The moment Finn's words left his lips, Newgate's body jolted.
The shattered earth beneath his feet erupted upward, fragments of stone and soil lifting from the broken ground to plaster themselves against his massive frame.
"Planetary Devastation, is it?" Newgate murmured, his voice carrying across the devastated landscape. "That move."
He knew it well. Finn's signature technique had become infamous across the seas, a gravity-based prison that had crushed lesser opponents into oblivion.
Within seconds, Newgate's towering form disappeared beneath a shell of compressed debris. Then, with a casual flex of his muscles, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power detonated outward. The earth and stone disintegrated into fine dust, cascading off him like rain. He turned his gaze toward Finn, one eyebrow raised. "But using this move on me? Isn't that a bit weak, brat?"
As the wielder of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, the power that could shatter worlds, how could mere gravity suppress him?
But even as Newgate spoke, his eyes caught the movement. A small black orb rolled from Finn's palm, rising slowly into the air like a dark star being born.
Newgate's brow furrowed. The crushing weight that had pressed against his body vanished entirely. "It's not aimed at me?"
From across the ruined battlefield, Finn's lips curved into a tired grin. Sweat traced lines down his face, and his breathing came harder now. "Of course not you. How stupid do you think I am, old man? Using Planetary Devastation on Whitebeard himself?"
The black sphere continued its ascent, climbing higher and higher into the smoke-choked sky.
Then it activated.
The air itself seemed to scream. The tiny orb became a focal point of impossible gravitational force, as if the very center of the island's mass had relocated to that single point in space. Soil, stone, and fragments of the already shattered ground tore free from the earth, rushing upward to coat the sphere in layer after layer of debris.
The ground trembled violently. Massive sections of Spring Queen Island's foundation, already fractured from the earlier battle, ripped free. Chunks of bedrock the size of houses lifted into the air, spiraling upward to join the growing mass.
Newgate's expression shifted, understanding dawning in his eyes. "So that's your game. You want to completely destroy the island?"
The realization was clear. Finn wasn't trying to trap Whitebeard. He was trying to annihilate the entire Island of the Spring Queen, transforming it into a massive sphere of compressed earth and stone suspended in the sky.
Without another word, Newgate pivoted and drove his fist toward the ever-expanding sphere overhead.
CRACK.
The shockwave tore through the air, invisible force propagating upward at incredible speed. The sphere of earth and stone exploded, fragments scattering in all directions.
But the pieces didn't fall.
After flying apart for only a moment, they curved back toward the center, drawn inexorably by the black orb's pull. Worse, the meteorite fragments Finn had dragged down earlier, now nothing but shattered rubble across the battlefield, also began to rise. Within seconds, the damage Newgate had inflicted was completely repaired.
Newgate glanced back at Finn, his jaw tightening. "So the so-called Starfall Impact was just setup for this moment?"
Finn's grin widened despite his exhaustion. "Seems to have worked out pretty well, doesn't it?"
In the distance, members of the Whitebeard Pirates who had retreated to relative safety now struggled against the invisible pull. Most of the veterans planted their feet or grabbed onto debris, resisting the suction through sheer strength.
But several younger pirates, still green and lacking the physical power of their elders, lost their footing. Their bodies lifted off the ground, dragged screaming toward the growing sphere in the sky.
Newgate's face darkened. He struck again, another devastating shockwave detonating the compressed mass overhead.
But he couldn't stop the gravitational pull itself. The sphere reformed. The island continued to disintegrate beneath them.
"Do you really think," Newgate growled, his voice dropping to a dangerous register, "that I can't break through this trick of yours?"
As he spoke, he raised Murakumogiri. The blade began to hum with power, a concentrated aura of destruction gathering at its tip. Unlike the casual strikes he'd thrown before, this one was deliberate, heavy. The very air around the naginata's point began to fracture, space itself cracking under the weight of condensed Tremor power.
"Oh, you can break it," Finn called out, his voice carrying across the widening distance as chunks of earth beneath his own feet broke free and lifted him skyward. He stood atop a floating platform of stone, arms spread as if welcoming the chaos. "With your strength as the world's strongest man, how could you not break through? But you'd better hurry."
He paused, letting the words sink in.
"It won't be much longer before your sons can no longer resist the pull."
Finn's platform continued to rise, carrying him higher as more of the island's foundation tore loose and joined the sphere above. "This island is finished either way, Whitebeard. Even if you shatter my Planetary Devastation, I've already destroyed the structural integrity of the bedrock. The whole thing will sink within the hour."
His voice took on a sharp edge, challenging.
