Crack—HUUUUUM—BOOOOM!!!!!
At the instant the blades met, the world fell into an eerie silence—no more than a thousandth of a second—
and then space itself collapsed.
Two forces born of the same origin yet utterly opposed slammed into each other between the blades, colliding, devouring, and annihilating one another in a mad struggle.
Gern's vibration particles carried the traits of ultra–high-frequency cutting and compressed annihilation, drilling forward, trying to pierce through and deconstruct the vast, overwhelming tremor that sought to pulverize everything in its path.
Whitebeard's vibration, by contrast, was like an endless tsunami—absolute, boundless power bearing down with the intent to crush Gern's infinitely condensed "point" into nothingness.
The atmosphere compressed to its absolute limit.
Around the two of them, a fleeting sphere of absolute vacuum formed, warping light itself.
Gern and Whitebeard roared in unison, voices exploding from the depths of their souls:
"SHATTER—!!!"
A blinding flash erupted—not white, but a chaotic color leaking out where space itself could no longer endure.
A perfectly spherical shockwave expanded outward in complete silence.
Only after it had passed did sound finally catch up.
RUMBLE—HUUUUM!!!
The entire sea fell into absolute stillness.
Then came a sight that overturned all reason.
The ocean surface was erased—a perfectly smooth, bottomless abyss thousands of meters wide gouged into the sea itself.
Water was torn upward by invisible hands, forming a colossal ring-shaped waterfall that surged toward the heavens.
This single slash—
shook the entire sea.
"Damn it…"
Gern's arms bulged with straining muscle as Eight Desolations screamed violently in his grip. The vibration particles along the blade flashed wildly, struggling to suppress the power of Murakumogiri.
Yet Whitebeard's weapon remained unmoving, its tremor-light growing ever more blinding.
Between the blades, the two opposing forces of vibration raged without mercy, squeezing the atmosphere to its breaking point.
And then—
Against all expectations, as Gern poured his life into the strike, those ultra-condensed, collapsed vibration particles began to act like a drill.
They pushed back.
They invaded.
They started to erode and decompose Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor power from the inside.
At the point of contact, tiny spiderweb cracks appeared across Murakumogiri's white crystalline edge—like the result of countless high-frequency impacts striking in the same instant.
For the first time, the unchanging, heroic grin froze on Edward Newgate's face.
True shock flashed through his pupils.
"This Marine brat's ability…"
His eyes narrowed.
"Is this… a Logia? Vibration, turned into a natural element?!"
Before the thought could settle—
Miles away, the ship carrying Marco let out a horrifying groan as its keel screamed under unbearable strain.
Whitebeard's gaze sharpened instantly.
"Marine brat… your power is more dangerous than mine," he said grimly.
"And without a ship…" his lips curled, "…that would be troublesome."
"So—sorry about this!"
In the depths of his eyes, crimson light erupted.
No longer an invisible pressure, but a thick, tangible torrent of destruction—dark red lightning roaring outward as it wrapped around Murakumogiri's blade.
Conqueror's Haki—coating.
The pure white tremor-light was instantly dyed black and crimson.
BOOM—CRACK!!
At the very moment of contact—
Gern felt an overwhelming force crash down on him like a collapsing mountain range.
Eight Desolations shrieked in agony as its vibration particles were forcibly shattered by Conqueror's Haki.
There was no chance to resist.
His body was blown away like a kite with its string cut, carving a trench over a thousand meters long across the sea.
Only by forcefully elementalizing—and because Whitebeard did not strike to kill—did Gern manage to slam back onto the Marine warship like a living cannonball.
He plowed two scorched trenches deep enough to expose the ship's ribs before barely stabilizing his shattered form.
On the deck, Gern knelt on one knee, sunk deep into the ruined steel.
His right sleeve was gone, reduced to ash, revealing muscle fibers torn apart, bones riddled with fractures, blood pouring like water from a broken sack.
Eight Desolations was embedded deep into molten steel, its blade dim and silent.
"Cough—!"
Gern spat out a massive mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of organs. His body swayed violently, crimson spilling from the corners of his lips.
He struggled to lift his head, vision blurred, barely able to make out the towering silhouette standing upon the distant sea.
On the waves, Whitebeard stood proudly at his ship's bow.
Murakumogiri, still wrapped in fading black-red lightning, slammed heavily into the deck with a thunderous boom.
The residual might of Conqueror's Haki crackled through the air like countless dark red serpents.
"Gurararara! To make me get serious—
to even use Conqueror's coating…"
Whitebeard's booming laughter rang out, his eyes shining with undisguised admiration.
"You little brat…
you're far too interesting!!"
"So my all-out strike…"
Gern murmured through dizziness and lingering Haki pressure, Whitebeard's figure slowly fading from view.
"…was only 'interesting,' huh…"
After Whitebeard departed, silence ruled the Marine ship.
Every soldier stood frozen, eyes locked on the figure kneeling on the shattered deck.
Gern Reginald Sigma.
They had witnessed it with their own eyes—
A young Marine ensign standing toe-to-toe with a living legend, a monster spoken of in the same breath as Roger and Shiki.
He had even forced Whitebeard to use Conqueror's Haki.
"T-That… that was really Ensign Gern?"
A Marine whispered, hands shaking so badly he could barely hold his rifle.
"Not Vice Admiral Gern…?"
In his mind, only giants like Sengoku, Garp, or Zephyr could clash with such beings.
"It's real… he actually crossed blades with Whitebeard…"
Another murmured, eyes vacant with disbelief.
"And not just crossed blades," a Marine officer said quietly, voice heavy with awe.
"Didn't you hear what Whitebeard said? He admitted Gern made him get serious."
In that instant, every gaze upon Gern changed.
From doubt.
From dismissal.
To reverence—
And buried within it, an uncontrollable fervor.
Yet Gern seemed oblivious to it all.
He slowly raised his trembling right hand, blood dripping from his fingertips.
"The gap…" he whispered hoarsely, clearer than ever.
"…it's still that vast, huh?"
But astonishingly—
His eyes burned brighter than they ever had.
Not frustration.
But exhilaration.
"I saw it… I really saw it…"
"The future I'm chasing—"
Before he could finish, his body finally gave out, pitching forward.
"Ensign Gern!!"
The deck erupted into chaos as Marines rushed forward, medics sprinting at full speed.
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