Hearing Gern's answer—"nothing more"—Arlong seemed as if he had just heard the most absurd joke imaginable.
Still sprawled on the ground, he burst into a deranged, hoarse laugh.
"Nothing more? Hahahaha… Nothing more?!What a fine 'nothing more' that is, Gern!
Didn't you keep claiming that Fish-Man Island was under your protection?!Then where were you back then?!
When Brother Tiger was ambushed by the Marines on Foolshart Island, gravely wounded and left dying—where were you?!
Why didn't you step in to save him?!Now that he's dead, you show up to put on this fake, sanctimonious act of mourning?!
You humans are all the same—hypocritical, despicable—"
Before Arlong could finish his tirade—
An invisible pressure slammed down on him like a collapsing sky.
This was Gern's Conqueror's Haki, refined to its absolute peak—focused with terrifying precision on him alone.
"Ggh—!!"
Arlong's manic laughter was cut off instantly.
It felt as if an enormous, unseen hand had seized him by the head and crushed him into the ground.
His face was forced flat against the cold seabed of the Sea Forest.Not a finger could move.
All he could do was let out muffled, agonized groans.
"Why didn't I save him?" Gern said softly, turning his head.
The lazy calm usually lingering in his eyes was gone—what remained was a coldness like eternal glacial ice.
He walked toward Arlong step by step.
Each footfall felt as though it were stamping directly onto Arlong's heart.
His voice was not loud, yet every word struck like a thunderclap.
"Did I not offer protection?"
"After Tiger rampaged through the Holy Land back then,I made my stance absolutely clear to King Neptune."
"As long as Tiger stayed on Fish-Man Island,no one would be allowed to lay a finger on him."
"Not the Marines.Not the World Government."
"Those words—I said them."
He looked down at Arlong as one might look at an ant.
"But Tiger didn't want to owe me."
"He also didn't want the entire Fish-Man Island dragged into danger because of him."
"So, burdened by guilt—and by pride—he chose to leave the island with you all, to form the Sun Pirates, and face the outside world on his own."
"That was his choice."
"The choice of a man."
"Now listen carefully," Gern's voice hardened abruptly, a blade drawn from its sheath.
"I, Gern, am not your babysitter."
"I have no obligation to trail behind you like a nursemaid, protecting every single individual."
"My protection is for Fish-Man Island as a whole—to grant it a relatively safe space to exist."
"Not to act as a personal bodyguard for each of you."
Then, unmistakably, killing intent seeped into his words.
"To put it another way—if I so desired…"
"I could suppress Fish-Man Island outright."
The word suppress struck Jinbe's chest like a war hammer.
His pupils shrank to pinpoints. His entire body trembled.
No one understood better than he did what those two words meant when spoken by Gern.
This wasn't mere martial law.
It meant the complete overthrow of the existing regime.
The royal family of Ryugu Palace would be purged.Fish-Man Island would be taken over directly by Gern's forces.All autonomy—gone.
And worse still—
With Gern's current authority in the New World,and the military might of G-10,he absolutely had the power to do it.
Without the slightest hesitation—
In the instant Arlong was left stunned by the word suppression, the pressure on him momentarily easing—
Jinbe stepped forward hard.
Rage at Arlong's foolishness, and overwhelming terror for Fish-Man Island's future, exploded through his massive frame.
He raised his webbed hand—
SMACK!!!
A deafening slap landed squarely on Arlong's face.
The force was so monstrous that Arlong's entire body spun through the air several times before crashing down like a discarded sack.
Boom!
He slammed into the ground, smashing a human-shaped crater into the solid seabed rock.
"Pff—!"
Arlong spat out a mouthful of blood—broken teeth mixed within.
Half his face swelled grotesquely as he nearly lost consciousness.
Jinbe didn't even glance at him.
He turned instantly toward Gern, bowed deeply—his forehead nearly touching the ground—and spoke with raw urgency.
"Admiral Gern! My deepest apologies!"
"Arlong is ignorant and arrogant—speaking utter nonsense!Please, calm your anger!"
"I stake my life on this—he will never dare offend you again!"
"If he does… then I…I will kill him with my own hands!!"
In this moment, for the survival and future of Fish-Man Island,Jinbe displayed the resolve and responsibility worthy of the title 'Knight of the Sea'—even striking down a former comrade without hesitation.
"Heh."
Gern merely cast a cold glance at the motionless Arlong in the crater.
Then he looked at Jinbe, still bowed deeply before him.
The terrifying pressure of his Haki gradually receded.
He said nothing more.
Turning away, he once again faced Fisher Tiger's tombstone, standing silently before it.
After a brief pause, he spoke—his voice clear enough to reach both Jinbe and the barely conscious Arlong.
"Fisher Tiger…"
"He is a liberation warrior I respect from the bottom of my heart."
"As a member of an oppressed race—an indigenous native—he accomplished something almost unthinkable."
"Climbing the Red Line with his bare hands.Storming Mary Geoise, the pinnacle of world power, alone.Freeing slaves… and even killing Celestial Dragons who called themselves 'gods'."
"What that took went far beyond mere courage."
"It was the audacity to shake the world order.The resolve to defy destiny.The willingness to burn oneself completely just to light the way for others."
Gern's gaze swept over Jinbe—conflicted—and then over Arlong, whose face was still twisted with hatred, yet who dared not speak.
"Tiger's spirit was whole.Fierce.A flame of liberation bright enough to illuminate an entire era."
"But unfortunately…"
"That spirit does not seem to have truly been inherited."
His eyes moved between Jinbe and Arlong.
"The two of you are like two halves split from Tiger's soul."
"One inherited his benevolence and righteousness—understanding balance, seeing the bigger picture, willing to endure, compromise, and even bear infamy for the survival of the race as a whole."
"The other inherited his ultimate hatred and resistance—but twisted it, expanding hatred for the Celestial Dragons and the World Government into hatred for all humans, leaving behind only extremism, brutality, and a thirst for destruction."
With that, Gern cast one final glance at Tiger's tombstone—as if offering a silent farewell.
Then he turned away.
With a subtle gesture to Torritoma, the two of them departed slowly, disappearing amid a web of complicated gazes.
Left behind were—
Jinbe, frozen in place.
Arlong, sprawled on the ground, hatred and a faint trace of confusion tangled in his eyes.
And the quiet stone monument—
Standing silently, bearing witness to an unfinished ideal.