At the same time—
Beyond Marineford's outer sea—
Gern Reginald Sigmar's back slammed violently into the ocean's surface.
The impact sent him skipping upward again.
The sheer inertia turned him into a stone hurled with monstrous force, carving a massive trench across the sea as he ricocheted over it.
And the momentum hadn't faded yet.
It continued to drive him backward, skimming across the water in a seemingly uncontrollable slide.
Then—
In that instant that looked like loss of control—
Gern's body snapped steady.
His left palm struck downward.
A deep hum reverberated across the sea.
Centered on that palm—
the ocean beneath him was not parted—
but erased.
Not pushed aside.
Not displaced.
The seawater within that radius was shattered into microscopic particles, pulverized into invisible vapor by an overwhelming vibrational force.
A white mist rose, hazy and ethereal, as if that portion of the sea had simply ceased to exist.
Using the recoil from that palm strike—
Gern lifted his head—
and smiled.
Excited.
The muscles in his left arm bulged violently, veins standing out like coiled serpents.
His five fingers clawed upward—
"Rise!!!"
"BOOOOOOM—!!!"
A deafening tear resounded from the ocean floor.
The seabed convulsed.
A colossal tectonic slab—covered in coral, reef stone, and ancient sediment—was wrenched free from the deep sea by Gern's invisible upward pull.
It burst through the surface in a violent eruption of churning water and mud—
and stood towering between the two men.
A battlefield.
Born from nothing.
But before that makeshift island could fully stabilize—
the sunlight above was swallowed.
A far more domineering presence descended.
Whitebeard fell from the heavens.
Eyes blazing.
Locked onto Gern below without hesitation.
Both hands gripped the hilt of Murakumogiri.
Black-and-red Conqueror's lightning crackled wildly along the blade—
perfectly fused with the destructive aura of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
With a roar, he poured every ounce of his power into the simplest of movements—
a downward cleave.
"RAAAAAAAH!!!"
Pure force.
Pure energy.
The ultimate expression of might.
Murakumogiri tore through the air—
falling with the will to crush everything in its path.
Below—
Gern had barely finished raising the island.
There was no time to breathe.
His core tightened violently.
A shockwave detonated beneath his feet.
He forced his body through a rapid half-turn midair—
his right hand snapping to the hilt of Bahuang.
"CLANG—!"
The blade's cry echoed across heaven and sea.
The black blade—dark as abyssal ink—awakened.
In the instant of its release, violent dark-purple Conqueror's lightning coiled around it.
"Hah!!!"
Gern exhaled sharply, twisting through his waist and hips.
Power surged from his stance, through his spine, into his right arm.
From below—
Bahuang slashed upward—
a black arc that seemed to reverse the sky itself.
"BOOOOOOM—!!!!"
Murakumogiri and Bahuang collided.
An explosion.
At the point of impact—
Conqueror's lightning writhed and devoured itself, compressing, repelling, forming a distorted spherical forcefield of clashing sovereign wills.
Then—
"CRACK… BOOOOOM!!!"
The newly formed rock island—
still unstable—
gave a pitiful groan.
And along the invisible dividing line of their colliding force—
it split.
Cleanly.
Perfectly.
In two.
At the same time, the overwhelming recoil hurled both apex kings violently in opposite directions.
Gern's toe tapped lightly against a falling boulder fragment.
His body drifted backward—
Bahuang sweeping forward in a single fluid motion.
"Heavenquake — Eight Extremes Orbs!"
Before the final syllable faded—
the air twisted.
Eight blinding white vibration spheres condensed into existence around him, emitting a chilling hum.
As Gern surged forward—
the eight orbs moved like loyal sentinels, carving eerie arcs through the air—
firing toward Whitebeard from every direction.
Encirclement.
Whitebeard's lips curved upward.
Wild.
Unrestrained.
He did not dodge.
Both hands tightened around Murakumogiri.
He rotated—
and then drove the blade downward into the crumbling rock beneath him.
"DON—!!!"
A circular shockwave erupted outward from the impact point.
Air compressed into visible ripples.
The eight incoming orbs had barely entered the perimeter—
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!!!"
Eight consecutive detonations.
The Eight Extremes Orbs exploded prematurely within Whitebeard's absolute vibration domain.
White energy storms swelled and collapsed in violent succession, grinding the already shattered island into dust.
And in that instant—
when blinding light and thunderous roar consumed everything—
a figure pierced through the energy maelstrom.
