Two weeks later.The New World.On the outer edge of the Marine G-10 Base's sphere of influence—a small island known as Ruroraka.
The island was famous for its pristine white sand beaches, soft and fine as powdered snow; for its crystal-clear seawater that shifted through layers of blue like polished glass; and for the lush coconut groves scattered throughout, vibrant and alive.
The scenery was so beautiful it felt unreal—like a paradise torn straight from a dream.To Gern, it bore an uncanny resemblance to the Maldives he remembered from before crossing worlds.
Because of that, this place had become his favorite private retreat.
Whenever he finished dealing with piles of tedious affairs, or when he simply wanted to escape the constant noise and pressure of the base, he would sneak away here alone and savor the rare, fragile quiet.
From time to time, he even brought the core members of "Heaven's Calamity" here for short vacations, giving their tightly wound nerves a chance to relax.
But today—
Gern's vacation paradise was ruined.
Completely ruined.
All because of the bastard who fell out of the sky.
Not far away, the once smooth, immaculate white beach had been smashed into a massive crater.
The surrounding sand showed clear signs of vitrification from extreme heat, while thick smoke and dust churned within the pit's depths—mixed with something far less pleasant.
The sharp reek of alcohol.And an overwhelming, violent aura.
As the smoke slowly dispersed, a colossal figure emerged from the crater.
Bare-chested.Muscles knotted like living steel.A monstrous silhouette crowned with two massive horns.
Dragging a gigantic spiked kanabo over his shoulder, he stepped out of the pit one heavy stride at a time.
It was Kaido of the Beasts.
Kaido shook his head lazily, as if the fall from the sky had been no more than a stretch. Then his eyes swept across the beach and immediately locked onto the Marine admiral standing ahead, his expression dark.
"Wororororororo!!!"
Kaido's signature,狂 laughter erupted as he pointed the kanabo straight at Gern.
"Heaven-Shaker! Gern! I've come for you!!!"
"Kaido of the Beasts…"Gern's voice was cold, threaded with tightly restrained irritation.
"Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to find this place?"
"A vacation spot," Kaido snorted, utterly dismissive. Twin plumes of alcohol-laced vapor burst from his nostrils.
He swung the massive kanabo Hassaikai off his shoulder and leveled it forward, the motion stirring a savage gust of wind.
Like a walking mountain, Kaido strode toward Gern, each step radiating oppressive pressure. His tone carried unmistakable disappointment.
"To be honest, Heaven-Shaker…seeing you in person is nothing like what I imagined."
In his mind, someone who could defeat Oden, capture Roger, and hold Whitebeard at bay should have been a being who radiated killing intent at all times—not a man who looked like he'd just woken up from a lazy nap on the beach.
Gern slowly raised his head, calmly meeting Kaido's invasive gaze. There was no fear. No panic.
Only faint annoyance—like someone whose rest had been rudely interrupted.
"Oh?" he replied flatly."And what do you think I should look like?"
That utterly indifferent attitude—as if Kaido were nothing more than a minor nuisance—
It snapped the last thread of Kaido's patience.
Especially that look in Gern's eyes. The way he was being regarded like a mere inconvenience infuriated him beyond measure.
"Grr…"A suppressed growl rumbled from Kaido's throat as the muscles in the arm gripping the kanabo bulged violently.
Pitch-black Armament Haki surged like a tide, instantly wrapping around the massive weapon, while brilliant blue-white lightning erupted across Kaido's body!
No more words.
Kaido attacked.
Lightning surged through his body, overclocking his flesh to its absolute limit—his speed exploding to near teleportation.
Even with Gern's future-sight–level Observation Haki, at this distance, facing such raw, extreme acceleration—
Complete evasion was impossible.
Slash!
Only an afterimage and scattering arcs of lightning remained where Kaido had been standing.
"Thunder…"
In the blink of an eye, Kaido's massive form appeared behind Gern like a specter.
"Bagua!!!!"
Wrapped in both Armament and Conqueror's Haki, the kanabo screamed as it tore through the air, carrying annihilating force as it swung toward the back of Gern's skull at a speed the naked eye couldn't track.
"That's what it means to face me—with the resolve to accept a challenge!!!"
The black-and-crimson lightning-wreathed Hassaikai descended with mountain-shattering force—
But at the instant before the weapon could even graze Gern's hair—
Kaido's beastly instincts screamed.
Wrong—!
Gern's physical presence beneath him vanished—like a bubble popping.
Gone.
Completely gone.
"Humm—!"
A pale afterimage stretched violently through the vacuum trail left by the falling kanabo, moving at a speed far beyond visual limits.
