High above the island, Gern Reginald Sigmar looked down coldly at Kozuki Oden, whose body was being swallowed by the pale-white vibration explosions.
High-frequency shockwaves tore countless fine fractures through the air, twisting even light itself into eerie, prismatic colors.
Oden possessed talent nearly on the same level as Gol D. Roger—all three types of Haki, the ability to hear the Voice of All Things, and a physique bordering on the monstrous.
But one would one day be crippled by an incurable fate…And the other possessed overwhelming power yet lacked restraint, relying almost entirely on instinct.
"So you really are worthy of the future title 'the man who won't boil'…" Gern snorted softly, his fingers twitching as he analyzed the feedback carried through the vibrations.
Back then, even Zephyr, standing inside Gern's high-frequency vibration field during training, would immediately harden with Armament Haki and retreat from the zone.
Yet Oden—had stayed upright, refusing to dodge, tanking everything head-on.
It looked like full-body Armament Haki hardening, muscles locked like steel.But Gern knew better.
His vibrations were not like those of other Logia users.
Short-term defense might hold—but sustained, pure impact would penetrate any protection, directly inducing resonance in bones, flesh, and internal organs.
Armament Haki couldn't hold forever.
"So… you can't take it anymore either, can you?"
Within the swirling smoke, Oden's silhouette swayed. His entire body was covered in wounds, blood gushing freely—
Yet his eyes still burned with fighting spirit.No—even more wildly than before.
At this very moment, Kozuki Oden genuinely believed that enduring Gern's assault was an honor.
And against a powerful opponent who "didn't use his head much," Gern didn't even need to clash head-on.
His Observation Haki had already spread everywhere.Every faint vibration in the air was one of his "eyes."
Oden's breathing rhythm.Muscle contractions.Even the subtle tremor of blood flow.
All of it lay within Gern's control.
"Right shoulder drops in 0.3 seconds. Left leg tensing…" Gern's pupils constricted. "You're going to charge."
He flung Bahuang into the air—then snapped his leg up and kicked it like a spear.
The blade, wrapped in high-frequency shockwaves, ripped through the air with a shrill scream.
Almost at the same instant—
"BOOM!!"
Oden blasted out of the crater below, splitting the smoke apart as he surged forward like a feral beast.
Twin blades wrapped in red-black Ryuo shattered the remaining vibration bombs as he burst through, laughing madly.
"Gern! This isn't over yet!!"
Then—
His grin froze.
The black blade Bahuang filled his entire field of vision like a falling meteor.The blade hadn't even reached him yet, but the pressure of its shockwaves alone cracked his skin.
"Wha—?!"Oden's laughter died mid-breath.
At the very last instant, he twisted aside on pure animal instinct.The blade skimmed past his neck, drawing a spray of blood.
But that brief hesitation was more than enough for Gern.
"Just like I thought," a cold voice exploded beside Oden's ear."You really do rely on instinct when you fight."
Gern's figure flickered like a phantom. His fists came together like a warhammer, wrapped in annihilating pale shockwaves, and slammed down.
In that instant, the air shattered like fragile glass, pulverized by tearing vibrations.
Visible ripples of force spread outward in expanding rings.Rocks lifted into the air. Dust reversed direction. Even the atmosphere itself was compressed into twisted vortices.
Oden was blasted downward by the savage impact. Armament Haki flickered across his body, yet the shockwaves pierced straight through.
Bones groaned under the strain.His organs churned violently from resonance.Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
But Gern wasn't finished.
Just as Oden was about to hit the ground—
"Vibration Flash."
Gern's form blurred into a pale afterimage. High-frequency particles boiled around him as space itself seemed to tear open.
The next moment, he had already appeared behind Oden.
His knuckles were wrapped in flowing Ryuo, compressed micro-vibration cores humming at an ear-splitting pitch.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!"
Dozens of piercing strikes detonated in an instant—each one landing precisely on Oden's spine, heart, and waist.
Every blow implanted a micro-vibration core.
Oden's pupils shrank violently. His body convulsed midair as spiderweb-like pale marks surfaced across his skin.
Gern spun smoothly, catching Bahuang mid-motion, then borrowed the momentum—
And slashed straight into Oden's abdomen.
The impact blasted him into the ground.
"BOOOOM!!"
The island shuddered again. Oden's body embedded itself into the rock like a cannonball, carving out a massive crater dozens of meters wide.
Dust surged skyward. Debris rained down—
And yet, at the bottom of the crater, that figure was still struggling to rise.
Oden's arms trembled as Enma and Ame-no-Habakiri plunged deep into the ground, propping up his barely standing body.
"Hahaha…! Now this is more like it!!"Blood streamed freely from him, yet his feral grin remained, his fighting spirit unbroken.
