The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

The setting sun cast a golden glow on his profile, making the old marshal's figure appear exceptionally tall in the twilight.

........

Below, Sakazuki gazed at Gren, who was being fervently supported by 100,000 marines. His burning gaze held no trace of jealousy, but rather a rare excitement.

He didn't see a threat, but a man who could truly unite "justice" into a single force.

A leader who can completely free the Navy from the shackles of the World Government!

"Gern, you certainly didn't disappoint me! The Navy's justice is cheering for you!!"

"Clap, clap, clap!" A deep clapping sound suddenly rang out amidst the cheers.

Sakazuki slowly raised his hands, which were wrapped in Armament Haki, and surprisingly, he clapped.

Even more shockingly, this man, known for his ruthlessness, suddenly raised his head and roared: "Justice!!!"

The roar was like a volcanic eruption, so powerful that Kuzan almost slipped off his seat.

Borsalino's sunglasses were also tilted to one side, revealing his unusually wide eyes: "Hey hey hey~ Sakazuki looks so unfamiliar today!"

"That's right, they even used Armament Haki to clap in order to show off!"

The two looked at each other, as if they were meeting this colleague they had worked with for many years for the first time.

Sakazuki completely ignored their gazes, simply smiling as he stared intently at Gern's figure.

That man, besides justice, is the man Sakazuki respects most!

In the square, Gern's figure appeared exceptionally tall amidst the cheers.

He turned and walked toward Ribo, each step accompanied by shouts from the navy.

Sakazuki, Kuzan, and Borsalino silently made way for them, their eyes filled with rare approval.

"Gern!" Lippo excitedly rushed over and hugged his arm. "We won! Justice won!"

Gern patted her head and chuckled, "Yeah, you won."

Tezzolo stood aside, watching the jubilant Marineford, a feeling he had never experienced before welling up inside him.

“Major General Gern is currently lacking a marshal’s cloak,” he murmured.

In the distance, Garp's loud laughter pierced the sky: "Hahaha! As expected of my disciple! Today is a day worth celebrating!"

Steel Bone Kong walked down from the platform and came to stand in front of Gern.

Their eyes met, and the air seemed to freeze for a moment.

“Gern, you’ve done very well.” Kong’s voice was deep and powerful, “but the road ahead may be even more difficult.”

Gern smiled slightly, his gaze resolute: "As long as justice prevails, I will not stop."

Kong nodded, turned to face all the marines, and loudly announced: "What happened today will be recorded in the annals of naval history!"

The world government has made concessions, but our mission has never changed—to uphold justice and safeguard peace!

"Justice!!!" The Navy's shouts once again echoed through the sky.

Chapter 165 Summer Daily Life

A month later, at noon, the sun in Marineford was blazing hot.

The ground of the training field in the backyard of the Guern family was scorching hot, and the air distorted slightly in the heat.

The distant sea reflected a blinding light, and the occasional sea breeze carried a salty, hot scent, but could not dispel the summer heat.

In the center of the training field, Libo and Tesoro stood facing each other, their training clothes soaked with sweat.

"Tezzolo, you're wearing so much in this heat, aren't you afraid of getting heatstroke?"

Libo wiped the sweat from her forehead; her white rabbit ears drooped slightly due to the high temperature.

“This is what summer is like, Lipo.” Tesoro flicked his hand, his gold-flecked gloves shimmering in the sunlight.

"Besides, we'll talk about whether it's hot or not after we've finished!"

"Then don't blame me for being impolite!" Libo grinned, and her figure suddenly disappeared.

"Shave!" Her speed was astonishing; the high temperature seemed to have no effect on her explosive power.

Tesoro's pupils contracted, and he immediately raised his hand. Golden liquid instantly gushed out from his glove, forming a golden shield in front of him.

"Bang!" Lipo's kick slammed heavily onto the shield, causing Tesoro to take a half step back, and even leaving a shallow dent on the surface of the shield.

