At the same time, on Gern's side—
The lazy ease that usually hung on Kizaru's face was gone. In its place remained something rare: gravity.
He studied Gern for a long moment before stepping closer.
"Gern-kun… as your senior…" Kizaru lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear. His gaze flicked, almost imperceptibly, toward the Golden Lion hovering nearby and speaking with Law.
"Golden Lion Shiki will never submit to anyone."
"He's not like Bullet. Bullet only needed a companion who would never betray him—and a goal worthy of chasing forever."
"But Shiki…"
"He's different." There was an unmistakable weight in Kizaru's tone, the understanding of a man who had witnessed the old era's tyrants firsthand.
"He's been a 'king.' He truly stood at the summit of an age and looked down over the entire sea. That pride carved into his bones… belongs to an era. It doesn't belong to any one man."
Kizaru said this out of genuine concern. He feared that Gern, fueled by youth—or by the intoxicating notion of a legend bowing before him—might misjudge the situation.
So he added, almost casually, pointing ever so slightly toward Enel, who was glaring at Shiki with open irritation.
"Enel's 'Mantra'—his ability to hear the voices of hearts—right now only your 'Heavenly Calamity' inner circle and I, his not-so-responsible half-mentor, know about it."
"So that guy…" His eyes drifted back to Shiki.
"He's probably already 'heard' something he shouldn't have. Or at the very least, figured something out."
Hearing such candid, razor-sharp advice, Gern pressed his lips together. A flicker of complexity passed through his eyes.
How could I not know?
He understood this better than anyone.
It would be like asking him, right now, to bow his head to that straw-hatted brat who had just been sent flying—Monkey D. Luffy, still green, still naive.
Was that possible?
Absolutely not.
Even if the boy grew stronger later, it would make no difference.
Then in Shiki's eyes—those eyes that had weathered tempests of history—Gern Reginald Sigmar, no matter how terrifying his strength, would still be nothing more than a "junior."
True submission?
There was no such thing.
And yet… Gern had harbored a trace of wishful thinking. He needed Shiki's power. His influence. His name.
But he had been too naive.
In that instant, Gern's mind cooled completely.
Truth be told, bringing Shiki here had always been a gamble. From the moment he arrived with the Golden Lion in tow—and saw the calculating displeasure flash across Enel's face as he sized the legend up—Gern had already realized something.
Shiki was still Shiki.
He might lower his head temporarily for the hope offered by the Op-Op Fruit.
But the pride and ambition of a legendary pirate had never truly gone out.
In fact, Gern had always believed Enel's Mantra—the ability to hear the voices of others' hearts—was terrifying.
Think about it.
If you were weaker than him, your inner thoughts would be laid bare.
If you were on equal footing, he would always move one step ahead, like a prophet who glimpsed the future.
Unless you were overwhelmingly stronger—on a level so far above him that the gap was insurmountable.
But sooner or later, he would rise to your level.
And in this world of pirates, there was only one man who seemed to have no inner monologue at all—Luffy.
Most importantly, you wouldn't even know he could hear your thoughts.
If he didn't say it out loud, you would enter battle completely unguarded.
…
"Fantasy time's over."
The calculation lasted only a heartbeat. Decades of tempering had forged Gern into someone mature and decisive. His judgment aligned swiftly with reality.
"If he cannot truly be subdued… then we proceed with the second plan."
The faint, impractical hope that had accompanied Shiki's arrival vanished without a trace.
What Gern needed was never an unstable subordinate.
He needed a collaborator who could be guided toward a specific objective.
Or, more accurately—
A piece on the board.
His gaze shifted slightly, sweeping over Shiki and Law in his arms. A new, more pragmatic outline of a plan began to sharpen in his mind.
Then Gern smiled faintly and casually steered the conversation elsewhere, turning to Kizaru.
"The Fleet Admiral selection… it's already begun, hasn't it?"
"Hm?" Kizaru raised a brow.
"I may be stationed in the New World, but I've heard that over at Marineford… Sakazuki and Kuzan's factions are already clashing fiercely."
At the sudden shift toward the Marines' highest power struggle, the tension that had lingered on Kizaru's face dissipated instantly. His trademark sly, slightly lecherous grin returned as he waved a hand exaggeratedly.
"Ah, Gern-kun~ Don't drag me into troublesome matters like that, will you?"
"You know me. I don't take sides. I don't fight political battles. Clock in, clock out peacefully—that's the real justice~"
"And besides, you…" He stretched the last word meaningfully.
"And besides, I was never going to become Fleet Admiral." Gern finished the sentence calmly, as if stating an unrelated fact.
Yet a faintly mocking curve tugged at his lips.
"The World Government… doesn't dare let me take that seat."
He looked Kizaru directly in the eye and spoke two simple words.
"Right?"
For a fleeting moment, Kizaru's carefree expression froze. Behind his lenses, his eyes narrowed slightly as he reassessed the man before him.
So he's aware of matters on that level too?
It seemed G-10's intelligence network—or perhaps the unseen hands behind it—reached deeper than Kizaru had assumed.
He had underestimated this junior who had long been stationed in the New World.
Noticing the subtle shift in Kizaru's expression, Gern knew he had guessed correctly.
He continued in the same conversational tone, dropping something heavier.
"And if I'm not mistaken… the World Government has already 'approached' both Sakazuki and Kuzan separately, hasn't it?"
He tilted his head thoughtfully.
"Otherwise, given their personalities—even with conflicting ideologies—would they really bring their rivalry so openly into the light while Fleet Admiral Sengoku is still in office? Making more noise than when Fleet Admiral Kong handed over power back then?"
He paused, lightly tapping the hilt of Bahuang with his fingers. The faint sound of contact punctuated his words.
"Speaking of which… Fleet Admiral Kong stepped down early because of the chaos caused by that solitary monster, Balorik Redfield—the Red Count."
"So this time… what great incident will force our esteemed Fleet Admiral Sengoku to 'step down early'?"
Gern's gaze swept across the devastated Sabaody Archipelago, his smile carrying layers of implication.
"Really… it's so hard to guess."