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

"turn out to be......"

"You've been waiting for this moment."

"You...you're insane!!!"

Chapter 189: Inspiring Generals

The sea breeze howled, and the waves crashed against the rocks...

Roger and Gern stood facing each other, an invisible sense of oppression filling the air.

"Hahaha!" Roger suddenly burst into laughter, his laughter tinged with a mixture of helplessness and relief.

"If Garp knew that his half-disciple had stolen his 'dream,' he'd probably be furious!"

“Lieutenant General Garp’s dream is to arrest you with his own hands, and my dream…” Gern shrugged, a lazy smile playing on his lips.

"It's to make 'One Piece' the stepping stone for my future advancement in everything."

“A stepping stone…” Roger narrowed his eyes. “You planned this all along? Right! Starting with Adwall, or even earlier?”

“Who knows?” Gern spread his hands, his tone relaxed.

"After all, I already said that when you threw me into the sea back then!"

I'll personally lead you to the execution platform; I'm a man of my word!

Roger paused for a moment, then slowly pulled Ace out of the sword and gently dusted off the hilt.

“Gern, do you know? I originally planned to leave quietly and turn myself in to the East China Sea.”

But now…” His gaze suddenly sharpened, and a domineering aura spread like a tide, as if the surrounding air had frozen.

"Looks like I have no other choice!!" Before he finished speaking, Roger's figure had already disappeared from the spot like a ghost.

The next instant, instead of drawing his sword, his fist, imbued with a violent and domineering aura, hurtled straight at Gern's face!

"Bang!" Gern reacted extremely quickly, his black blade Eight Desolations blocking in front of him.

The moment fist clashed with knife, a terrifying shockwave swept out, shattering the rocks beneath their feet and causing the seawater to surge back.

You've improved a lot since then!

Roger took a step back to create some distance, his brows furrowed as he watched the man calmly wielding his knife.

"Is there?" Gern looked up, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"But you... you're clearly dying, yet you still strike with such ruthlessness."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gern flicked his wrist, and the Black Blade Eight Desolations drew a cold arc in his palm. "You didn't want to draw your sword just now... were you afraid of destroying this island?"

Roger's eyes darkened when his thoughts were exposed.

The sound of waves crashing on the shore in the distance suddenly became clear, making his voice sound particularly deep: "This place... should never have become a battlefield."

“Then let’s go somewhere else.” Gern chuckled and leaped onto the small boat that Roger had originally intended to use to surrender himself.

Roger stared at the retreating figure, his Adam's apple bobbing.

In the end, all the complex emotions turned into a sigh.

........

Meanwhile, in Marineford, at Naval Headquarters, in the Admiral's office.

The air seemed to freeze, and the heavy pressure caused Tesoro's back to break out in a fine layer of cold sweat.

Steelbone sat behind the large desk, his sharp eyes seeming to see through all lies.

Sengoku stood to the side, his fingers rhythmically tapping the table, each soft sound like a tap on Tesoro's taut nerves.

“So…” Kong began slowly, his voice deep and authoritative.

"That guy Gern claimed he was on the ship, but sent you and Libo back to report?"

Tesoro's Adam's apple bobbed, and his hand unconsciously touched the gold ring, turning it twirling between his fingers.

He opened his mouth, only to find that he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation.

Because before leaving, Gern only said "adapt to the situation," but in the current situation, how can there be any room for adaptability?

"Reporting to the Air Marshal..." Tesoro began, forcing himself to speak.

"Lieutenant General Gern was originally on a warship, but he... had other arrangements at the last minute."

"Other arrangements?" Sengoku's voice suddenly rose, his gaze behind his glasses sharp as a knife.

"What arrangement could be more important than this dire situation?!"

Tesoro's fingertips trembled slightly.

He couldn't very well say that Gern had no intention of returning to Marine Headquarters at all, could he?

"I...I don't know." Tesoro lowered his head, his voice almost squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Lieutenant General Gurn only ordered Libo and me to return and report first, and the rest... he didn't say."

Upon hearing this, Kong's face darkened completely.

He slowly stood up, his tall figure casting a shadow in front of Tesoro.

"Major Tezzolo," the Marshal's voice was as cold as ice, "Do you know the consequences of concealing things from your superiors?"

Tezzolo's breath hitched.

However, just as the atmosphere was about to freeze completely, the office door was suddenly pushed open.

"Report!" An intelligence officer rushed in, his face pale.

"Just now, we received news! The remnants of the Roger Pirates seem to be making unusual movements!"

Steel Bone Sky and Warring States changed color at the same time.

"What?!" Sengoku slammed his fist on the table. "Roger might have made a move!"

I never expected Roger to change so quickly, going from someone in the open to someone operating in the shadows.

Seeing the suddenly bustling office, Tesoro felt a little lost and could only stand there blankly.

