"Tell me—what is the justice you believe in?"
Faced with Tiger's question, Gern did not answer immediately.
Instead, he withdrew his fingers from the stone tablet and turned to face him, a faint, elusive smile hanging at the corner of his lips.
At the same time, the glow of the Sea Forest washed over Gern's face, carving his features into sharp, profound contours.
"Natural disaster.""Cataclysmic justice."
Gern spoke slowly, each word carrying a crushing weight.
"It will shatter all the sins of this world."
Tiger's pupils shrank slightly. From Gern's words, he felt a conviction bordering on obsession.
"Only through indiscriminate, large-scale, disaster-level destruction…" Gern continued, his gaze as unfathomable as the deep sea itself,"can civilization be forced to undergo rebirth."
He paused, then looked straight into Tiger's eyes.
"Isn't that right, Tiger?"
This was the first time Gern had ever explained the true meaning behind his justice in such detail to another person.
And the reason was simple.
The man standing before him—
Was a true "Sun God," a liberator.
Fisher Tiger.
Tiger met Gern's gaze. Within those eyes, he saw something hauntingly familiar—something that mirrored the emotions buried deep within his own heart.
Dissatisfaction with the existing order.A yearning for change.
But Gern's path was far more extreme. Far more… dangerous.
"Indiscriminate destruction…" Tiger repeated in a low voice, his brow tightly furrowed."That would harm the innocent."
"Change has always come with sacrifice," Gern replied, his calm frighteningly absolute."Just as you've seen in your travels across the world—the current order is rotten to the core.
Moderate reform? That's nothing more than a painkiller that delays death."
Tiger fell silent.
He recalled everything he had witnessed in the human world.
The horrors of slave markets.The atrocities of racial discrimination.The cruelty of the Celestial Dragons…
Every scene was carved into his memory like a blade.
"So this is why you approached Fish-Man Island?" Tiger finally asked, his voice heavy with suspicion."To make it part of your 'cataclysmic justice'?"
Gern let out a soft chuckle and shook his head.
"Fish-Man Island is my collaborator—not a sacrifice."
He turned his gaze toward the schools of fish drifting in the distance.
"What I need is a cornerstone. A fulcrum that can anchor me in the New World. And Fish-Man Island… just happens to be perfect."
"Because of its location?" Tiger immediately caught the key point."Directly beneath the Holy Land of Mary Geoise—where even the Marines and the World Government can't easily interfere…"
"Sharp," Gern said approvingly, glancing at him."But that's not all.
Fish-Man Island possesses a unique culture and power—something no other island can match.
And besides…" His voice lowered slightly."You and I are the same. Both of us are existences the World Government has chosen to ignore."
Tiger's heartbeat quickened.
Gern's words were like a key, unlocking something deep within him.
Years of anger toward the human world.Years of resentment toward the status quo.
At this moment, they seemed to find an outlet.
"And you're not afraid I'll tell Neptune all this?" Tiger asked cautiously."Tell him your true intentions?"
Gern's smile widened.
"Would you?" he countered."Compared to Queen Otohime's naïve dream of peaceful coexistence, my approach may be radical—but it has a far better chance of truly changing the fate of the Fish-Men."
"And besides…"
As he spoke, Gern took a quiet step forward, his voice dropping low.
"Are you really satisfied with being nothing more than a traveler, Tiger?
That fire you've buried deep inside yourself—I see it clearly.
In truth, you're even more unhinged than I am. You've just locked it away.
But once it can no longer be contained…"Gern's eyes gleamed.
"You'll do something that will shake the world to its core.
Something terrifying.
For example… challenging the highest authority in the world."
"Challenge…" Tiger staggered back a step, as if struck directly in the chest.
His fists clenched unconsciously, fingernails biting deep into his palms.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he forced out, trying to steady himself—yet the tremor in his voice betrayed him.
"Three years ago. The slave auction at the Sabaody Archipelago," Gern suddenly said, his gaze sharp as a blade.
"Didn't you see it with your own eyes?
Your own people sold like merchandise.Dragged away like dogs by Celestial Dragons.
You saw it, didn't you, Tiger?
That helplessness. That rage…""They never left you. Not for a moment."
Tiger's breathing grew ragged, cold sweat beading across his forehead.
That day—The darkest day of his life—was something he had never spoken of to anyone.
