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

“Although your friendship is heavy…” Gern immediately picked up the conversation, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

He lowered his eyes slightly in a flamboyant manner, elegantly placing one hand on his other shoulder, then suddenly looked up.

"But carrying the burden of 'justice' on my shoulders... isn't an easy task either!!!"

“Moreover…” Guern’s voice suddenly turned cold, and the cynicism on his face vanished instantly, replaced by an indifference as if looking down on ants.

He then suddenly raised both hands and clenched them into fists!

In an instant, countless pale white, destructive vibrating particles frantically converged on his fists, emitting a heart-palpitating buzz!

"Buzz—Boom boom boom—!!!"

Centered on him, the entire terror tugboat...

No, the entire sea area began to tremble violently and uncontrollably!

The earth cracked, the castle ruins collapsed like building blocks, and the sea surged with raging waves!

"You really understand..." Gern's voice drowned out all the noise in the world, and the power gathered in his fists caused the space itself to distort, cracking like a spiderweb.

"What kind of power am I facing?!"

The moment the words fell!

Gern slammed his fists into the air on either side of his body!

"Crack—!!!!"

The deafening sound of shattering glass pierced everyone's eardrums!

The space where the fist landed shattered like a mirror!

Immediately following, centered on the Thriller Bark, the entire sea surface was shaken by these two symmetrically erupting, world-shaking forces.

It was completely... overturned!

Among the Straw Hat crew, Lola and Perona, who was staying nearby with Hawkeye but not showing herself, were...

(She was so frightened that she clung tightly to Hawkeye's leg, though she was ruthlessly shaken off.)

The enormous ship-island beneath their feet, accompanied by deafening roars and the howling of the sea, began to tilt wildly to one side!

The tilt angle of over 30 degrees made it difficult for everyone to stand. The ruins and debris cascaded down like a waterfall, and seawater poured in!

Just one strike!

This caused the giant ship island to sway precariously on the tilted sea, on the verge of capsizing at any moment!

This is the power of "Heavenly Tremor"!

Enough to easily destroy the world and create absolute power that will provoke the wrath of nature!

Gern stood on the opposite side of the tilting structure, his coat fluttering in the gale, looking down at the Straw Hat crew, who were struggling to maintain their balance amidst the violent shaking, their faces filled with horror, and gave them a disdainful smile.

"Now I understand..."

Before 'me,' how insignificant is your resolve?!

With that, Gern snapped his fingers, the vibration subsided, and a few minutes later, everything returned to normal.

The Straw Hat crew and Lola struggled to their feet from the violently tilted ground, looking at Gern with eyes filled with despair.

Faced with this power that could trigger natural disasters and overturn the sea with a mere gesture, they simply couldn't think of any way to fight it.

The gap in strength has exceeded what willpower and skill can bridge.

Meanwhile, Perona, who was standing not far away beside Hawkeye, patted her flat chest.

Blinking her big eyes, she subconsciously tugged at Hawkeye's cape, pouted, and asked in a low voice, "Hey... are you guys really here to capture the Straw Hat crew?"

Hawkeye's gaze remained fixed on Zoro. He didn't even turn his head to answer Perona's question; only a slight smile played on his lips.

"It's just someone's twisted sense of humor."

Meanwhile, on the other side, Gern, who had orchestrated all of this, was enjoying the gazes below that were a mixture of fear, despair, and defiance, his heart filled with an indescribable sense of relief and satisfaction.

Yes! That's the look in their eyes! The look of someone struggling in the face of absolute power, filled with resentment and helplessness!

I've worked so hard to become stronger, teetering on the brink of life and death countless times, scheming and fighting tooth and nail with those old monsters in the new world.

Isn't it all so that I can stand high up like this, and freely... show off... no, I mean uphold justice...

Want to enjoy the feeling of being in control?!

Just as Gern was feeling excited and was about to clear his throat and say a few more lines that would both maintain his high-handedness and further damage the other party's mentality (while satisfying his own desire to perform)...

A sudden change has occurred!

"Whoosh-!"

A cold and sharp aura suddenly erupted at a speed beyond visual perception!

A green figure, taking advantage of the sloping ground and the cover of the ruins, focused all remaining strength and will on a single point.

Transforming into a gust of wind that surpassed its own limits, it instantly passed through Gern!

It's Roronoa Zoro!

He was still in the sheathing position of his Iaijutsu as he passed through Gern, his knees slightly bent in a half-squatting posture on the ruins, breathing slightly heavily.

He then sighed, his voice soft but clear enough to reach everyone's ears.

"One-Sword Style: Lion's Song".

"Clang!"

A condensed, angled blade of light flashed past as if teleported!

The blade flashed precisely across Gern's body, slashing diagonally from his left shoulder down to his right waist!

Before everyone's incredulous eyes, Gern's body was struck by the blade into which Zoro had poured everything.

Clean and efficient... Divided in two!

