The New World is an exaggerated rectangular shape, very long on its long sides and relatively narrow on its short sides.
The sanctuary does not follow the main shipping routes; instead, it traverses the "short side" of the New World, a relatively short journey.
But no matter how short, traversing the New World still takes some time.
After a few days of frolicking with his female slaves, Blake gradually grew bored.
He once again focused his attention on the Card Space.
As Armament Haki gradually permeated his skin in recent days, Blake could clearly feel his body undergoing astonishing changes.
The Iron Balloon talent he originally acquired from Charlotte Linlin had already elevated his defense to a very high level, and now it had ascended even further.
This change even startled Blake himself.
It should be noted that his powerful defense played a crucial role in his victory over Zephyr back then.
Moreover, the enhancement of Armament Haki on the body was not limited to this.
Blake's strength, stamina, and other physical attributes once again improved at a remarkable pace.
His body seemed to have entered a completely new level.
Blake did not know if anyone in this world had reached this realm, but he felt that this might be the next stage of Armament Haki.
It was the fusion of Armament Haki with the body, thereby comprehensively enhancing all aspects of one's strength.
Now, with Blake's growing strength, his swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat skills were incomparable to when he fought Hawkeye.
So, even though he had not yet learned Conquerors Haki Infusion, Blake decided to challenge the cards again.
This time, Blake chose Garin as his opponent.
As fellow Celestial Dragons, their attack methods should be primarily elegant, whereas pirates' swordsmanship was too crude.
Blake felt that Garin's swordsmanship held greater reference value for him, and he hoped to obtain it.
"Huh? The scene this time is actually Mary Geoise?"
As soon as he entered the Card Space, Blake was somewhat surprised by the slightly familiar environment before him.
Just then, an incredibly powerful Conqueror's Haki surged forth.
"Oh my! That's not playing fair!"
Blake cursed, and his dark red Conqueror's Haki, mixed with purple-Blake Ghost Qi, soared into the sky, clashing with Garin's Haki from afar.
Blake drew his long sword, holding it in front of his chest.
The next moment, a jet-Blake film formed by Armament Haki hardening isolated the Blake-red lightning outside.
Blake slid back dozens of meters on the cracking floor tiles, then suddenly grinned:
"It seems my Observation Haki is superior to yours."
AI Garin did not respond. His divine judgment suddenly accelerated, its blade trailing seven afterimages in the air.
Blake's expression was calm; future scenarios flashed wildly before his eyes.
"Two slashes to the left, a feint to the right shoulder, and also..."
He suddenly bent down, his long scroll parrying upwards at an unusual angle:
"A low sneak attack!"
"Although Celestial Dragons don't fight Celestial Dragons, if this is all you've got, then I won't hold back!"
With another clash between them, Garin took half a step back to dissipate the force. His divine judgment spun half a turn in his palm before suddenly changing direction.
This backhand slash carried a strange arc, and the vacuum blade formed by Conquerors Haki Infusion ploughed an endless deep trench into the ground.
Blake's long sword, however, followed like a shadow, precisely parrying every slash, the metallic clashes forming a continuous high-frequency sonic boom.
Garin crouched slightly, adopting an Iai stance.
The airflow across the entire plaza began to churn, the stone slabs on the ground shattered, and the fragments eerily floated, defying gravity.
"divine judgment · Cloud Radiance!"
Blake immediately held his sword vertically in front of him, the sunlight reflected by the blade suddenly focusing into a single point.
"Arcane Art · Mirror Reversal!"
The deflected slash flew diagonally into the sky, tearing a massive rift in the clouds.
Blake seized the opportunity to advance, his long scroll transforming into a silver downpour, each thrust aimed at the blind spots of divine judgment's defense.
Garin was forced to switch from offense to defense, divine judgment's defensive trajectory weaving an impenetrable net of lightning in the air.
After a fierce assault, Blake landed on the ground, slightly out of breath, and couldn't help but curse again:
"Damn it, not having Conquerors Haki Infusion is truly a disadvantage."
Every one of Garin's attacks was imbued with Conqueror's Haki, while Blake could only resist with his physique and Armament Haki.
Not only was his stamina consumption far greater than his opponent's, but he also sustained more damage in their clashes.
The moment Blake's attack ceased, Garin raised his hand and swung his sword, a Blake-red thunder dragon roaring forth along the blade.
"divine judgment · Heavenly Soaring Dragon Flash!"
"Arcane Art · Galaxy!"
Blake gritted his teeth and took the blow head-on.
The sword guard clashing with the thunder dragon's fangs erupted in a solar flare, and the blast stripped away all the reliefs on the outer wall of Pangu City.
Both retreated several hundred meters. Garin remained expressionless, but Blake's hands, holding his sword, trembled slightly.
"It seems swordsmanship alone isn't enough to deal with experts of your caliber."
Blake casually tossed his long sword aside and clenched his fists:
"Then, you've also entered the BOSS's second phase!"
Blake abandoned his sword fight with Garin and switched to hand-to-hand combat. His speed also seemed to increase accordingly.
Blake lunged into Garin's defensive perimeter, his hand-blade precisely striking his opponent's sword-wielding wrist.
At the same time, his left knee rose, aiming for Garin's abdomen.
Garin first used his sword to block Blake's hand-blade, then immediately took half a step back to evade the knee strike.
"divine judgment · Amaterasu!"
A flaming giant bird-shaped slash flew from Garin's long sword, melting the ground into magma ravines.
Blake crossed his arms to take the hit head-on, Armament Haki crystallizing into Blake-gold armor on his skin.
When the flames dissipated, a ten-meter-diameter vitrified crater formed where the young man stood, but he merely flicked his smoking sleeve:
"Anyone can conjure fire with a slash; indeed, the Mera Mera no Mi is not even fit for dogs."
Blake surged forward again, his Armament Haki-clad fists clashing with the Conqueror's Haki-infused long sword, causing visible distortions and cracks in space.
The instant Garin retreated to dissipate the force, the divine judgment in his hand suddenly glowed with a dazzling golden light like a solar flare.
"divine judgment · Nine Stars Descend!"
Nine Blake-and-red sword energies attacked from different dimensions, each carrying the power to destroy an island.
The first sword energy evaporated Mary Geoise's central fountain into a vacuum, and the second sword energy melted the ground for several thousand meters around into liquid.
Blake, relying on his future-seeing Observation Haki, dodged four of them, punched away two, but could only cross his arms and endure the last three sword energies.
Crack!
The faint sound of bones shattering emerged, and Blake felt pain for the first time in a long while.
He was then thrown flying, crashing through a Celestial Dragon's manor.
Before the dust had settled, the pile of rubble suddenly exploded, and a Blake-gold fist shadow shot out from the ruins.
Blake, dragging his left hand with a fractured forearm, leaped out from the broken walls. His left fist condensed Armament Haki to its extreme, fiercely smashing towards the tip of Garin's sword, which was thrusting straight at him.
However, at the moment of contact, he suddenly changed his move to a hand-blade, his fingertips precisely piercing into the gap in Garin's left ribs, while Garin's divine judgment simultaneously pierced Blake's lower abdomen.