The stretch of ocean between the two ships detonated in an instant.
A circular shockwave erupted outward, shaving away the sea itself as if a massive invisible blade had carved through it.
The Marine warship lurched violently. Sailors were hurled across the deck like fallen leaves—some slammed into masts, others tumbled into artillery mounts.
As the reverberations finally faded, an eerie silence swallowed the ship.
"T–He… he blocked Whitebeard's attack?!"
"That's impossible! That was the power that can summon tsunamis!"
"That guy from the West Blue… what kind of monster is he?!"
The worldview of every Marine present shattered in that moment.
They had all seen it before—Whitebeard obliterating entire fleets with a single strike.And yet now, a mere lieutenant from the so-called "decayed West Blue" had forcibly endured that catastrophic震撃 head-on.
Not only that—
He had countered it with the same power.
"B-Blocked it…"The naval lieutenant collapsed onto the deck, his pupils trembling violently.
His mind outright refused to accept what his eyes were showing him.
That West Blue officer… had just taken a direct blow from Whitebeard?!
Yes, he'd heard rumors that Gern was a Devil Fruit user, but—
That man was Whitebeard!!!
Every gaze locked onto the lone figure standing against the sea's strongest man.
…
The wind died.
Time itself seemed to freeze.
Soaked to the bone, Gern's final shred of hesitation vanished from his eyes. What replaced it was resolve—absolute, irreversible resolve.
"Vibration Step: Sky Tread."
Without the slightest delay, dense vibration particles compressed beneath his feet.
He stomped down.
BOOM—!!!
This was no simple explosion.
A visible, high-frequency shock ring burst outward, rippling violently through the air.
Gern's body transformed into a stream of pure vibrating energy, streaking skyward in a blinding white arc. The air screamed as it was torn apart, and in an instant, he had soared hundreds of meters above the sea, the warship below reduced to a speck.
No time to think.
His breathing grew heavy—but his eyes sharpened.
Muscles bulged as his right arm rose. His left hand slid across the blade of Black Blade: Bahuang.
In an instant, countless vibrating particles roared to life, releasing a soul-rending hum that felt almost alive.
The particles compressed, collapsed, and compressed again—layer upon layer—forming a blinding white membrane clinging to the blade.
The air around him fractured like brittle glass, space warping and refracting as if reality itself could no longer hold.
HMMMM—!!
The blade's vibration frequency surged to the absolute limit of what Gern could control.
The air around the edge didn't tear anymore—it shattered, crumbling like glass struck by an invisible hammer.
Slowly, the vibrating particles collapsed fully onto the blade, forming a flickering, unstable edge—one that looked capable of slicing through dimensions themselves.
Facing Whitebeard at his prime, hesitation meant death.
This… was his strongest strike.
Gern inhaled sharply, then stomped forward in midair—
BANG!
Space behind him fractured into spiderweb cracks as he launched forward like a comet, a blazing tail of vibrating particles tearing across the sky.
On Whitebeard's ship, the old man narrowed his eyes slightly and tightened his grip on Murakumogiri.
For the first time, genuine interest flickered across his rugged face.
"Gurararara…"His low laughter rippled across the sea."A brat with power close to mine, huh?"
Nearby, Marco straightened, the playful grin gone from his face as he stared at the incoming streak of white light.
"Dad… that vibration feels wrong."
"Marco, get behind me."
Whitebeard's smile vanished.
His Observation Haki locked onto Gern, pupils shrinking violently as a terrifying premonition struck him.
If that blow landed—
This was no joke.
His massive muscles bulged, veins rising like coiled dragons beneath his skin as he clenched Murakumogiri.
"Gurarara… I'm seeing something dangerous in that future…"
The deck trembled as his power surged.
Marco's eyes widened as blue flames burst uncontrollably from his wings.
"Dad… you're serious."
"Here he comes!!"
Whitebeard's shout exploded outward, wrapped in violent shockwaves that tore visible rings through the air.
He stepped forward—
CRACK!
The deck shattered beneath his foot.
Murakumogiri screamed as its white aura compressed violently, no longer gentle but condensed into a solid, destructive crystal of power.
Then—
Whitebeard launched forward.
"Marine brat," he roared, voice anchoring the raging sea itself,"State your name!"
Gern grinned, his voice cutting through the roaring vibrations.
"Gern Reginald Sigmar!"
"Remember it—because this name will echo to the ends of the sea!"
WHRRRR—!!
The blade of Black Blade: Bahuang flared violently.
The next instant, the white blade of compressed vibration ignored distance itself and slashed forward.
"Heavenquake—Sky Rend!"
Gern swung with everything he had.
CRACK—BOOOOOOM!!!
This was no mere slash.
Space itself was torn apart.
Where the blade passed, the air didn't shatter—it collapsed, disintegrating into a torrent of white, chaotic vibration.
"Gurararara! Arrogant little Marine!"
Whitebeard's eyes burned with exhilaration.
"My Observation tells me I can't let that hit!"
Murakumogiri's aura compressed to its absolute limit, forming a solid, crystalline layer of annihilation.
The two legends swung simultaneously.
Time lost meaning.
CLANG—!!!!!!
Black Blade Bahuang collided with Murakumogiri's crystallized edge—
Not with metal-on-metal, but with a cataclysmic fusion of shrieking resonance and world-rending force.
The sound was neither impact nor explosion—
It was the scream of reality itself being torn apart.