"But I didn't expect this…"Oden looked at the black blade in Gern's hand.
"You wield one of the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades—and yet you're not even a swordsman!"
Gern stared back coldly. Even he had to admit—Oden was absurdly tough.
"I didn't expect you to be this hard to put down either. Like some kind of—"
"A stubborn beast?" Oden finished for him, laughter exploding through the smoke. Blood dripped from his chin—only to be shattered into red mist by invisible vibrations midair.
"Whitey taught me what that move feels like. And I felt it while fighting you!"
Oden's muscles bulged, veins surging like furious dragons. Enma and Ame-no-Habakiri began to hum violently.
The flowing Armament Haki receded—
Replaced by crimson-black lightning.
Conqueror's Haki—coating the blades.
"Conqueror coating?!"Gern's pupils shrank. He hadn't anticipated that.
"You're right—I do rely on instinct…"Oden slowly raised his twin swords. Lightning-like arcs of Conqueror's Haki leapt across the blades, warping the surrounding air.
"But sometimes…"
His figure blurred for a split second.
"I think—instinct is enough!!!"
"Oden Two-Sword Style—Paradise White Falls!!!"
"SHHHK!"
Time itself seemed to freeze.
Above the island, a razor-thin red-black line flashed past—like lightning tearing the heavens apart.
No flashy storm of slashes.No exaggerated energy explosion.
Just a single, absolute flash.
Gern's Observation Haki glimpsed the future—
But this strike was already beyond prediction.
"SHRK!!"
The blade passed across Gern's chest in silence.
A thin line appeared.
Pale vibration particles were cleaved apart. Even space itself split open, revealing a fleeting black fissure.
"—kh!"Gern's grunt rang sharply through the smoke.
He lowered his head slowly, staring at the savage wound across his chest.
For an instant, the blood hesitated—Then erupted like a fountain, soaking his white uniform in blinding crimson.
Oden appeared dozens of meters behind him, twin blades hanging low, blood dripping from their tips.
His breathing was ragged, muscles trembling under extreme strain—
Yet his smile only grew more savage.
"So… how was that?""Did that slash earn the right to face your 'Heavenquake'?"
"Kh… kh…"Gern didn't answer.
One hand pressed against his chest wound.The other drove Bahuang into the ground to support himself.
After steadying his breath, he pulled the blade free.
Pale particles gathered again along the edge—
But this time, they weren't scattered shockwaves.
They flowed like liquid, slowly coating the entire blade.
"You deliberately tanked the micro-vibration cores," Gern said quietly."Just to let the vibration feedback interfere with my Observation Haki."
Oden grinned."My instinct told me—you'd think I was relying on instinct."
"Heh…"Gern chuckled softly, blood sliding down his fingers—
Only to be instantly vaporized into red mist the moment it touched Bahuang.
He lowered his gaze to the trembling blade.
The pale vibration particles wrapped around it were now boiling like molten lava, a waking hum echoing from deep within the steel.
"HNNG!!"
Dark-purple lightning suddenly erupted from Bahuang's edge, spiderweb cracks tearing through the surrounding space!
Gern's pupils tightened slightly—then a cold curve formed at the corner of his mouth.
"So that's how it is…"His fingers clenched. Bahuang trembled even more violently, as if responding to his will—and fully drawing out his Conqueror's Haki.
The patterns along the blade shifted.
Dark-purple Conqueror lightning intertwined with pale high-frequency vibrations—
Fusing into a new power: a destructive violet-white energy.
"Only against someone strong enough will you cooperate with me, huh?"Gern murmured, his tone edged with mockery—and unmistakable excitement.
The next instant—
"BOOOOM!!!"
Dark-purple Conqueror's Haki erupted from Gern like a volcanic explosion. A raging torrent of power shot skyward, tearing the clouds above the island completely apart!
The entire island trembled under the combined pressure of Conqueror's Haki and the Heavenquake Fruit. Seawater surged backward, forming colossal waves tens of meters high.
Oden's pupils shrank. His own Conqueror's Haki reacted instinctively, crimson-black lightning detonating around him.
Before, Gern's Conqueror's Haki had only barely surpassed his.
But this time—
It crushed him instantly.
"How can a Marine's Conqueror's Haki be stronger than Whitey's?!"Oden gritted his teeth, muscles locking as Enma and Ame-no-Habakiri were once again wrapped in Conqueror lightning.
Gern slowly raised Bahuang, the blade tip pointing directly at Oden. Violet-white energy condensed along its edge.
The surrounding air twisted and collapsed under high-frequency vibration, as if even light itself were being swallowed.
"Kozuki Oden…"Gern's voice was calm—icy—carrying unquestionable authority.
"Next, I'll make you understand…"
"What it truly means…"
"When kings do not stand beneath the same sky."