Yet Gern's words were like a dagger, plunging straight into his deepest wound.
The memories he had buried surged forth like a tidal wave.
The desperate eyes of his kin on the auction block.The screeching clash of chains.The shrill laughter of the Celestial Dragons.And himself—watching from the shadows, powerless.
"SHUT UP!!"
Tiger roared, every muscle in his body tensing as veins bulged beneath his crimson skin.
His right fist clenched tight. The explosive force of Fish-Man Karate erupted as he drove a punch straight at Gern's face!
The punch tore through the water, carrying enough power to pulverize solid reef—
And yet—
"Pa!"
Gern casually raised his left hand.
His palm caught Tiger's fist with perfect precision, neutralizing all impact in the instant of contact—without stirring even the smallest ripple.
"Anger is excellent fuel, Tiger," Gern said calmly, terrifyingly unmoved."But blind anger only burns the one who wields it."
Tiger's fist trembled violently within Gern's grasp, unable to advance even an inch.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
His full-strength, rage-filled strike—Stopped so effortlessly?!
"Do you think I never tried?!" Tiger rasped, swinging his other fist forward with a roar."When I was young, I petitioned the World Government! I sought help from the Marines! I even begged those so-called 'kind' human nobles—!"
Gern raised his right hand as well, catching the second punch just as easily.
Their arms locked in midair, frozen like two statues locked in a contest of strength.
"And then what?" Gern suddenly asked, a sharp light flashing in his eyes."You realized that every 'legitimate path' was a dead end, didn't you?
That the privileges of the Celestial Dragons stand above all law.
That the Marines are nothing more than their watchdogs…"
"SHUT UP!!"
Tiger roared again, struggling to pull his fists free—only to find Gern's grip immovable, like iron clamps.
He lashed out with a sweeping kick, but Gern sidestepped in advance, kicking up a cloud of sand.
"Look at you now," Gern said, suddenly releasing him and letting Tiger stumble back."Even throwing a punch at a Marine makes you hesitate.
Are you afraid that once all pretenses are torn away, Fish-Man Island will lose its last protection—or be subjected to retaliation?!"
Tiger steadied himself, panting heavily, his nails digging deep into his palms.
The glow of the Sea Forest illuminated his contorted expression, casting light upon the old sun-shaped scar on his chest.
He had once been a slave too—captured by humans in the very first year after leaving Fish-Man Island.
"You don't understand…" Tiger's voice rumbled like distant thunder."Otohime believes that if we continue to extend goodwill, humans will someday—"
"Grow a conscience?" Gern cut him off with a cold sneer.
He suddenly pulled an image-transponder snail from his coat.
"Then take a look at this."
The projected image froze Tiger in place.
It was the deepest slave prison of Mary Geoise.
Hundreds of iron cages.Slaves of countless races huddled inside.
Among them were several young mermaid children.
Their tails had been pierced by crude iron rings, chains caked with dried blood.
"Ideals and reality are not the same," Gern said, his voice icy enough to cut flesh."No matter how many so-called 'Fish-Man Rights Bills' Queen Otohime submits to the World Government, nothing will change."
Tiger's fangs ground together with a harsh, grinding sound, bloodshot veins spreading across his eyes like a spider's web.
"BOOM!!"
In the next instant, his fist smashed into the Poneglyph.
The ancient stone did not budge.
His knuckles burst open, blood blooming across the surface.
"Do you understand now?" Gern said softly, shutting off the projection.
"Goodwill needs power to protect it.
And my 'cataclysmic justice'…"
He placed a hand on Tiger's trembling shoulder.
"…can give you that power."
The Sea Forest fell into complete silence.
Even the glowing microorganisms seemed to freeze in place.
Slowly, Tiger lifted his head.
The rage in his eyes settled into something far more terrifying—
Unyielding resolve.
"You… how do you know all this?" Tiger forced out through clenched teeth.
Gern did not answer directly.
Instead, he turned back toward the Poneglyph once more.
"This world holds many secrets, Tiger.
Some are carved into stone.
Others are buried in the human heart."
He gently patted the ancient tablet.
"Just like the truth recorded here—only certain people are able to read it."
Then, without turning around, he added calmly:
"So I won't stop you.
Do whatever it is you want to do.
Finish what your heart demands—
And when you're done, come back to Fish-Man Island.
Don't 'run away.'"