The moment Gern told him to act, Ace's heart clenched violently.
The muscles that had just begun to relax snapped taut again.
Behind him, that gaze—cold and merciless—lashed at him like a whip, driving him forward, forcing him to choose.
Ace looked down at Shanks, who was still laughing openly below, still warmly inviting him. He pressed his lips together, unmoving.
"Heh."Seeing Ace hesitate, Gern let out a low, mocking chuckle. "What? Having second thoughts?"
"..."Ace didn't answer. Silence was his only response.
"Then let me ask you something," Gern continued softly, almost conversationally."Do you know how great your mother—Portgas D. Rouge—really was?"
"Mother…"Ace's focus wavered.
That gentle yet unyielding figure—one he had pieced together only from Garp's scattered words—rose vividly in his mind.
"She was seduced by your bastard of a father right before his death," Gern went on calmly, cruelly."And then… there was nothing afterward.A man already half a foot in the grave—past fifty—going out of his way to seduce a young woman in the prime of her youth…"
"And yet, to protect you, she endured twenty full months of pregnancy in agony before giving birth.One life traded for another."
Gern sighed lightly, as if lamenting a tragedy."And for such a great mother… your father loved her for less than a single year."
"The price she paid, and what she received in return—don't you think that's wildly unequal? Unfair?"
"A love that lasted only a fleeting moment… repaid with her life, and a lifetime of infamy."
Then Gern's voice suddenly rose, sharp and deliberate, his finger stabbing downward toward the laughing man below—Shanks.
"And that bastard down there… was loved by Roger for the entire journey!All of Roger's affection—everything he had—was poured into him!"
"And what did that great mother receive?""Just… one single year, out of that entire voyage."
Gern leaned in closer, his words heavy, cutting.
"Tell me—do you think that's fair, Portgas D. Ace?"
When he spoke that name—especially the words Portgas—Gern dragged out every syllable, each one plucking violently at Ace's already fraying nerves.
History was like a doll—easy to dress up however one pleased.And in Gern's hands, twisted just right, it became poison.
Especially for a hot-blooded young man—reckless, proud, burdened with hatred toward his father.
A bomb detonated inside Ace's mind.
Pain over his mother's sacrifice.Guilt that he had lived while she had died.Hatred toward that man—mixed with feelings he couldn't fully sever.Doubt over the worth of his own existence.
And then—An irrational, surging resentment toward Shanks.
Toward the man who, in Gern's words, had "taken" what should have belonged to his mother…What might even have belonged to him.
The final thread of reason snapped.
Yes.For his mother—for the woman who traded her life to bring him into this world—It was unbearably unfair.
Ace's right arm erupted into roaring flame!
He no longer looked at Shanks.
Or rather—What he saw was no longer Shanks himself, but the symbol Gern had carved into his mind:The man who had stolen everything.
"Ace," Gern whispered, suddenly placing a hand on his shoulder."For your mother… for that great woman—"
Below, Shanks finally noticed Gern standing behind Ace. His pupils shrank.
"Use Fire Fist on him!!"
"FIRE FIST—!!!"
A massive pillar of dark crimson flame exploded forth!
This was no longer a "treat."This was a full-power, uncontrolled eruption—A torrent of rage and grief crashing down toward Shanks and the comrades behind him!
Facing the oncoming inferno, a sharp red gleam flashed through Shanks' eyes.
He reacted instantly.
The famed blade Gryphon leapt from its sheath, unleashing an impossibly condensed slash—blackened crimson with Haki!
BOOM!
Slash and fire collided head-on.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
Instead, the raging flames were split cleanly down the middle—precise and effortless, like a hot knife cutting through butter.
Two torrents of fire roared past Shanks' sides, scorching twin blackened trenches into the ground behind him.
Shanks himself stood unmoved, his coat whipping violently in the heatstorm.
The moment the flames parted, his gaze shot straight to the rooftop.
"GERN!!!"His voice thundered with fury.
Almost simultaneously, Beckman vanished from Shanks' side—flanking fast, aiming to seize position and strike Gern directly!
But—
"Zzzzt—!!"
A blinding flash of lightning arrived first.
Enel had already intercepted Beckman's advance, appearing as if by teleportation. Lightning coiled around his golden staff, the tip stopping precisely one inch from Beckman's forehead!
"Hey. Trash," Enel sneered, tilting his head, that familiar arrogant grin spreading across his face, contempt filling his eyes."You'd better… not move."
At the same instant, chaos erupted elsewhere.
BANG!Yasopp's sniper round tore through the air toward Gern!
At the same time, Howling Gab opened his massive jaws, unleashing a visible sonic cannon—compressed sound exploding forward!
Faced with the pincer attack, Kuma vanished in a blur.
He reappeared calmly, raising his massive palms—each emblazoned with the iconic paw print.
"Pop."
One palm strike.
The sniper bullet reversed direction instantly, rebounding faster than it had come—skimming past Yasopp's hat and making cold sweat pour down his back!
Gab's sonic blast slammed into an invisible wall—then abruptly ricocheted.
The energy cannon redirected violently—straight toward Lucky Roux and Hongo, who hadn't yet fully engaged!
"Shit—it bounced?!" Lucky Roux shouted, scrambling to evade.
Hongo leapt back as well, the blast detonating where they'd been standing moments earlier, carving a shallow crater into the ground.
The sudden reversal made Bonk Punch, Building Snake, Monster, and Limejuice—all four men and one monkey—turn pale as they moved to launch a coordinated assault—
But in the next second, they froze.
Behind them—
Bartholomew Kuma's towering figure now stood silently, completely sealing off their retreat and attack routes.
At the same time, the air around them filled with countless semi-transparent paw-shaped shockwaves.
They hovered, trembling slightly—locking onto every possible angle of movement.
The four men and the monkey were completely surrounded.
Kuma lowered his head slightly, peering through his round, emotionless lenses at the Red Hair officers braced for death, and spoke in his gentle, even voice.
"I'm sorry… but please…do not trouble Mr. Gern."
In an instant, the entire battlefield was under control.
Shanks stood gripping his blade, his expression dark.
Every one of his companions was a powerhouse—monsters who could rampage freely through the New World.
Yet now, they were completely restrained… even suppressed—by just two opponents.
The top combatants of G-10—only three of them—had displayed strength enough to stand against the core forces of a Four Emperor.
The sheer pressure sent chills through every member of the Red Hair Pirates.
No—In truth, the one truly restraining them all… wasn't Kuma or Enel.
It was the man who had stood on the rooftop from the very beginning—smiling faintly, as if everything were unfolding exactly as planned.
Gern Reginald Sigmar.