Charlotte Linlin's attack was actually a routine test, probing Finn's strength.
Normally, when fighters of this level clashed, the first few moves were tests. That was standard procedure.
But at this moment, Finn didn't play by the rules at all. He started with a finishing move.
The invisible force of gravity suddenly struck Charlotte Linlin. She was momentarily confused because the expected impact didn't come.
But the next moment, her expression suddenly changed. The ground beneath her feet collapsed on the spot, and her lower legs were completely swallowed into the earth.
At this moment, it was as if the gates of the underworld had opened. An inexplicable force was pulling Charlotte Linlin down toward the realm of the dead.
In just a short moment, half of her body had sunk into the ground.
At the same time, a purple halo appeared in the center of Finn's palm. He took advantage of the situation, blocking the Emperor Sword and bringing Shindokutō down toward Charlotte Linlin's head.
"Don't underestimate me!" Charlotte Linlin roared furiously.
With her other hand, she raised powerful Armament Haki and blocked Finn's slash directly.
Her extraordinarily strong defense, combined with her Haki, stopped Finn's strike.
At the same time, Charlotte Linlin's eyes flashed red. She threw the Emperor Sword aside and braced herself on the ground with one hand. Then, brute force erupted. She suddenly broke free from Finn's gravity, and the half of her body stuck in the ground was pulled out like a carrot.
"Heavenly Bonbon!" Charlotte Linlin shouted again, punching at Finn with her other hand.
This punch carried the power of fire and thunder, coupled with her innate monstrous strength, making it exceptionally powerful.
Finn had no intention of retreating. At this moment, he had to take a strong stance to buy more time. He hoped Garp and Gion could arrive quickly. By then, they'd be safer.
But before that, he had to demonstrate his strength!
Without attempting to dodge, Finn suddenly clenched his fist. Powerful Haki attached to his fist like flowing clouds. At the same time, it emitted a faint purple halo.
The moment Charlotte Linlin's devastating blow arrived, Finn met her fist and struck back.
The two fists collided. Two overwhelming forces clashed violently. Waves of air, layer upon layer, burst from the two combatants like tidal surges, sweeping outward. Then the collision of Armament Haki followed and vented forth. Black lightning exploded in the void.
Finn's unyielding confrontation clearly showed he was ready for a real fight. Even Whitebeard, watching from a distance, thought so. Charlotte Linlin felt the same way.
Therefore, the power in her hands grew heavier.
But at this moment, Charlotte Linlin saw Finn's feet suddenly slip. His figure shifted sideways. At the same time, the fists of the two combatants staggered past each other.
Finn had come prepared. Charlotte Linlin lost the initiative. Her center of gravity became unstable, and she stumbled forward a step.
"Gravity Domain: Universal Pull!" Finn said softly. A force of attraction erupted from his body, further disrupting Charlotte Linlin's balance.
In just a breath, he closed the distance between himself and Charlotte Linlin, crashing directly into her towering body.
Due to the height difference between them, Finn's outstretched hand landed precisely on Charlotte Linlin's abdomen.
"Gravity Domain: Almighty Push!" Finn growled.
At the same time, a powerful gravitational impact erupted from his palm, directly blasting Charlotte Linlin backward.
Fortunately, the power of this palm wasn't devastatingly strong. Charlotte Linlin flew back more than ten meters before landing on her feet. After slightly dissipating the two forces, she stabilized herself.
But before she could launch another offensive to save face, she suddenly stumbled and nearly fell flat.
Her perception of gravity was completely disrupted! Her left foot felt light, her right heavy. Her upper body heavy, her lower body weightless!
As if Finn had anticipated this, he swept the demon blade in his hand. The dark force of gravitational collapse clung to Shindokutō once more.
"The sword cuts the flesh, the heart cuts the soul. Gravity Blade Secret Art: Absolute Void Slash," Finn said, a fierce gleam in his eyes.
He lunged forward. The long blade in his hand slashed downward, aimed at Charlotte Linlin's head!
It was at this moment that a trident, wrapped in Haki, blocked Finn's blade.
The one who intervened was Katakuri.
At this moment, Katakuri's eyes held a trace of fear.
Just a moment ago, he'd foreseen the future. Finn's blade had nearly beheaded his mother!
If this strike landed, Charlotte Linlin would be severely injured and near death!
Obviously, this was definitely Finn's ultimate killing technique, the one he'd been saving!
Therefore, the moment he foresaw the future, Katakuri had acted to intercept without hesitation.
But it was useless. At this moment, the demon blade Shindokutō was attached with Finn's power, in a state where it would kill anyone who stood in its way. Even when Kaido had gathered all his Haki in his chest, he couldn't stop Finn's blade.
Let alone Katakuri!
The powerful Haki wrapped around the trident dissipated the moment the blade made contact. Katakuri had already had one trident severed by Finn before. This was a new one, made of even tougher materials.
As expected, it was still cut cleanly in half by Finn's strike!
"Mama!" Katakuri exclaimed.
