Hearing Gern's invitation, Golden Lion Shiki froze for a brief moment—
Then burst into hysterical, unrestrained laughter.
"Zeahahaha… hahahahahaha!!!"
For an instant, the laughter overflowed with mockery, wild abandon, and a feral arrogance that had been sharply provoked.
He laughed so hard he rocked back and forth, tears even spilling from the corners of his eyes. Only after a long while did he finally rein himself in, fixing Gern with a bloodshot stare through tear-rimmed eyes.
"Now I finally… finally understand why that bastard Roger rejected my invitation back then!!"
As the words fell, Shiki's gaze sharpened. Carrying the dignity and untamed pride of a legendary pirate, he met Gern's eyes head-on without the slightest retreat.
"Because when facing you now… Gern!"
"I refuse as well!!"
"So what kind of colossal joke do you think you're making, you Navy brat?!"
Shiki snarled, his massive presence surging upward, slipping beyond his control.
"Who do you think you are?! You think sheer strength is enough to command me?!"
"I… am Golden Lion, Shiki!!"
"Woooong!!!"
The instant his declaration ended, a golden wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted from Shiki, slamming outward from his body and crashing directly into the invisible pressure still lingering around Gern!
The two supreme Haki did not collide and annihilate each other outright—instead, they crushed against one another in the air, grinding violently!
At the same time, Shiki's long golden mane, trailing nearly to the deck, whipped wildly despite the absence of wind. He straightened to his full height; though his legs were prosthetics, the rigid spine and domineering gaze still carried a faint echo of the Flying Pirate Admiral's former glory.
Then he thrust out a finger, nearly jabbing it into Gern's nose, his voice ringing with absolute finality.
"That's right! You're strong—so strong that even I have to admit this era bears your name!"
"But!!" His tone abruptly shifted, his aura climbing to its peak, his voice roaring like thunder.
"Even if you possess power of that level—even if you wield that black blade—"
"You are still not Rocks!!!"
Those words were his final declaration.
They made it clear that Golden Lion Shiki—no matter how fallen, no matter how aged—would never accept standing beneath another.
His pride, his ambition, were legacies of that mad, chaotic era. He would never bow his head to the ruler of a new age.
Facing Shiki's ironclad rejection and explosive arrogance, Gern showed none of the anger or humiliation one might expect.
Instead, a cold smile tinged with faint mockery curved across his face.
Slowly, he brought the black blade Bahuang across his grip. The blade was pitch-black like an abyss, its surface traced with dark crimson fissures that radiated a bone-chilling aura.
"I'm indeed not Rocks," Gern said quietly.
"Because I never wanted to 'become' him—nor did I ever stoop to 'imitating' him."
Gern lifted his gaze, staring straight through the dust of history.
"In my eyes, he failed."
"A failure leaves behind lessons and cautionary tales for future generations—not a template meant to be replicated."
As he spoke, his voice suddenly rose, detonating beside Shiki's ears.
"And I—!!!
"Gern Reginald Sigmar—walk only my own path!"
The moment his words fell, the Conqueror's Haki that had merely been naturally emanating from Gern abruptly transformed into something tangible—like a colossal tsunami carrying an irresistible will to crush everything in its way.
With overwhelming dominance, it forcefully suppressed and drove back Shiki's dark-golden Haki!
Under this absolute clash of will, Gern's voice continued to ring out.
"Those people from Rocks' ship back then… Kaido believed he carried some so-called destiny."
"And what happened? Reality slapped him in the face again and again. Now he hides on his little Onigashima, numbing himself with alcohol and a death wish, long since having lost his way."
"Whitebeard—Edward Newgate—what he wanted from the beginning was nothing more than a place called 'family.'
"So-called treasure and hegemony never mattered to him as much as his kin."
"Charlotte Linlin—Big Mom… after witnessing too much betrayal and cruelty, what she truly longed for deep inside was the pure 'kindness' she'd lost in childhood.
"So under the name of 'family,' bound by blood, she built Totto Land—trying to create a fairy tale where all races could coexist in peace."
As he finished, Gern's tone shifted sharply. His gaze pierced toward Shiki, whose expression was fluctuating wildly as he unconsciously retreated half a step.
"The three of them all found their own paths and ideals amid Rocks' ruins. They stepped out from his shadow."
"But…" Gern's voice suddenly rose.
"The one who truly inherited Rocks' madness—the will to overturn the world and stir up chaos, and who treats it as the only creed in his heart—"
He locked onto Shiki's shocked pupils and pronounced each word with crushing clarity.
"Is you. Golden Lion—Shiki!!"
"You—the man who's always saying 'Rocks is dead, the fleet should've disbanded'!!"
"You never truly let go! You hid for twenty years, researching those so-called 'IQ' plants—do you really think it was for those ridiculous beasts?!
"No! What you crave deep down is still the same as Rocks—to challenge this world once again with absolute power!
"To prove that the will daring to窥探 the 'world' itself has never been extinguished!!"
Gern's words flayed skin and carved bone.
Shiki's entire body shook violently, the arrogance on his face shattering into sheer disbelief.
The ambition buried deepest within him—one he himself refused to fully acknowledge—had been ruthlessly torn open by Gern and dragged into the light of day.
Watching the violent turmoil on Shiki's face, Gern knew he had struck true.
He tightened his horizontal grip on Bahuang and stepped forward. Conqueror's Haki crackled around him like flashing lightning.
"I didn't come to find you to control you—nor to repeat Rocks' failure…"
"I came because I want to see it too!!"
"To see just how far this so-called 'world' can be shaken—by us!!!"
"Join me, Golden Lion! With your power, together we'll overturn this sky!
"We'll create a brand-new order that belongs to us alone—that's what your ambition as the 'Flying Pirate' truly deserves!
"Not hiding above the East Blue like a coward, numbing yourself with a fake plan while waiting to be buried by time!!
"I am not Rocks. I will prepare everything. I will not die, and I will not lose!!!!
"I want the true… world!!!!!"
In that moment, what Gern revealed was no longer the authority of a Marine admiral—
But an ambition comparable to, even surpassing, Rocks himself.
An ambition that sought to seize and overturn the world.
Once again, he placed the choice before the violently shaken Golden Lion.
In this moment, Gern genuinely wanted the power of the Float-Float Fruit.
He didn't want the fruit to reincarnate, didn't want to search again, didn't want to find someone else to eat it and start development from scratch.
He wanted what already existed.
Unfortunately…
This man was Golden Lion.
And Golden Lion, from beginning to end, was always—Golden Lion.