"Oh? Admiral Sengoku, didn't you just say you'd never let me leave here? But from that far away… looks like you can't even touch me!" Rosinante said with a playful grin.
Sengoku said nothing. He simply stared coldly at Rosinante.
Although Rosinante's Devil Fruit had awakened and made him even more formidable, sustaining such a powerful awakened state definitely came at a heavy cost. He had only just awakened it—how long could he keep it up? Sengoku could see it clearly: the power Rosinante was wielding now was fueled by a surge of life force within him. Once that ran out, the awakened ability of his Devil Fruit would collapse.
"Trying to stall me until I run out of gas, huh? What a pity... I'm feeling quite energetic right now!" Rosinante chuckled.
As he spoke, he pushed off with force, his body surging toward Sengoku like a bullet. Fueled by that explosive life force, Rosinante really was brimming with power. Still, he could feel it—this Eternal Silence willpower was draining. It wasn't something he could maintain forever. He had to strike fast.
"Not a chance!" Sengoku shouted as he rapidly retreated.
Having already tasted the pressure of Eternal Silence, Sengoku knew how passive he would become within that space. So when Rosinante charged, he instantly backed away with incredible speed.
But suddenly, Sengoku noticed something off—he was already enveloped in the zone of the faded heavens.
"What?! Don't tell me Rosinante's speed has reached that level?"
Yet when Sengoku looked around, he realized he was still more than five hundred meters from Rosinante. And yet… the world around him had already lost its color.
Had Rosinante's fruit power expanded again? Sengoku examined it closely. No—the range hadn't grown. The entire field had moved. The domain of faded color, which was always centered on Rosinante, had pressed forward with him, sweeping Sengoku into its grasp instantly.
It was still a five-hundred-meter radius—but Rosinante's aggressive advance meant the field extended nearly a full thousand meters ahead, and now Sengoku was fully covered.
"Oh? Not running anymore?" Rosinante suddenly appeared.
Five hundred meters might be far for most people, but for someone like Rosinante? He could close that gap in a heartbeat. Under the suppression of the faded realm, he instantly caught up to Sengoku, lashing out with a swift kick.
But Sengoku wasn't slow—his instincts were razor-sharp. He immediately countered with a palm strike, sending a surging wave of righteous force crashing forward.
However, within the realm of Eternal Silence, Sengoku's strength was restrained. While Rosinante's will didn't fully suppress someone of Sengoku's caliber, it still shaved off a good portion of his power. Sengoku was operating at only 80% of his usual might.
And worse, when his wave reached Rosinante, it was instantly dimmed—nearly half of its force devoured by the will of Eternal Silence that cloaked Rosinante's body.
Rosinante didn't even need to deliberately neutralize the attack. The Eternal Silence will just automatically did it.
The weakened wave collided with Rosinante's kick—and Rosinante's leg pierced straight through it, clashing head-on with Sengoku's palm.
"Argh!" For the first time, Sengoku was driven back.
This was a problem. Sengoku hadn't expected things to develop . This kind of power... was truly a pain.
He looked up—this was the first time he truly regarded Rosinante as an equal, realizing just how difficult it would be to deal with him.
"Tsuru, I'll leave this to you," came a sudden voice.
Steelbone Kong stepped forward—and in the blink of an eye, he vanished from atop Navy Headquarters.
"Oh? Was it just my imagination, or is Admiral Sengoku not so terrifying after all?" Rosinante grinned.
Even as he joked, he launched another punch at Sengoku. The latter met it with another palm blast, just like before.
Rosinante's fist instantly tore through the shockwave and once again slammed directly into Sengoku's palm.
Boom! Sengoku's towering body was forced backward again.
"Huh? Did I actually knock back the Admiral with one punch? Maybe he's going easy on me?" Rosinante laughed. "Are you underestimating me, Sengoku?"
Still, Sengoku remained silent, his eyes cold as ever. It wasn't that he didn't want to respond—he couldn't. The suppressive effects of Eternal Silence robbed him of the ability to speak.
Within the colorless world, his full strength had already been reduced to 80%. And even that remaining strength had half its effect nullified by Rosinante's willpower defense. Every attack was dimmed before reaching its target.
Under these conditions, Sengoku could barely harm Rosinante at all.
Fortunately, the Eternal Silence effect only diminished Sengoku's offensive output. Rosinante couldn't redirect or reflect those nullified forces back at him. So Sengoku wasn't in danger either. His Great Buddha form was so tough even Whitebeard and Garp had struggled to crack it.
"If the Admiral won't speak... then let me try again," Rosinante said, smiling wickedly.
He stepped in to attack once more—when suddenly, a ghostly figure appeared beside him and delivered a heavy punch to his ribs.
Even with four-tenths of the force muted by Eternal Silence, the remaining power still slammed into Rosinante and sent him flying hundreds of meters through the air. He crashed violently into the ground.
"Fleet Admiral Kong!" Sengoku called out in shock upon seeing the one who had struck.
As Rosinante flew back, the faded realm moved with him—retreating from Sengoku's position.
"We're going in close. Sengoku—get ready to back me up," Kong said, his voice deep and commanding. "Even if the Navy loses face today, we absolutely cannot let Rosinante leave here."
And with that, he vanished again.
Boom! Rosinante's body smashed into the earth, sending shockwaves through the ground as he coughed up blood. The crater around him deepened from the impact.
Just then—another figure appeared in the sky above him, fist poised.
With devastating force, the punch descended, hammering Rosinante back into the earth once more.
BOOM! The ground ruptured again, Rosinante buried deeper in rubble.
"As expected of Kong... doesn't matter how terrifying your powers are. One punch from him, and it's done," Sengoku said, a hint of satisfaction in his voice.
On the sidelines, Sakazuki, Raelmann, Onigumo, and the others who had never seen Kong fight before—were completely stunned. Their eyes were wide with disbelief.