Crack—HUMBOOOOM!!!
At the instant the blades met, the world fell into an eerie silence—
for less than one ten-thousandth of a second.
Then—
Space itself collapsed.
Two forces of vibration—born from the same origin yet fundamentally opposed—collided between the blades, devouring and annihilating one another.
Gern's vibration particles carried the properties of high-frequency cutting and collapse, drilling forward like countless microscopic blades, attempting to decompose Whitebeard's vast, overwhelming quake force.
Whitebeard's vibration, however, was like an endless tsunami—
an absolute crushing power meant to obliterate Gern's maximally condensed "point" in one stroke.
The atmosphere was compressed to its absolute limit.
Around them, a momentary absolute vacuum sphere formed, twisting light itself.
Gern and Whitebeard shouted simultaneously, their voices exploding from the depths of their souls:
"SHATTER!!!"
What erupted was not white light—
But a blinding chaotic radiance, leaked from space itself, unable to bear the stress any longer.
A perfectly spherical annihilation shockwave expanded outward—
completely silent.
Only after it passed did sound finally arrive.
BOOOOOOM—!!!!
The sea entered absolute stillness.
Then came a sight that overturned all logic—
The ocean was erased.
A flawlessly smooth, bottomless sea abyss—
several kilometers in diameter—was carved out as if wiped clean by a god.
Seawater was lifted skyward by an invisible hand, forming a colossal circular waterfall that poured upward into the heavens.
This single slash—
shook the entire sea!!
"Damn it…!"
Gern's arms bulged violently as Black Blade · Eight Desolations screamed in protest.
The vibration particles on its surface flared wildly, desperately suppressing Murakumogiri's power.
Yet Whitebeard's blade stood firm—
its quake-light growing ever more brilliant.
The two forces ground against each other madly.
And then—
As Gern poured his life into it, something unthinkable happened.
His ultra-compressed vibration particles began boring into, eroding, and disassembling Whitebeard's quake power.
At the point of contact—
The crystalline quake coating on Murakumogiri developed fine spider-web fractures, as if struck billions of times in rapid succession.
Whitebeard's ever-confident grin froze for the first time.
True shock flashed in his eyes.
"This Marine brat…
Is his power Logia?
Turning vibration itself into a natural element?!"
Before the thought finished—
Miles away, Marco's ship groaned as its keel screamed under unbearable stress.
Whitebeard's eyes sharpened.
"Marine brat…
Your ability is more terrifying than mine."
"And without a ship…
I'd be very annoyed."
"So—my apologies!!"
Scarlet light erupted from Whitebeard's pupils.
No longer mere pressure—
It became a viscous, tangible flood of destruction, wrapped in dark-red lightning, surging onto Murakumogiri's blade.
Conqueror's Haki Infusion!!
The white quake glow instantly turned black-red.
CRACK—BOOM!!
At the moment of contact—
Gern felt a power like collapsing mountains crash down upon him.
Eight Desolations let out a piercing wail as its vibration particles were forcibly shattered by the tyrannical Haki.
No resistance.
No counter.
His body was blasted away like a severed kite, carving a thousand-meter trench across the sea.
Only thanks to elementalization—and Whitebeard holding back—did he crash back onto the warship like a cannonball, tearing two hull-deep scorched grooves across the deck.
On the warship—
Gern knelt on one knee amid shattered steel.
His right arm's uniform was gone.
Beneath it—
ruptured muscle fibers, fractured bones, blood pouring like a torn sack.
Eight Desolations was embedded deep into molten deck plating, its blade completely dim.
"Cough—!!"
Gern spat a mouthful of blood mixed with organ fragments.
His vision blurred.
He barely made out the mountain-like figure in the distance.
Whitebeard stood proudly at his ship's bow.
Black-red lightning still crackled around Murakumogiri.
"Gurararara!
To make me fight seriously—
even use Conqueror's coating…"
Whitebeard laughed thunderously, eyes shining with admiration.
"You brat…
You're far too interesting!!"
"So…
my full power was only 'interesting'…?"
Excessive blood loss and lingering Haki pressure dragged Gern into darkness.
Silence engulfed the Marine warship.
Every Marine stared at the kneeling figure.
Gern Reginald Sigma.
They had just witnessed—
A young Marine Ensign clash head-on with a living legend—
Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
And force him to use Conqueror's Haki.
"T-That…
That was really Ensign Gern?"
One soldier whispered, rifle shaking.
"Not a Vice Admiral…?"
"It's real…
He traded blows with Whitebeard…"
"He made Whitebeard fight seriously…"
Their gazes changed completely—
From doubt…
to reverence…
and even fanatic awe.
Gern raised his trembling arm.
Blood dripped from his fingertips.
"The gap…
is still this big, huh…"
Yet his eyes burned brighter than ever.
Not frustration—
Excitement.
"I saw it…
I really saw it…"
His body finally gave out.
He collapsed forward.
"ENSlGN GERN!!"
Medical teams rushed in chaos.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This story is a slow burn, But it will progress just like the original. So add it your library and Please Extend your Support by Send Power Stones"