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

"By showing my talent, everyone will remember my name, Gern!!"

"I defeated Shiki the Golden Lion at the height of his power, leaving him with an indelible psychological scar that he will never dare to face me again!!"

I defeated the hero of Wano Country, Kozuki Oden, in a one-on-one duel, forcing him to personally cross his proud twin swords over his own neck, inflicting a lifetime of humiliation upon him!

I brutally murdered the 'Grimm Saint' from the Holy Land, forcing even the so-called descendant of gods to grovel on the ground like a dog!

Finally, I personally arrested Bundy Wald, the 'World Destroyer' who was infamous at the time.

A being feared by the world, at the last moment, humbly begged me, and then I dragged him away like a dead dog!

Finally, Gern took a deep breath, then exhaled, his tone becoming calm.

"Then, in the era when Gol D. Roger was crowned the 'Pirate King'..."

"It was I who personally ended his legend, sent him to prison, and put him on the execution platform."

"Hehe..." At this point, Gern paused slightly, his smile fading.

"From the Valley of the Gods in the 1484th year of the Sea Calendar to the present day..."

"I have walked this road for thirty-five years."

"Having traversed the embers of Locus, and witnessed the rise and fall of a legend!"

He buried an era with his own hands, and ushered in a new era.

Gern slowly raised the Eight Directions, forcing Ace to look up at him.

At the same time, it poses a final, soul-searching question to all young people who harbor dreams and intend to challenge themselves.

"So, what makes you, Portgas D. Ace, think...?"

"You can rely on the blood flowing in your veins, and on your short voyage at sea, which may only last five years..."

"So you can defeat me, someone who's come all this way?"

There was no mockery, no contempt, only questioning based on cold, hard facts.

This question carries more weight than any roar; it concerns time, experience, and the long road paved with countless battles and bloodshed.

Ace opened his mouth, but found that any words seemed so pale and powerless in the face of Gern's brief, condensed self-narration of his turbulent thirty-five-year life.

........

After a moment of silence, Gern stared at Ace and suddenly let out a cold laugh.

With a flick of his wrist, Gern precisely slid the Black Blade Eight Desolations, which had been hovering in front of Ace's neck, into his waist.

Those white bandage fragments, which had originally shattered into dust and dissipated in the air, seemed to represent a reversal of time.

Emerging from the void and gathering, it wrapped layer upon layer around the Eight Desolations within the scabbard.

In the blink of an eye, the black blade, radiating murderous aura, was once again enveloped, returning to its unassuming and silent state.

Gern no longer looked at the sword that had been restored to its original state, and his gaze returned to Ace, who was somewhat taken aback by the abrupt sheathing of the sword.

He spoke calmly, uttering a sentence that caught Ace even more off guard: "Back then... after all, I did make that kind of promise to that 'man'."

His words carried an indescribable complexity, as if he was unwilling to elaborate, yet had no choice but to comply.

"So...you want to work under me?"

"Recruit me?!" Ace looked up abruptly, almost thinking he had misheard.

The enemy who had crushed him with absolute power and shattered his beliefs with cold facts a second ago is now extending an olive branch to him.

But the shock lasted only a moment before Ace smirked and let out a cold laugh filled with deep sarcasm.

"If I were to submit to power, I wouldn't be standing in front of you. Bastard!!"

The answer was firm and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

Submission? Even if the recipient is a Marine Admiral, a powerful figure who ended that man's legend, it's absolutely impossible!

Seeing Ace's flustered reaction, Gern did not show the slightest surprise or annoyance.

He hadn't held out much hope to begin with; this abrupt recruitment was more out of a sense of fulfilling a past promise.

After all, he had promised Roger something back then, and now that he had been given a choice, if Roger refused, then it was no longer Roger's problem.

The cause and effect have been resolved, and the promise has been fulfilled.

“However…” Gern’s thoughts shifted slightly, his gaze lingering for a moment on Ace’s stubborn face, which bore a striking resemblance to Roger’s, and a thought quietly surfaced.

Ace was Roger's son, while Shanks was Roger's apprentice on his ship, and the one he raised and loved most...

Thinking of this, the corners of Gern's mouth turned up slightly, forming a meaningful arc.

"Hehe, this is going to be fun!"

So Gern casually waved his hand, "If you don't want to, then forget it."

"But we can't just let it go like this."

“So, I’ll have to trouble you…” Gern’s gaze returned to Ace.

"For now, just stay by my side and behave yourself."

Before Ace could object or protest, Gern continued, "I'll take you to see a guy who's like your father."

"Are you kidding me! Who wants to stay by your side?!"

Upon hearing Gern's unauthorized decision, Ace instantly flew into a rage.

"Trying to catch me? Not so easy!!" Blazing flames erupted again from Ais's hands.

His gaze was fixed on the back of the figure that had turned away casually, seemingly without any guard.

"Now! Attack and run!"

Thinking of this, Ace lowered his waist slightly, exerted force with his feet, and was about to smash his burning fists toward Gern's back!

However, just before he was about to make his move...

