Watching Ace—his body swaying under the pressure of Conqueror's Haki, yet still stubbornly refusing to fall—Gern's eyes flickered with a trace of extremely faint appreciation.
He hadn't fully unleashed his Conqueror's Haki.Even so, for someone this young, with this level of experience, to withstand it head-on without collapsing—
That alone was enough to prove how terrifying the boy's talent truly was.
As expected… the bloodline of that man, Gern sighed inwardly.
Though he personally had no fondness for so-called "bloodline supremacy," he couldn't deny that on this sea, certain things people were born with really did cling to them like the marks of fate—deep, unavoidable, and infuriatingly real.
(Even if I don't like it… the world of pirates really does run on bloodlines now.)
Still, admiration was one thing.The Ace standing here now wasn't relying on talent alone.
To carve his way into the New World, defeat a Warlord of the Sea, and even refuse the World Government's recruitment—
That alone meant his strength had already placed him firmly among the ranks of great pirates.
At the very least, the current Ace was unquestionably Warlord-level.
After all, in the original timeline, he had fought Jinbe—the "Knight of the Sea," at the height of his prime—on land for five days and five nights, without a clear victor.
"That's not bad," Gern said slowly as the overwhelming Conqueror's pressure receded like a withdrawing tide."Being able to stay on your feet means these past few years weren't spent fooling around."
As the pressure vanished, Ace gasped sharply for air. Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead, yet his back remained ramrod straight.
He wiped the cold sweat dripping down to his chin and cracked a grin.
"Heh… that's one hell of a way to say hello, weird old man."
"So then…" Gern looked at him calmly."You endured the 'greeting.' What do you plan to do next?"
"You should know—just enduring my presence is still a long way from defeating me."
"What am I going to do?" Ace inhaled deeply. His hands slowly clenched as flames ignited on their own, coiling upward. The temperature around them spiked violently.
"Obviously… I'm going to use this to tell you something."
"I'm not the kid from Foosha Village who needed you to buy him meals anymore!!"
"Sacred Fire · Entei—No, Higan!"
Before the final syllable had even finished echoing, Ace swung both arms forward.
His arms instantly elementalized, transforming into two incredibly solid, blazing-white torrents of flame!
The fire didn't scatter wildly—instead, under precise control, it condensed into two dazzlingly hot spears of flame, thrusting straight toward Gern's chest!
Gern stood where he was, eyes cold and steady. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly—he had no intention of dodging.
"BOOM!!!"
A deafening explosion roared as scorching flames swallowed Gern whole, expanding outward and blasting a massive circular crater into the sand.
Even Enel squinted slightly at the sight and muttered in surprise,"So he's a Devil Fruit user after all… Logia-type? No wonder…"
Did I land it?The thought flashed through Ace's mind—but his body was already reacting.
Using the recoil of the explosion, he shot backward, carving two scorched trails across the sand as he retreated, searching for the next opening.
But at the exact moment he stabilized his footing—
At the very center of the flames engulfing Gern, it was as if an invisible giant hand clenched shut.
The fire collapsed inward violently.
Then, a pressure impossible to describe—heavy, oppressive—erupted out of nowhere.
"HUM—"
It wasn't a shockwave.
It was something more fundamental—vibration itself.
The flames were shattered at their very structural level, blown apart into a sky full of scattered sparks that rapidly dimmed… and went out.
Gern stood there, surrounded by drifting embers.
Not even the corner of his coat had been scorched.
He calmly shifted his gaze to Ace, whose face was frozen in disbelief, and slowly raised his right hand, fingers curling slightly.
"Is that all, Ace?"Gern's voice wasn't loud—but it carried a suffocating weight.
"Raw passion alone won't let you survive in the New World.Much less… stand in front of me."
So this is why adults enjoy lecturing kids…Gern felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction—especially with the added celebrity effect.
So this is how Teacher Zephyr felt when I challenged him at Marineford for the first time…
"Damn it… are you mocking me?!"Ace's pupils contracted sharply, though his seasoned combat instincts screamed danger, forcing him to hold his ground instead of acting rashly.
"Hm?" Gern snapped out of his thoughts and crooked his finger at Ace."If you're not going to move…"
"…then I will."
"!!!"
Almost the instant Gern's hand dropped, flames burst beneath Ace's feet as he attempted a high-speed lateral dash.
But Gern was faster.
His figure blurred—not from pure speed, but from a subtle, nearly imperceptible stomp.
A precise vibration rippled through the ground, instantly disrupting the balance of force beneath Ace's feet.
Ace felt an eerie surge of power from below. His flames faltered for a split second, and his body stiffened involuntarily.
That split second—
Was enough.
Gern was already in front of him, his right fist thrusting forward in the simplest, most direct motion imaginable.
"Black Tremor · Impact."
No dazzling visuals—only the air ahead of the fist compressing to the extreme, releasing a low, bone-grinding hum.
Ace's pupils shook violently.
I can't dodge this!!
"Heat Haze!!"
In a flash, Ace crossed his arms in front of his body. A thick, astonishingly dense wall of flame formed instantly.
Using the barrier, he elementalized and disengaged at once, reforming at a distance, gasping for breath.
It was strange—
For a brief instant just now, he had seen himself being struck by Gern's punch.
That was why he knew, without hesitation—he couldn't avoid it.
On the other side, Gern slowly retracted the punch he never fully threw and looked at Ace calmly.
"Now," he said lightly,"do you finally understand the gap between us?"
"Don't look down on me!!!"Ace roared, flames surging violently around his body once more.
"I came looking for you the moment I entered the New World—not for this kind of outcome, Gern!!!"
Ace stopped holding back.
Every ounce of power he could muster was poured madly into his right arm.
In an instant, his entire arm swelled, elementalized, transforming into a colossal pillar of blazing-white flame—several meters in diameter, like a miniature sun!
"FIRE FIST!!!!!"
The massive flaming fist roared forward, tearing through the air with earth-shattering force, carrying the power to crush everything in its path as it slammed toward Gern!
The heat alone melted the sand beneath Gern's feet into a churning pool of magma.
Yet even before this apocalyptic blaze—capable of burning mountains and boiling seas—
Gern's gaze remained calm and unwavering.
He didn't even take a defensive stance.
He simply raised his left hand slowly, fingers loosely gathered.
At the very instant that the destructive Fire Fist was about to engulf him—
Gern flicked his wrist lightly. His index and middle fingers bent just slightly.
And toward the raging torrent of flame—
He made a motion so casual it was almost dismissive.
A tap.
"Knock."
A dull, muted sound echoed.
Then—
Centered on the point of contact, the air in front of him—
No.That space itself—
Solidified.
In an instant, countless clearly visible, spiderweb-like cracks spread across it!
The fractures raced outward, forming a massive, invisible yet undeniably real wall of shattered space.
The next second—
Ace's Fire Fist slammed violently into that transparent wall of cracks.
And then…
There was no "then."
A Fire Fist that couldn't break through had only one fate—
Dissipation.
Ace remained frozen in his punching stance, standing rigidly in place.
His pupils shrank to pinpoints from sheer, overwhelming shock as sweat streamed down his temples.
His all-out attack—
Had been…
So effortlessly…
…knocked apart?