"Lieutenant General Gern... what exactly are you planning?"

"You can't really arrest the Pirate King all by yourself, can you?" Thinking this, Tesoro shook his head and chuckled, realizing his own disbelief.

"Impossible, impossible! How could this be possible! He's the Pirate King!"

But the more Tesoro thought about it, the more suspicious he became. After all, that was Gern!

.......

Meanwhile, on Biaks Island, a deserted island where the South China Sea and the East China Sea meet.

Gern and Roger stood facing each other, the blade of the Black Blade Hakko reflecting a cold light, while Roger gripped Ace's hilt slightly, his knuckles turning white.

"A pirate trying to persuade the Navy..." Gern smirked coldly, "Roger, don't you find that ridiculous?"

Roger was silent for a moment, then finally sighed: "I don't want to fight you."

These words were like a thorn, piercing deeply into Gern's nerves.

He chuckled softly, a hint of sarcasm in his voice: "In your eyes, am I really that unworthy of your attention?"

Roger shook his head: "I just don't want to waste the last bit of time."

"The last chance?" Gern's eyes suddenly turned cold.

"Your 'last time' is to disband your pirate crew and seduce a young woman to produce your offspring?"

Roger's pupils contracted sharply, and for the first time, a flicker of doubt crossed his face: "How...how did you know?"

It should be noted that only the two of them knew about Rouge's pregnancy.

Rouge never went to the hospital, and Gern never even went near his own home!

“I know far more than you think.” Gern’s voice was low but his tone flippant.

“She’s a ‘D’ too, isn’t she? Portgas D. Rouge…”

"Heh, you think you're hiding it well?" Gern's knife tip lightly grazed the ground, sending sparks flying.

"A man in his fifties, tricking a girl in her early twenties into having his seed..."

"Shut up!" Roger's roar shook the surrounding rubble.

"What? Did you hit a nerve?" Gern laughed even more unrestrainedly.

Roger's breathing became heavy, and the veins on his fists bulged: "You don't understand at all..."

"Of course I don't understand!" Gern suddenly sprang to his feet, his black blade slashing down with a piercing shriek as it tore through the air.

"I don't understand how an irresponsible bastard like you can be called a 'king'!"

"You knew you were going to die, and you knew the World Government would hunt you down until your bloodline was wiped out, yet you still chose to leave behind a child."

Roger, this is not fatherly love, it's putting a noose around the neck of your unborn child!

It's about using your wife and children as sacrifices to fulfill your ambitions, using their blood and flesh to fuel your delusional notion of "immortality"!

"Rou will protect her..."

“Protect what?” Gern sneered. “Let her endure an inhuman pregnancy far beyond what is normal.”

Sorry, this is not love, it's naked torture!

To conceal your bloodline, she might have to exhaust her life acting, ultimately dying from exhaustion!

And all you said was: She will protect you.

Hahaha, what a hypocrite, Roger!

What right does a 'king' who doesn't even dare protect his own woman have to talk about dreams?

A flicker of pain crossed Roger's eyes in response to Guern's words, but it was quickly replaced by a resolute expression.

Ace began to wrap himself in jet-black Armament Haki, and Conqueror's Haki lightning exploded around him.

“The Navy’s Skyquake brat…” Roger’s voice was terrifyingly low.

"You'll regret saying those words."

Chapter 190 He is the most dazzling new star on this vast sea!

"Finally getting serious?" Gern's lips curled up, and the bandages on his black sword began to crack inch by inch.

"That's more like it, Roger!!"

The two individuals' Conqueror's Haki collided in mid-air, causing the entire deserted island to tremble violently.

Giant waves tens of meters high surged up on the distant sea, and the clouds in the sky were torn open with a crack.

But in the eye of the storm, a triumphant smile crept across Gern's lips.

This is exactly what he wanted.

A "Pirate King" who gives his all, not a dying man with a death wish.

A dangerous purple light flickered in Gern's pupils.

"As for what you said..." The blade of the Black Blade Eight Desolations began to vibrate rapidly, its cry like that of a thunderbird.

The blade left a solidified vacuum trail where it sliced ​​through the air; pale cracks spread from the blade into the surrounding space.

It was as if the whole world had become fragile under this one blow.

"Regret?" Gern suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, the black blade erupting with an even more dazzling incandescent light. "Hahahaha!"

He took a sudden step forward, and the ground beneath his feet shattered like glass.

Dark purple arcs of electricity surged wildly around him, each step he took generating shockwaves with a radius of a hundred meters.

The air was compressed, creating visible ripples, and fine, pale cracks spread like a spider web in the void.

"From the moment I found you on my own, those two words lost their meaning!"

As Gern lunged forward, his figure suddenly blurred, like a comet wreathed in white light rushing forward, appearing in front of Roger in the next instant.