The waves surged, and Whitebeard's pirate ship slowly regained stability in the aftermath.
Marco retracted his blue flame wings and landed steadily beside Whitebeard, a hint of confusion and worry etched on his brow.
"Pops!" He couldn't help but ask, "That strike just now, you clearly could have shattered that warship into dust, why did you hold back?"
"Oh ho?" Whitebeard propped Murakumogiri on the deck and, hearing the question, burst into his characteristic booming laughter.
"Gurararara! Marco, didn't you hear just now?"
"When that Navy brat announced his name, he said..."
"His name, 'Gern,' would sooner or later resound throughout the sea!" Whitebeard repeated, his eyes glinting sharply, his voice like a grand bell.
"So, I'm really looking forward to it! But what surprised me even more is that his strength is actually comparable to mine when I was young."
Looking at Pops' excited expression, similar to when he adopted him, Marco's eyelids twitched, and an ominous premonition surged in his heart.
He instinctively rubbed his forehead, his tone filled with helplessness: "Hey, hey... Pops, you're not going to..."
At this point, Marco took a deep breath, almost groaning as he blurted out the answer: "Want to adopt that Marine as your son?!"
...
As soon as Marco spoke, the air instantly solidified.
Whitebeard's hearty laugh froze on his face, then turned into a hint of caught-in-the-act embarrassment.
He stroked his iconic crescent mustache and laughed heartily up at the sky, trying to cover it up: "Gurararara! You saw right through me, you brat!"
"Pops!" Marco rolled his eyes dramatically, his tone filled with a deep sense of powerlessness.
"I knew it! Every time you see an interesting newcomer, you get this bad habit!"
Looking at Marco's helpless expression, Whitebeard didn't care at all.
Instead, he enthusiastically patted Marco's shoulder: "What? Are you jealous? Don't worry, you'll always be my best son!"
Marco slapped his hand away with a look of disdain: "Who's jealous?!
I'm saying, that guy is a Marine! A Marine!
And he's a monstrous newcomer who can clash head-on with Pops without using Haki, relying solely on his Devil Fruit ability and strength!
And his Devil Fruit ability is really like..."
"Ara!" Whitebeard merely grinned, interrupting Marco, then looked far into the distant sea with profound eyes.
"So what if he's a Marine? Didn't that scoundrel Roger also serve as a Marine?"
"Gurararara! As long as one has the sea in their heart, one day..."
"Roger just wore a Marine uniform on a whim when he raided a Marine base!"
"Huh?!" Whitebeard was stunned, "Is that so?"
"By the way, Marco, do you believe in fate?"
"Pops, you haven't had any alcohol today!"
"Gurararara!" Whitebeard waved his hand, "It's all the same!"
"And I'm really looking forward to that Navy brat named Gern!"
Looking at Pops' demeanor, Marco could only helplessly shake his head in the end, but the corners of his mouth uncontrollably curved upward slightly.
"Seriously... I can't do anything with you."
After speaking, Marco turned and walked towards the ship's railing, preparing to repair the damaged deck.
However, the moment Marco turned his back and his gaze shifted away...
The smile on Whitebeard's face abruptly vanished, replaced by a deep solemnity.
His rugged brows were tightly furrowed, and his gaze, like a torch, fixed on the turbulent sea.
"That blade..." In his mind, Gern's double-edged blade clearly appeared: its entire body as black as an abyss, its surface covered with dark red cracks.
Aside from the vibrating particles entwined around the blade, there were those unique dark red cracks...
And that familiar oppressive feeling, forged by Rocks' Haoshoku, as if it could swallow everything...
"I won't be mistaken..." Whitebeard's deep voice was almost inaudible, yet it contained both shock and complex emotions.
That was Rocks' personal sword!
That overlord who once dominated the sea, that man who made the World Government tremble—Rocks · D · Xebec!
"Why... is it in the hands of that Navy brat?"
Whitebeard's fist unconsciously tightened, and the hilt of Murakumogiri hummed faintly in his palm.
All sorts of conjectures flashed through his mind, but in the end, Whitebeard merely sighed deeply, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.
"However, it's truly ironic! Rocks..."
"You were clearly the one who hated the Marine and the World Government the most from beginning to end.
But now your blade is starting to shake the sea in the hands of a Marine..."
...
Three days later, Marine warship infirmary.
Gern, covered in bandages, slowly opened his eyes on the bed; the smell of disinfectant permeated his nostrils.
Dull aches from various parts of his body reminded him of the earth-shattering confrontation not long ago.
He tried to move his fingers; thankfully, they weren't crippled.
"Too impulsive..."
After waking up, Gern gazed at the ceiling, calmly replaying the events in his mind.
To dare to clash head-on with Whitebeard, who was at his peak, was practically gambling with his life.
But fortunately, it was Whitebeard; if he had encountered someone with a sinister personality like Golden Lion,
The other party probably wouldn't have held back, and he would already be a corpse now.
But soon, a sharp smile curved on Gern's lips again.
—However, he won the gamble.
At this moment, hushed discussions came from outside the cabin door.
"Have you heard? Gern Warrant Officer fought Whitebeard for three full rounds!"
"More than that! I saw with my own eyes that Whitebeard himself acknowledged him!"
"This person will definitely be a great Admiral in the future..."
"I think Warrant Officer Gern is even stronger than those three monstrous newcomers at Marineford!"
Gern listened to these discussions, his eyes gradually deepening.
Compared to the so-called "achievements" of eradicating those small-fry pirates in the West Blue, this battle was the true feat that would make his name resound throughout the sea.
Those Marineford Marines were all eyewitnesses, and the news would spread like wildfire throughout Marineford.
Thinking of this, Gern slowly sat up. black blade eight desolations leaned against the bed, its blade reflecting his sharp gaze.
"Tremor Gern..." Gern familiarly picked up black blade eight desolations and began to wrap white cloth around its blade.
This title would define him starting today, no longer the empty title of "Pirate Hunter" from the West Blue,
But a true strongman's designation acknowledged by the World Government, by Marineford, and by all great pirates!
"For someone without a background like me, fame is another form of capital and power." After wrapping the last coil, Gern clenched his fist.
Since he chose to enter the grand game of the Marine, he had to establish a sufficiently high starting point early on.
Today's battle must have already been placed on the Fleet Admiral's desk.
Those generals who might have been dissatisfied with him, a newcomer from the West Blue who hadn't gone through the Navy School's justice ideology before being parachuted into Marineford,
Are probably all re-evaluating this "newcomer" from the West Blue now.
"But it's still not enough..." Gern looked at the surging waves outside the porthole.
Whitebeard's final slash, imbued with destructive Haoshoku, was deeply imprinted in Gern's mind, replaying constantly.
That overwhelming power, that world-defying strength...
"Heh heh, I'm really a bit impatient to possess Haki!"