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

"Huh? Red-haired Shanks?! The guy who defeated Barrett?"

"I never thought I'd be avenging Barrett!" Enel said, and despite not wearing a shirt, he pulled out a Den Den Mushi camera from somewhere to record the moment.

Upon hearing this, Xiong, who was standing to the side, nodded calmly without the slightest hesitation: "I understand, Mr. Gern."

For him, protecting the peace he enjoys with his family and the tranquility of the many islands sheltered by G-10 is the reason he fights.

"The justice that is protected" is the justice that Big Bear upholds during the "natural disaster".

...........

One week later, in the New World, on the deck of the Spade Pirates' main ship.

Ace sat cross-legged at the bow of the ship, his hat pulled low, his fingers unconsciously tapping on his knees.

He repeatedly replayed the scene of fighting Ribo in his mind, after all, this was his twenty-first defeat...

"Damn it, is it really impossible to even touch the hem of someone's clothes...?"

"Hey, Ace!" The voice of the ship's doctor and first mate, Deus, interrupted his thoughts.

"Stop obsessing over it!" Diuss, clutching a stack of newly received intelligence reports, strode over.

Before Ace could respond, she slammed the stack of papers into his arms.

"Look at this, the latest news we've received means we can temporarily stop thinking about how to challenge that rabbit girl with terrifying physical skills!"

"Hmm?" Ace picked up the intelligence report and quickly began to browse through it.

The paper clearly displays the core information verified through multiple channels.

The supreme commander of G-10 base, Admiral "Shiraki" of the Navy Headquarters, left his core area of ​​influence about a week ago.

The exact destination is unknown; the entourage includes "Tyrant" Bartholomew Kuma and "God" Enel.

Upon seeing the news of Gern's departure from G-10, Ace was initially taken aback, but then a smile mixed with excitement quickly spread across his face.

"Great! In that case, let's get straight to it..."

“Ace!!!” Deus interrupted him again, his tone serious, pointing to Gern’s name on the intelligence report, “Have you thought this through?”

Skip over that woman and face him directly?

This guy is a Marine Admiral, someone who can make four 'Emperors of the Sea' think twice in the wild seas of the New World!

One person can subdue four emperors—this is no joke!

To be honest, with our current strength, you have absolutely no chance of winning against him!

The other Spade Pirates members who gathered around, such as navigator Scal and gunner Michal, also had expressions of approval on their faces.

After all, they had all witnessed Libo's power firsthand, and Gern, who could control such a powerful being, was even more unfathomable in strength.

Faced with his companions' worries, Ace's smile faded for a moment, and he fell silent.

But soon, that confident, even somewhat reckless, smile reappeared.

He stood up, pulled down his orange cowboy hat, his eyes sharp beneath the brim, and his left hand slightly outstretched, flames burning between his fingers.

"That's why we need to fight even more!" Ace's voice was resolute, filled with unwavering determination.

"Only by standing in front of him and throwing a punch can I know how far apart we really are!"

"Now I can see more clearly what my next target, which I'm desperately chasing, really looks like!"

As he spoke, Ace first looked at Deus, then at each of his companions.

"If you don't even have the courage to take on a challenge because you're afraid of failure, then what's the point of setting sail? What's the point of becoming the Pirate King?!"

These unreasonable yet Ace-esque words instantly dispelled the tense atmosphere on the ship.

"Sigh!" Diuss was the first to react, letting out a helpless sigh, then couldn't help but laugh and shake his head.

"What an utterly stupid captain..."

"Hahaha! Well said, Captain!"

"Who cares what kind of general he is, let's fight first and talk later!"

The crew's enthusiasm was instantly ignited because... this was their captain.

Portgas D. Ace is the strongest newcomer of the next generation, the "Fire Fist" Ace with a bounty of 500 million Berries!

Of course, this was also Ace's original personality, after all, in a timeline without Gern...

When Ace first entered the New World, he was a hothead and challenged both the Four Emperors Kaido and Whitebeard.

"Alright!" Ace waved his hand triumphantly, pointing to the sea. "Change course! Gather all our strength to track Gern's movements!"

This time, our target is him!

"Roger that, Captain!!!"

Watching his helmsman Ace stand at the bow, gazing at the sea, he silently recited...

"Gern, just you wait! I'm coming!"

Little Bonnie is so tiny!

Chapter 383 Meeting Again

Two weeks later, in the New World, on Hockham Island, at night, on the coast.

Standing on the beach, Gern gazed at the pirate ship bearing the symbol of spades on the distant sea, unconsciously touching his chin, his tone tinged with a touch of wistfulness.

"Tsk tsk, I never expected this! I never thought that one day I, Gern, would be cornered in the New World! Haha, this feeling is quite novel."

Clearly, the other party recognized his private boat, which did not fly a naval flag but had a unique design, and had deliberately chased after it.

"Hmph, just a stray dog ​​by the roadside." Enel let out a disdainful sneer, taking a step forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Gern.

Gazing at the pirate ship on the sea that he considered utterly vulnerable, he casually tapped the taiko drum on his back with the golden staff in his hand.

"Buzz—Zzz!"

A blinding flash of lightning erupted, and a gigantic thunder beast formed from raging lightning instantly appeared, emitting a crackling roar!

After so many years of experience and continuous training and being beaten in the G-10,

Enel's strength is now vastly different from what it used to be; at full power, he is firmly at the level of a near-Admiral.

