"I am the one and only King of this era!!!!!"
This was no mere shout hurled into the air.
It was the ultimate manifestation of will and Conqueror's Haki.
The crushing wave of supreme kingly pressure that surged outward was no longer just a clash of power—it carried the weight of an entire age, slamming down upon Big Mom's heart like an invisible mountain.
Under that unprecedented spiritual onslaught, her massive pupils trembled violently, beyond her control.
For a fleeting instant, behind Gern's upright figure, she seemed to glimpse blurred silhouettes—figures who had once made the entire sea tremble, embodiments of different eras' summits.
There was the man who sought to rule the world through absolute strength and tyrannical ambition—the would-be King of the World, Rocks D. Xebec.
There was the man who opened an era with a reckless smile, igniting a tidal wave with his very life—Gol D. Roger.
And there was the one who bore the name "Strongest," who upheld an age with family as his creed—Edward Newgate.
These were the true figures who had once stood at the very peak of the seas—revered or feared as "Kings."
The will they represented.The audacity.The overwhelming force.
At this moment, all of it seemed to resonate with the sovereign aura radiating from Gern—the domineering presence that sought to reshape everything—and converged into him alone.
And now, standing before the fading phantoms of those past monarchs—
was Gern.
He, the one proclaiming a new age.
He, the one intent on trampling all former glory and order beneath his feet—
Heavenquake.
"Ugh…" A low, unconscious groan escaped Big Mom's throat.
Her enormous body actually staggered backward several steps, involuntarily, under the sheer spiritual and willpower-based suppression.
"King"…
How heavy that word was.
It did not merely symbolize strength. It bore spirit, vision, capacity—the measure required to make an entire era bow its head.
Charlotte Linlin.
In her youth, aboard Rocks' ship, she too had once been brimming with ambition, boldly declaring that she would rule over Totto Land and create a nation where all races could live as equals under her crown.
But time had passed.
Her ambition, steeped in Totto Land's sweetness, had slowly curdled into obsession and control.
She was still powerful. Still one of the Four Emperors.
But the word "King" had long since gathered dust in her heart.
That pure capacity to become a King—she had stopped speaking of it even to herself.
Because she understood better than anyone—
Not everyone could bear that word.
The burden it demanded was far too heavy.
Yet the man before her had not only spoken it—
He had carved it into the opening page of this era with action, strength, and an unyielding will.
Gern watched as Big Mom retreated instinctively, shock and something far more complicated flickering in her gaze.
The Haki surrounding him gradually receded.
But his posture—his dominion over the world—did not diminish in the slightest.
He did not need to say another word.
Those few backward steps had already said everything.
The Emperor of the old era—
before the King of the new—
had finally shown decline.
"Mamama… Mamamama…"
Her hollow laughter echoed across the ruined hall.
Her massive frame swayed faintly, her eyes unfocused, still trapped in the mental shock of Gern's declaration and the resurfacing memories of her past.
This was the terror of top-tier Conqueror's Haki.
It did not merely clear the field physically.
It struck directly at the opponent's mind.
And when one side was utterly crushed in spirit and will—
even fleeting doubt could take root.
At that critical moment—
"Mother!!!"
A sharp shout snapped Big Mom back to reality.
It was Katakuri, in the distance.
Suppressing the suffocating pressure emanating from Gern through sheer willpower and keen awareness of his mother's state, he instantly realized—
Her spirit had been shaken.
If she remained immersed in that state any longer, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Without hesitation, his arms transformed into flowing white mochi, expanding and extending at astonishing speed.
The power of the Special Paramecia—Mochi Mochi no Mi—was pushed to its limit.
With astonishing efficiency, he swept up his younger siblings—those knocked unconscious by Conqueror's Haki or paralyzed in fear—gathering them into his embrace.
The pillar of the family.
Reliable. Decisive.
"Mother! Snap out of it!!" Katakuri roared, straining his voice to reach her.
"You are the sole ruler of Totto Land! One of the Four Emperors! Don't let his Haki shake your heart!!"
His words smashed into the chaos clouding Big Mom's mind.
And then he made the most rational decision he could.
He cast Gern one deep glance—
then shouted toward Big Mom:
"Mother—leave the family to me!"
With that, cradling his unconscious siblings, he kicked off the ground. Mochi formed a springlike platform beneath his feet, launching him backward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
His objective was clear.
Retreat first. Preserve the family.
He understood perfectly—
Even if he and his mother fought together, defeating a fully intact, unfathomably powerful King-class opponent in a short time was a delusion.