Appearing above and to Whitebeard's flank.
Gern.
The orbs had been bait.
Distraction.
A brief blind spot.
This—
was the real strike.
Whitebeard did not look up.
His left fist was already primed—
wrapped in a pale-white quake aura.
Without even glancing—
he punched toward the upper flank.
Observation Haki.
Prediction.
"THUD—!"
A heavy, brutal impact.
The air-quake fist smashed squarely into Gern's chest.
Blood seeped between Gern's clenched teeth.
"Gh—"
But in that instant—
as his body began to tilt backward uncontrollably—
a ruthless gleam flashed in his eyes.
He twisted forcibly midair.
Shockwaves detonated beneath his feet in rapid succession, offsetting part of the impact.
His right fist clenched.
"BUZZZZ—!"
Dark-purple Conqueror's lightning wrapped around it like a living creature.
Flowing cherry-red Armament Haki coated his knuckles—
liquid metal gleaming.
"Black Quake…"
Whitebeard's pupils narrowed slightly.
He had landed a clean hit—
yet Gern had endured it—
and completed his countercharge.
"Godfall Nail!!!"
Gern roared.
He drove the punch—
carrying every ounce of his power—
straight into Whitebeard's abdomen.
"BOOOOM—!!!"
A visible dark-purple shockwave exploded outward from the point of contact.
Like a massive spike driving through the body—
ripples distorted the air in concentric waves.
Whitebeard's enormous frame trembled violently.
A muffled grunt escaped him.
Blood traced down from the corner of his mouth.
And yet—
the World's Strongest Man merely swayed.
His feet—
still rooted.
He endured the strike—
the same technique that once pierced Kizaru—
without budging an inch.
He lowered his gaze to the man before him.
"Gurararara… now that's got some bite!!"
"But you're still far from enough!"
With a roar—
his left arm, barely retracted, blurred once more.
A swinging air-quake punch—
simple.
Direct.
Devastating.
It smashed into Gern's shoulder blade.
"BOOM—!"
Gern was blasted away again—
hurtling into a massive collapsing island fragment in the distance—
dust erupting skyward.
Before the smoke even cleared—
a tearing sound descended from above.
Whitebeard gave him no breath.
No pause.
He leapt again—
blocking out the sun entirely—
casting a suffocating shadow.
Murakumogiri rose once more.
Black-red Conqueror's lightning entwined with the pale-white destructive quake aura.
Power condensed to its absolute extreme.
Again—
a heaven-splitting cleave.
The pressure cascaded downward like a solid ocean.
And in that moment—
time seemed to rewind.
Gern's pupils contracted slightly.
The scene overlapped with a memory buried deep within him.
The same unstoppable slash descending from above.
The same crushing gap in power.
Only—
Back then—
in the West Blue—
he had been the one falling from the sky.
And now—
the blade belonged to Edward Newgate.
In the air—
Whitebeard gazed down at the seemingly small figure below.
And he too—
saw the past.
The first time he had met that Marine brat—
the boy who dared draw steel against him.
A surge of pride rose in his chest.
As the slash fell—
he shouted:
"Marine brat!! State your name!!"
Below—
Gern's bloodstained lips curved upward.
He lifted his sleeve and wiped away the blood from his mouth in one fierce motion.
In his hands—
Bahuang seemed alive.
The blade emitted a hungry hum.
It began devouring—
absorbing—
the vast Conqueror's Haki surging within Gern.
The black blade deepened—
its surface no longer merely wrapped in lightning—
but as if molten black-red magma flowed within it.
Destruction pulsed from its core.
Gern raised his gaze—
locking onto Whitebeard in the sky.
His voice rang out, thunderous and clear.
"It may be a little late—"
"—and my name has already echoed across these seas—"
Each word rippled through the air with bursts of Conqueror's lightning.
"But I'll say it again!"
"My name is—"
"GERN REGINALD SIGMAR!!!"
"Is that so?!" Whitebeard roared with unrestrained laughter.
"Gurarararara!!!"
"This time—you're worthy!"
"Worthy for the World's Strongest Man—Whitebeard Edward Newgate—to answer in kind—"
"And face you with everything I have!!!"
The final syllable exploded alongside his descending blade.
Murakumogiri tore through the sky—
falling with annihilating will—
utterly without restraint.
Below—
upon shattered rock—
Gern stood firm.
Both hands gripped Bahuang.
From below—
he slashed upward—
reversing the heavens.