Yasopp smiled bitterly, "Hey... is this power a bit too much? Barely resisting, it's just enough to keep myself from being broken into pieces."
"Not bad at all. For a sniper to have such Haki, it's already impressive." Sage gave him a sidelong glance and nodded, "He's considered a strong one."
"I haven't even said hello to my son yet..."
Yasopp murmured, "I wonder if he will be proud of his old man, after all, the Red Hair Pirates are quite famous."
"Hard to tell. Normally, one wouldn't be proud of a pirate father who abandoned him and his mom at a young age, then didn't send any messages for years, almost considered dead."
Sage said, "But people from the Straw Hat Pirates are like you guys, not very normal."
"Is that so..."
Yasopp lowered his head with a chuckle, "As a dad, I was a failure, how unfortunate..."
Whether he left the sentence unfinished or said all he intended, Yasopp fell silent.
And Beckman, standing there at that moment, also lost his breath.
"Beckman! Yasopp!!"
Red Hair's veins stood out on his neck, his eyes wide with fury, his legs propelled into the air like an arrow from a bow, "You actually..."
Bam!
Just as he shot out, an afterimage flickered in front of him, and Sage kicked Red Hair back to the reef. At this moment, Sage's Haki fully recovered, he pointed with a finger, unleashing Tenmago's Grand Collapse, directly at the Red Hair who had just landed on the rock.
But this time, Red Hair clearly sensed it in advance, swinging his sword to block at that instant, twisting his body, narrowly avoiding the spiral light beam.
"Oh... you regained your composure right after losing your mind for a moment? Honestly, when you calm down, I wonder if you're even human."
Sage lowered his finger, surprised, "It seems there's never anything like hot-blooded emotion with you, every step is some kind of calculation?"
"You killed Beckman! And Yasopp!"
Red Hair glared coldly at Sage, "Sage! I won't forgive you!"
"That's quite the claim, as if I can't kill. He's just Beckman, not Kiliman."
Sage grinned, "No matter how elevated by the sea, he's still just a subordinate of the Four Emperors, right? There must be some gap, your Three Musketeers aren't three 'Four Emperors'.
How strong could they be?
Yasopp might be able to hold his own against Queen, and in terms of true strength, Lucky Roux might outdo Jack a bit.
It's not about physique, it's purely because they're the quintessential pirates, using guns, flexible in battle.
Beckman is the same, his Haki is good, but as a gunman, his flexibility exceeds his physique, indeed able to hold off the Four Emperors for a long time.
But that's about it.
In front of Sage, developed with sixty times the strength and new techniques, if he couldn't quickly resolve them, it wouldn't just be his face he lost, he'd lose Kaido's face too.
He's not like those who sail with the Straw Hat to play around.
Some with physiques weaker than average, although their Haki is decent, compared to Sage, it's still not enough, whether speed or strength, all are suppressed by him...
Surpass and then crush, naturally it moves to crush.
"As for you."
Sage glanced at Red Hair, then at Kizaru observing the battle on the side, "You really think he can come over and rescue you, a Heavenly Celestial Dragon? Then you'd return to Mary Geoise to retaliate against me? While I'm here today, no one can take you away. Lily!"
He called out, "Call Vegapunk, if Kizaru makes a move, then it means the World Government isn't keeping its agreement, and suddenly attacks me, use Pluton to directly blast Mary Geoise! I want to see whether one Celestial Dragon's life is more important or all Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise."
"Oh~ so scary, is this a direct threat? I really just came to deal with Tot Musica, now just watching the battle, I didn't mean it that way."
Kizaru chuckled, "Of course, I got hurt just now, old head injuries acted up, didn't hear a single word you said clearly."
Heavenly Celestial Dragon?
He has no idea...
"Hahahaha, that's why I said, why not come to my place, O'hara has a bigger stage for you to play!"
Sage laughed heartily, then reached out to Red Hair again, "Today, you'll be mine! No one can help it, I said it!"
Swish!
A spiral light beam, swiftly shot from his finger, hurtling towards Red Hair.
The latter gritted his teeth, swung his sword, dense Conqueror's Haki converged on the blade, swiftly swung to block, but couldn't truly withstand the powerful spiral light beam, just like before, after a brief stalemate, shifted his form to dodge the attack.
But this time, offense and defense switched roles.
Sage moved as he unleashed the wave, just as Red Hair evaded the Tenmago's Grand Collapse, Sage was already before him, his fists and feet faster than afterimages, once you saw the afterimage, it was too late, the attack had already reached.
But after all, he is a Four Emperor, Red Hair's reaction speed was still fast enough, quickly lifting Gryphon in front, a crisp clang sounded, Sage's fist appearing on the blade quickly disappeared, the next moment, the wound on Red Hair's left shoulder flared with pain, spinning backward, flying into the air.
In the next instant, his pupils contracted, forcibly stopping his spinning body, kicking up an air wave in the sky while leaping upward, dodging Sage's sudden movement, and that upward-kicking leg.
Injured, his reaction isn't what it was before.
Clearly, the Haki consumption made Red Hair strained, gradually unable to hold on.
Though reluctant to admit, if this drags on, the one to run out of energy will certainly be him, and Sage will likely be fine.
This is a different kind of 'hunt', he will be worn down here.
"At least..."
Red Hair grasped the sword tightly, eyes tinged with crimson, "At least pave the way for Luffy..."
"Sage!!"
He shouted, "You truly are the strongest! But destiny hasn't chosen you! And it never will! Just like the Captain before, early or late, it's not the person, it's ultimately useless! Destiny is full of guidance, and that's fate!!"
He raised Gryphon, Haki surged into the blade, blooming with red lightning.
"You now are the greatest obstacle to destiny, and before that..."
"No time to hear you out! Tenmago Fluctuation!"
In just two seconds, Sage recovered again, raised his finger, and emitted another spiral light beam.
"With this hit, let's finish it!"
Red Hair raised his eyebrows, grasped the sword single-handedly and slashed downward, "Kamusari!!"
The world was brushed with a layer of red paint, effortlessly slashing through the spiral light beam, but because it was too easy, it made Red Hair's eyes widen in surprise.
"Hahahaha, you've indeed lost your mind! Instant Kill!"
And from the side, Sage rushed in, akin to a ghost, as he neared Red Hair, countless afterimages overlapped within his form, and as he swept past Red Hair, they regrouped on Sage, swarming past him, reaching his back.
"Tenmago Destruction!"
Sage, back to Red Hair, swayed both fists, then pointed a finger to the sky, "Look! Your Death Star is shining, guiding you on your path to death!"
The move against Kaido, used against Red Hair's physique, it's a precise hit every time.
After all, it's a power even Kaido couldn't withstand.
As for that previous move...
Sage didn't exert full strength; it was merely a straightforward Haki Wave with penetrating power.
So there was no cooldown time, no recovery speed involved.
Just a bluff, an attack intended to make Red Hair take it seriously, thus exposing a flaw.
Now, Sage has succeeded.
No need for any long-drawn-out battle, when in a position to crush, dealing with someone relying solely on physique and Haki like Red Hair...
Sage is practically specialized against him.
From the moment he appeared, it was destined that Sage would win.
Now, he has won!