The sea wind howled, waves crashing relentlessly against the jagged reefs…
Roger and Gern Reginald Sigmar stood facing one another, an invisible pressure saturating the air, heavy enough to suffocate.
"Hahahaha!"Roger suddenly burst into laughter—there was resignation in it, and a strange sense of release."If that idiot Garp ever finds out that half his disciple stole his 'dream,' he'll probably be so furious he'll jump through the roof!"
"Vice Admiral Garp's dream is to personally arrest you," Gern replied, shrugging lazily, a careless smile hanging at the corner of his lips."As for my dream…"He tilted his head slightly."It's to make the Pirate King nothing more than a stepping stone for everything I'll rise to in the future."
"A stepping stone, huh…"Roger narrowed his eyes."So you planned this long ago, didn't you? Ever since Edd War—or maybe even earlier?"
"Who knows?"Gern spread his hands, tone light, almost playful."After all, the day you tossed me into the sea, I already said it back then.That I'd personally drag you onto the execution platform. I'm the type who keeps his promises."
Roger fell silent for a moment. Then he slowly drew Ace, brushing the dust from the hilt with deliberate calm.
"Gern… you know," he said quietly,"I originally planned to leave peacefully. Turn myself in in the East Blue.But now—"
His gaze suddenly sharpened.Conqueror's Haki erupted like a raging tide, crushing outward as if the very air had frozen solid.
"—it looks like I don't have a choice anymore!!"
Before the final syllable even faded, Roger's figure vanished like a phantom.
The next instant, he hadn't drawn his blade at all—his fist, wrapped in ferocious Haki, thundered straight toward Gern's face!
BOOM!
Gern reacted instantly. The black blade Eight Desolations snapped up to block.
Fist and blade collided—and the impact detonated outward.The reef beneath their feet shattered violently, seawater exploding upward as if the ocean itself had been struck.
"You've gotten a lot stronger than back then,"Roger stepped back, opening distance, frowning slightly as he watched the man calmly rotating his blade.
"Have I?"Gern lifted his eyes, the faintest smile playing on his lips."Funny… you're the one who's dying of illness, yet you're still hitting this hard."
As the words fell, Gern flicked his wrist. Eight Desolations carved a cold arc of light through the air."You didn't draw your sword just now…"His gaze sharpened."Afraid you'd destroy this island?"
Roger's eyes darkened—his thoughts laid bare.
The sound of waves crashing against the shore suddenly became painfully clear, making his low voice all the heavier."This place… was never meant to be a battlefield."
"Then let's change locations."Gern chuckled softly, already leaping onto the small boat Roger had prepared to use for surrender.
Roger stared at that departing back. His throat bobbed once.
In the end, all the tangled emotions within him dissolved into a single sigh.
...
At the same time—Marineford. Naval Headquarters. Fleet Admiral's Office.
The air felt frozen solid.
The oppressive pressure made cold sweat bead across Tesoro's back.
Steel-Bone Kong sat behind his massive desk, sharp eyes capable of piercing straight through lies.
Sengoku stood beside him, fingers tapping rhythmically against the tabletop—each tap pounding against Tesoro's taut nerves.
"So…"Kong finally spoke, voice low and authoritative."That man Gern claimed he was still aboard the ship, yet sent only you and Lippo back to report?"
Tesoro swallowed hard. His hand unconsciously touched the golden ring on his finger, spinning it nervously.
He opened his mouth—then realized there was no reasonable explanation he could give.
Because before leaving, Gern had only tossed him a single sentence: 'Adapt as needed.'And in a situation like this, what room was there for adaptation?
"R-reporting to Fleet Admiral Kong…"Tesoro forced himself to speak."Vice Admiral Gern was originally aboard the warship, but he… had other arrangements."
"Other arrangements?!"Sengoku's voice shot up sharply, his gaze behind the lenses as sharp as a blade."What arrangement could possibly be more important than the current crisis?!"
Tesoro's fingertips trembled.
He couldn't exactly say that Gern never planned to return to headquarters at all.
