Fortunately, Bellamy had anticipated this and had made arrangements beforehand, bringing the Golden Lion as backup. The Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit could, to some extent, offset the pressure of the Gravity-Gravity Fruit. It was impossible for Fujitora to suppress the more experienced Golden Lion with his Devil Fruit ability alone. Even if you added swordsmanship to the equation, the Golden Lion had been a great swordsman twenty years ago. If not for his age, Fujitora would almost certainly be no match for him.
Part of this was due to their Devil Fruit abilities, but a more crucial factor was their personalities. Fujitora was gentle and upright, with an extremely strong sense of justice. He valued the safety of the people and hated injustice. The Golden Lion, on the other hand, was cruel and ruthless by nature. When angry, he wouldn't hesitate to shoot his own subordinates. He was the quintessential pirate.
If these two were to face each other one-on-one, the one to lose out would definitely be Fujitora. Even though the Golden Lion's stamina had declined due to his age, with Bellamy fighting alongside him, not only was this disadvantage compensated for, but it also posed an even greater threat to Fujitora.
No one in this world could ignore Bellamy's attacks. Even Kaido wouldn't dare to just stand there and take a full-force punch from him. The pinnacle of military power in the world of One Piece was not a match for two Admirals. This was a limitation of the world's rules; the upper limit of military power was just that high. No matter how hard you tried, no matter how smart you were, the highest individual military power was a little more than one Admiral. Even Whitebeard at his peak couldn't defeat two Admirals working together.
Although Bellamy had not yet reached the Admiral level, his strength had long since surpassed that of a Vice Admiral. He was now at a level below an Admiral but above a Warlord, on par with Hawkeye Mihawk. In an Admiral-level battle, the addition of a master like him would immediately cause a huge shift in the balance of power.
Lion's Threat: Thousand Slice Valley!
Wielding his two famous swords, the Golden Lion unleashed dozens of terrifying sword slashes in the span of a few breaths, each capable of splitting mountains and cleaving valleys. For a moment, a storm of sword energy swept across the entire sky, as if it would tear the very void to shreds.
"What terrifying swordsmanship."
Fujitora gripped his sword hilt, his body slightly crouched. The power of the Gravity-Gravity Fruit was pushed to its limit.
"Void Pressure Crush!"
Just as the storm of sword energy was about to shred Fujitora to pieces, he drew his sword. The slash was so fast it was almost impossible to see. The Golden Lion only saw a flash of light in the air. Then, all the sword energy in front of him seemed to be oppressed by some invisible force, instantly dissipating into the air.
"So this is the Gravity-Gravity Fruit."
This was also the first time the Golden Lion had fought a user of this fruit. He was greatly impressed by Fujitora's application of his ability.
"Not bad at all."
"Just 'not bad'? I have another slash for you, please be so kind as to receive it."
Fujitora crouched again, about to draw his sword, when a voice suddenly came from underground.
"Hey, hey, did you forget something?"
The ground trembled, and a large, jet-black hand tore through the earth, crawling out from below. Bellamy stretched his muscles, and a series of cracking sounds could be heard. It seemed the sudden high-intensity gravity had caused some damage to his bones.
"Even a hundred-fold gravity can't crush you?"
Fujitora's expression became somewhat solemn. He could sense the immense, powerful Haki emanating from his opponent. This was a top-tier master who had trained his Armament Haki to the point where it could cover his entire body.
"Just a single press certainly can't crush me. But if you keep pressing, you might just be able to crush me to death."
"Want to give it a try?"
Bellamy looked at Fujitora with a slightly teasing tone. This was no joke. Staying in a hundred-fold gravity environment for a long time, a human body might not be able to adapt. But Fujitora couldn't do that. Not to mention the Golden Lion was right there, just maintaining a hundred-fold gravity would consume an enormous amount of stamina.
No matter how an ability changes, there is one rule that can never be broken: the law of conservation of energy. The greater the impact on the environment, the greater the energy required. This is a law of the universe, absolutely immutable.
In fact, most of Fujitora's techniques were burst-type. For example, summoning a meteor or the Hell's Journey he had just used were both one-time bursts of immense gravity, not a continuous use of his ability. This showed just how much stamina the Gravity-Gravity Fruit consumed.
"It seems that if I want to leave this place today, I will have to fight with all my might."
At this point, Fujitora had realized how difficult these two opponents were, and the thought of a life-or-death battle finally arose in his mind. When an Admiral-level powerhouse decides to fight to the death, anyone would tremble.
The Golden Lion immediately sensed that something was wrong and instantly used his ability to summon a large amount of sand to protect himself.
Lion's Threat: Imperial Guardian Ground Scroll!
Bellamy's reaction was a beat slower, but he had been maintaining his Armament Haki and had not relaxed his defense. The moment Fujitora suddenly drew his sword, he immediately surged his blood and qi, using Iron Body: Steel Balloon.
Gravity Blade: Gravito!Gravity Blade: Raging Tiger!Gravity Blade: Weightlessness!Gravity Blade: Pressure Field!
Fujitora was indeed a seasoned master. The moment the thought of fighting to the death arose, he unhesitatingly unleashed the full power of his Devil Fruit. With a single swing of his sword, various techniques were thrown at Bellamy and the Golden Lion as if his life depended on it.
Especially that Gravito, which shot straight into the sky upon being unleashed. Not long after, a meteor with a diameter of several hundred meters, burning fiercely, descended from the sky, hurtling toward the remote beach.
The gravitational field and the weightless field interfered with each other, throwing the surrounding gravity into complete chaos. The gravitational turbulence made Bellamy's body feel twisted. His internal organs were the first to suffer severe damage, and the blood throughout his body began to flow in reverse. If not for his astonishing physique, this gravitational turbulence alone would have been enough to seriously injure him.
The Golden Lion, on the other hand, was in a different situation. The ability of the Float-Float Fruit was to change an object's gravity. The weightlessness and pressure from Fujitora's attack were easily neutralized by his own fruit. It was the raging Gravity Blade that gave him some pressure.
As for the meteor rapidly falling from the sky, the Golden Lion looked up and suddenly sneered. "I thought it was some amazing technique. It's just something I was playing with decades ago."
Picking up rocks and throwing them at people was indeed a common tactic of the Golden Lion. It was just that Fujitora used a meteor, while the Golden Lion preferred to throw a mountain. Since he used it often, he was naturally very good at countering it.
He stretched out his hands and waved them in the air. The power of the Float-Float Fruit was immediately activated. The rapidly falling meteor in the sky paused for a moment, then slowly began to float.
"You like throwing rocks so much? Here, have it back."
The Golden Lion pointed his finger, and the meteor immediately began to move again, hurtling down toward Fujitora's head.