Retracting his gaze, Kong Tai once again looked at Garp.
He didn't need to say more, trusting Garp would understand.
In fact, after fighting for so long, he already knew that Garp's Armament Haki hadn't broken through the world's understanding of Haki, but had merely been condensed to its extreme.
Yet, it was this extremely condensed Armament Haki that made Kong Tai's blade pose no threat to Garp, unable to even leave a scratch on him.
He had to consider that his current Haki, if not on par with the peak, certainly surpassed most people in this world.
Even so, he couldn't gain the slightest advantage against Garp.
The old man's Haki had been thoroughly integrated with his body and combat experience, allowing him to use the least amount of Haki and stamina to block any of his slashes.
And those iron fists could concentrate all his Haki into a single point, achieving true invincibility.
No wonder he was called "Iron Fist Garp."
With his bare fists, the old man had roamed the seas, striking fear into countless pirates.
In his life, he had chased Roger across the world, fought Whitebeard, captured Shiki, and annihilated the legendary pirate crew, the Rocks Pirates.
Going further back, he had fought countless pirates and captured many whose names had since faded from history.
Even now, though old, his combat skills, almost akin to the Dao, had, like his Haki, been refined to the extreme.
His ordinary yet extraordinary fists were his greatest weapon.
Don't let his current ease fool you; once the space blade was condensed, he couldn't fight Garp in his true form.
After all, his stamina had dropped considerably.
If he were to engage Garp directly now, even with the spatial pressure, if the old man disregarded Zankū and Shūsui and chose to fight him head-on, he would truly be helpless, unless he stood still and let Garp hit him.
That would make him a mere punching bag.
He'd rather not.
Enjoying a drink and watching the show was also quite good.
He had trained what he needed to, and after fighting for a day and a night, it was enough, wasn't it?
"Old man, still want to fight?"
At this point in the battle, besides witnessing the old man's display of combat skills that bordered on the Dao, there was no longer any point in continuing the fight.
Clang—!
Crossing his arms to block the incoming blade, Garp sank his body, and with a rumbling sound, he looked up at the young man seated in the void, like a true god.
"Sigh!"
He sighed inwardly.
This time, he had indeed seen the power Kong Tai used to kill Cartless.
That thing gave him a feeling that surpassed the most dangerous things he had ever encountered.
He didn't know what that thing was, but it felt beyond his comprehension, so much so that he dared not approach Kong Tai even in battle.
He was afraid...
He was afraid that if he touched that thing, the entire Sabaody Archipelago would be plunged into destruction.
Although this was just a feeling, he dared not risk his life and the Sabaody Archipelago to test its power.
While he had learned what power killed Cartless, it brought even more questions.
What was this space domain?
Even if it were him, if a Vice Admiral entered this domain, let alone escape, they would likely be instantly crushed and immobilized by the pressure.
He knew Kong Tai was not a Devil Fruit user, and he knew there were special races in this world who possessed special abilities.
But he had never seen or heard of these heaven-defying abilities of the kid, and he believed they wouldn't exist even if one scoured ancient history.
There was also a layer of special space on the kid's body surface.
What was that?
After fighting for a day and a night, and a high-intensity close-quarters battle at that, how could he not notice the special space enveloping the kid's body?
After all, after fighting for a day and a night, even his clothes were in tatters, yet the kid seemed completely unharmed. This was rather unbelievable.
"Is it also a space like this domain?"
"Or is this kid's spatial domain an extension of the space enveloping his body?"
He didn't know.
Not bad, he deserved to be called Garp. After fighting for so long, he had guessed about eighty to ninety percent of Kong Tai's abilities, and he had guessed correctly.
But even though he had guessed, he was still helpless.
He would never know how many domains Kong Tai possessed, nor how vast the space enveloping his body was.
So vast that even if this world were to be destroyed, he would remain unharmed.
He also wouldn't imagine that the domain that made him feel so much pressure now would, in the near future, reach a point where even Admirals couldn't escape.
In fact, Kong Tai had always relied on his space. When he first set sail, his spatial domain wasn't strong enough, and swordsmanship was his primary means of combat, especially against strong opponents.
But as his control over the domain gradually strengthened, swordsmanship eventually became less important than the domain.
Fighting with swordsmanship was exhilarating, and close-quarters combat with peak powerhouses made his blood boil, but as the domain further strengthened, swordsmanship would soon become something he could discard.
However, swordsmanship was something he had practiced for over a decade. It was impossible for him not to like it, otherwise, how could he have honed his swordsmanship to such a level!
Besides, he had promised Zoro that he would wait for him on the throne of the world's greatest swordsman.
Therefore, he still had to practice swordsmanship.
He also had to practice Haki. With his limitless body, perhaps one day he could push swordsmanship and Haki beyond the peak of this world, to another destination no one had ever reached.
After that, swordsmanship and Haki might be able to keep up with space and become another force for him to shatter the true gods of this world.
Whoosh whoosh!!
Zankū and Shūsui left Garp's arm, turned their tips, and sliced through the air, returning to Kong Tai's side, hovering to his left.
He relaxed his arms, and the pressure that had been enveloping Garp's body disappeared with the departure of the blades.
Standing up, Garp lowered his hands, looked up at the young man, and said with a complex expression, "I lost."
Then he turned and walked towards the outside of the spatial domain.
He knew what Kong Tai meant by asking that question; he wanted to hear him say he lost.
He didn't know if that black longsword could truly keep him here.
But since it could instantly kill Cartless, he assumed that even if it couldn't kill him instantly, it could injure him, or even incapacitate him directly.
And the kid hadn't attacked, but instead asked if he still wanted to fight, which clearly indicated the kid didn't want to keep him here.
Although his stamina could last for several more days of fighting, since the kid didn't want to fight anymore, then let's not fight.
He wasn't a stubborn person, nor was he insistent on arresting the silver-haired man. He felt he had understood the silver-haired man's strength on this trip.
"Let's leave it at that! It's good."
And with Garp's declaration of "I lost," the spatial domain slowly faded until it disappeared.
Kong Tai said nothing, his gaze lingering on Garp's back, which seemed to age momentarily before straightening up again, a smile creeping onto his lips.
As expected of Garp, so decisive even in defeat, and not at all disheartened by losing to this young man.
He didn't want Garp to fall into obscurity now.
After all, although the old man was old, his body seemed as robust as that of a man in his prime, capable of fighting evil for many more years.
With a wave of his right hand to the right, the space of the spatial blade rapidly shrunk, eventually becoming a glass sphere, and the spatial blade within was as if frozen in space, motionless.
Once created, he had no way to make this thing disappear unless he released it.
Therefore, he could only freeze it in space, and take it out when needed later, instead of getting so tired that he couldn't fight Garp up close like now.