As soon as he finished speaking, Finn slashed forward. Invisible gravity carried the strike, instantly lifting every floor tile in the entire hall and hurling them toward Bartholomew Kuma with brutal momentum.
Finn expected Bartholomew Kuma to either block the attack or deflect it and dodge.
Instead, Bartholomew Kuma, expression filled with loneliness, stood motionless.
The next second, the powerful slash struck him directly. Bartholomew Kuma was launched backward, slamming into the throne with devastating force, shattering it completely.
At the same time, the gravity-enhanced strike destroyed the entire back wall of the hall.
The entire chamber lay in ruins.
Stussy stood frozen in shock. Bartholomew Kuma!
Known as the most powerful fighter in the South Blue. The CP agency had even sent experts to subdue him this year.
As a result, they'd all been sent "traveling" by him.
Whether he was truly a tyrant or not was meaningless. But Stussy knew perfectly well that Bartholomew Kuma was no joke.
And now, he'd been defeated by Finn with a single strike?
Was Bartholomew Kuma too weak, or was Finn too strong?
Or was this some kind of performance?
Finn slowly returned his sword to its sheath. There was no satisfaction on his face. On the contrary, his brow furrowed with visible displeasure.
When he'd accepted this political mission at Marineford, he'd been thinking about gaining favor with the World Government. But he'd also been anticipating coming here to fight Bartholomew Kuma and measure his progress over the past two years.
What a result. Bartholomew Kuma had no will to fight whatsoever.
It felt like punching cotton.
He finally understood what Dragon had meant before.
Because of this country, Bartholomew Kuma could never win.
"Are you insulting me, Bartholomew Kuma?" Finn approached the shattered throne and asked in a deep voice, looking down at Bartholomew Kuma, who was seriously injured and bleeding from the corner of his mouth.
Bartholomew Kuma had taken Finn's blow completely, without any defense at all. It had truly been devastating. He was genuinely injured.
Listening to Finn's question, Bartholomew Kuma didn't stand. Didn't even move.
"No. It's because of you, Rodriguez Finn, that I made this choice. You are strong enough to be my final opponent as king. Strong enough to preserve my dignity... As for why I surrendered so quickly... you destroyed this palace with a single blow. That's the reason," Bartholomew Kuma said softly.
Finn looked at his calm expression. Anger surged in his chest, but ultimately he didn't strike again.
Bartholomew Kuma's meaning was crystal clear. Finn's destructive power was too great. He'd demolished the palace with one technique. If they truly fought with full intensity, the entire capital would be destroyed.
Bartholomew Kuma didn't want to see that happen. So he'd made a symbolic gesture of resistance and accepted defeat calmly.
Anyway, from the beginning, he'd never had any chance of winning, had he?
"It should be a source of pride and honor for Sorbet to have had you as king," Finn said, glancing at Bartholomew Kuma.
After speaking, he turned and left without another moment's hesitation.
Bartholomew Kuma lay motionless in the ruins. No one knew what this "tyrant" was thinking.
Stussy glanced at Bartholomew Kuma, then at Finn's departing figure. She quickly extracted her Den Den Mushi and spoke into it. "CP-0, escort Bartholomew Kuma out of Sorbet Kingdom."
After issuing the order, Stussy didn't dare linger. It was safer to stay with Finn. She hurried after him. "Vice Admiral, wait for me."
Finn walked out of the crumbling hall without looking back. "Miss Stussy, shouldn't you remain here to handle the aftermath?"
"There's nothing for me to do. Bartholomew Kuma has surrendered. Next, we simply need him to leave the Sorbet Kingdom and never return. Our CP mission will be accomplished. As for selecting a new king and restoring order, those are other departments' responsibilities. Our CP agency has always been responsible for subversion, not reconstruction," Stussy said with a smile.
"What a terrible organization," Finn muttered.
"You're too kind, Vice Admiral," Stussy responded diplomatically.
Finn made no move to dismiss her, so he continued chatting as they walked toward the port where his warship was anchored.
"Miss Stussy, honestly, are you not interested in joining our Marines? There's plenty of room for development in the Marines. If I'm not mistaken, you're nearly at the ceiling of your career in CP-0, aren't you? They can't possibly give you the Commander-in-Chief position, can they?" Finn said suddenly.
Stussy paused, then laughed. "Vice Admiral Finn, didn't we agree to discuss this matter after you become an Admiral?"
However, Finn's guess was accurate on one point. Stussy herself knew that if nothing unexpected happened, her advancement within the CP agency had effectively ended.
Currently, she was a Senior Operations Commander of CP-0, equivalent to an Admiral candidate at Marine Headquarters in rank.
There were only two positions above her available for promotion. One was Director, who could command all CP-0 senior operations. The other was Commander-in-Chief of the entire CP agency.
That meant commanding not just all CP-0 members, but the entire CP organization from 0 to 9. Everyone would have to obey orders.
At the same time, the Commander-in-Chief only answered to the Five Elders. Even ordinary Celestial Dragons had no authority over them.
Conversely, the Directors of CP-0 seemed more focused on handling Celestial Dragon affairs directly.
But whether Director or Commander-in-Chief, Stussy felt she had no realistic hope of achieving either position.