The space where Gern had stood was abruptly hollowed out, rippling with faint distortions.
His entire body transformed into a torrent of particles that tore through reality itself—not a simple straight dash, but a movement that visibly collapsed space along its path.
The ultra-high-frequency vibration wasn't used to attack—
It was focused entirely on himself and the surrounding environment, forming a fleeting vacuum shock tunnel.
Along the path of his advance, the air was shredded and ionized, screaming as it died.
The leaking shockwaves gouged a deep, mirror-smooth trench straight through the coastline beside him, seawater pouring in violently!
Only then did Kaido's Observation Haki barely catch the trace of that near-incomprehensible trajectory.
His head snapped around, neck bones cracking explosively, pupils shrinking in a fraction of a second.
What he saw made even the "Strongest Creature" feel a jolt of fear.
"So fast—!!!"
His vision was instantly swallowed by destructive dark-violet Conqueror's lightning.
He couldn't see Gern's movement at all—
Only the overwhelming sense of death pressing against his spine.
During the charge, Gern's right fist had already completed its buildup.
Dark-violet Conqueror's lightning coiled around it like an enraged dragon.
Then advanced Ryuo Armament Haki—alive like molten metal—layered over his knuckles, turning them a deep, oppressive black-purple.
At the very core of the fist, vibration particles compressed to a white-hot state screamed with annihilating resonance—
Like a supernova clenched in his hand.
"Black Quake…"
Gern's icy voice struck straight into Kaido's soul.
The punch landed squarely in the center of Kaido's spine.
"Instant Hell!!!"
"BOOOOOOM———!!!"
That was no ordinary impact.
It was the sound of two stars colliding.
A visible ring-shaped shockwave—intertwined with dark violet and pale white—erupted outward in a hemispherical explosion from the point of contact!
Kaido's skin and muscles—durable enough to withstand battleship artillery—rippled violently like waves, while the bones beneath let out a nauseating, grinding shriek!
The entire beach surface was ripped up like brittle crackers, shattered, and reduced to dust!
The surrounding seawater wasn't pushed aside—
It was震震震震—vibrated directly into a vast cloud of mist!
Even the thick clouds high above were split cleanly in half by the rising shockwave, shattering like broken glass!
Under that indescribable force, Kaido's mountain-like body was forcibly bent backward into a horrifying arc within a thousandth of a second!
His back caved inward around the impact point with a thunderous boom, as if his spine were about to snap outright!
Worse still—
The vibration force far exceeded what Kaido's body could absorb in an instant.
The unspent destructive energy erupted from his chest as a torrent of crimson-black Haki lightning, blasting straight through him like a breached galaxy!
"BOOOOOOM—WHOOSH!!!"
Kaido was launched like a boulder hurled from a siege engine—like a meteor gone wildly off course—
Trailing sonic booms as he flew straight into a rock mountain hundreds of meters tall!
"CRASH!!!!!"
The delayed impact thundered as the entire mountain shook violently.
Its front face was smashed into a gigantic spiderweb crater over a hundred meters wide, cracks racing all the way to the peak as countless rocks poured down like a landslide.
Within the massive crater carved into the mountain, debris clattered and fell.
Kaido's enormous body jolted violently, blasting away the rocks covering him.
Bracing one hand against the twisted cliff face, he staggered upright.
"Cough—!! Pff!"
A mouthful of scalding blood burst uncontrollably from his lips, splattering across the scorched stone.
The monster known as the "Strongest Creature on Land, Sea, and Air" had suffered internal damage from that single punch infused with ultimate vibration and Haki.
Agonizing pain surged from his spine—as if every vertebra had been crushed and forcibly reassembled—twisting his face as the haze of alcohol was completely burned away.
Kaido snapped his head up, eyes blazing with disbelief and fury as he stared back toward the beach.
The drifting sand and mist slowly settled, like a curtain falling at the end of a play.
And from within that dim, yellow haze—
A figure stepped forward.
Each step sent a faint tremor through the air.
"You just said…""…you wanted to challenge who?"
Kaido's pupils shrank violently once more.
Amid the swirling dust, a humanoid silhouette sharpened into focus.
Dark-violet Conqueror's lightning slithered wildly around him like maddened serpents. His eyes burned red.
Then—
The shadow reached to his waist and drew a sword.
The white bandages wrapped around its hilt fluttered freely despite the still air, while the blade itself became entwined with crackling Haki lightning.
"You—"
"What?"Gern's voice cut in calmly."Is the wind in the New World too loud—"
"…or are you, Kaido, having trouble hearing me?"
...…
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