"So what will you choose? Will you focus on killing me? Will you save your sons? Or..." Finn's grin turned almost manic, "will you throw everything away and drag me down to hell with you? You said it yourself, the sea loves to bury the brave. If I can die alongside the world's strongest man, then this life won't have been wasted!"
The words echoed across the broken island.
Newgate stood motionless, Murakumogiri held before him, the Tremor energy at its tip still building, condensing into something truly catastrophic. His eyes tracked Finn's rising form, measuring the distance, calculating.
Seconds stretched.
Then Newgate threw his head back and laughed, the sound booming across the destruction. "Gurararara! I underestimated you, Rodriguez Finn! Next time we meet, I won't be so good-tempered, you cunning brat!"
Relief flooded through Finn's chest, though he kept his expression neutral. Despite his bold words, part of him had genuinely worried Whitebeard might call the bluff, might choose mutual destruction over pragmatism.
But no. Newgate's weakness, if it could be called that, was obvious. His sons. Just as he would choose them over victory at Marineford twenty years from now, he chose them now.
Family over everything.
Newgate turned his attention away from Finn entirely, raising Murakumogiri toward the massive Planetary Devastation sphere still growing overhead.
He swung.
The Tremor force left the blade in a cascading wave of destruction, reality itself seeming to buckle under the assault. The concentrated shockwave slammed into the sphere with the force of a collapsing star.
As the impact resonated through the air, a small smile touched Newgate's lips. He spoke softly, almost to himself. "Brave on the surface, but cunning underneath. No wonder you were raised by that bastard Sengoku."
The pieces fit together now. From the very beginning, Finn had fought with apparent recklessness, throwing himself into direct combat, acting like a man willing to die for victory.
But it was theater.
All of it.
While appearing to fight recklessly, Finn had been systematically destroying the island's foundation, pulling down meteorites, positioning every element for this exact moment. He'd used his own bravery as cover, buying time for his subordinates to escape while setting the trap that would force Whitebeard into an impossible choice.
"The sea favors the brave, and the sea buries the brave," Newgate said, his smile widening. "But the sea appreciates clever little devils like you most of all. Gurararara!"
His laughter rang out even as the world exploded.
The concentrated Tremor force collided with the gravitational core. For an instant, two fundamental forces of nature warred against each other. Gravity versus vibration. Compression versus destruction.
Then everything broke.
The sky lost its color. The Planetary Devastation sphere detonated in a massive explosion, fragments of earth and stone scattering across miles of ocean. The gravitational pull vanished instantly. Spring Queen Island, already fractured beyond repair, gave one final shudder and began its rapid descent into the sea.
Chunks of bedrock the size of buildings splashed into the waves, sending massive plumes of water skyward.
Newgate stood on one of the few remaining stable sections of ground, Murakumogiri held casually in one hand, surveying the devastation with calm eyes.
His sons rushed to his side, freed from the gravitational pull.
"Pops, the island's going down!" Jozu's voice was urgent, his diamond-coated body gleaming in the dust-filled air. "We need to evacuate!"
Marco landed beside him, wings folding back into arms. "Pops, nothing actually happened to me anyway! Just let Bullet go this time, please!" Marco voice carried an edge of worry, afraid his father might be too stubborn for his own good.
Newgate waved one massive hand dismissively. "Bullet? That stray dog? That lunatic? He's not worth discussing."
Marco and the others visibly relaxed, tension draining from their shoulders.
Then Newgate's expression shifted, a dangerous smile spreading across his face. He watched the encroaching waves, seawater already beginning to reclaim the shattered island. "But that cunning brat Finn thought he could trick me and retreat without consequence? He's underestimating Whitebeard!"
Without warning, Newgate hurled Murakumogiri high into the air.
The massive naginata spun end over end, climbing toward the smoke-stained sky.
Then Newgate took a single step backward, his body coiling. His torso twisted, one arm drawing back toward his shoulder in a classic power-accumulation stance. The muscles of his back and chest bulged, veins standing out like cables.
Tremor energy began to concentrate on his cocked fist, far exceeding even the destructive force he'd condensed on Murakumogiri moments ago.
Marco and the others fell silent, watching. They knew better than to interrupt.
The tsunami was closing in now, a wall of water racing to consume the last remnants of Spring Queen Island. The wave towered overhead, blotting out the horizon, promising to swallow everything in its path.
Just as the water was about to crash down, Newgate's distinctive crescent-shaped mustache trembled.
He punched.
The invisible force of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit exploded outward, a shockwave so powerful it seemed to tear at the fabric of reality itself.
Everything in its path simply ceased to exist.
