that black energy, so I accepted his surrender."
"Oh..."
Kizaru nodded with a look of utter horror. "There really is such an energy!"
"Alright, let's go!"
Garp continued walking forward. "I'll report the outcome of this incident to Sengoku first. You stay here and watch those pirates, don't let them cause any trouble."
"I assume the silver-haired brat won't stay here long. You can return to headquarters after they leave."
"Mhm!" Nodding, Kizaru suppressed his look of shock and glanced back at the silver-haired youth, who was now reunited with his companions across a vast crater. A heavy look filled his eyes.
Such a powerful individual would be a headache for the World Government.
Most importantly, this person was so young and hadn't even reached his true peak. If he was like this now, what about in the future?
Shaking his head, he averted his gaze and followed Garp.
Headaches were the World Government's problem. He was just a slacker Marine, and he just needed to do his job.