"His power has increased again?" Tesoro was secretly surprised, but his hands continued moving.

With a wave of her left hand, the liquid gold transformed into dozens of sharp golden needles, shooting towards Libo from all directions.

"Life Frenzy!" Libo shouted softly, raising her left hand and striking it against her chest with a healing green light.

In an instant, the powerful life force caused cells to divide rapidly, thus temporarily unleashing the body's maximum potential and granting a boost to combat power.

Immediately afterwards, Libo lightly tapped her feet in the air, her body soaring into the sky like an arrow, causing all the golden needles to miss.

He then flipped his body in mid-air, braced himself with his hands, and swung his legs out like whips, creating a sharp whooshing sound.

"Rabbit Kick - Meteor!"

Tesoro quickly retreated, simultaneously manipulating the gold to form several spikes on the ground, attempting to block Ribo's landing point.

However, Ribo's enhanced body reacted even faster, using Moonwalk again in mid-air.

His body shifted direction strangely, his toes lightly touching the spike, using the momentum to leap up again.

"Got you!" Her figure suddenly appeared behind Tesoro, the cold glint of her dagger aimed straight at his back.

At the critical moment, Tesoro's back was instantly covered by a layer of golden armor.

"Clang!" The dagger struck the armor, sparks flying.

"Sorry, I caught you!"

"Golden Binding!" Tesoro seized the opportunity, and the golden liquid beneath his feet spread like a living thing, instantly binding Ribo's legs.

"Ah!" Lipo cried out, losing her balance. Tesoro turned around, his golden fist aimed straight for her face.

However, just as the fist was about to hit, a sly smile suddenly appeared on Libo's lips.

"Healing Flash!"

A blinding green light burst from her palm, and Tesoro instinctively closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, Libo had already broken free of her restraints, and a dagger was pressed against his throat.

"Haha, you lost again, Tesoro!" Libo shook her bunny ears triumphantly, sweat dripping down her cheeks, but her smile was as bright as if she had won the whole world.

"Damn it, next time you're going to get an enhancement, you have to do it too." Tesoro pouted, then helplessly raised his hands: "I give up."

He was panting, his shirt soaked with sweat. "And another thing, that was too insidious of you. You actually used the light of the Healing Fruit to blind me."

“That’s called tactical wisdom!” Libo swiftly put away her carrot dagger, put her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and proudly stood her rabbit ears upright.

She cleared her throat, mimicking Gern's tone: "Ahem! A true warrior knows how to utilize every advantage..."

As she spoke, she suddenly turned and pointed to the blinding sun, "Including this sunlight that can bake a person alive!"

Tesoro opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only sigh and rub his forehead.

Just then, a soft call came from the sidelines of the training field: "Tesoro~"

Stella walked gracefully towards them, holding a parasol, her white dress fluttering in the hot breeze.

She held an ice-cold towel in one hand and a glass of lemonade in the other, her hair still glistening with fine beads of sweat.

"It's so hot, you can just wait here." Tesoro instantly put on a gentle expression and quickly went to take the items from her hands.

"That's right!" Libo bounced over, her eyes fixed on Stella's small bag.

"Tezzolo has thick skin and tough flesh, it wouldn't matter if it were sun-dried into a golden crispy pig!"

Stella couldn't help but chuckle, and magically pulled a bottle of chilled carrot juice from her bag: "Here, I brought this especially for you."

"Mmm~! Stella is the best!" Libo cheered and was about to rush over to hug her, but Tesoro stepped in front of her and blocked her way.

"Stop! You're all sweaty..." Tesoro spread his arms like a mother hen protecting her chicks, but Lipo cleverly slipped through the gap.

Stella laughed as she caught the fluffy little white rabbit that pounced on her, letting it wipe its sweat on her skirt.

……

Meanwhile, in the backyard pavilion, a salty sea breeze gently swept by, lifting the newsletter spread out on the wooden table.

The newspaper trembled slightly in the wind, revealing a striking headline: "Shocking! 'Crocodile' Crocodile Suffers a Crushing Defeat Against the Whitebeard Pirates."