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Usopp gaped, Chopper covered his eyes, Nami held her breath, and Sanji dropped the cigarette he was holding...

Even the well-informed Robin and Lola were horrified.

He... he did it?! He hit that "Heavenly Tremor"?!

Chapter 412 Giving you face doesn't mean letting you show it off.

But, the next second, something even more chilling happened.

Gern, who had been cut in two, showed no sign of pain or surprise on his face.

No blood flowed from the two severed body parts.

Instead, it transformed into countless pure white vibrating particles and re-condensed.

"Oh?" Gern looked down at his now perfectly formed body, which had been nearly exhausted from the powerful attack.

Zoro, however, remained fixed on him, his eyes revealing undisguised admiration for the first time.

"Using the noise and chaos created by the island's tilt and vibrations as cover, I pushed my swordsmanship to its limit to capture the moment my 'body' relaxed, and then..."

A slash delivered with everything at stake... what a beautiful strike!

He clapped his hands and exclaimed sincerely, "Roronoa Zoro, I'll remember you."

“So…” Gern’s exclamation still echoed in the air, before anyone could even react, his admiration instantly turned into cold indifference.

"Next... it's my turn!"

Before he could finish speaking...

"Buzz!" Gern's figure suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving only a ripple of air vibrations in the same spot.

In the next instant, Gern appeared in front of Zoro, whose breath was disordered and whose body was stiff from the full-force slash!

Their faces flashed by so close they were inches apart.

Zoro could even clearly see the chilling killing intent in Gern's eyes!

Meanwhile, Gern's left foot was already raised high, and his entire calf and even his foot were highly compressed.

Enveloped in high-frequency, trembling, milky-white vibrating particles, the surrounding air emitted a mournful cry of unbearable strain!

"You just now..." Gern's voice was like the whisper of death. As he spoke, his left foot slammed down towards Zoro's face with a speed beyond comprehension!

"That's very impolite, you know that?!"

"Bang!!!!!!!"

A deafening roar, so deep it seemed as if the very space itself had been shattered, erupted!

Zoro's pupils dilated; he had no time to parry or dodge, only feeling an indescribable...

A terrifying force, a mixture of violent physical impact and eerie vibration, condensed into a single point and slammed into his face!

"Pfft!" Blood mixed with shattered teeth gushed out of his mouth!

His body wasn't kicked away directly; instead, under the impact of that extreme force, he instantly transformed into a blurry afterimage and shot backward!

"Bang—Whoosh!!"

"Boom! Boom!!"

Zoro's body crashed straight through the thick castle wall behind him, his momentum undiminished.

Then it crashed through the second and third walls in quick succession...

And so, in a straight line, it pierced through from one end of the terror schooner to the other!

This is not over yet!

Even after its body burst out of the ship, it still carried terrifying kinetic energy as it slammed heavily onto the sea below!

"Boom!!!" A huge crater was smashed into the sea.

Immediately afterwards, Zoro's body bounced and slid wildly and uncontrollably up and down on the sea surface like a stone skipping across water!

Each impact with the sea surface created waves tens of meters high, crashing against the tilted, still-uncorrected surface.

It carved out a shocking white watermark that stretched for hundreds of miles!

Finally, after its kinetic energy was exhausted, the green figure, along with the blood that had been spilled along its path, slowly sank into the cold, deep sea.

silence.

A deathly silence.

From the moment Gern made his move, to Zoro being kicked away, piercing through the island, bouncing hundreds of miles across the sea before sinking, the entire process was completed.

The whole process happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that it made one's mind go blank.

The Straw Hat crew hadn't even had time to rejoice at Zoro's amazing sword strike.

This extremely cruel scene plunged him into the abyss of despair.

Sanji's eyes widened in horror, Nami screamed, and Robin covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

Chopper's tears welled up instantly, and Usopp and Franky collapsed to the ground...

Gern slowly withdrew his left foot, still standing on the ruins, looking down at the Straw Hat crew who were plunged into silence and grief below, his eyes indifferent, as if looking down at ants.

“Now…” he began softly, breaking the suffocating silence, “is there anyone else… who wants to try?”

Just as Gern's indifferent voice echoed above the deathly silent ruins, a figure appeared beside Gern without warning.

Jorah Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman, has finally stopped standing on the sidelines.

He stood between Gurn and the Straw Hat crew, staring at Gurn, and said in a low voice, "That's enough, Gurn, we should go."

Having said that, Hawkeye didn't give Gern a chance to speak, his gaze sweeping over the Straw Hat crew below, who were plunged into immense grief and despair because of Zoro's ordeal.

Ultimately, the question returned to Gern, his tone tinged with complexity.

"Roronoa's strike was indeed a manifestation of the ultimate swordsman's will, and I admire it."

Then, changing the subject, he added, "But that was also an absolute provocation against a top-tier expert."

"From the moment you appeared, you never truly showed any murderous intent."