It was this exclamation and this sudden moment of obstruction that finally made Charlotte Linlin react. Her Armament Haki flowed like water, wrapping around her arms as she blocked horizontally above her head.
Perhaps this defense was as serious as possible, but in Charlotte Linlin's shocked eyes, she saw her own Haki, no different from Katakuri's, disintegrate when it contacted Finn's blade. It was directly absorbed into the dark gravitational halo on the sword.
Then sharp pain shot through her arm. Charlotte Linlin wailed, completely abandoning any pretense of dignity. She utterly lacked the bearing and grace of a top-tier pirate. She rolled on the ground several times, dodging Finn's blade in this awkward manner.
As soon as the target before the blade vanished, Shindokutō fell toward the ground. Just like a hot knife through butter, a cut was immediately carved into the earth. It wasn't exaggerated, nor did it have the power of a master swordsman who could split mountains and seas.
It was simply that the blade's tip sank into the ground.
But everyone's eyes were filled with shock, because in the distance, Charlotte Linlin, who had dodged the blow with that desperate roll, had a deep wound on her arm that exposed bone.
No... it should be said the bone itself was cut through.
The wound was dripping with blood and looked horrifying. But upon closer inspection, it was different from an ordinary blade wound. It seemed as if when the blade had landed on her arm, it had completely erased and devoured that section of flesh and blood!
At this moment, many captains from both pirate crews thought of the massive knife wound on Kaido's chest they'd just seen...
If nothing unexpected had happened, Kaido had been defeated by this very blade, hadn't he?
What kind of attack power was this?
A single strike had severely wounded Kaido, the so-called strongest creature. Even Charlotte Linlin, known for her invincible defense, had been forced to dodge desperately with a single blow.
Everyone could tell that if Charlotte Linlin had hesitated for even a moment, considering her pride and status, Finn would have definitely severed one of her arms!
"So strong!" A gleam of shock flashed in Teach's eyes from within the distant crowd.
Looking at the style of that blade just now, Teach felt that in terms of pure attack power, it might even surpass Whitebeard!
At this moment, Finn's Press-Press Fruit also excited Teach. If he could obtain the Dark-Dark Fruit, then choosing the Press-Press Fruit as his second ability wouldn't be a bad choice, would it?
"Is this a Marine Admiral?" Lucci murmured softly, a hint of admiration in his eyes.
But soon, the admiration faded, replaced by calculation. Clearly, this guy was already quite the actor.
Charlotte Linlin stopped wailing. Shock and fear filled her eyes. She covered the horrific wound on her arm that had nearly severed bone, and stared at Finn.
The black power on Finn's blade gradually dissipated. He raised his hand in a flourish and sheathed the demon blade.
Finn then looked at Charlotte Linlin calmly. "You dodged well."
This statement was clearly mockery. The Lazy Donkey Roll was indeed a god-tier life-saving technique. From ancient times to the present, across countless planes and worlds, countless masters had used this move at critical moments of life and death to preserve their lives. But it was still undeniably embarrassing!
Charlotte Linlin's eyes flashed with fury, but she didn't attack again.
Newgate's eyes flashed with surprise, then he looked at Finn with even greater interest.
Finn had taken the initiative and used three consecutive techniques to completely suppress Charlotte Linlin. Her initial arrogance was now thoroughly crushed. It was clearly Finn who held the upper hand!
Charlotte Linlin now held reservations in her heart. She didn't dare act rashly anymore!
But don't be fooled by Finn's calm appearance. With just a few simple moves, he'd nearly turned Charlotte Linlin into a cripple.
In reality, however, Finn's internal energy had dropped sharply.
Although compared to his battle with Whitebeard on Spring Queen Island, his strength had improved considerably, the unstoppable ultimate killing technique "Absolute Void" was still an extremely heavy burden for Finn.
Manipulating gravity to create a collapse effect wasn't as easy as it looked.
Are you kidding? No matter who possessed an ability to create collapse, it would be impossible to control easily, because if it got out of control, it could theoretically create a black hole effect!
How could such power be controlled so casually?
Finn had been on Sky Island earlier. He'd struck Kaido with a single blow, completely wiping out his resistance and leaving him severely wounded. That had already consumed him greatly. Now he'd struck again with a second blow, nearly severing Charlotte Linlin's arm. He'd almost reached his limit.
Of course, this limit didn't mean he had no power to resist, but that he could no longer use such terrifying techniques. He estimated he could only unleash such devastating power one more time.
It was just that Finn was surrounded at the moment and couldn't show any sign of weakness, so he forced himself to appear completely relaxed.
"Gurararara, the sea favors the brave, Finn! It seems you've become even stronger!" Newgate suddenly burst into laughter.
Finn took a deep breath, a smile on his face. He looked at Newgate. "Shall we fight?"
Newgate swung Murakumogiri in his hand, pointing the blade's tip at Finn. "Of course!"
As soon as he finished speaking, an invisible transparent energy condensed on the tip of Murakumogiri's blade...
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