Subtitle: Whitebeard's dominance in the New World is unshakeable; he defeats his challenger with just three moves.

The newspaper photos clearly captured that shocking moment: Crocodile kneeling on the deck, his face covered in blood, while his white beard, holding the Murakumogiri sword, stood proudly upright, his white coat fluttering in the sea breeze behind him.

In one corner of the photo, you can also see Marco transformed into a phoenix of blue flames, hovering in the air.

The report detailed the battle that took place three days prior: the ambitious Crocodile led his pirate crew in a surprise attack on the Whitebeard Pirates, only to be completely defeated within ten minutes.

According to witnesses, Whitebeard didn't even use the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power; he easily overwhelmed the Logia-type Devil Fruit user with just his physical skills and Haki.

A short commentary was also attached to the edge of the newspaper: "This is the seventh rookie supernova pirate in the last five years to fail in challenging Whitebeard. Whitebeard's dominance in the New World remains unchallenged."

A gentle breeze blew again, and the newspaper turned slightly, revealing the World Government's announcement on the back, with words such as "Seven Warlords of the Sea" and "Recruiting Strong Warriors" faintly visible.

But at this moment, all these news items were overshadowed by the news of Crocodile's crushing defeat...

"Ribo and Tesoro are quite strong and have developed their Devil Fruit abilities well!" Gern sipped his iced barley tea and exclaimed.

The two fruits he obtained back then have now been transformed into combat power.

Other healing abilities for Lipo are quite good. Besides the Healing Carrot, her skills also include Berserk Healing, Super Speed ​​Healing, Pain Shield, Purification, and more...

Reverse healing "over-repair" attack: also has pain amplification, damage transfer, and nerve rampage.

Furthermore, they developed a wide-range healing technique called "Regeneration Cloud."

They've even developed quite a few techniques using energy forms like Life Pulse, Healing Blade, and Life Siphon.

As for Tesoro, Gern originally intended for him to follow his original path, but the butterfly effect caused Tesoro's desire for money to turn into a desire for power.

This has led to this guy now being completely focused on becoming the most capable "Golden Emperor" by Gern's side, and his focus is entirely on developing his combat power!

Guern accepted this, after all, it would be abnormal if nothing changed after his intervention!

Just then, a sound came from the edge of the training field, and Libo and the other two walked towards them.

"Gern, Gern!" Lipo jumped excitedly to his side. "Did you see that? How was my 'Healing Flash' just now?"

“Not bad, you’ve all improved.” Gern stepped forward and ruffled Libo’s hair.

"Ribo's physical skills have become more fluid, and Tesoro's control over his Devil Fruit has become more refined."

"Unfortunately, I still lost." Tesoro sighed.

Hearing Tesoro's words, Gern smiled, "That's because your cultivation of domineering aura is still too slow."

Even with a Devil Fruit, one shouldn't neglect Haki. Like Ribo, who clearly used Observation Haki to predict most of your attacks this time.

“Is that so…” Tesoro frowned.

Because he has recently become somewhat obsessed with developing his Devil Fruit powers and has forgotten the importance of Haki.

"In short, visit Teacher Zefa more often when you have time, and remember to bring some gifts for Sister Lina when you go!"

"You two always ate and drank for free."

Tesoro, Lipo: "It's clearly Lina who's making us train so hard..."

Chapter 166 The Black Blade's Mutation

After a while, Libo and Tesoro were sent off by Gern to wash up. As their footsteps faded into the distance, only Gern remained in the pavilion.

He remained silent for a moment, then his gaze fell on the Black Blade Eight Desolations leaning against the stone table.

The blade was still wrapped in grayish-white bandages, but the white cloth covering it was now old and mottled.

It seemed as if it hadn't been changed in a long time, giving the wrapped area a sense of weathering thousands of years of wind and frost.

Gern paused for a moment, then sighed softly and reached for the hilt of his knife.