From that day on, Gern's life entered a phase that could only be described as hell-training.
Every single day began before dawn.
At 3:50 a.m., the harbor of Marineford was still wrapped in darkness.
Gern stood on the deck of a warship, his arms and legs bound by heavy iron chains. The cold metal pressed against his skin as the sea breeze carried the smell of salt and blood.
"Oi, brat,"
Monkey D. Garp said while chewing on a massive meat bun,
"Scared already?"
"Scared?" Gern smirked.
"I'm more worried you won't be able to keep up with me later."
"Hahaha!"
Garp slapped him on the back so hard Gern nearly flew overboard.
"That's the spirit! Then let's skip the warm-up!"
Before Gern could react, Garp grabbed the chains and hurled him straight into the sea.
"PLASH!"
The icy water swallowed him whole.
As a Devil Fruit user, the ocean crushed him instantly—his limbs felt like lead, his strength draining away by the second.
"I thought this was supposed to be running training?!"
Gern struggled to surface, gasping for air.
From the deck, Garp roared with laughter.
"I don't waste time!
Show me Armament Haki and I'll pull you up!
If you can't—then you can keep the Sea Kings company!"
"…You lunatic!"
Ten minutes passed.
Gern's muscles screamed. His vision blurred.
Then—
A massive shadow moved beneath him.
His pupils shrank.
A Sea King, as large as a warship, rose from the depths.
To make things worse, Garp casually dumped blood into the ocean.
The scent spread instantly.
The Sea King's eyes turned red.
It charged.
"DAMN IT—!"
As the creature's jaws closed in, something exploded from deep inside Gern.
A burning sensation surged through his body.
Dark crimson Armament Haki erupted around his legs.
CRUNCH!
The Sea King's teeth clashed against his shin—
metal screeching against metal.
"Oho?"
Garp raised an eyebrow.
"So you can use it!"
The next instant, Garp leapt down, smashed the Sea King away with one punch, and hauled Gern back onto the deck.
"Write this down!" Garp shouted.
"Armament Haki awakened in 17 days—two hours faster than Kuzan!"
Gern collapsed on the deck, coughing seawater.
"Throwing a Devil Fruit user into the sea is illegal!"
"I'm reporting you to Sengoku!"
Garp just grinned.
"But you awakened Haki, didn't you?
So stop complaining and keep moving."
Hell Was Only the Beginning
On a volcanic island under a scorching sun, Gern pushed a ten-ton boulder uphill with bare hands.
"Too slow!" Garp yelled from above.
"Where's your Haki?!"
Gern tried to coat his arms, but his Armament flickered violently.
BOOM!
A cannonball slammed into the rock and exploded.
Gern was blown straight into the cliff face.
"Cough—!"
"Not enough!"
Garp appeared instantly, fist coated in black Haki.
"Bones not breaking means you're still lacking!"
BAM!
Gern was embedded into the rock.
Blood ran down his face—but he laughed.
"Again… let's go again."
Steel Must Be Tempered
Later, under Zephyr's guidance, Gern trained with a wooden sword against solid steel shields.
"Your breathing is wrong," Zephyr said calmly.
"Haki isn't brute force.
It's precision and control."
Zephyr guided his hand.
"Don't cut through.
Let your will slip into the gaps."
Gern focused.
The blade passed silently.
The steel shield split cleanly—smooth as glass.
"Understood," Gern whispered.
"Good," Zephyr said.
"Tomorrow—twenty thousand repetitions."
Trial of Survival
Months later.
Blindfolded, Gern stood in a narrow steel corridor lined with spikes.
At the end—open sea.
Garp stood on a ship, cannonballs in hand.
"Rules are simple," Garp said.
"Cross the corridor blindfolded.
Get hit once—ten extra runs."
The first cannonball screamed past.
The second grazed him.
Blood sprayed.
"Ten extra!"
The third—
Gern punched it head-on.
BOOM!
Fragments scattered.
His movements sharpened.
His Observation Haki awakened under pressure.
By the final shot, he deflected it with his knee.
Garp finally stopped.
"Passable."
He looked serious.
"In the New World, pain slows you down.
Haki is armor.
Haki is foresight."