Worse, a drawn-out battle might cost even more innocent lives.
Family mattered above all to him.
He would never abandon his defenseless siblings to join a reckless siege destined to become a bloody gamble.
His choice was protection.
In the face of absolute crisis—
preserving the family came first.
Katakuri's decisive action and shout jolted Big Mom fully awake.
Her eyes refocused.
She saw Katakuri retreating with the family.
She saw Gern standing before her.
Rage, humiliation, and a mad determination to defend her territory ignited once more.
"Gern!!!"
"Heh." Gern's cold laugh carried no warmth.
"WEI GUO!!!"
Big Mom roared, her voice shattering the clouds.
Her colossal body erupted forward with speed utterly disproportionate to her size.
The thundercloud Zeus coiled around her, brilliant violet lightning flooding Napoleon's blade.
She leapt into the air—her massive form flipping with shocking agility—
and, harnessing gravity's descent, the Emperor Sword cleaved downward like a bolt tearing the sky apart.
"CLANG—!!!"
Gern's eyes sharpened.
His arms bulged as he raised Bahuang horizontally, blocking the thunderous strike head-on.
The already fractured ground beneath him could bear no more.
It collapsed violently, forming a massive crater as shattered stone floated upward, as if gravity itself had momentarily failed.
The first blow was stopped.
Big Mom did not relent.
"Emperor Sword—Piercing Rend!!!"
Prometheus roared, pouring raging flames into Napoleon. The blade lengthened grotesquely, its edges sprouting feral fangs of fire.
With arms raised high, muscles swelling, she brought it down again with mountain-cleaving force.
"Perfect!" Gern's battle-lust flared.
Gripping Bahuang with both hands, he condensed his Haki and vibration particles to unprecedented density.
"Heavenquake—Shatter the World!!"
He did not retreat.
He surged upward instead.
The black blade carved a rising arc that seemed to reverse the heavens.
"BZZZZ—BOOM!!!"
The instant Bahuang collided with Napoleon's flaming fangs, it was not a simple clash.
A highly compressed spherical shock detonation erupted from the point of contact.
Terrifying energy burst outward.
The ground beneath them rippled and surged like waves kneaded by invisible hands.
Big Mom's enormous body was blasted upward by the sudden upward explosion of vibration force—
lifted briefly into the air.
"Looks like even a balloon can fly!!"
Gern's instincts were razor-sharp.
Seizing the fleeting moment, he twisted his core midair, spinning with blinding speed. His right leg lashed out like a steel whip, striking the hilt of Bahuang with precision.
"WHOOSH!"
The black blade became a streak of lightning, firing forward faster than the eye could follow.
It pierced Big Mom's abdomen midair.
"Pfft!"
Unfortunately, her "Iron Balloon" physique once again asserted itself.
Even Bahuang's unmatched sharpness only penetrated the surface before being locked in place by her absurdly tough muscles and Armament Haki, unable to reach her organs.
But Gern had anticipated that.
He did not care whether Bahuang dealt fatal damage.
The momentum of his kick had not ended—
his lower body instantly transformed into countless violently oscillating pale vibration particles.
He shot upward at unprecedented speed, closing the distance in a blink.
Then—
"Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora!!!"
His fists exploded forward like torrential rain.
In a fraction of a second, dozens of rapid jabs landed.
Each one did not seek raw destructive power—
but implanted highly condensed, violently unstable "micro-vibration cores" into Big Mom's massive body.
Fist shadows filled the sky.
Afterimages overlapped endlessly.
The instant the assault ended, Gern's elementalized body passed straight through her, emerging behind her before landing smoothly.
He stood with his back to Big Mom, who still hung midair, her movements stiff from the dozens of micro-cores embedded within her.
His hands curled slightly in front of him, as if grasping invisible chains.
In a low voice, he declared—
"Blackquake—Dragonbind Chains."
And then—
"BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!!"
In a single heartbeat, all the micro-vibration cores detonated simultaneously.
From within her body, they erupted outward.
Countless fine yet lethal vibration waves tore through her muscles, bones, and organs—colliding, resonating, shredding.
"UGHHH—AAAAAA!!!"
Big Mom's massive body convulsed violently in midair, utterly out of control, before crashing heavily to the ground.
Only after hearing the impact did Gern slowly turn around.
With a slight motion of his right hand, Bahuang returned to his grasp.
His gaze was cold.
Even an "Iron Balloon" could not completely negate the annihilating destruction of high-frequency internal vibration.