Therefore, in his view, this so-called "supernova" pirate crew

Indeed, they are no different from stray dogs on the roadside; a single Thunder Beast attack can easily take them down.

But just as the Thunder Beast was about to pounce, Gern suddenly pointed to the black-haired youth wearing an orange cowboy hat, whose body was already engulfed in flames, at the bow of the Spade Pirate Ship.

"Enel, do you know who that kid is?"

"Who else could it be?" Enel paused, his golden staff hovering in mid-air, and the Thunder Beast also momentarily froze. He curled his lip.

"Didn't I just say it's just one on the side of the road?"

"Tsk tsk tsk." A playful smile appeared on Gern's lips as he casually uttered a few words: "His grandfather's name is Monkey D. Garp."

As soon as Gern finished speaking

"Pfft! Sizzle..."

The Thunder Beast in Enel's hand, which had been blazing and dazzling, suddenly deflated, its energy structure becoming extremely unstable.

It flickered a few times, emitted a series of chaotic electrical sounds, and then... just vanished into thin air!

Enel, who just moments ago had an air of "I'm the best in the world" and "I can wipe out any dog ​​on the other side of the road with a flick of my wrist,"...

His expression instantly shifted from arrogance to astonishment, then he quickly coughed twice to clear his throat.

"Oh my! So it's 'Fire Fist' Ace, the most dazzling and strongest rising star of our New World in recent years?!"

The speed of this change of expression and the abruptness of the tone shift made even Gern, who was standing to the side, roll his eyes.

Enel himself wasn't embarrassed at all; on the contrary, he knew exactly what was going on: Garp's grandson? Does that mean he can just be hacked down like that?!

He'd witnessed that old bastard's iron fist countless times on G-10, and he had no desire to experience it firsthand!

He beat up the younger one, and then the older one showed up; he knows this scenario all too well!

Of course, most importantly... his grandfather wasn't named Monkey D. Garp.

Ace, standing at the bow of the ship, watched this bizarre scene on the shore, especially the guy with the long earlobes.

Suddenly, he went from being menacing to "amiable," which made me frown and feel... a little confused.

Meanwhile, Enel, who reluctantly withdrew his golden cudgel, glanced at Guern and asked, "What do we do now? We can't just let him be so arrogant, can we?"

"Don't worry!" Gern still had that calm smile on his face, his gaze returning to the sea. "They're coming for me."

As if to confirm Gern's words, the Spade Pirates on the sea did not land.

Ace took a deep breath at the bow of the ship, pushed off with his legs, and leaped high into the air!

In mid-air, his lower body transformed into a spinning, blazing flame with a "boom," propelling him like a propulsion system in a fluid and powerful backflip.

Ace glided precisely across the night sky and landed steadily on the beach in front of Gern with a "thump".

"Long time no see!"

Ace casually adjusted his orange cowboy hat with one hand, and slowly raised his freckled face from beneath the brim to look directly at Gern, a smile playing on his lips.

"Strange—Uncle—!"

The last three words were drawn out, carrying a clear sense of provocation.

Gern looked at the young man before him, a completely different person from the skinny boy he remembered from Windmill Village; he was now tall and upright.

A fleeting, almost imperceptible hint of emotion crossed his eyes. He then gestured with his hand to indicate their heights and chuckled, "It's been years since I last saw you. You've both grown into handsome young men!"

“You haven’t changed much, Gern,” Ace replied with a light laugh.

“So…” Gern’s smile faded slightly, and his tone became calm, “You’ve come to catch up with me, Ace?”

"What do you think?" Ace retorted, his tone still showing no sign of backing down.

But the moment he finished speaking, Gern's expression changed noticeably.

The slight gentle smile vanished instantly, replaced by an almost tangible sense of oppression.

“If it weren’t for reminiscing…” Gern’s voice lowered.

"So, a pirate standing before a Marine Admiral, you know..."

What does this mean?

The voice paused slightly, and the next second

"Boom!" Dark purple Conqueror's Haki erupted!

Centered on him, a colossal wave swept across the entire beach and the surrounding sea!

On the sea, the Spade Pirates' crew, who were on high alert, didn't even have time to cry out before their eyes rolled back in shock from this sudden mental attack.

They all collapsed to the ground in unison, and even the few slightly stronger cadres like Deus had no chance to resist!

Even Enel and Kuma behind Gern, under the impact of Gern's Conqueror's Haki, subconsciously tensed up and each took half a step back to steady themselves.

"Hey! Don't unleash your Conqueror's Haki so recklessly! At least control the range!" Enel gritted his teeth and complained.

At the center of the Conqueror's Haki storm, Ace was the first to be hit.

His body swayed violently, as if an invisible mountain had pressed down on his soul, making it difficult to breathe and causing veins to bulge on his forehead.

But he gritted his teeth and held on with his willpower, his eyes still stubbornly fixed on the indifferent-looking Guern.

Chapter 384 'Fire Fist' Ace

Watching the impact of his Conqueror's Haki

Although Ace was teetering on the brink of collapse, he still stood tall and resilient. A faint hint of admiration flashed in Gern's eyes.

Although he didn't fully unleash his Conqueror's Haki, the fact that he could withstand it at his age and with his experience without collapsing was enough to prove how terrifying this kid's talent was.

"No wonder he's that man's bloodline..." Gern sighed inwardly.

Although he personally disliked the so-called "theory of bloodline," he had to admit...