So, as Finn had said, she'd probably reached the end of her journey within the CP agency.
Later in the timeline, Stussy would accept a secret mission and infiltrate the underworld to establish Pleasure Street. She'd do this because she felt that only by finding an alternative path, acquiring greater power and a more important position through other means, could she potentially become Director-level.
Even if she didn't become Director, her control over Pleasure Street would be enough to make her a vital CP-0 asset. The Queen of the Pleasure District, Stussy would become someone even Directors wouldn't dare underestimate.
And at that point, she'd genuinely have hope of promotion to Director.
"Really?" Finn replied softly, then smiled. "What a shame! I'd hoped that if Miss Stussy aligned with our Marines, I could help you make a killing this time..."
"Make a killing?" Stussy looked confused. She didn't doubt whether Finn was deceiving her, because such a lie would be pointless.
"How big?" Stussy couldn't help asking again.
"Probably the biggest opportunity in the past twenty years," Finn said with another smile.
She had to admit, Stussy was tempted.
Finn noticed her expression, that look of someone unwilling to settle for mediocrity.
It wasn't that there was any problem with the Marines recruiting her. Rather, there was a fundamental issue with Stussy's relationship with the CP agency. When he'd first met her, Finn hadn't known much about Stussy's character.
Only knowing the revelation that she was a clone of Buckingham Stussy, but even if she is a clone, she will develop her own characteristic, maybe even carry over the original.
He'd only known that she'd achieve great things in the future, become Queen of Pleasure Street, and control one of the world's most important intelligence organizations.
Her strength was considerable, wasn't it?
But he hadn't truly understood her as a person.
Therefore, when he'd tried recruiting her at the orphanage, it had actually been a test.
Facts proved that Stussy had no particular loyalty to the CP agency. She hadn't rejected Finn's recruitment outright, instead leaving some "room for imagination."
So, what kind of person would do that?
Finn understood perfectly. An egoist. Yes, because he was exactly that type of person himself.
For example, when facing the Revolutionary Army problem, he'd left many conveniences for Dragon.
He hadn't truly antagonized Dragon. Why?
To put it bluntly, on one hand, he was planning to potentially use Dragon. On the other hand, he was leaving himself an escape route. In case any problems arose in the future and he could no longer remain in the Marines, he could pivot and become a big shot in the Revolutionary Army!
Thinking about it now, Stussy's non-committal responses actually made perfect sense. She was reluctant to leave the CP agency because she'd accumulated so many years of experience and merit there. Not because she had any genuine loyalty to the organization.
On the contrary, Finn suspected that the higher one climbed in the CP organization, the less loyal they might become, because those were the people who understood best how dark the organization truly was. Conversely, the brainwashed agents at the bottom might be genuinely loyal.
This was also a kind of deformed, twisted pathology within the CP organization. Just like the problems plaguing Marine Headquarters itself. Each had their own difficulties. Nothing much to say about it.
After further exploring Stussy's character, Finn felt he could prepare two scenarios. The first was recruiting Stussy to work at Marine Headquarters as his subordinate. Having such a capable subordinate would surely bring many benefits. Not to mention her considerable abilities and competence.
And her beauty, naturally.
The second option was becoming an ally and collaborator with Stussy.
Not Marine and CP Agency, but simply Finn and Stussy.
As for dominance in this cooperative relationship, of course that would depend on each party's capabilities. Currently, Finn held more power. Stussy was temporarily at a disadvantage.
The future remained to be seen.
In Finn's assessment, this kind of cooperation certainly had advantages. Namely, he could borrow CP-0's intelligence network in a private capacity, allowing him to learn about opportunities immediately and capitalize on them.
If he wanted to handle dirty work, he wouldn't need to do it himself, which would better maintain his Marine image.
As for Stussy, with support from a powerful figure like Finn, she could work more comfortably while simultaneously benefiting from shared opportunities.
For example, this time. Finn was going after Pirate King Roger. If he brought Stussy along and they captured Roger together, it would definitely be tremendous merit.
It might even help her compete for the Director position in the future.
Currently on the Marine side, though Admiral Sengoku and Chief of Staff Tsuru had established the "non-existent organization," the Pleasure Street project was ultimately failing. They were too embarrassed to have the Marines establish such a fictional cover organization.
But such an excellent plan couldn't be shelved. He could assign it to Stussy and provide guidance. If she could successfully establish Pleasure Street, wouldn't that benefit Finn?
At the same time, as one of the leaders of the "non-existent organization," Finn wielded considerable authority within it. The Marines weren't comfortable with the Pleasure Street disguise, so Finn could use Stussy to execute it, insert the organization into Pleasure Street, and facilitate rapid growth.
Thinking even further ahead, what if Finn became a powerful top-tier leader in the Marines in the future? An Admiral or Fleet Marshal?
And Stussy became a powerful, influential figure in the CP organization, perhaps even reaching Commander-in-Chief position?
On the surface, the CP agency and Marine Headquarters would still compete with each other. But the two top bosses would be working together...
Wouldn't that be interesting?
If Finn ever developed intentions to challenge the World Government, he'd have devastating leverage.