The sea was trembling.
Not from wind.Not from a tsunami.
But from the movement of something impossibly massive.
Saint Juan Wolf—the "Mobile Natural Disaster," carrying a bounty of 1.67 billion Beli—was striding through the ocean itself.
After consuming the Expansion-Expansion Fruit, his body had swollen to an extreme limit—nearly 180 meters tall.Muscle piled upon muscle like living mountains, his coarse skin rough as ancient stone.
Each step he took sent columns of seawater exploding skyward, waves soaring dozens of meters high.
Before him, the G-14 Marine warship looked no different from a leaf floating on the surface.
"Dereshishishi… this is… really bad…"
On the deck stood Haguar D. Saul, his laughter still booming—but cold sweat streamed down his temples.
Even as a Giant Vice Admiral standing twenty-two meters tall, he now looked like a child gazing up at a god.
"Vice Admiral Saul! Main cannons ineffective! His skin is harder than the ship's armor!And we don't have any specialized ammunition left!" a Marine shouted hoarsely.
"Keep firing! At least… buy us some time!" Saul roared, gripping his massive axe tightly."Have we received any response to the distress call?!"
"Kasven Island responded—but it's only a single patrol ship! We don't even know who's commanding it!"
"Then we're done for… looks like this is where we die at sea!"
At that moment, Sanjuan Wolf lowered his head, a grotesque grin splitting his face.
"Little Marine bugs… you're awfully noisy."
He slowly lifted his foot.A shadow like a falling continent swallowed the warship whole.
"…It's over."For the first time, bitterness crept into Saul's laughter.
"What kind of giant even is this…?"
His twenty-two-meter frame looked pitifully small beneath the descending foot.
The deck groaned under the crushing pressure.Screams were swallowed by the roar of the waves.
Just as the massive foot was about to come crashing down—
"Vibration Step: Sky Tread!"
A cold, cutting voice split the heavens.
Before the sound reached them, the attack had already landed.
A streak of crimson-black lightning tore through the sky.
Gern descended like a meteor, his right leg wrapped in Armament Haki and spiraling vibration particles that screamed through the air.
The moment his kick struck Sanjuan Wolf's chest—
"Quake—Judgment Execution!!"
BOOOOM!!!
Space itself froze for a thousandth of a second.
Then it shattered.
A hundred-meter radius imploded as the air fractured like glass.Cracks webbed across space itself, pale shockwaves bursting outward from each fracture.
Sanjuan Wolf's skin rippled violently, as though struck by invisible tidal waves.Muscle trembled, flesh warped, and his body let out a horrifying groan—like steel being crushed under an impossible force.
The shock tore through his chest, vibrating straight into his organs.
"GRAAAAH!!"
The mountain-sized giant staggered backward, each step detonating the sea beneath him into towering walls of water.
Spray crystallized in the air, refracting sunlight into radiant rainbows.
Gern flipped backward effortlessly, landing on the warship's deck in a smooth arc.His white coat snapped in the wind, black blade Bahuang resting at his waist.
"Looks like it's not just big," he muttered, eyes narrowing."Your defense is ridiculous too."
Behind him, Saul froze—then burst into booming laughter.
"Dereshishishi! So it's you, Commodore Gern!"
Gern didn't spare him a glance."Saul. Get your men out of here. To a safe distance."
"But—"
"You'll just get in the way."His eyes never left Sanjuan Wolf."Against something this size… I need to get a little creative."
Saul froze—then smiled bitterly.
"Just like the rumors… when it comes to battle, you don't hold back at all."
He raised his voice."Alright! This battlefield is yours, Commodore!"
As he ordered the retreat, Sanjuan Wolf stabilized himself.
Looking down at his chest, he saw a faint fracture already sealing itself beneath newly regenerating muscle.
"Marine runt…"His voice rumbled like rolling thunder."That actually hurt."
"Hurt?" Gern smirked, vibration energy coiling around his hands."This is only the beginning."
"You're nothing but a—"
BOOM!!
A colossal, Haki-coated fist came crashing down.
"—FLY!!"
The air compressed violently ahead of the punch, the sea parting as a massive pressure wave carved a trench through the water.
Gern didn't retreat.
"Good."
His body blurred.
"Sky Step—Chain Flash!"
He kicked the air repeatedly, detonating pale shockwaves beneath his feet.His figure became a blur of afterimages, weaving effortlessly through the falling fist.
BOOM!!
The impact obliterated the sea, forming a massive vacuum crater over a hundred meters wide.
The surrounding waves slammed outward, nearly capsizing the retreating warships.
Saul clung to the mast, eyes wide.
"How can anyone fight something like that…?"
"Someone can," he muttered quietly. "That man can."
Above the chaos, Gern appeared on Sanjuan Wolf's shoulder.
With a light step, he leapt onto the giant's head, lips curling into a cold smile.
"A body this big is impressive," he said calmly."But it also means… you can't dodge."
His hands came together.
"Hmmm—!"
The sky darkened.
"W–What?!"Sanjuan Wolf looked up in shock.
A colossal white ring—over three hundred meters wide—materialized above him like a gateway to another world.
"That's… what is that?!" Saul gasped.
"Try my new technique," Gern's voice echoed coldly."Heavenquake — Gate of Judgment!"
The center of the ring ignited.
SHHHHHHH—!!!
Hundreds of vibration lances rained down like divine punishment.
Each beam was no thicker than an arm, yet carried power capable of shattering mountains.
They struck Sanjuan Wolf in unison—
SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!
Blood exploded across his massive body.
"GRAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
The giant howled in agony.
Due to his enormous size, his Armament Haki couldn't fully cover his body—and the high-frequency vibrations tore into his flesh, ripping muscle fibers apart, even cracking bone with shrill screeches.
Worse still—
The beams didn't vanish after impact.
They embedded themselves into the sea.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
Within seconds, the entire area became a minefield of vibrating energy.
Water columns detonated one after another, engulfing the battlefield.
Sanjuan Wolf's legs were hit simultaneously by dozens of blasts.
With a thunderous crash, the colossus dropped to one knee, sending tsunamis surging outward.
"Is… this the power they call… 'the one who shatters the heavens'…?"The Marines watched in stunned awe.
But Gern frowned.
"He's still standing…"
The vibrations faded.
Sanjuan Wolf slowly lifted his head, blood pouring from countless wounds—yet his eyes burned brighter than before.
His flesh twisted and regenerated before their eyes.
"…I remember you now," he growled."You're the Marine who cut down Golden Lion…"
He bared bloodstained teeth in a savage grin.
"But now you've really made me angry."
"That's more like it," Gern replied calmly.
He drew Black Blade: Bahuang, Armament Haki flooding the blade as it awakened.
"That so-called 'Plague Doctor' wasn't even worth drawing my sword for."
He leveled the blade toward the towering giant.
"So let's see…"
"…how many strikes you can take."