"I… don't know."Tesoro lowered his head, the words squeezed out between clenched teeth."Vice Admiral Gern only ordered Lippo and me to return first. As for the rest… he didn't say."
At that, Kong's expression sank completely.
He rose slowly, his towering figure casting a long shadow over Tesoro.
"Major Tesoro,"the Fleet Admiral's voice was ice-cold."Do you understand the consequences of concealing information from your superiors?"
Tesoro's breathing hitched.
Just as the atmosphere was about to freeze entirely—
Bang!The office door burst open.
"Report!"An intelligence officer rushed in, face deathly pale."J-just received urgent intel! The remnants of the Roger Pirates appear to be making abnormal movements!"
Kong and Sengoku's expressions changed instantly.
"What?!"Sengoku slammed the desk."Then Roger's making a move!To think he'd switch so quickly—from operating in the open to moving in the shadows!"
As the office suddenly erupted into motion, Tesoro stood there blankly, completely at a loss.
"Vice Admiral Gern…"Just what are you planning?
"Don't tell me you're really planning to arrest the Pirate King by yourself?"The thought made Tesoro laugh weakly as he shook his head."No, no, no… that's impossible! That's the Pirate King!"
But the more he thought about it, the more uncertain he became.
Because that man… was Gern.
...
Meanwhile—On Biarks Island, a desolate isle at the junction of the South Blue and the East Blue.
Gern and Roger stood facing each other once more.
The black blade Eight Desolations gleamed with a cold sheen, while Roger's hand tightened around Ace's hilt, his knuckles whitening.
"A pirate trying to persuade a Marine…"Gern curled his lips into a cold smile."Roger, don't you find that ridiculous?"
Roger was silent for a moment, then finally sighed."I don't want to fight you."
The words stabbed straight into Gern's nerves.
He let out a low laugh, laced with mockery."In your eyes, am I really that unworthy of being taken seriously?"
Roger shook his head."I just don't want to waste my remaining time."
"Remaining time?"Gern's gaze instantly turned icy."So your 'remaining time' is disbanding your crew, seducing a young woman, and leaving behind a seed?"
Roger's pupils shrank violently. For the first time, his expression wavered."You… how do you know?"
Only two people knew about Rouge's pregnancy.
Rouge hadn't gone to any hospital.And Gern had never even been near his home.
"I know far more than you think."Gern's voice was low, his tone light to the point of provocation."She's a 'D' too, isn't she?Portgas D. Rouge."
"Heh."The tip of Gern's blade scraped lightly across the ground, sparks scattering."You really thought you hid it well?"
"A man over fifty, tricking a girl barely in her twenties into bearing your child…"
"Shut up!!"Roger's roar made the surrounding rubble tremble.
"What? Hit a nerve?"Gern's grin only widened.
Roger's breathing grew ragged, veins bulging across his clenched fists."You don't understand at all…"
"Of course I don't!"Gern exploded into motion, Eight Desolations screaming as it tore through the air."I don't understand how a reckless bastard like you deserves to be called a 'King'!"
"You know you're dying.You know the World Government will hunt your bloodline to extinction—and yet you still insist on leaving behind a child!"
"Roger—this isn't fatherly love.It's putting a noose around an unborn child's neck!"
"It's offering your wife and child as sacrifices to carry your ambition—watering your so-called 'immortality' with their flesh and blood!"
"Rouge will protect—"
"Protect what?"Gern sneered."Endure an inhuman pregnancy far beyond what normal people could survive?"
"Sorry—that's not love. That's naked cruelty!"
"To hide your bloodline, she may have to act until every last drop of life is drained from her body!"
"And all you can say is—'She'll protect'?"
"Hahahaha—how utterly hypocritical, Roger!"
"A 'King' who can't even protect his own woman—what right do you have to speak of dreams?!"
Pain flickered through Roger's eyes—but it was quickly swallowed by resolve.
Black Armament Haki coiled around Ace.Conqueror's Haki crackled like lightning around his body.
"Marine brat who shakes the heavens…"Roger's voice sank to a terrifying depth."You'll regret those words."