The tsunami, that massive wall of water carrying the weight of countless tons, didn't just stop. It disintegrated. The wave collapsed, breaking apart into spray and foam, the forward momentum not merely halted but reversed.
The seawater that had been surging forward now pulled backward, as if time itself had reversed. The ocean around Spring Queen Island's remains actually receded, waves flowing away from the island instead of toward it, exposing sections of seafloor that hadn't seen sunlight in centuries.
The shockwave continued propagating outward, carrying vast quantities of seawater with it. Within moments, a reverse tsunami formed, radiating away from Newgate's position in all directions. The artificial wave grew larger and larger, fed by the displaced ocean, spreading across miles of sea.
"Taste my wrath, Finn," Newgate said with a chuckle, reaching up to catch Murakumogiri as it fell back into his waiting hand.
He glanced at Marco and the others. "The seawater won't flood back for at least three hours. Is our ship intact?"
Jozu nodded quickly. "Should be fine, Pops."
"Then let's move out!" Newgate gestured with his free hand, already turning toward where their vessel waited.
Meanwhile, several miles away, Finn had just caught up with Vice Admiral Jonathan's warship. His feet touched down on the deck, and he immediately turned to look back toward Spring Queen Island.
His expression went blank.
A tsunami. Not just any tsunami, but a wall of water that seemed to reach toward the heavens themselves, approaching with the inevitability of divine judgment. The sheer scale defied comprehension. It looked like the end of the world.
"So," Finn said slowly, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing, "in order to prevent the seawater from swallowing the island immediately, Whitebeard just... used his own power to turn all the surrounding ocean into a tsunami and threw it outward?"
His voice rose slightly. "Is that something a human being can actually do?"
"That old monster is really angry," Vice Admiral Jonathan said from beside him, his tone almost amused despite the apocalyptic wave bearing down on them. "Seems you've provoked him, Finn."
Sakazuki and Gion stood nearby on the deck, both staring at the approaching tsunami in silence. Even Sakazuki, usually quick with harsh commentary, seemed at a loss for words.
Finn clicked his tongue. "He's called the strongest man capable of destroying the world. I guess that reputation isn't just for show." He paused, glancing at Jonathan with a raised eyebrow. "Speaking of which, aren't you worried? A tsunami that size makes our warships look like ants. It could wipe us all out easily."
"You provoked his anger," Jonathan replied with an infuriating smile, "so naturally, you should calm it down."
"I can't calm that down. I don't have anywhere near enough strength left." Finn's eye twitched.
His earlier exhaustion hadn't been an act. The sustained use of Planetary Devastation, combined with everything else, had drained him considerably.
But then his expression shifted, a familiar calculating gleam returning to his eyes. "But if that old man thinks this will make me panic, he's seriously underestimating me. If I can't calm it down..."
Finn grinned.
"I can still run away."
He stepped lightly on the deck. Gravity rippled outward from the point of contact, enveloping the warship beneath his feet and the handful of remaining Marine ships nearby. All of them began to lift, breaking free from the ocean's surface and rising rapidly into the air.
The ships climbed higher and higher, ascending above the approaching tsunami's crest.
From this elevated vantage point, Finn could see back toward Spring Queen Island clearly. The shattered landmass remained visible, still not completely swallowed by the sea. The ocean level around it had visibly dropped, massive quantities of water displaced by Newgate's punch, carried away by the artificial tsunami he'd created.
Of course, once that wave dissipated and the water flowed back, the island would be consumed. But for now, Whitebeard had bought his crew precious time.
On the far side of the massive wave, Finn spotted a distinctive white whale figurehead. The Moby Dick rode the tsunami itself, surfing the artificial disaster away from the battlefield, already beginning to fade into the distance.
"The world's strongest man at his absolute peak," Finn murmured, watching the ship disappear. "I really can't imagine who could possibly match Whitebeard at this stage."
Vice Admiral Jonathan chuckled beside him. "Isn't that exactly why he's called the world's strongest? Because right now, at this moment, he truly is invincible and unstoppable."
"Hahahaha!" Finn's laugh rang out across the floating warships, genuine and unreserved. "You're absolutely right!"
Yes. That was exactly it.
Whitebeard could be called the world's strongest because, right now, he genuinely was invincible.
And someday, Finn thought, watching the tsunami spread across the horizon, someday he would reach that level too.
But not today.
Today, he'd survived. He'd protected his friend. He'd forced the world's strongest man to make a choice and created an opening to escape.
For a Vice Admiral still climbing toward the summit, that was victory enough.
The warships continued their ascent, rising above the chaos, as Spring Queen Island sank beneath the waves behind them.