"Sigh." With his back to him, Guern seemed to have anticipated all of this, and let out a very soft sigh, tinged with a hint of helplessness.

"Big Bear".

As the sigh subsided, a menacing figure appeared without warning behind Ace.

A massive shadow instantly enveloped Ace, blocking out all light and sound from his surroundings.

Ace's blood seemed to freeze at that moment, and the burning flames paused.

Then, stiffly, he slowly turned his head back.

What comes into view is Bartholomew the Bear.

He stood there behind Ace, so close that one could almost feel the suffocating sensation from his massive body.

Xiong's face was expressionless, his eyes, hidden behind curly hair and glasses, were calm and still.

On the bear's broad shoulders, Enel was sitting leisurely, one hand supporting his chin, the golden staff in his other hand casually resting on his knee.

Looking down at Ace, who stood frozen in place, a malicious smirk spread across his lips, and lightning flashed slightly.

"Hey, you mortal playing with fire...you'd better not move! I'm not as easy to talk to as Gern."

Looking at the bear and Enel, Ace broke out in a cold sweat, and his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.

Just then, Gern, who was facing away from him, turned his head slightly and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

At the same time, his eyes no longer held the playfulness or sentimentality of before, but only a pure, cold indifference, as if looking down on ants.

"Since they are unwilling to submit to power..."

"Then we must understand that the weak have no right to decide how they die."

Chapter 388 Be My Son!! Ace

Several days later, in the New World, on an island within the territory of the Four Emperors Red-Haired Shanks, flying the flag of the Red-Haired Pirates.

The atmosphere inside the town's restaurant was eerie.

By the window, Enel, completely unconcerned about his image, held a piece of apple pie smeared with honey in his hand, taking big bites and occasionally making "tsk tsk" sounds.

Across from him, the enormous bear quietly occupied the entire chair, holding a steaming cup of cocoa in both hands, its posture contrasting with its size.

Meanwhile, at the head of the table, Gern and Ace were practically fighting over who would stuff the sizzling, perfectly grilled meat sticks, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, into their mouths!

Having been forcibly "brought" here by Gern, Ace was seething with anger.

So even with their mouths stuffed full of food, they still kept rambling on and on, making incoherent complaints.

"Ugh... Hey, you bastard... What do you want?!"

They neither arrested me nor killed me, they just dragged me all the way here...

"What do you mean, taking me to find 'the guy who has my father's love'?! Who would believe such nonsense! What are you really up to?!"

Hearing Ace's吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or critical remarks), Guern paused in his act of stuffing meat into his mouth, giving him a disdainful look.

Without saying a word, he raised his hand and gave Ace a clean and decisive flick on the back of the head!

In an instant, Ace, whose head had slammed directly onto the table, clutched his head, looked up, and shouted...

"You bastard, what are you doing?!"

"Tsk, sigh!" Gern withdrew his hand, his tone exaggerated, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

"Along the way, I've provided you with food and lodging (although it was under surveillance), and I've even shown you the world (although it was forced upon you)."

I've been so good to you... but you won't even call me 'Dad'."

"puff!!!"

Upon hearing this, Ace nearly choked on the meat in his throat, coughing and patting his chest, his face turning bright red.

It took him a while to catch his breath. He jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, pointing his finger at Gern's nose and roaring.

"You bastard!!! What do you mean I don't want to call you 'Dad'?!"

Is that true?! Am I your son?! What is our relationship?!

This bastard's logic is utterly absurd!

Kidnappers demand their victims call them "Dad"?! Are all the powerful figures in the New World this twisted?!

Seeing Ace so angry he was about to explode, Gern was not annoyed at all; instead, he seemed amused.

He slowly ran his fingers through his slightly wild black hair, then slowly stood up.

Looking down at Ace, who was trembling slightly with anger, he suddenly put on a deliberately profound expression.

He even deliberately imitated the tone of someone hailed as "the world's strongest man," extending his hand and declaring in a deep, resonant voice, solemnly and extremely irritatingly.

"Be my son!! Ace."

"Bearing my name on your back, gallop freely across this vast ocean!"

Ace: "…………"

In an instant, the entire restaurant seemed to be muted.

Even Enel stopped what he was doing, his lips twitching as he looked over.

Big Bear paused for a moment, holding the cocoa cup.

Ace's expression froze completely, shifting from extreme anger to utter bewilderment.

Then comes an unbelievable feeling, like, "Did this guy get kicked in the head by a sea king?"

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but found that any words seemed pale and powerless in the face of such an absurd scene.

In the end, all the words he wanted to say were reduced to a dead fish-like gaze and a weary voice squeezed out from between his teeth.

"...What...is going on with you...?"

Looking at Ace's complex expression—as if he'd swallowed a fly whole, a mixture of speechlessness and "this guy's hopeless"—it was clear he'd lost all hope.

Instead of feeling embarrassed, Gern frowned deeply.

He then withdrew his outstretched hand, stroked his chin, and fell into deep thought, muttering to himself as if no one else was around:

"Strange...it doesn't make sense..."